Where did all the smart, funny & nice people go?

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

Post Reply
User avatar
jdier
audio school
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:41 am
Location: Milw., Wis.
Contact:

Post by jdier » Sun Mar 15, 2015 2:15 pm

It seems the other sites I have liked in the past (PSW, Womb) have been slow lately too.

It is funny to see this post because I have been saddened by the slower traffic. There were a bunch of guys that used to engage in great discussions about micing and mixing and gear and studios but many of them are much less active.

I wonder sometimes if the combative nature that can sometimes rear its head at places like GS wears people out. Never found people here or at the Womb to be combative.

Anyway, it is sad to me that these places were I basically read hours worth of free advice are slowing down so much.
--
Jim Dier
Home Recording Hobbiest

Judas Jetski
carpal tunnel
Posts: 1584
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:30 pm
Location: The US North Coast
Contact:

Post by Judas Jetski » Sun Mar 15, 2015 5:02 pm

One thing I really like about the TOMB... it really feels like we're all pulling together, so to speak. It seems like even when people are asking a kinda stupid question, there's usually someone who can help them out--either by giving them an answer, or by trying to help them refine their question to the point where it's maybe a little less stupid. There doesn't seem to be a lot of rampant egotism... or maybe just that the egotism here isn't rampant. Maybe it has something to do with the admins' intentional efforts to make sure that the professional community is well-represented. It's kinda hard to get into a 5-page flame war with someone when you have to wonder if they worked on [insert platinum album here].

Or maybe it's just that things got off on the right foot. I've pretty much given up the idea of recording other people for money, so sometimes I feel like I'm not really the 'target audience' or whatever... but when I'm on other boards it seems pretty obvious that this place is 'home.' [Cue effect: "AWWWWW"] But one way or another, I feel comfortable posting my questions here, provided I've thought them out well). I might not feel that way elsewhere.

So I guess that's another huge THANK YOU to Mr. Crane, et. al., who have created a truly unique and special thing. TOMB: Where The Internet Isn't Broken.
JGriffin wrote: Sorry to hear you're in a dark place. I hope you come through things okay.
Thanks. It's a long-haul sort of thing, so I appreciate that.
New Judas Jetski EP up! andysmash.bandcamp.com

www.andysmash.com

jimjazzdad
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 155
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:05 am
Location: Halifax, NS, Canada

Post by jimjazzdad » Mon Mar 16, 2015 6:24 am

I am mostly a lurker here at TOMB and on certain of the less volatile GS sub-forums. I come to read and learn and occasionally ask questions. I do think the atmosphere is more relaxed at TOMB...but maybe there is a different ratio of pros to amateurs? Certainly less folks with 'attitude' here... Anyway, the great thing about these forums is their archival nature. Maybe the OP hasn't been posting here for a while, but I certainly read a LOT of Michael Joly posts when I started playing around with ribbon mics a couple of years ago. I guess there is just so much that a finite number of audio geeks can post, before they have said what they want to say...until something new comes along. All in all, I would rather listen to (read?) signal than noise.
Jim Legere
Halifax, NS
Canada

User avatar
Studiodawg
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 156
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:19 am
Location: USA

Post by Studiodawg » Mon Mar 16, 2015 8:04 am

I visit often. I "unfriended" myself on Facebook and deactivated the account. I appreciate the vibe and general tone of this Forum over most, if not all. Thanks for posting this thread Michael...you may be the Message Board Messiah...

User avatar
losthighway
resurrected
Posts: 2347
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:02 pm
Contact:

Post by losthighway » Mon Mar 16, 2015 11:55 am

I've noticed the Brooklyn crowd doesn't post as much. It seems like the Bunker guys, the Studio G, and Strange Weather representatives were a vocal, and knowledgeable presence for many years. I assumed the quiet from them was due to being really busy with nice studios, and maybe having already covered a lot of conversational ground too. Those guys never wrote off a question with a "use the search function" type of smugness, but I think once you've talked about the relative merits of various vintage Neumanns and detailed the utility of several obscure compressors enough times you feel like you've gear geeked enough (?).

I would like to see more on here too, but I am at a weird point myself where I don't have burning new questions, or startling new insights. I figure it's temporary, as this stuff is really complicated and we all have a lot to learn from each other. One thing I wish I did more is post mixes and receive feedback, as well as listen to mixes people share and chime in.

User avatar
Snarl 12/8
cryogenically thawing
Posts: 3510
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
Location: Right Cheer
Contact:

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Mon Mar 16, 2015 2:06 pm

The stupid, unamusing & mean people are always the last to leave.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

User avatar
vvv
zen recordist
Posts: 10139
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 8:08 am
Location: Chi
Contact:

Post by vvv » Mon Mar 16, 2015 2:48 pm

Sounds like you been to some of my parties ...
bandcamp;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

jhharvest
steve albini likes it
Posts: 375
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:58 pm
Location: Seoul

Post by jhharvest » Mon Mar 16, 2015 4:05 pm

Change into your pajamas and start tupperwaring the leftovers.

