when do you listen, when do you reply???

  • Thread starter Thread starter rats
  • Start date Start date
rats

rats

New member
When do you decide to read a thread here? (MP3 clinic)
By amount of response?
By catchy title?
By thread poster?

When do you take the time to download the song(s)?
Based on whetethr or not you know (like) the user?
Whether you've heard the user's material?
Whether you like the user's previous material?

When do you reply with a response to the post/music?
If you like it?
If you don't like it?
If you are a compulsive poster?

Will you admit it if you like/ don't like an artist?

Thank you for your time>

your friendly neighborhood rats.
 
>>When do you take the time to download the song(s)?
About three times a month I go on binges and download 5 or 6 songs here at a time...although occasionally I haven't downloaded for months at a time. Our new fast connection at work has helped considerably.

>>Based on whetethr or not you know (like) the user?
Yes. The people I know get top priority and that'll always be the way it is. That doesn't mean that I won't download stuff from people I'm not familiar with if I have the time. Usually people I know are people who have downloaded my material in the past, so I try to return the favor.
>>Whether you've heard the user's material?
See above.

>>Whether you like the user's previous material?
No, I repeatedly download from some people even though I don't really care for their musical styles. a) I grow by listening to their ideas b) It's fun to hear them changing c) nobody likes everything.

>>When do you reply with a response to the post/music?
I almost always reply after listening...and if I don't it probably means that I chatted with the person about it.

>>Will you admit it if you like/ don't like an artist?
I've only seen that in here a few times. The short answer is no. The long answer is that if I don't like a style of music I'll say something like, "while this type of music isn't my bag, I think blah blah" ... that way they know whree I'm coming from with my opinions, and that's fair. Almost everyone here tries to find at least ONE nice thing to say about each posting...and really most if not all of the music that gets posted here is pretty damn good.

If you're looking to get listened to in this forum then I do have some advice:

1) Use an appropriate title. If it sounds like you're just looking to BS about something, people might not even check your thread. Also, if it looks like you're advertising yourself or anything else in ANY way, people will be turned off. There's a thread I just noticed with a really bad title...and it's slipping down without a single response... the reason is that it doesn't look like someone posting his music at all. In fact I only checked it because I was bored.

2) Respond to your responses. For one thing it keeps your song visible longer, plus I think it's only polite to reply since they actually took the time to download your shit.

3) Post it to a site that can stream. It's easier to stream than it is to download. I try to use MP3.COM as much as possible now, although sometimes I get excited and can't wait for them to approve the material so I post it elsewhere in the meantime.

4) If you can't post it where it can be streamed, try to post it to a REAL webserver and not one of those fucking free space sites. The free sites have degraded to the point where I'm just not going to take the time to bother with downloading from them. And I'm certainly not going to enter a username and password. You should be able to get 20MB or so at your ISP for pretty cheap...or use a site that was designed to host MP3's.

5) This is last but probably most important. Stay active in the rest of the forums on the site long enough to get to know some people. The more people who know who you are, the more people who will be interested in listening to your music. The more I see someone's name, and the more I read their posts, the more I'm interested in hearing what their music sounds like.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Thank you slack for your response.
I guess my biggest part of the question was regarding the response part. I know personally that I have checked out a good number of artists MP3s here and most all of them I thought were pretty piss poor, some absolutely unlistenable. How do you convey that to the nice dude who worked so hard to produce that pile of shit he so innocently brings before you for your approval? I know personally that I don't mind if you tell me I suck. As long as you honestly gave it a fair listen and you find it undesirable, you can tell me, and hopefully why. It's just that I don't want to be the guy that crushes the poor sod with the cold hard truth, then comes back the next day with my new song looking for praise. Maybe it's my own insecurity, don't know.

Maybe I need to break that habit. Maybe I need to let the cold stinging truth be known, and get some credit for all these songs I'm listening to.

It's tough to be an artist and a critict.
 
I agree with a lot of what Slack said. I get frustrated sometimes because I want to listen to something and I can't. That is either due to my suck ass computer, or my suck ass ISP or my suck ass connection (56k).

Take for instance, Emeric. I like the guy, I like what I have heard of his music - but I always have trouble getting his tunes. Not his fault, mind you, probably a glitch somewhere on my end, since everyone else seems to be able to get the music. But I always try.

I agree that those free space places suck (idrive and the like) I will still try and listen if I know the person, even if I have to get security clearance from Langley.

What I don't like are the obvious ploys to get hits on an Mp3.com (or similar) site. Ya know, the people with 1 or 2 posts who post a link and the verbage is something like "Wanna hear the best band to rock the west coast in 15 years? Wanna get your balls swingin'? Download our songs..."

Blah muthaluvin blah. I would be more inclined to d/l something when I see "Hey, I put this song on tape and I think I might have added too much reverb on the vocal, could you take a listen?"

Shit yeah! That is what we are here for, right?

S8-N posted a long time ago about this- he would only check your shit out if you had checked out his. I liked that. In other words, don't just slither on in here and post your music without checking some other people's stuff.

Shit, it is almost 11:00am. I need a martini.
 
Rats, just read your reply - we were posting at the same time.

The beauty of it here is we are supposed to be focused on the recording aspect of things - so if you hear something that creatively just bites cock (in your opinion) , you can comment on the recording - the mix. No need to rip out the person's heart and tell them to find a new hobby.

But at the same time, if I hear something that really gets me going emotionally, I would not limit myself to just commenting on the recording, mix, etc. If something affects me that much, I will comment on the songwriting too. But basically, this forum is for recording advice, so I try to leave my personal feelings about the music out of the equation.
 
rats, of course we've all heard shit that we think totally sucks. In fact there was a debate one time about whether people in here were TOO generous with compliments. And that might be true...if I don't like something I try not to be too nice, but I won't be rude.

I mean really, what do you hope to accomplish by totally ragging on somebody? If it doesn't help, there's no reason to say it. You can rag on somebody's music without really ragging on it...just give an example or two of where you think the song could have improved, or where the mix needs work.

Besides, if you totally rag then your music better the cream of the crop. :) We're all sort of equal here. I like to save my serious bitching for the losers on MTV.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Yeah, Slackmaster2K and Brad pretty much nailed what would have been my replies.....

I am the least technically proficient (computer-wise as well as recording-wise) member here...but I listen to just about everybody's stuff, because I love new music and sounds...only time I hear the radio is when I'm driving....

There have been a few times I haven't posted reponses to songs because they were so bad...but very few times...I usually can find something cool in any original work, and some stuff I really get excited about.....

My opinions mean nothing....I'm not a pro, just somebody with radio style ears.....you'll notice that the professionals here don't hang in the mixing clinic, probably because they don't want to nitpick the non-pros, which is cool......I mean, I wouldn't have a clue what they would be talking about anyway, which is why I just lurk in the technical forums, trying to learn shit...and actually, I think I may have actually learned a little, but here in the clinic it's just the common man ears from me...gibs
 
Hibiscus boy.

And by the way-

Thanks gibs, for all of your posts in this here forum. You DO listen and comment on about everything that is posted here. Plus, your words are not just crap, you make a lot of great points. So, thanks.

What does serpent really taste like, BTW?

Brad
 
ragging

The more I think about, the more I think there is something to be said for ragging.

When I was young pup in high school I decided I wanted to play music after seeing a group of kids jamming out in a sound booth in the music hall some Heavy metal covers. I picked up a peavy T40 bass and a Fender bassman amp in search of rock stardom. I sucked really bad for a long time, and my best friend Carl used to always rag on my playing telling me how bad I sucked. It really pissed me off, and I just played louder and more to spite him. Eventually I got better. I didn't want to suck. My fist gig with a band he was there. It was 1988, and the band was doing a cover of Metallica's cover of 'Crash course in Brain surgery". It came to the bass solo, and I was nailing it, and along comes Carl, up in my face during my solo and yells "you suck!". Obviously jealous of the attention I was getting that night that he was used to getting. I hit the last riff of the solo end ended it with a crack to Carl's head with the headstock. Punk rock dude.
 
Good thread. I'm gonna just ramble and take the questions in no particular order.

First of all, I am guilty of visiting this forum more when I have a song posted than when I don't, but I do visit, listen and respond periodically even when I have no music here for listening.

When do I respond?, which was your main question, I respond to at least 80% of the stuff I hear. If it's something that I think really sucks, I'll try to stress anything positive that I can find in the song and sometimes mention the things I don't like about the tune. If it has absolutely no redeeming quality, I usually don't post a reply.

I am more likely to listen to stuff I can stream because downloading renders my computer practically useles while something's downloading. I do download however and I'm more likely to d/l something if I'm familiar with the artist and like his work (Emeric for example) or if the title of the thread is something that seems like something I may like, or by the enthusiasm of the responses to a song.

There's really only one artist here that I absolutely will not listen to. Mainly because I think he's not only talentless but arrogant enough not to listen to no one elses stuff like he's above it or something. I listened to this guy for about his first 3 posts here, hated his stuff, but replied as diplomatically as I knew how, then began to notice that as bad as his shit was, he never listens to anyone elses stuff. If your good and you're arrogant, that's bad enough, but, if you suck and your arrogant, I reserve the right never to listen to your shit again.

Let me see, where was I? I think that's a wrap. I'm out.
 
Gee Ray J, I can't think of whom you might be referring to.

Hmm. Let me think...

The future of rock?
 
Brad...long time ago....but definitely not "fishy"....:D...H.Boy.........
 
I download a few tunes per month. Wish I could d/l more but I'm on a modem so it's a drag. I sometimes check out songs at random, or if the post has 0 replies. More often though, the songs I download are from BBS members who stick around and participate in other threads. It's also music that I like, but not always. The reciprocation deal is also important.

It's a good setup. No site like it on the internet.
 
rats: I listen to shitloads of stuff from this Forum and elsewhere because I can (via cable) download an entire data CDR (650 MB) of mp3's in a few hours. To listen to the fruits of such a frenzied session requires about 11 hours!
Typically 150 - 175 tunes per CD.

I just try to be as honest as I can about my feelings about the music. If, though, after composing the review and rereading it, it sounds like a nonstop admonition to get the fuck away from music entirely- My policy is to erase such a post before hitting the 'submit reply' button. I'll leave such chores to those who are much better at it.... :)
 
rats,

Hi, I'm glad you posted this thread. I'll ramble like my buddy Ray J did.

I used to post here quite often. I've made some really good friends here that I've met from my first ever tune I converted to mp3 (Which Way?). Good friends that have helped me pretty much every step of the way when it comes to my mixes and other things. I don't think I've done one song yet since "Which Way?" in which I didn't get help from my buds here (ie, Drstawl, Buck62, Emeric, CMiller, Brad, Gibs, Ray J, Mr. Lipp, GT, BigKahuna, Slack, just to name a few, and some other folks like Ric who have kinda gotten swamped with life, etc.)...

I actually listen to a lot of posts here on the BB when I'm at work and I make a mental note to TRY to reply regarding mixes when I get home (because this HR BBS entry screen in no way looks like my UNIX developing environment at work and my boss, well, she'd kick my booty if she knew I was spending time jammin' out to mp3's)... okay, well... (I probe for what the heck I was talking about in the first place)... oh, well, anyway, I actually started not posting too much when the BBS was having alot of technical difficulties... I saw a lot of folks I knew on here posting less as well... but also, I started getting pretty swamped with my day job and my home business and I've had little time to do anything with my music which depresses the hell out of me, but I've got to feed the wife and kids.... But, I do listen to ALOT of tunes that are posted here on the board... although, admittedly I don't reply to the posts as much as I would like to, which sucks on my part because I know my input can help folks just as folks have helped me. When I am able to reply to a post and give feedback, I'd have to say (and this is regarding the honesty aspect), I'd have to say that I'm pretty honest with my input on the mixes... I usually try to do "play by play" and make notes of anything that really sounded great or anything that sounds really f'd up and try to give a solution or my idea of what would work (although, I don't know shit anyway :) ) I always try to be encouraging though, no matter how it sounded to me... It shouldn't be "Hey, this song you did is really fucked up! Never make another one, because, well, because you suck ass..." Speaking of that... (Although I did rip into the person Ray J was talking about, but I felt bad afterward)... side note: Post your stuff on Garageband.com sometimes, hehe... You'll get some great responses and some really evil responses to your music, just to keep you on your toes...... I had one dude tell me I suck worse than his girlfriend or something... Sounded more like he was dissin' his girl, but I'm sure it was geared more toward me sounding like a funked up non-music playing dude... which is cool... I've actually learned to take the good and the bad and use it to help me either way...

(can you tell I haven't posted a good long one in a while?)

I'm pretty guilty of following my own posts alot... Mainly because I get that email telling me someone's replied and I'm like "neat".... okay... I've been feeling funky about that...

I honestly like a LOT of the talent that's here on the board... and I'm usually analysing songs most of the time when I listen to a post... I mean, that's what this forum is here for, to get a bunch of external ears to listen to some song that you've become so brain-dead creating, that you're able to really figure out what you need to change or at least consider from someone else's point of view, right? I love this place and it's been my safe haven from that crazy mp3.com board... (which is one of the reason's I ripped into that dude that Ray J spoke of -- he brought that non-sense into this board and I felt it was off-task in a big way... Didn't help anyone really.... but again, I don't claim to know too much shit and I don't speak for the whole board... I'm just throwing out my opinion, so I hope I do not offend)...

I've remixed and remixed and remixed my stuff after folks here have REALLY given great advice... GREAT ADVICE.

I really miss posting in here, but to be honest, I haven't had the time to mess around with anything but work... Although I did that song with the Mac Bros (Buck62 and Mac2), but they did all the hard work, they composed and did the music and mixes, I just did the vocals so I was able to finish it in a Saturday's afternoon...

I was telling Mac2 on the phone the other day that my wife had bought me a Morley Wah-Wah for Christmas and I still haven't found the time to stomp that thing... Okay, I sound like I'm whining... I'm not really - I guess I'm just saying that as soon as things slow down for me a bit, I hope to be more active in the BBS as I was before. Also looks like the BBS has been running good lately, so kudos to Dragon.

Rest assured that I'm always listening to posts when I can at work... Cuz, hey, they don't pay me enough not to jam out with the indies to make my day go faster.

Okay, I rambled like a mother, but I think this post was a very interesting one and it's a topic I've been thinking about for a while on and off... thanks rats.

Your HR bud,
Teddie

P.S. Ever read what you just typed and realize you sound like a complete nut-bag? I just did that. I'm going to submit it anyway.
 
"I sucked really bad for a long time, and my best friend Carl used to always rag on my playing telling me how bad I sucked. It really pissed me off, and I just played louder and more to spite him. Eventually I got better."

Well, you'd have got better even if he hadn't ragged you. Also, he was your best friend, so the relationship could sustain ragging - you know he liked you actually. I'm happy it doesn't get too severe in this mp3 clinic, for two reasons. The first is that you can put your stuff up here as a genuine learning experience, without worrying about it being polished or radio-ready, and you can do that because you know no one's going to publicly humiliate you. It's a halfway house.

The second reason is that people here know each other, and so we suffer from the 'friends and family' syndrome of being overly positive and not wanting to bruise feelings of someone we know and like. Yet this forum does provide useful feedback if you know how it works. The feedback on mp3s here tends to vary between enthusiastic , three thumbs up (and often generating a lot of responses) and a polite lack of enthusiasm with not many responses. So you learn how to read the signs to find out how people really liked it. But if you want a more standard or objective or hard-hitting response, it's better to post it elsewhere. Teddie suggested garageband.com, and I'd second that.
 
I just wanted to add that since this is a recording forum, i'm always more likely to listen to something (not just here, but anywhere on the net) if the person give's a little (or a lot) of info on how it was recorded, what equipment was used, etc. That always makes it more interesting for me...You get a better feel for what's going on, or what suggestions to give if you know what's being done...IMO of course.

-travis
 
Downloading: I check out a lot of stuff, but not if it looks like little more than a drive-by promotion. Most people that stick around seem to be primarily motivated by getting feedback. I think there are a lot of talented perfectionists around here looking for ways to improve things, and I'm drawn to that sort of dedication. I don't have anything against self-promotion, itself. Just not if someone is more interested in pushing their material than their own potential.

Replying: Unless I get to something early, most of the input I have has already been covered. No need to always go around posting, "yeah, what gibs and Emeric said". Sometimes I'll include my subjective opinion if I like something. Only in a particularly unique case have I bashed anything that I think sucks. I'll let someone else be the bearer of bad news... lack of talent usually works itself out on it's own (i.e., a recording contract :D).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top