 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2017-02-04 06:01
The donation drive is still rolling along ... we're at 92 donations so far, well shy of the norm in other years.
Thank you to all who have donated, and for those who haven't, please join your companions in helping me keep this going another year.
Mark C.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2017-02-07 22:43
Dear clarinet players & enthusiasts,
A few years ago, I ran a small, home based business called Simplicity Instruments. I made and sold a small, pressurized, metered leak detector for the clarinet. I had a banner advertisement at the top of this page which rotated every few hours as well as a banner ad on another page via a clickable link.
Would you like to know how much this advertising cost me? $50 per year. Yep, just $4.17 figured on a monthly basis. Now, I sense that the prices may have possibly gone up slightly as is the nature of many financial things in our lives.
So, what's my point? If you think that Mark is floating in cash from all of the ads that you see, my past experience tells me differently.
And, now, I remember that incredibly "intense discussion" that broke out a few years ago, when it was revealed that this BB operates on a for profit basis. My, oh, my...some were truly incensed that they were being asked to donate to a business that was a for profit entity. I think it would be wise for me to simply leave this one area alone...
I don't know how many "computer servers" Mark uses, but, I used to work for FedEx in their computer division and I feel quite certain his equipment is very expensive. You simply can't go to some discount store and for a few hundred dollars buy an incredibly complex computer hardware/software system. It's just the nature of the beast, as they say.
Just the "library" of this BB found while using the "Search" function, is a resource that, from my point of view, would be very difficult to put a dollar price on. The "Search" option opens up a wealth of knowledge that, IMO, simply "does not exist" anywhere else on the Internet. If you haven't tried it out yet, I believe it goes back at least 17 years of past postings and responses.
I'm not here to start arguments or to make anyone feel bad because they choose not to donate. It's completely voluntary as you probably all know. I'm simply trying to inform a few who may not know how truly valuable this BB is and that it does require a continual financial aspect which, IMO, simply cannot be ignored.
So, who am I? I'm just an enthusiast who stopped playing many years ago due to facial muscular problems. From my early teenage years to the present, (I'll be 70 is a few days), the sound of this beautiful instrument has always mesmerized me and I find all of the technical aspects of the clarinet, i.e., mouthpieces, barrels, bells, reeds, ligatures, etc., absolutely fascinating.
I sincerely hope this BB is as valuable to you as it is to me and that you will consider donating, if you haven't already, to help Mark keep this wonderful, totally unique, resource of stored knowledge as well as its present moment, real time opportunities to inquire and exchange information which may be valuable not only to the original poster but also to others who may be reading the responses as well.
Sincerely,
Dan Shusta
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2017-02-08 22:04
Wow, I've been out of town and just found out about the donation drive today. Mark, thank you for all you do to make this site such an excellent resource. My donation goes out by snail-mail today and I hope you get plenty more!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: William Hughes ★2017
Date: 2017-02-09 01:14
Well said, Dan. I sure hope that shakes a few bucks off the limbs of that storied tree on which money grows.
And happy birthday! I will join you in the eighth decade in a few months and looking forward to it.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2017-02-09 04:00
I wouldn't be where I am today without this BBoard. In the bands I sub in, I usually apply for a "passive membership" (that's a substantial part of every band's budget here), as I'm getting fed, watered and invited for the odd trip. I think that's fair.
And this is why I find it equally fair to pitch in a box of reeds' worth for bboards and newsgroups I frequent. It's my library card, if you will, and without these resources I'd feel like (and probably would be) an illiterate.
Few things are free these days. But many good things are cheap, compared to what burning hoops we had to jump through just a couple decades ago.
Good luck with your donation drive, Mark, and thanks for that virtually ad-free "safe spot".
--
Ben
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Author: ruben
Date: 2017-02-10 20:21
Throughout the years, I have read about every book on the clarinet and clarinet-playing I could get my hands on, in a variety of languages. Yet I have learned more from this BBoard than I have from all those books! So it's worth at least the price of yearly book on the subject.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2017-05-10 20:27
Since I snail-mailed my donation check to this excellent b-board on February 8, fewer than half a dozen names have been added to the donors' list. I emailed Mark on March 29 to make sure he was the one who received and cashed my check – that it hadn't gone astray. It hadn't.
I'm puzzled as to why those few names did get added when others who donated have been left off. Since the star system not only rewards donors but shames non-donors, the failure to update the list embarrasses some of us when it appears (from the lack of our names on the list and the lack of stars by our replies) that we're hypocrites who exhorted other people to donate, while failing to send in donations of our own. That's why I haven't been posting here lately – and I suspect I'm not the only one.
Yes, real life can interfere with life online, but how long does it take to type names onto a list that's already set up? Mark, if you don't plan to keep that list up to date, please take it down.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-05-11 01:03
Lelia,
I've always enjoyed your posts - but if you're annoyed that you aren't being acknowledged for making a donation - please feel free to take my star. I asked to donate anonymously, yet still got the star. Sorta ruins the entire "anonymous" part of donating anonymously.
Likewise, I saw the lack of a star result in a minor confrontation about "why aren't you contributing?!" (It was the first time the poster had even posted - so I thought it was odd to confront the person about donating.)
So, we have:
1) Someone donating and not being given a star they wanted
2) Someone donating anonymously - yet being given a star they didn't want
3) A new poster on the board being confronted about their lack of donating to the board.
I understand the good idea behind the star system - but I'm not sure it has turned out quite the way it was envisioned. It seems like we're always capable of turning a good gesture into an uncomfortable situation.
Please don't let it hinder you from posting!
Hopefully the board is not so petty as to look down at those without a star. If the board wants to run on a members-only subscription-based model - then I would find that very unfortunate as I feel it would destroy the beauty (and purpose) of the board. Barring that - I don't understand shaming of those who are not currently in a position to donate.
I sincerely doubt Mark was attempting to create a new (inverse) scarlet letter.
;^)>>>
Fuzzy
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2017-05-11 05:39
I make a contribution on the first or second day of each drive. There are far too many regular posters who haven't given a penny. PLEASE give something to keep this invaluable resource alive!
Ken Shaw
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2017-05-11 13:00
I tried to match the emails of those donating to those if the list. Often they didn't match and searching by name didn't work.
If anyone is missing the star please let me know.
There were a lot if people who asked me to recognise donors. I was hoping against a "shaming" ...
I will be taking the donate request down today.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2017-05-11 16:08
If you have a star and don't want one
If you don't have a star but contributed
Please let me know.
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Author: fskelley
Date: 2017-05-11 16:19
I donated on 3/28 via Paypal. Thanks for running the BBoard. There's nothing else like it.
Stan in Orlando
EWI 4000S with modifications
Post Edited (2017-05-11 16:20)
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2017-05-11 20:18
Fuzzy, thanks for the kind words! I wouldn't have minded staying anonymous if not for a couple of private e-mails faulting me for apparently failing to donate. (Btw, one of the things I like so much about this forum is that most of the people who hang out here act civilized. No surprise that both of those private criticisms were politely worded.)
Mark C. wrote,
>I tried to match the emails of those donating to those if the list. Often they didn't match and searching by name didn't work.>
Maybe that's what happened with my donation. I write under my maiden name, Lelia Loban, but I write checks as Lelia Loban Lee. Mark, thanks for all you do to keep this forum the fine resource it's been for so many years.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2017-05-11 23:19
Thanks to Mark! Looks like he has already remedied the issue for both of us!!
Fuzzy
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The Clarinet Pages
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Didn't get a bill yet this year, but anytime am glad to pay.