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CRAZY-HORSE Wrote:I looked at that one when I was looking for somewhere to call home Big Ears....
I didn't feel at ease there so I stayed here instead
Yes exactly. In my case knowing how quickly I'd get caught up in the bushwa internal politics and name-calling, I quickly exited MB. MD may skew young but respectful; MB comes off as the worst kind of adolescence. Here, it's a part of my life; there, it would be my life. And Big Ears, I'd be most interested in your guide to music message boards and maybe even blogs--no great depth needed; a quick overview and impressions would do. Each one teach one.
A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind--Dr. Johnson
What he said. Amen, Bro--JazzboCR
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I joined MB after looking around the internet for album reviews to help inform my own efforts on my existing forums. There are some very prolific writers on MB. I took a few impertinent remarks, which I ignored, and joined their Prog Rock Album Club. After this, I was encouraged to start a journal, where I ended up posting most of my reviews. The good thing about their Members' Journals sub-forum is that it keeps everything in one place and one could return after a year to edit an entry. This suited me down to the ground as I write, re-write and edit my reviews endlessly. To the rest of the forum I hardly contributed at all, because of my earlier experiences of the more abrasive members. Having said this, another advantage of the site was that concentrating on just a few threads did keep me out of mischief during my stay.
Being a general music site, I could not figure out where the heavy and hard rock belonged, but having a predominantly young membership it probably did not belong at all (other than as heavy metal). After a while, I felt I was too old a dog for new tricks, tied-up the loose ends and left. My membership still remains at the time of writing.
âThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.â William Shakespeare, As You Like It
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When you say your 'own efforts' are you referring to music or writing? If it's music I would like to hear some if possible.
'The purpose of life is a life of purpose' - Athena Orchard.
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Writing - I am musically incompetent.
âThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.â William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Posts: 374
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03-12-2014, 11:28
(This post was last modified: 03-12-2014, 11:31 by Big Ears.)
I stumbled across my first music forum in the early noughties, although I had used bulletin boards for my work earlier than this and had also used other types of forum. I cannot recall the initial Google search, although I do remember my first ever post on a music forum as it asked for recommended digital radio stations. This was on the biggest progressive rock site and the subsequent advice was helpful, because I was thinking of buying a digital radio at the time. I have since abandoned the idea as the reception can be variable. Heavy and pregressive rock, never well supported by radio stations in the UK, was fading fast on the analogue stations, but there were some successful digital stations playing this type of music. Now I have broadband, I rarely bother with digital radio.
Anyway, the site in question has a large archive, which I still find useful for reference, but the flame wars, which seemed to take precedence over the music, drove me away after a few years. There was also a lack of respect for what I would call 'progressive' bands and considerable space given to what I would call 'indie' bands. Occasionally, I still post, but, in nearly ten years, have only made 643 posts, which is less than one fifth of a post per day. Not long after signing to this site, I had also signed to the next biggest progressive rock forum, to which I returned. During my time with them, they updated their software, which changed the nature of the site, but I persisted.
Forum No. 2 was, and is, characterised by cliques, which must have driven many potential members away over the years. It drove me away, although I visit now and again, to the place where I finally settled for a while . . .
âThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.â William Shakespeare, As You Like It
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15-12-2014, 11:13
(This post was last modified: 15-12-2014, 11:19 by Big Ears.)
Following the progressive forums came a tale of three classic rock sites. I signed for two with similar names, at the same time, thinking they were the same site, and was introduced to the third by another member. The welcome to Site 1 was immediate, although the people who were most welcoming departed soon after, but it was where I remained for several years and 5,000 posts (which is a huge amount by my standards). The tone was mostly civil, no-one was up their own backside and there was no indignation at the mention of Foghat. A troll drove me away (to MB) and I returned after a message informing me he had gone. This was my mistake and I left again, never to return, except to reply to PMs and a birthday thread. What I realised I should have done was to start a journal on this forum and kept my posts together, but it was too late.
Site 2, when I eventually discovered it was a second site, continued to remain an enigma, as I changed my email address and could not re-enter. I PM-ed the admins, but they ignored my message. From what I could tell, it was built upon the use of quotes, which were concealed, as if the admins were paranoid about copyright infringements. It was not a difficult site to abandon. Site 3 was friendly, but had a short time for editing posts and I wanted to start a journal as I had at MB.
Along the way I joined a heavy rock site, the name of which I have forgotten, in the early days of its formation. I suggested they include seventies bands like Robin Trower and was lectured on how they did not want to be distracted by arguments that dogged other sites, such as, 'What is progressive?' I visited some time later to see they had created a sub-forum, with a hideous title like proto-metal or something, that included Robin Trower, Budgie, etc. Again, it was easy to abandon. I am also a member of the Hoffman site, which is excellent for details of the myriad versions of songs, but I have never posted.
In truth, I am biding my time at Music Discussion, while continuing to look for a forum where I can start a journal amongst like-minded people. Maybe there is no such thing.
If anyone wants the names of the sites mentioned, I'll send them as a PM. It didn't seem right to mention them in an open forum, apart from MB which had already been named. As a general music site, it seems well-known here in any case. I should add that Music Discussion has a good name at MB, so I did not want to be too damning!
âThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.â William Shakespeare, As You Like It
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^^
nice post BE
we hope you stick around
hard to find intelligent people
can you explain what you mean by: a forum where I can start a journal amongst like-minded people
what is the difference between that and creating a thread?
excuse my ignorance
this is the way simple minds work
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Yours is a common question MH, and for a while I did not know the answer myself.
A journal is a thread and they are grouped in a "members' journals" sub-forum. This means members are entitled to a journal, or even several of them, within the sub-forum. They are good, and often used, for keeping album reviews together in one place (one thread), but they don't have to be reviews of albums. Some people use them for a different theme, like films/TV programmes they have watched, comic books, genres of music, books and almost anything which can be contained within a thread.
I started one on another forum, gathering together YouTube and GrooveShark clips, but it was not right. I did not realise the value of them for reviews until I came across the sub-forum at MB. This is their current list:
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-journal/
This is mine:
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-journ...urnal.html
As you can see, some people are incredibly prolific and just churn them out. I am not prolific at all and my entries took me ages to write. When I tried to write them quickly, you can see the quality drop. I have tried to start them as threads on other forums and they did not work, for me, because of the short editing times. Also writing about European progressive rock bands on American sites dedicated to Aerosmith and Kiss can become a bit uncomfortable.
http://www.talkclassicrock.com/threads/t...post-75060
âThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.â William Shakespeare, As You Like It
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^ Re. 'intelligent people', my intelligence is average - I've taken the tests (and I am quite experienced in testing other people). My saving grace is that my education is good.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.' She's got me in a nutshell. It's funny how American women are always good for quotes.
âThe fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.â William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Posts: 29,805
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Big Ears Wrote:^ Re. 'intelligent people', my intelligence is average - I've taken the tests (and I am quite experienced in testing other people). My saving grace is that my education is good.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.' She's got me in a nutshell. It's funny how American women are always good for quotes. I'm good for events
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