Suggestions & Ideas you have for the Community

[SdC]

Thanks Guys I appreciate your support ......... I have put my toys back in my pram...but still not happy.....
Blooby's comments coupled with the excellent and complicated work posted recently have really knocked my confidence...
Now all I need to find is my mojo......
Don't worry you will hear me over the Weekend!

Great. The key is to properly indicate in the post if it is a "found" backer or cover or original or whatnot. I must say as a newby it was all a bit confusing and unclear.

[Geir]

Now all I need to find is my mojo......
Don't worry you will hear me over the Weekend!

Good !!! I'm sure you'll find your mojo back ... your last posts have been amazing.

[strogon14]

I have a suggestion and a question for the forum:

- This thread "Suggestions & Ideas" should be made into its own subforum called "Board Feedback" or similar. This would include comments, suggestions, bug reports and questions about board features. It would make it a lot easier to find the discussion about specific ideas or features if they all had their own topic.

- Why is the format for the music files in the "Post your MP3" and collaboration forums limited to MP3 and WMA??? These are both, either proprietary or patent-encumbered formats and, though widely used, do not yield the best quality for their size (MP3) or have other problems (WMA: windows-centric, DRM-issues).  I would very much welcome the addition of Ogg Vorbis to the list of allowed formats. Unfortunately there are only Flash-based Ogg Vorbis players for Flash 10 available so far, AFAIK. (EDIT: but there is a Java-based player applet.)


Chris

[Bosko Schwartz]

Personally, I don't think it wouldn't be in the spirit of this place to start segregating 'backer' songs - i.e. sending them to some kind of 'leper colony' thread, lol. If that starts happening, where does it end? Do cover versions get their own thread too? And what about computer-created songs that are constructed from loops and sequences with minimal 'songwriting' talent?

As someone who creates whole songs, collaborates in a virtual band, sings over backers, and sings over other original creations, I make absolutely NO distinction between them, because they're all just ways of making and enjoying music to me. Whether I've had a major or minor hand in them, I've been involved and helped shape them, so that's all that counts.

We have diverse talents on here. I'll never be able to take a backer (like 48 and Bluesberry...) and rip some juicy, bluesy lead up over it.

I really respect the talent it takes to play to that level, so I have no issues with hearing songs played over backers when the person has invested their imagination and passion into them. It's still a (very) creative process when it's done right.

Of course, collaborations are better, but we have to work with what we've got... !

Just my two-cents....

I have to agree with Greeny.  In fact, I wish there was LESS segregation altogether on this site.  I am someone who records all instruments myself, and haven't yet done a cover song, but I have absolutely ZERO problem with musicians who use well-chosen backers and play over them.  As long as it's made clear in the post that a backer was used, I don't see what the problem is.  48, I hope you are no longer discouraged!

As for the segregation issue, all of the action is centered around the Micro BR, and that is understandable since this only just recently became converted into an all-Boss forum.  But still, it seems like the rest of the sections are being ignored, at least comparatively.  For example, I only recently found all of Kody's posts in the BR-900 section because I wouldn't have thought to check it out.  Same goes for the BR-1600, in which Blooby and I are the only ones posting.  I haven't had a chance to swing by any of the other sections either, so I am leaving others out just like I feel my section is being left out.  Now, I understand that it is up to everyone here to do their diligence in checking all of the separate sections, but I just think it would be easier for everyone to get their fair share of listens if there was just one universal "Post Your MP3" section.  ORH said I should just post my tunes in the Micro room, but I wouldn't feel right doing that since I don't own a MBR.  Still, I don't think it matters which Boss machine a song was recorded on -- all Boss recorders are basically the same, aside from features and number of recordable tracks.  So as long as it's done on a Boss, we should all be in the same room.  I do like how the "other" recording devices are in a separate section since this is, after all, a Boss site.  But I STRONGLY suggest that we merge all "Post Your MP3" sections into one big pot.  Or maybe not one room, but definitely not one for each different Boss recorder.  I think we should have one section for original MP3s, one for covers, one for collaborations (which we already have), one for non-Boss recordings (which we already have), and perhaps to appease Blooby, one for live jams.  That's my take.

I am also a bit confused, as we do already have the collaborations section, but in the "Post Your MP3" sections, there are a TON of collaborations, especially in the MBR room.  What makes the current collaborations section any different from the Micro BR section now?

NOTE: For the tutorials section, it obviously makes sense to keep those recorders separate.  I am strictly talking about the "Post Your MP3" section.

[Bosko Schwartz]

Blooby's comments coupled with the excellent and complicated work posted recently have really knocked my confidence...
Now all I need to find is my mojo......
Don't worry you will hear me over the Weekend!

Hey 48, Blooby can be blunt at times, but I honestly don't think he meant to say that you or anyone else playing over backers was somehow sub-standard.  Hope I am not speaking for him out of turn.

As for the "excellent and complicated work posted recently," I wish you wouldn't be discouraged by it.  I for one love it.  I am being greatly inspired by the songwriting and playing skills of indierik, Jemima's Kite, Osckilo, Geir, etc., as well as the incredible guitar-work of yourself, Bluesberry, Blooby, Satchwood, launched, 0jimihendrix0, jackofall, etc. (hope I didn't leave too many out, but there are many more).  Something being "excellent" or "complicated" just pushes me that much harder to do the best I can.  This seems to be the beauty of this forum.  Some musicians here develop greatly over time, thanks to the insight, feedback, encouragement, and mostly, inspiration of others.  Others, like myself, know that I have absolutely no hope of ever being a shredding lead blues player, but I still appreciate your and their talents, and it still keeps me going to continue what I feel I have to offer.  We all bring something wonderful and unique to the table.  If we were all on the same exact levels and all did the same thing, it wouldn't be as much fun.  Please don't be discouraged!  YOU ROCK!!!

