That's the question. Granted what this forum lacks in numbers it makes up for in quality (myself excluded), but it still seems to me that a few more would be merrier. My career is not in music so there are few opportunities to convince others to join except through the internet, which hasn't been terribly successful. Anyone else harbor the same notion, or is it just me and best to leave things the way they are?
We are too few...or not?
- Thread starter steen
- Start date
We would always welcome more folks to join the forum and participate. We get a fair number of people who just check out the threads and don't join.
I would agree (proudly) that we have a high level of discussion most of the time and that the people that participate here are passionate about music and their instruments.
I would agree (proudly) that we have a high level of discussion most of the time and that the people that participate here are passionate about music and their instruments.
We still wait for someone passionate enough to steamroll a sax or burn a clarinet and post a video thereof, but otherwise I won't complain.
Compared to the OTHER site, this one is much better. The level of discussion is much higher and we are not burdened with the endless questions about what brand to buy, etc., etc. Sometimes i wish more would post, but not to the extent that we had elsewhere. DAVE
I still wait for someone passionate enough to steamroll a sax or burn a clarinet and post a video thereof), but otherwise I won't complain.
There is a member on here who has steamrolled a sax. I have seen it in person. Barisaxdiva.
Burn a clarinet, no. The sax makes some cool wall art though.
I enjoy being around here too. The OTHER site does have some cool stuff that happens, and the diversity is nice because it's massive, but it's nice not to have to sift thru the obscene amounts of worthless threads over there. Plus, Ed's cool.
You can say "SOTW", "Steve Goodson", "Sneezy.org" or anything else. I have no problems with that. If you develop Scarface Syndrome (rent the movie if you don't know what that is), we'll have a chat. If you start posting libel, you'll be banned. Other than that, it's generally kewl.
First, as an offhand comment, possibly the "main" reason why I agreed to help Ed out over here was because I felt that I did have a good deal of stuff still to say about a variety of things and SOTW wasn't an appropriate platform for that. Hey, I can post here about how I really admire the saxophone, as an instrument (verification of that: saxpics.com), but I can also say that I hate 99% of the saxophone playing out there and not get shouted down. I can also talk about clarinets and stuff as a primary interest, rather as just relegated to "doubling". Hey, I started as a clarinet player and moved to sax. I also love jazz flute (and well played flute, in general), even though I can't play flute. I also happen to know a bit about some obscure double-reed instruments. I also rather enjoy bassoon music.
And I prefer a lot of classical over jazz.
Second, Ed, Jim and I have constantly talked about the direction of this forum. We've all had suggestions and comments going back and forth. Some of those things have been implemented, some have not.
Third, I've been busy trying to complete my BS degree (yes, I started in 1988). Add to that an increased workload (I'm doing my job and the job of a coworker who died in January). That means I haven't been able to be around much. There are topics I haven't started yet that I find interesting.
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The MAJOR difference between WooF and SOTW or Sneezy.org has been that we do have folks that we've designated as experts in particular fields and they're here to help y'all: Content Experts. The SECONDARY difference is that a very large percentage of our membership is professional and a tad older than, say, SOTW. Not that there's anything wrong with that; just a different focus.
I also think another good difference is that in SOTW we tried (OK, I tried: I wrote most of 'em) to come up with rules to cover every eventuality so I could ban someone if I needed to, without Harri's involvement (although he could overturn the ban). Here, the rule is simple: be nice or go somewhere else. And we give the CEs wide discretion, rather than requiring everything to go through Ed, Jim or me.
Personally, I agreed with the oft-heard comment on SOTW that all of the stuff for beginners, such as which mouthpiece/horn/whatever you should use should be put in a FAQ. Other things I'm a lot more happy to help out with. Hey, it's a FAQ because it's frequently asked: there are no problems with the question, but check the FAQ before asking.
Also, personally, I haven't been on SOTW much in the past, oh, three years. There are a lot of "worthless threads" when I last checked -- many of which are being confined to SOTW's Lounge, but they do tend to spill out, some (especially into General Discussion) -- and I don't have time to sift through them for the ones that are worthwhile. I occasionally visit Sneezy.org, but I never registered there: I find the layout there very user-hostile and I already deal with enough user-hostile applications at work. Additionally, I feel that I have to be an uber-expert to post there or I'll have someone on my back about what the actual range of the chalumeau register is or some such. Life's too short.
