Suggestion to all of the gurus answering n00b questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter wheelema
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
wheelema

wheelema

Boner-obo
Just answer the question.

It's wonderful that you want others to learn, and that you suggest stickies or other websites that have helped you, but first and foremost just answer the question.

Asking for help should not necessitate an hour of required reading.
 
I guess I get most of what you might be saying there, +/- a big dose of it sort of depends?

On the other end to bad there's not a way we could get (noobs primarily) to think little more before dropping a really wide open ended question.
 
wheelema said:
Asking for help should not necessitate an hour of required reading.
Click to expand...
Many of the questions asked require several hours of reading plus months (if not years) of experience to really understand the answers.

Some questions are pretty simple -- "My board has XLR outs and my speakers have RCA inputs..." But the "I just started recording last week and I'm having trouble getting my recordings to sound like I work with a team of dedicated professionals" questions (that might be a bit of a stretch, but only a bit in many cases) are a little harder to deal with...
 
wheelema said:
Asking for help should not necessitate an hour of required reading.
Click to expand...
That depends on the question. If the question is something like "why is my guitar only recording on the left", that is a straight forward, easy answer. If the question is "why is 24 bit better than 16 bit" and they actually want the scientific explanation, it's much easier to send them to a website with graphics and such than it is to type a half-assed novel on a message board.
 
What the others said. Sometimes I give a straight forward answer. Sometimes, it's only a "yes" or "no!" But I have to write extra characters when I do that! :cursing:
 
Obviously not every question can be answered in fifteen syllables or less, and often the correct response is to direct a question elsewhere. But if you can answer the question succinctly then do so. Too often it seems of late that respondents tell people to take the equivalent of a semester of Audio Engineering and then get back to them in the morning.

Perhaps I'm just feeling peevish.
 
wheelema said:
Obviously not every question can be answered in fifteen syllables or less, and often the correct response is to direct a question elsewhere. But if you can answer the question succinctly then do so. Too often it seems of late that respondents tell people to take the equivalent of a semester of Audio Engineering and then get back to them in the morning.

Perhaps I'm just feeling peevish.
Click to expand...


Well, I think it was good taking TWO semesters of audio engineering. Right off the bat, I knew the jargon and I found myself helping more than learning. But yes, the answer to one question should definitely not be a class of audio engineering. But I haven't really seen answers like that. :confused:
 
Farview said:
That depends on the question.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

Massive Master said:
Many of the questions asked require several hours of reading plus months (if not years) of experience to really understand the answers.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
I understand where Wheelie is coming from but it simply is not that cut and dried. And having come across the same questions over and over for many years, rather than not answer and possibly leave an enquirer high and dry, it makes sense to point someone to a place where the answer already lies instead of typing it out again. And again. And again.....For example, when someone posts a question asking about VSTis/samples, as a start point I'll just cut and paste an answer I gave 2 years ago that was pretty definitive for me. There's very little difference between that and posting a link to a similar kind of page elsewhere.
The fact is that in recording, there are very few simple 15 syllable answers. And more to the point, on a message board/internet forum, you have to be prepared to read to even contemplate being on one because that is the only way people communicate on them ¬> it's the nature of the beast.
Let the enquirer decide whether or not they've been given too much to read.
 
grimtraveller said:
exactly.

Exactly.
I understand where wheelie is coming from but it simply is not that cut and dried. And having come across the same questions over and over for many years, rather than not answer and possibly leave an enquirer high and dry, it makes sense to point someone to a place where the answer already lies instead of typing it out again. And again. And again.....for example, when someone posts a question asking about vstis/samples, as a start point i'll just cut and paste an answer i gave 2 years ago that was pretty definitive for me. There's very little difference between that and posting a link to a similar kind of page elsewhere.
The fact is that in recording, there are very few simple 15 syllable answers. And more to the point, on a message board/internet forum, you have to be prepared to read to even contemplate being on one because that is the only way people communicate on them ¬> it's the nature of the beast.
Let the enquirer decide whether or not they've been given too much to read.
Click to expand...

tl;dr

:D
 
In all honesty, I really dislike "TL;DR."

I could understand how it could be used sometimes. I would hate to read through 8 paragraphs of nonsense. But some people say "TL;DR" for short paragraphs! It's ridiculous.
 
I have been on forums for several years now and must have racked up a fair few 1000 posts (tho' quantity is not necessarily QUALITY I know!).
I am also perhaps something of a unique animal? I am now 67 and have spent all my life in electronics but mostly "domestic" and analogue electronics. I missed the digital boat at college and have only very recently started to catch up. I was also, until about 7 years ago, pretty computer illiterate.

Then I discovered computer sound recording and as son was a talented musician, guitar, keys and very well versed in theory, reads well, this seemed like brilliant answer to our struggles with a Teac OR machine, noise and distortion.

So, I began on the forums as a sort of "half" noob! I had no idea what a "DAW" was and MIDI and sample rates were a mystery to me. BUT! They could not fool me on the physics! I knew who was talking BS about impedances and bllx about $100 2mtr jack leads. It took me a time of lurking but I eventually worked out who the good guys were from their technical accuracy in the areas I was familiar with.