User avatar
vvv
zen recordist
Posts: 10139
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 8:08 am
Location: Chi
Contact:

Post by vvv » Mon Mar 16, 2015 8:46 pm

That's how some of 'em (the parties) start!
bandcamp;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

User avatar
DrummerMan
george martin
Posts: 1436
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by DrummerMan » Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:59 pm

Interesting stuff.

I agree that there's a lot of information already out there. I know that I can get specific info mostly using TFSF.

It feels like a lot of people who were here when it was busier were in the process of "coming up" and figuring things out. Some of you were various degrees farther along in knowledge and experience than others of us, but there was a feeling that we were all mostly exploring and learning together. No matter where you were at, it felt like there was someone who was just enough better than you and interested in similar things to be interested in helping you out without trying to prove anything.

But... we move on. I, personally, learned so much from folks here and from the actual doing of stuff that I hit a particular comfortable space where I was pretty happy with how I was going about recording for my needs. Part of that comfort was about letting go of worrying about the details so much. I think that even in the most genial of forum environments you can get into a mindset of feeling like there's always SOMETHING ELSE you need to get from where you are to where you want to be. Even though we tend to de-stress gear here, it's just as easy to think "if I only had a better treated room" or "if I only had a great song and a great arrangement" as it is "if I only had a better compressor". There's nothing like DOING stuff to get you better at said stuff. And every minute you're typing a response is a minute you're not making/recording music or spending time with your kids. Of course, there are those people out there who formulate articulate thoughts and type them out quickly enough to not distract from other things ( I am not one of those people), and none of this is to say that the shared information isn't extremely valuable...

Obviously, other places can much worse than this but I've just hit a personal point where the constant comparison to others achievements and priorities do me little-to-no good. It's why I've pretty much stopped going to FB, same BS: "my life would be better if only I were one of those happy people (who obviously know the 10 signs of a successful person) and had that gig where I went to that picture perfect place and ate that awesome meal" . As for GS, I don't think I've been to "So Much Gear..." at all in years and years, though there are a couple useful forums to me over there like Music for Picture, but even that has a lot of "If you are/aren't doing [A], then you will/won't ever achieve . And, oh yeah, every action you take is killing your industry and everyone in it..."


I do lurk around here fairly often these days (check the MEGABOARD around once a day), but there was a period of time a few years back where I made a conscious decision to step away from this place due to the attitude of a couple of people. It's funny, it didn't bother me so much when there were more trollish folks around (it was mostly pretty amusing), but as many of them either left on their own fizzled out accord or were removed, the few self-proclaimed "authorities" with superiority complexes that were left really started to bother me. I just had no interest in asking or responding to a question, or even reading one, when the threat of a virtual beat-down and watching people being "put in their place" was looming. Completely unnecessary IMO for the betterment of recordists and the interwebs in general...
Most of the people whose opinions I enjoyed are still around to some degree or another though. On top of that, I've made some good work connections that I will be ever grateful for.


As far as using your real name either in your handle or your signature. I do think it makes somewhat of a difference, especially when it happens as part of a community discussion about transparency and accountability. Mostly, the people who are willing to use their real names aren't the worst kinds of troll to begin with (even some of you who think you're assholes either way, you're really probably not). What it does do is show others who might come around that enough of the respected members of this community stand behind what they say and how they say it that anonymity isn't necessarily necessary, and that using anonymity as a shield behind which to lob shit at others isn't how we do things around here.


OK. I'm ending my rambling now. This has taken me the better part of an hour (I told you I'm slow), but I've been wanting to respond to this fr a few days now. So now I'm going to get BACK TO MAKING MUSIC!!! (or watch some Buffy on Netflix. It's getting late...)
Geoff Mann
composer | drummer | Los Angeles, CA

User avatar
Michael_Joly
pushin' record
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:12 am
Contact:

Post by Michael_Joly » Tue Mar 17, 2015 7:14 am

DrummerMan wrote:...Obviously, other places can much worse than this but I've just hit a personal point where the constant comparison to others achievements and priorities do me little-to-no good ...
Yes. Its hard to remain focused, mindful and present in one's own life activities when faced with the constant barrage of future possibilities (gear, rooms, gigs).

I've recently found Eckart Tolle's "The Power of Now" to offer very lucid and compelling arguments in favor of "now" mindfulness. Present-focused mindfulness free from past-dwelling (regrets, remorse, "what if I had ...") and future-dwelling ("if I only could get ...", "I'll be happy when ...").

But yes, once the basic gear questions are answered perhaps there is a natural tendency to back away from environments that temp us away from our true selves by appealing to our past / future-focused egos.

Jim Williams
tinnitus
Posts: 1135
Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:19 am
Location: beautiful Carlsbad, CA
Contact:

Post by Jim Williams » Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:46 am

I'm still here but I don't consider myself smart, funny or nice.

I'm just a dude being a dude playing another dude.
Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

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 » Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:35 am

Judas Jetski wrote:I had the thought recently that it's possible that the necessary base of knowledge has been spread to the point where you don't need to ask questions so much as UTFSF. It seems illogical on the face of it, but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems.