One could also argue that SOTW's a bit too big for its own good. This necessarily leads to threads being duplicated -- like the few dozen threads about "post a pic of your horn". Hey, combine 'em all and you've got something really special. Leave 'em as is and you've just got a bunch of random threads.
FWIW, I'd LOVE to go through SOTW and create an index for them: SOTW needs a librarian more than they need another moderator. Check that: they need a STAFF of librarians.
First, as an offhand comment, possibly the "main" reason why I agreed to help Ed out over here was because I felt that I did have a good deal of stuff still to say about a variety of things and SOTW wasn't an appropriate platform for that. Hey, I can post here about how I really admire the saxophone, as an instrument (verification of that: saxpics.com), but I can also say that I hate 99% of the saxophone playing out there and not get shouted down. I can also talk about clarinets and stuff as a primary interest, rather as just relegated to "doubling". Hey, I started as a clarinet player and moved to sax. I also love jazz flute (and well played flute, in general), even though I can't play flute. I also happen to know a bit about some obscure double-reed instruments. I also rather enjoy bassoon music.
And I prefer a lot of classical over jazz.
Second, Ed, Jim and I have constantly talked about the direction of this forum. We've all had suggestions and comments going back and forth. Some of those things have been implemented, some have not.
Third, I've been busy trying to complete my BS degree (yes, I started in 1988). Add to that an increased workload (I'm doing my job and the job of a coworker who died in January). That means I haven't been able to be around much. There are topics I haven't started yet that I find interesting.
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The MAJOR difference between WooF and SOTW or Sneezy.org has been that we do have folks that we've designated as experts in particular fields and they're here to help y'all: Content Experts. The SECONDARY difference is that a very large percentage of our membership is professional and a tad older than, say, SOTW. Not that there's anything wrong with that; just a different focus.
I also think another good difference is that in SOTW we tried (OK, I tried: I wrote most of 'em) to come up with rules to cover every eventuality so I could ban someone if I needed to, without Harri's involvement (although he could overturn the ban). Here, the rule is simple: be nice or go somewhere else. And we give the CEs wide discretion, rather than requiring everything to go through Ed, Jim or me.
Personally, I agreed with the oft-heard comment on SOTW that all of the stuff for beginners, such as which mouthpiece/horn/whatever you should use should be put in a FAQ. Other things I'm a lot more happy to help out with. Hey, it's a FAQ because it's frequently asked: there are no problems with the question, but check the FAQ before asking.
Also, personally, I haven't been on SOTW much in the past, oh, three years. There are a lot of "worthless threads" when I last checked -- many of which are being confined to SOTW's Lounge, but they do tend to spill out, some (especially into General Discussion) -- and I don't have time to sift through them for the ones that are worthwhile. I occasionally visit Sneezy.org, but I never registered there: I find the layout there very user-hostile and I already deal with enough user-hostile applications at work. Additionally, I feel that I have to be an uber-expert to post there or I'll have someone on my back about what the actual range of the chalumeau register is or some such. Life's too short.
One could also argue that SOTW's a bit too big for its own good. This necessarily leads to threads being duplicated -- like the few dozen threads about "post a pic of your horn". Hey, combine 'em all and you've got something really special. Leave 'em as is and you've just got a bunch of random threads.
FWIW, I'd LOVE to go through SOTW and create an index for them: SOTW needs a librarian more than they need another moderator. Check that: they need a STAFF of librarians.
well said pete. There have been a few pm's going back and forth between myself and a few others on there about what our actual productive post counts would be, and if the ones where we start harping about topics that have been beaten to death. The answer is surprisingly low.
Here's also nice because since I've dedicated my playing to doubling and what not, I can find some good answers from clarinet professionals, and flautists etc, where as most of SoTW is sax doublers for those threads. I still post there because I've made some good friends, and some of the lounge topics are fun to poke around in, and the marketplace is nice, but here it's nice to ground myself again.