The noob, noob does not of course have my background (PA, analogue recording and building amps, mixers and other gizmos) and I understand that so you won't get RTFM! From moir.......So, I try to answer THE question (unless it is a technical back alley) as best I can and avoid links and references. I do not K.I.S.S. as possible and leave out ALL technical terms. The sooner the noob realizes that this game IS very technical and jargon ridden the better. I also expect people to learn up to Ohms Law. The equation is only the same form as Speed Distance Time. I also suggest that they get to grips with soldering as early as possible and...BUY A FEKKIN' METER! All of ya!

Dave.
 
Besides what others have said, one of the inherent differences between technical support and a guru is that often the guru tells the poster what they need to know, instead of what they want to know. By the nature of the questions that noobs ask, they often tell you the things they *don't* know, and it often makes their question irrelevant. What's the best mixer for recording in mono? What large diaphragm condenser should I use to plug into my computer? My mission on this board is often to help noobs, not answer their questions. Many times, just answering somebody's question gives them all the information they need to do something expensive and pointless.
 
The problem with a lot of newbs is they want quick, easy answers....they don't want to have to work to hard understanding or applying the answers they get.

Now....sometimes the answer can and should be quick-n-easy, and many of us here do the best we can to "dumb it down" for newbs (no insult intended)....but you know, a lot of people here have spent years learning, doing, and working hard to educate themselves and gain some experience with recording, and the long, well thought out answers that are sometimes provided....they have a purpose. They are meant to put the newb on the right path, and not just give them a quick-n-easy answer with nothing really learned....with no foundation behind the answer.

So I think newbs that get pissed or discouraged when they don't get a quick-n-easy answer....should just move on.
Find some something else to do...recording may not be right for you.
 
A lot of times, knowing why is much more important that knowing how.
 
miroslav said:
The problem with a lot of newbs is they want quick, easy answers....they don't want to have to work to hard understanding or applying the answers they get.

Now....sometimes the answer can and should be quick-n-easy, and many of us here do the best we can to "dumb it down" for newbs (no insult intended)....but you know, a lot of people here have spent years learning, doing, and working hard to educate themselves and gain some experience with recording, and the long, well thought out answers that are sometimes provided....they have a purpose. They are meant to put the newb on the right path, and not just give them a quick-n-easy answer with nothing really learned....with no foundation behind the answer.

So I think newbs that get pissed or discouraged when they don't get a quick-n-easy answer....should just move on.
Find some something else to do...recording may not be right for you.
Click to expand...

Newbs are stubborn, lazy and noisy people. They do not bother asking questions or even try checking what they asked on the internet before posting a topic on the forums. However, who can we blame, for humans are lazy and want the best out of everything they do.
 
DarrenVocal said:
Newbs are stubborn, lazy and noisy people. They do not bother asking questions or even try checking what they asked on the internet before posting a topic on the forums. However, who can we blame, for humans are lazy
Click to expand...
Love people much ? :drunk:
 
Farview said:
That depends on the question. If the question is something like "why is my guitar only recording on the left", that is a straight forward, easy answer. If the question is "why is 24 bit better than 16 bit" and they actually want the scientific explanation, it's much easier to send them to a website with graphics and such than it is to type a half-assed novel on a message board.
Click to expand...

I'm willing to bet that most of the time, they don't want the scientific explanation. They want someone who understands to put it into terms that they can understand. Writing a half-assed novel isn't likely going to be helpful as I'm pretty certain they can find the novel version elsewhere fairly easily.
 
"Newbs are stubborn, lazy and noisy people. They do not bother asking questions or even try checking what they asked on the internet before posting a topic on the forums. However, who can we blame, for humans are lazy and want the best out of everything they do."

I spent the first third of my 67 years as a TV/VCR tech' and much of that time was spent "teaching" customers how to operate the equipment, with VERY variable results! The demographics are interesting. This is not very scientific but ask anybody "in the industry" and I bet they will agree....
Nurses (both genders) Brilliant! Used getting things done AND reading and understanding. Used to being where the buck stops.

Doctors (over 25, male) Useless, attention span of a hamster and gave up very quickly saying "Oh! I dare say the wife/GF (often a nurse!) will sort that out"

Teachers (25+male) As doctors

Solicitors. Hardly ever saw one (ivory tower syndrome) but judging from their secretarie's tales (all female, now callled PAs of course!) who were as brilliant as nurses, lazy bstds.

General population varied but the biggest whinge was "the book is no good" My response was always "Well, I was not BORN with this info' I have to get it from The Book!"

People with disabilities especially sensory ones, the profoundly deaf or the blind, were in general astonishingly adept and picked things up in a flash. I guess the successful ones had always had to work much harder than the rest of us just to get by?

But the noob section at HR is weird! Why do you let a guy with an existing APOGEE! system and 25k to spend post in the noob section FCS?
Then people send in music and "please listen to my mix" clips. The noob section in a RECORDING forum is not the place for those IMHO. By definition, they HAVE the hard and software pretty much sussed!

Now I have infinite patience (the job above gave me that) but I do get sniffy with those that will not learn a BIT of technology. All art is only made possible by technology and art FOLLOWS technology, not the other way around. (e.g. You cannot draw/paint until someone invents charcoal or pigments).

Dave.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top