It's weird, though... I get the sense that the whole internet is starting to kinda suck. Which would explain the downturn in TOMB traffic--because this place does NOT suck.

Not just the internet, either. But kinda everything. Some sort of lull in the action, or null point of coolness. Like nobody's willing to put any effort into anything bigger than themselves, because as soon as they do someone else will come along and wreck it. *KOFF-Gibson&Tascam-KOFF*

EDIT: Also, I've started feeling weird about posting under "Judas Jetski" when the trend seems to be toward either using your own name or some sort of blank identifier (i.e. Judas538754 or what have you). It seems much more IRL-ish. Which in turn somehow seems a lot less fun.

I dunno, maybe it's just me. I'm in a pretty dark place at the moment.
Similar ideas here as well.

And I'm just so busy anymore...

I'll still check in here every few days or so... maybe every couple of weeks actually... and since it seems a little slow, that makes me back burner it even more. Which is kind of sad, for this used to be a very active place where I've LEARNED A LOT, SO MUCH over the past 12 years.

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 » Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:40 am

DrummerMan wrote:Interesting stuff.

I agree that there's a lot of information already out there. I know that I can get specific info mostly using TFSF.

It feels like a lot of people who were here when it was busier were in the process of "coming up" and figuring things out. Some of you were various degrees farther along in knowledge and experience than others of us, but there was a feeling that we were all mostly exploring and learning together. No matter where you were at, it felt like there was someone who was just enough better than you and interested in similar things to be interested in helping you out without trying to prove anything.

But... we move on. I, personally, learned so much from folks here and from the actual doing of stuff that I hit a particular comfortable space where I was pretty happy with how I was going about recording for my needs. Part of that comfort was about letting go of worrying about the details so much. I think that even in the most genial of forum environments you can get into a mindset of feeling like there's always SOMETHING ELSE you need to get from where you are to where you want to be. Even though we tend to de-stress gear here, it's just as easy to think "if I only had a better treated room" or "if I only had a great song and a great arrangement" as it is "if I only had a better compressor". There's nothing like DOING stuff to get you better at said stuff. And every minute you're typing a response is a minute you're not making/recording music or spending time with your kids. Of course, there are those people out there who formulate articulate thoughts and type them out quickly enough to not distract from other things ( I am not one of those people), and none of this is to say that the shared information isn't extremely valuable...

Obviously, other places can much worse than this but I've just hit a personal point where the constant comparison to others achievements and priorities do me little-to-no good. It's why I've pretty much stopped going to FB, same BS: "my life would be better if only I were one of those happy people (who obviously know the 10 signs of a successful person) and had that gig where I went to that picture perfect place and ate that awesome meal" . As for GS, I don't think I've been to "So Much Gear..." at all in years and years, though there are a couple useful forums to me over there like Music for Picture, but even that has a lot of "If you are/aren't doing [A], then you will/won't ever achieve . And, oh yeah, every action you take is killing your industry and everyone in it..."


I do lurk around here fairly often these days (check the MEGABOARD around once a day), but there was a period of time a few years back where I made a conscious decision to step away from this place due to the attitude of a couple of people. It's funny, it didn't bother me so much when there were more trollish folks around (it was mostly pretty amusing), but as many of them either left on their own fizzled out accord or were removed, the few self-proclaimed "authorities" with superiority complexes that were left really started to bother me. I just had no interest in asking or responding to a question, or even reading one, when the threat of a virtual beat-down and watching people being "put in their place" was looming. Completely unnecessary IMO for the betterment of recordists and the interwebs in general...
Most of the people whose opinions I enjoyed are still around to some degree or another though. On top of that, I've made some good work connections that I will be ever grateful for.


As far as using your real name either in your handle or your signature. I do think it makes somewhat of a difference, especially when it happens as part of a community discussion about transparency and accountability. Mostly, the people who are willing to use their real names aren't the worst kinds of troll to begin with (even some of you who think you're assholes either way, you're really probably not). What it does do is show others who might come around that enough of the respected members of this community stand behind what they say and how they say it that anonymity isn't necessarily necessary, and that using anonymity as a shield behind which to lob shit at others isn't how we do things around here.


OK. I'm ending my rambling now. This has taken me the better part of an hour (I told you I'm slow), but I've been wanting to respond to this fr a few days now. So now I'm going to get BACK TO MAKING MUSIC!!! (or watch some Buffy on Netflix. It's getting late...)


Totally.

sound for sandwiches
gimme a little kick & snare
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 12:35 pm
Location: Chicago, IL

Post by sound for sandwiches » Tue Mar 17, 2015 12:13 pm

I've never been a particularly active member as far as posting, but I do value my connection to this place and usually click through once a week or so to see what people are talking about. My recording activities tend to ebb and flow too, so when I am gearing up for a project or in the middle of something and need answers, I am more likely to post and/or UTSF.

I just spent a couple hundred bucks on electronics components to make a significant dent in my mod/repair pile though, so maybe I am due for an active spell.

I agree with others in this thread that the tone of discussion here is better than most elsewhere on the net- it's what hooked me after I first started lurking and what keeps me coming back.

Cheers

David

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 61 guests