Too many forums...

comments or issues with this board

Moderators: TapeOpLarry, tomb

User avatar
apropos of nothing
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2193
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 6:29 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Contact:

Too many forums...

Post by apropos of nothing » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:34 pm

I'm glad the board is back.

I can live with the lay-out, though I miss the classic obnoxious-yellow. (Yellow and black is the highest-contrast color combo -- really easy on the eyes in a kind of a hard-on-the-aesthetics kind of way.)

I've grown really frustrated with boards with so many subforums, though. They encourage user-base fragmentation, and its really easy to miss conversations that you want to take part in.

I mean its y'all's board, and you can run it the way you want. I'm just putting my feelings out as a reasonably committed user.

User avatar
helstab
george martin
Posts: 1328
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:43 am
Contact:

Post by helstab » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:08 pm

yeah it is wierd. less is more. I would think that TapeOP would know that.
-Matthew Macchio$tab

Knights Who Say Neve
buyin' a studio
Posts: 985
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 6:27 pm
Location: The Mome Raths Outgrabe

Post by Knights Who Say Neve » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:59 pm

Yes. I liked the cross-pollinization effect of having fewer but more inclusive topic catagories. This is too fragmented.

Still glad to have it back tho...
"What you're saying is, unlike all the other writers, if it was really new, you'd know it was new when you heard it, and you'd love it. <b>That's a hell of an assumption</b>". -B. Marsalis

User avatar
heylow
george martin
Posts: 1265
Joined: Fri May 02, 2003 2:27 pm
Location: The Dreadful Midwest
Contact:

Post by heylow » Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:24 pm

Hey!

I'd just like to chime in on this one. I know I have been a bit critical of the board here and there but I'm stoked it's back and I'm stoked that it IS actually a little different. Good work Hillary and all!

I know there are good reasons for many of the decisions that have gone into effect here but for half of the questions that many think of asking, the conversation would be straddling too many subjects.

Take for instance... "I've been listening to Neil Young's Harvest a lot and I'd like to know if anyone can point me towards achieving that kind of acoustic sound. I just think it's killerfantabulous. Thoughts?"

Here you have 3 different forums worth of stuff. The conversation that followed would easily straddle Technique, Gear and Using Your Ears.

Then someone would say "Post what you have got going right now since it's hard to objectively speak about something we can't hear." Someone else would love the song that was posted and a small side conversation would ensue about this person's record....

Shit...now you have 4 forums and one simple question!!



I guess what i'm saying is that at the very least, I think Technique and Gear are one in the same since there is no "one" without the "other".

I'm stoked there is a DIY! NICE!

Use Your Ears is wierd. I understand the one about "your" music but I don't get the one about other music. It really seems to me that this forum, people skills, hookups and MAYBE Making a Space are really just a "General" forum needlessly scattered.

Am I wrong? If so, I am big enough to take a good pistol whipping and even a good hearty "go to hell".


All that said...thanks for bringing it back!


heylow

User avatar
Girl Toes
carpal tunnel
Posts: 1598
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: In A Turkey Sandwich
Contact:

Post by Girl Toes » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:18 am

CAN"T COMPUTERS DO EVERYTHING!!!!! I'm sure there is a way to make the whole forum viewable in multiple ways. I agree, I don't like the overwhelming number of forums to sort through. Read All Unread Posts is nice, but i do like some discrimination. It wouldn't seem very hard to make multiple views possible. Then you just have to select a more specific category from the the menu.


Still, Miss Johnson has done plenty of work as is. Maybe hounding the BB program's manufacturer is the way to go.

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:28 am

heylow wrote:Use Your Ears is wierd. I understand the one about "your" music but I don't get the one about other music. It really seems to me that this forum, people skills, hookups and MAYBE Making a Space are really just a "General" forum needlessly scattered.
Many of the people involved in the redesigning thought that general was, well, too general. Hence the division.

I was really excited about the using your ears thing, but it hasn't really made any headway. Everyone also felt it better to have that separate from a "Look what I've done" type of thing. Seeing as how using your ears is pretty much the most important part of the job, I thought it would be a great forum. It's supposed to include any sort of discussions about improving listening skills, specific techniques used on records and how to recreate them or how to figure out how to recreate them, learning phase relationships, undertsanding monitors, critical listening, and that sort of thing. I guess that's part of technique as well, but it's just a different type of thing than "How do you mic a sackbutt?"