As for my last post just before this, it looks like my suggestion to not have separate "Post Your MP3" sections for each separate Boss recorder brought this thread to a screaming halt ...

Why?  Am I alone on this island?

[Bluesberry]

But I STRONGLY suggest that we merge all "Post Your MP3" sections into one big pot.  Or maybe not one room, but definitely not one for each different Boss recorder.  I think we should have one section for original MP3s, one for covers, one for collaborations (which we already have), one for non-Boss recordings (which we already have), and perhaps to appease Blooby, one for live jams.

I agree with what Bosko just wrote.  Just to be clear, there are a lot of folks who use a microBR then import into their computers for mixing and other stuff anyway so it is never clear if something was done completly with just the micro or not, and who cares.  All BRs are pretty similiar, lets have a global all-BR post your work section, with sub sections for original songs, cover songs, instrumentals, colaborations, all BR users post to the same section.  The posts made on the other recorders in the BR family are feeling lonely.

[Oldrottenhead]

i agree with boscko on this, i often deliberately dont post my collaborations in the collaboration section because after a few days they get lost, songs in the post your mp3 mbr section will be heard, those who know me, will know ive been banging on about this for ages.

[64Guitars]

As for my last post just before this, it looks like my suggestion to not have separate "Post Your MP3" sections for each separate Boss recorder brought this thread to a screaming halt ...

Why?  Am I alone on this island?

I agree with what Bosko just wrote.

i agree with boscko on this

No, Bosko, you're not alone. I made what I felt was a very strong case for this over a year ago.

https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br/your-opinion/msg2562/#msg2562
(It's a long thread but I think it's worth reading the whole thing)

Unfortunately, everyone seemed to be against my ideas at the time. I think that's why Pedro didn't go ahead with his plan to include all Boss recorders until a year later. And I think it's why we now have sub-categories for each recorder.

But more than a year has passed since that earlier discussion and I think that some members may have a different view now. And, since all Boss recorders are now being supported here, I think people can see the problems with having separate boards for each machine. Maybe it's time to re-visit this discussion.

I'd like to see a single board for all MP3s, whether they're meant as collaborations or not, and regardless of which recorder was used. If I post a song that I consider complete, why should I mind if someone decides to add something to it and upload their own mix? Even if I don't like what they've done, my mix will still be there, and I've still got my original tracks and mixes on my BR and backed up on my PC, so it's not like they've ruined my work. And, in most cases, the added tracks only improve the song anyway.

I'd also like to see the General Discussion child boards merged into a single board. As I've said many times before, all of the BRs are very similar and users can learn a lot about their own BR by reading about the others. Also, the same sort of questions tend to get asked for each recorder - "How do I bounce tracks?", "What are v-tracks?", "How do I make a drum arrangement?", etc. It's a waste of time and storage space to keep repeating the same answers in nine different child boards when a single answer would suffice for all BRs. Any minor differences can be addressed within the message thread.

At the very least, I'd like to see the child boards reduced to these three (as I suggested over a year ago):

• 4-Track BRs - This would include the Micro BR and BR-532. If a new 4-track BR is announced, it would be added here.
• 8-Track BRs (memory card) - This would include the BR-600, BR-864, BR-900CD, and any future BRs that have 8 tracks (or more) and use a memory card for storage rather than a hard disk. It could also include the BR-8, although it uses a zip disk rather than a memory card.
• Hard Disk BRs - The BR-1200, BR-1600, BR-1180 and any future BRs that use a hard disk for storage.

I'd prefer to have just one Boss discussion board, but maybe the three boards above would be a good compromise for a while until everyone's had a chance to get used to it. Then we can discuss the possibility of merging those three into a single board. Even when there are a lot of differences (Micro BR vs BR-1600, for example) it's good to be aware of those differences. It will help you to make a better purchase decision when you upgrade to another BR in the future.


But the thing that concerns me the most about this site is the recent changes that made it impossible to add an MP3 to an existing topic in "Post your MP3" or even change the file that you originally uploaded. I think that needs to be fixed soon. Of course, if Collaborations was merged with the Post your MP3 boards, this would be necessary anyway since it's essential for collaborations.

And links to non-MP3 file attachments in older messages have been lost in "Post your MP3". For example, Hooper's very useful blank track chart (pdf file) is no longer available in this message:

https://songcrafters.org/community/micro-br-b65/cowgirl-in-the-sand/msg3365/#msg3365

The file's still attached to that message, but members can't access it because "Post your MP3" ignores all attachments except the original MP3 file in the opening message.

Also, I think it's imperative to get links to offsite files working in the MP3 player. Many songs from older messages have disappeared because they were stored offsite.

[Oldrottenhead]

here here 64.

[Geir]

Just a thought:

Would it be possible to keep the current structure, BUT in addition have one list or "view" (database language I guess) that shows the posts in all the other boards? So that if you use that common list it's just like everything was posted there!

Another option would be to just have one list but add a field in the post that says what kind of recorder is being used.

(guess I'm just trying to please everyone .... )