Here's also nice because since I've dedicated my playing to doubling and what not, I can find some good answers from clarinet professionals, and flautists etc, where as most of SoTW is sax doublers for those threads. I still post there because I've made some good friends, and some of the lounge topics are fun to poke around in, and the marketplace is nice, but here it's nice to ground myself again.
What kind of reed should I use on my new $800 mouthpiece?
Writing from Helsinki where I overslept and missed having breakfast with Harri.
I really like the people on this forum and most of them are movers and shakers, ie if you ask for help you get it real time. That said, I keep trying to get more double reed and flautists to start participating, not that I could speak to those topics, but they are interesting.
My favorite part of this forum is listening to people's recordings. And the discussions about community bands and orchestras are fascinating. Just like detailed discussions about particular brands of clarinets are interesting to some, organizations fostering music education are interesting to me.
We'll get larger me thinks, that's the nature of the Internet. But right now the membership of this forum has hit the sweet spot both for me because of the quality of the folks and the answers and discussion provided.''
To get people to visit this forum I often highlight my fav threads on Facebook, to my friends, and to the sax sections I lead. But I aim isn't to grow the forum instantly to the size of the older forums.
I really like the people on this forum and most of them are movers and shakers, ie if you ask for help you get it real time. That said, I keep trying to get more double reed and flautists to start participating, not that I could speak to those topics, but they are interesting.
My favorite part of this forum is listening to people's recordings. And the discussions about community bands and orchestras are fascinating. Just like detailed discussions about particular brands of clarinets are interesting to some, organizations fostering music education are interesting to me.
We'll get larger me thinks, that's the nature of the Internet. But right now the membership of this forum has hit the sweet spot both for me because of the quality of the folks and the answers and discussion provided.''
To get people to visit this forum I often highlight my fav threads on Facebook, to my friends, and to the sax sections I lead. But I aim isn't to grow the forum instantly to the size of the older forums.
Isn't your wife a flautist Jim? Any chance of getting her to start posting?
The community bands are big for me too. I was fortunate when I was in Boston to have a lot of quality community bands to play with, and that really helped me progress in middle school. Sure playing with the school bands was good, but with the community bands, I was playing with top notch professionals. I learned a LOT real quick.
The community bands are big for me too. I was fortunate when I was in Boston to have a lot of quality community bands to play with, and that really helped me progress in middle school. Sure playing with the school bands was good, but with the community bands, I was playing with top notch professionals. I learned a LOT real quick.
A notable and welcomed difference between Woof and other discussion groups:
On Woof, when someone has nothing to say, they usually don't say it.
On Woof, when someone has nothing to say, they usually don't say it.
I have to admit, some of the folks on SOTW make it difficult to be there. The flies in the vinegar spouting on and on about the reasons vinegar beats honey, without ever experiencing honey, is getting hard to stomach. The sheer volume of those posts is discouraging.
She is actually a lifelong clarinetist who only became a saxophonist to help me we my bands. Both of us find learning the flute to be very difficult.
Maybe our tagline should become "A forum for the elite woodwind player".
I'm quite happy to have the folks who do participate here and I would be happy to have a few more just like them. My out of pocket expenses related to this forum average about $20 a month at the moment. Well worth it for the kind of information that comes from our members as far as I am concerned.
I'm quite happy to have the folks who do participate here and I would be happy to have a few more just like them. My out of pocket expenses related to this forum average about $20 a month at the moment. Well worth it for the kind of information that comes from our members as far as I am concerned.
You won't get an argument from me. I didn't mean to stir anything up or argue that bigger always is better. My sole point was that a modest increment in the number of members might be desirable. That's all.
I encourage everyone to tell their friends (online and otherwise) about our site. I've thought about putting an ad or two in some of the woodwind magazines like sax journal or jazz improv. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get the word out about the site - I'm all ears.
You could buy an ad on sotw, I suppose.
I can virtually guarantee it's cheaper than The Saxophone Journal. IIRC, their cheapest ad was in the neighborhood of $400.
As far as ads HERE are concerned, I've said that before we do that, I'd much rather ask our membership if they wanna help support us. I strongly dislike the ads on SOTW.
The new ones from Vandoren. If you're using anything else, you're not a professional.
;-)