It hasn't gotten much attention yet. I'm hoping that will change. Perhaps I should start some topics. Feel free to help out. I think once it takes off it will be a really cool thing.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

User avatar
andyg666
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 669
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 9:25 am
Location: Witchtown, MA
Contact:

Post by andyg666 » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:31 am

we need to create a php script that will parse new topics, search them for various keywords, tabulating a "score" of what the thread is most likely about based on the frequency of use of said keywords, and then placing the new topic into the appropriate thread. this is the worst idea ever, but i think we should try it just for fun.

User avatar
Girl Toes
carpal tunnel
Posts: 1598
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:06 pm
Location: In A Turkey Sandwich
Contact:

Post by Girl Toes » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:45 am

andyg666 wrote:we need to create a php script that will parse new topics, search them for various keywords, tabulating a "score" of what the thread is most likely about based on the frequency of use of said keywords, and then placing the new topic into the appropriate thread. this is the worst idea ever, but i think we should try it just for fun.
Similar BB's all have shitty searches. This is a REAL problem from the software maker. A lot of great features could be added simply by having a better search function. But again, its the software.

TapeOpLarry
TapeOp Admin
TapeOp Admin
Posts: 1665
Joined: Thu May 01, 2003 11:50 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Post by TapeOpLarry » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:18 am

Regarding too many forums: I see our message board as more of a resource for folks to ask questions (or lurk) and learn - not as much of a "hang out" as some of you obviously want. I'd suggest Gearslutz for some great general forums and OT activity.

I was completely sick of the silliness and name calling jokey shit that was going on in General Recording that to a new reader would be a real put off. Make sense?
Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
(do not send private messages via this board!)
www.larry-crane.com

tret-lo
gettin' sounds
Posts: 101
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2003 11:33 am
Location: Cambridge, MA

Post by tret-lo » Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:39 am

A lot of great features could be added simply by having a better search function. But again, its the software.
I have been putting some thought into how to improve the search engine. The way it works now is really stupid. Basically, it parses every post for keywords and puts them all in an enormous table. Then it creates an even bigger table mapping each word to each post that contains it. The "wordmatch" table for this messageboard is already over 6 million rows! This is actually somewhat similar to the idea that andyg666 called "the worst idea ever." Not only does it make the searching work poorly--it is a huge tax on the server's resources.

Perhaps a new search engine will be unveiled in the future...

User avatar
heylow
george martin
Posts: 1265
Joined: Fri May 02, 2003 2:27 pm
Location: The Dreadful Midwest
Contact:

Post by heylow » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:09 am

TapeOpLarry wrote:Regarding too many forums: I see our message board as more of a resource for folks to ask questions (or lurk) and learn - not as much of a "hang out" as some of you obviously want. I'd suggest Gearslutz for some great general forums and OT activity.

I was completely sick of the silliness and name calling jokey shit that was going on in General Recording that to a new reader would be a real put off. Make sense?
Wow.

Little testy there, Larry?

I appreciate Chris' answer....thanks Chris.

However, Larry...no one here mentioned any "in quotes" hang out. I think I made a perfectly good case that made plenty more sense than you just gave credit for. I don't appreciate being talked down to for illustrating a perfectly polite suggestion...especially since that's what this forum is for. If TapeOp desn't want a General...good, so be it. I don't think there's any reason to come off that way though.

I'm only assuming you were aiming at me (makes the most sense). I can assure you I'm not looking for a hangout and I have always been a good poster i.e. you won't find much in the way of "name calling jokey shit next to my name." (Not counting a few good natured ones at friends on the board...though I never fail at keeping to the topic).



heylow

User avatar
trashy
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2128
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 10:30 am
Location: Red Bluff, CA
Contact:

Post by trashy » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:43 am

TapeOpLarry wrote:Regarding too many forums: I see our message board as more of a resource for folks to ask questions (or lurk) and learn - not as much of a "hang out" as some of you obviously want. I'd suggest Gearslutz for some great general forums and OT activity.

I was completely sick of the silliness and name calling jokey shit that was going on in General Recording that to a new reader would be a real put off. Make sense?
What the heck is the difference between "general recording" and "recording techniques"? I mean, seriously. The problem with too many forums is that it hinders asking questions and getting answers. You could have one big forum that said "recording" on it, and you could still eliminate off-topic posts with clearly defined rules and a mod who was willing to hang out and moderate. More forums does not equal less off-topic posts, it just makes the board harder to use and harder to moderate.

