 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2003-08-08 01:28
I realize this isn't really a question or something worth discussing (so shut me down if this is just a waste of web space), but I think it's funny that there are SO many topics brought up on this board, and 90% of them all have the exact same answer...
Questions about about equipment usually end up on: "use what works best for you and don't care what other people think"
Questions about playing usually end up on: "just practice" or "play whatever you feel is appropriate"
And most of what's left just gets referred back to previous threads! Yet, I keep asking questions (most of which I can pretty accurately guess what the answer will be).... I guess there are enough new people to keep the same old answers pertinent though. Just thought I'd mention that!
DH - theclarinetist@yahoo.com
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2003-08-08 01:29
Not to say that all posts ask the same old things. On the contrary, there are always a handful of provocative ones (at least to me, anyway)
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2003-08-08 02:32
Hi theclarinetist,
Yeah, some provocative, some routine, some pretty niave and juvenille, some with merit, some that have been answered over and over again (one does wonder what people are thinking sometimes), some way off-topic, some insightful, some just plain dumb (ever feel somewhat embarrassed for the poster), some very deep and knowledgeable, etc....
I guess one just has to pick those that are worth reading and skip a lot of others. But I think you may be right that about "90% of them all have the exact same answer..."
Such is life in the big city.
HRL
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Author: Pam H.
Date: 2003-08-08 11:16
Now that thread about the kid with the pierced tongue - that was different. Whoo-boy!
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Author: Rick Williams
Date: 2003-08-08 12:07
Just to play the Devil's Advocate and to carry the discussion to impractical conclusion,why ask any question because 99.99% of them have already been answered. Why have clarinet teachers, there are people who can already play, just emulate them. Why have schools, there are plenty of books you can read.
I'm sure that someone with an advanced degree in music has read one of my posts and thought to themselves, "geez, what an idiot." At the same time I may have read a posting by that same person regarding my area of study and thought, "geez, what an idiot."....BG Point is we all have empty areas of knowldge, we all have learning curves and we can all learn by sharing knowledge and through discourse. The fact that we see the very same questions over and over again tells me that it must be a pretty big point of interest to a lot of people. Maybe we should be discussing a joint FAQ project.
Best
RW
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Author: Bob A
Date: 2003-08-08 13:54
Is it possible for the BB to contain an "Index" of past topics, rather than a broad general "search" category? Does the software lend it'self to such a catagorization? One could just look under the main topic , rather than under the many "I need help" listings. Am I making sense here?
Bob A
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2003-08-08 14:29
Bob,
What you are asking for is known as FAQ page. Many sites put up a Frequently Asked Questiions page by having one of their moderators cull material from the bb's archives. Not only is such a page another source for answers to your burning questions such as"what kind of oil should I use on my new wooden clarint?", but it makes good reading for someone new to the site.
Just imho, Terry
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2003-08-08 14:51
Rick,
I wasn't saying that questions where stupid or that I thought some of the people were idiots... I simply meant that many of the questions warrant the same answer...
Questions like "What mouthpiece/reeds/ligature/clarinet would work best for me?" are perfectly valid questions (and I don't know any clarinetists who aren't constantly asking those questions). However, as we've seen time and time again, the answer is almost always an ambigious (and, I would assume, frustrating to the poster) "the one that plays best for you... don't worry about brands or what other's think". That was all I meant... none of the questions are "stupid"...
Thanks
Don Hite
PS - the index/FAQ page is a great idea. It would be more efficient then the search (which brings up any post with the word in it, even if it doesn't apply to your question).
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Author: Rick Williams
Date: 2003-08-08 15:09
Hi Don:
I wasn't actually commenting on your posting as much as the whole subject of repeated questions and some of the rather terse answers people ocassionally get when they ask one of those questions. Your point about same answers to several questions does nicely point to the need for a FAQ.
Some of the FAQ's floating around on Usenet are encylopedic and marvelous tools in and of themselves. I've seen a few that were better than any textbook I had in grad school. Considering the really vast nature of knowledge represented on this board and the klarinet list, there is the potential for a excellent piece of work.
Again Don, sorry for the confusion.
Rick
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-08-08 15:14
Terry Horlick wrote:
> Bob,
> What you are asking for is known as FAQ page. Many sites put
> up a Frequently Asked Questiions page by having one of their
> moderators cull material from the bb's archives
Of course, that is called http://www.woodwind.org, where most of that "commonly asked material" resides.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-08-08 15:17
<http://www.woodwind.org. IS the FAQ. If you'd check it you'd find that most of these questions are addressed there. In fact, it started as a clarinet FAQ and grew larger.
But it's easier to re-ask them here ...
FAQs don't work as a rule. People don't like the answers that are given, especially when they're generally subjective.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2003-08-08 15:22
In addition...The bulletin board archives are in the process of being culled to contain the most informative and useful postings.
The search feature will be bringing up information more efficiently, without the "filler" ...GBK
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2003-08-08 17:09
Mark,
I agree that FAQ pages usually don't work well. The are time consuming for the webmaster to build and maintain and usually fall short of handling the specific question you want. So notice I didn't suggest that one be built on this site.
As an excercise I thought up a simple question about cork grease a newbie might want answered and then went to the page you suggested. Man was it frustrating trying to find an answer (and failing). The best stuff came back from a search on this forum. Since this one is archived as a stack the most recent stuff comes back first so I got a boatload of stuff on gun oil and almost nothing on cork grease. I found nothing pertinenet on the woodwind pages while searching within the time frame I would assign to a junior or senior high school student.
So the information and answers are here if you are skilled enough with the search engines and have a lot of time. I run DSL, but if you are on a dial up modem those answers are even harder to pick up in this lifetime.
It is now clear to me that the reason the same basic questions appear repeatedly is that they are of intrest to the new players and are hard to find on this site. I therefore respectfully request that those folks who enjoy jumping on newbies with rude instructions to "do a search on this site" refrain from their antics and let other folks post ther answers. Also I would ask that the more experienced board readers jump in with an answer to simple repetative questions when they see that the question has gone unanswered.
If you don't like my answer here then just go and do a search!
TH
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Author: beejay
Date: 2003-08-08 17:46
Leave the bulletin board as it is, I say. Although I'm a reasonably experienced player, I was still able to get useful feed-back when I was in the market for a new mouthpiece recently. I don't think I'd have got the specific detail I was looking for from a FAQ. My only plea to some bulletin-boarders is to make the subject line more specific so we can know whether to call up the thread or move on. Lines such as "please help" or even "kinda funny" don't help very much.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2003-08-08 18:08
BJ,
You are right about being more specific about the subject line. Not that anyone must write a novel but....
Terry, your advise for a little more reason and above all, more help from the more experienced BB members, resonates very well with me.
HRL
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Author: Mark P. Jasuta
Date: 2003-08-09 04:06
I think that most people need to learn how to refine their search more. This would cut down on the excess results. Because this is rarely done, the searcher is rewarded with a mountain of stuff that he /she won't take the time to go through. They simply ask again for the 0ne thousandth time.
Mouthpiece questions on the other hand, are always such a pain because it is such a personal thing. However, if someone asks for a recommendation, and provides us with their playing level, style, ultimate goal, etc. why not give him one. Most people don't run out and buy the recommended mouthpiece but use it as a starting point in their search. When my daughter started playing clarinet, I knew nothing about clarinet mouthpieces and what I needed was someone to point me in the right direction. Needless to say, both myself and my daughter have come a long way since then but it all started with a couple of recommendations from some good people.
Best Regards
Mark
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Author: theclarinetist
Date: 2003-08-09 05:08
As my Title suggests, I think it's "kinda funny" that I started such an interesting thread... I initially just posted with a "humorous observation" that I assumed would just be read and ignored, and maybe responded to by a few wise-crackers. I certainly had no intention of criticizing the format of this webpage or suggesting any changes = ) I guess it just goes to show that the posts that initial seem the most stupid and obvious can sometimes create very relevant discussions!
Don Hite - theclarinetist@yahoo.com
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Author: curious
Date: 2003-08-09 07:27
Check out saxontheweb.net I sort of like their sub-forum categories.. with a beginners section so those of you who don't want to read the "stupid" or naive questions can just skip it. Certainly all beginners will have the same questions... from here to eternity... but the point of a board or forum is to share experiences, no?
RE: SOTW, there can be a bit of overlap, though. recently posted a "doubing" question on their doubling forum and wasn't getting much (maybe not as many readers) so fared much better posting it on the alto MP section. But the sub categories really does make it easier to check ahead and see if your question has already been answered in another string. The search engines don't seem to capture this well.
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