Of course, we already went over this a while ago. No one was interested in hearing user comments then, so I'm not sure why I'm posting.

*listens to echo of own voice*

*considers recording cello in empty forum*

User avatar
heylow
george martin
Posts: 1265
Joined: Fri May 02, 2003 2:27 pm
Location: The Dreadful Midwest
Contact:

Post by heylow » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:57 am

trashy wrote:
TapeOpLarry wrote:Regarding too many forums: I see our message board as more of a resource for folks to ask questions (or lurk) and learn - not as much of a "hang out" as some of you obviously want. I'd suggest Gearslutz for some great general forums and OT activity.

I was completely sick of the silliness and name calling jokey shit that was going on in General Recording that to a new reader would be a real put off. Make sense?
What the heck is the difference between "general recording" and "recording techniques"? I mean, seriously. The problem with too many forums is that it hinders asking questions and getting answers. You could have one big forum that said "recording" on it, and you could still eliminate off-topic posts with clearly defined rules and a mod who was willing to hang out and moderate. More forums does not equal less off-topic posts, it just makes the board harder to use and harder to moderate.

Of course, we already went over this a while ago. No one was interested in hearing user comments then, so I'm not sure why I'm posting.

*listens to echo of own voice*

*considers recording cello in empty forum*

Good point, actually. General doesn't have to mean off topic. So much recording talk DOES fall under a General Recording heading. ESPECIALLY once a good conversation gets going. That's what I was trying to illustrate. When a question is asked, people chime in and the conversation moves naturally into any number of other forum subjects because, when recording, you can't have one without the other in most cases.

Say a guy asks about a mic for recording drum rooms. A number of microphones AND their uses will be discussed, which will of course move into discussing the rest of the chain, room, other records' drum room sounds, etc.


heylow

User avatar
trodden
on a wing and a prayer
Posts: 5651
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 8:21 am
Location: C-attle
Contact:

Post by trodden » Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:35 pm

heylow wrote:
trashy wrote:
TapeOpLarry wrote:Regarding too many forums: I see our message board as more of a resource for folks to ask questions (or lurk) and learn - not as much of a "hang out" as some of you obviously want. I'd suggest Gearslutz for some great general forums and OT activity.

I was completely sick of the silliness and name calling jokey shit that was going on in General Recording that to a new reader would be a real put off. Make sense?
What the heck is the difference between "general recording" and "recording techniques"? I mean, seriously. The problem with too many forums is that it hinders asking questions and getting answers. You could have one big forum that said "recording" on it, and you could still eliminate off-topic posts with clearly defined rules and a mod who was willing to hang out and moderate. More forums does not equal less off-topic posts, it just makes the board harder to use and harder to moderate.

Of course, we already went over this a while ago. No one was interested in hearing user comments then, so I'm not sure why I'm posting.

*listens to echo of own voice*

*considers recording cello in empty forum*

Good point, actually. General doesn't have to mean off topic. So much recording talk DOES fall under a General Recording heading. ESPECIALLY once a good conversation gets going. That's what I was trying to illustrate. When a question is asked, people chime in and the conversation moves naturally into any number of other forum subjects because, when recording, you can't have one without the other in most cases.

Say a guy asks about a mic for recording drum rooms. A number of microphones AND their uses will be discussed, which will of course move into discussing the rest of the chain, room, other records' drum room sounds, etc.


heylow
exactly like the thread about some different kick mics over at the gear forum. The nature of conversation has brought in many aspects of recording, and its those threads that are useful and fun. That behavior might be "hanging out" though.

MichaelJoly

too many forums

Post by MichaelJoly » Wed Nov 02, 2005 1:31 pm

Maybe I'm just be an old curmudeon. but the old yellow / red space suited my needs much better than this new one.

I liked the info-density of General Recording, the random messyness of it all. It had a certain USENET-like vibe about it that I enjoyed.

You really got a sense of the depth and breadth of _this_ particular community when plowing through General Recording.

This may change over time, but my first impression of this new space is that it is too organized, too professional, and too scrubbed.

I don't recognize the community.

cheers, MJ

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests