Wow - I can’t see there’s any issue here at all. This is a great board full of interesting people with a common interest in whistling. Maybe we need to relax a bit - this is a forum, not a business meeting. I agree that if you want to see more discussion on whistling, post an interesting comment or question or two on the subject. We’re waiting
And I agree - no more Rules are necessary. Free speech may not always be fun, or pretty, but it’s a great system, and invariably results in many creative and interesting ideas being born. - And I believe you NEED a little of the “OT fertilizer” for the great thoughts to germinate and grow out of the general noise. I’ve actually learned useful things about whistles by reading the OTs. Whistlers are whistlers, no matter what they seem to be talking about.
As someone who managed a “topical” discussion board for nearly seven years, I can tell you that restricting posts to “on topic” discussion is the fastest way to kill a site. In this world of fast-paced lifestyles and people living far from family and the friends with which they grew up, discussion forums provide community. We may be drawn to a particular forum because we have this or that interest, but we tend to stay around because we like talking with the other people there. It’s a little like a pub…I may be drawn to a particular pub because the beer and the music is outstanding, and because I hope to get a chance to talk to people about the music (or the beer), but I doubt I’d hang around much if beer and music were the only topics allowed!
On the board I used to host, one poster in particular used to complain a lot about “thread drift” (i.e., a discussion would start on one topic and gradually drift to another). The concensus, however, was that “drift” is a part of normal conversation, and conversation fosters community. Just as any person who has no interest in an “OT” thread can simply avoid reading it, any person who finds a thread drifting away from the original topic can easily bring the topic back to the subject at hand (or decide that he or she has learned all that is necessary from that particular conversation and opt out).
“Old timers” do occasionally drift away from discussion boards…and just as often drift back in, unless they’ve been turned off by flame wars or negative attitudes. The world intrudes and, if nothing’s going on that you’re particularly interested in, you go away for a bit and pop back in later, when you have the time and the inclination. This would happen just as frequently even if we never discussed anything but whistles.
As far as “wasting bandwidth” goes, don’t worry about it. Text uses very little bandwidth. In the old internet days of bulletin boards and newsgroups it was a different story, but nowadays, normal conversation, even extensive conversation, is not an issue. It is possible to flood a discussion board, but you really have to work at it, and it takes intent (in other words, spam). If we were actually even beginning to approach this forum’s capacity, I’m sure Dale or Rich would say something, but generally it’s just not a huge problem.
Yes, there’s a definite abundance of OT material here lately. Most of the OT I can do without, but I let the Cubs fans have their moment. It’ll pass. I haven’t even read that thread, and am unlikely to unless it balloons inexplicably (indicating that something heated might be going on; that’s my moth-to-the-flame syndrome ). To me, it’s not unlike many other social gatherings: a lot of stuff unrelated specifically to the theme gets covered.
My preference for OT posts would be to have more musically related topics, but, to be honest, I come here just as much for the insight, discussion and hilarity as for on-topic issues. I know that I don’t help the situation much as I love being a smartass and can’t resist an opportunity to show it. But there’s no “place” quite like this one. It’s very human. That’s the clincher for me.
I can’t remember a single thread in four or more years here that anyone forced me to read against my will.
I realize it’s a small sampling of our population (Jim Stone hasn’t even checked in) but it looks to me like all but Eskin and AntsTasteGood are perfectly happy with things as they are. Which leads me to go back to what Alba (in one of her C&F incarnations, I forget which) said. It ain’t broke, so don’t try to fix it.
Michael Eskin’s concern however has merit. He’s one of the top whistlers on this board IMO, and if we all knew how to play the whistle (flute or UP) as good as he, we might all be in danger of losing interest in OT subject (so, whistle on “whistle whisperer” make that whenny pistle buck and sing).
I like the board the way it is. If it was just about whistles, I’d have read it for a while and then gotten bored and moved on. What has kept me here for nearly two years now is the feeling that most of the people here are friends and I can come and listen or talk to them whenever I want. If they had just written about whistles, I wouldn’t really “know” any of them and wouldn’t feel the sense of belonging and friendship that I do.
I don’t have any friends or acquaintances in my non-virtual life that only talk about one subject.
Acoustic guitar magazine’s discussion forum had a “Talk Talk Talk” branch that let posters discuss off topic topics at will, as long as everyone minded their manners. And anything that “snuck” into the guitar discussion that was off topics was, well . . . locked out or moved to the off topic board. The “Talk Talk Talk” has since moved to it’s own site and added new discussion topics. I don’t post much, usually lurk . . . but there are some great people there and very funny conversations.
I think there is more activity in the off topic board than the on topic ones, which get a little stagnent after a day or two.
Chiff and Fipple whistle board is very fluid, changing directions many times a day, always interesting and visited by very polite people. I’m not sure if I’d want that to change.
One of the things that kept me away from Celtic music (and a few other things as well) for a long time is the “purists”. Somehow, they always manage to make it stuffy and boring for everybody else.
The “purists”, as you call them, don’t even call it “Celtic music”: that’s a label made up by record retailers and radio DJs.
The claim that they “make it stuffy and boring” is usually not in fact made by “everybody else”. It’s usually made, in this music and by my observation, by those who haven’t worked enough at the music.
The “purists,” as you call them, tend to be the people who’ve made the music what it is–have, in fact, made it the traditional music which some others want to play and call “Celtic.”
Sorry, but you just illustrated my point. I was referring to the genre, not limiting it to Irish Trad. If this board was limited to Irish trad, I hadn’t noticed, sorry… That I know of, the whistle is being used in music coming from Ireland, Scotland, France… When I took a workshop with Tony McManus last spring, he used the term Celtic, so that’s good enough for me.
Your attitude is not limited to “this music”. It unfortunately can be found in music in general. Can be found in classical and jazz. The notion that one’s dedication to a musical style is determined by the ability to play it is not only elitist, but it also drives people away from it.
Your opinion. Quite a limited one, but yours, so I won’t argue it. But you’ve just made this debate stuffy and boring.
My $0.02 - This board is a focal point for whistlers. Whistlers do not only think and talk about whistles and whistling, though they do tend to think and talk with reference to whistles and whistling.
The fact that they enjoy discussing other topics with other whistlers is plus, not a minus.
I know where to go for whistling info, and where to post whistling questions. I also know where to go for some inteligent, and witty discussion of everything from tongue in cheek polls to serious life-is-interfering-with-my-whistling problems.
I, for one, vote that people who post OT, simply continue to lable those posts OT and we continue to share what we have - info, interests, insights, inanities and the ilk.
It’s not like there is no room for serious whistle posts, is it? Realy… there is more to life than just whistle posts… well… at least I think… heck, I pray that there is.
Peace, and a large dose of ‘don’t take it too seriously folks’ while she whistles off into the distance to practice
). To me, it’s not unlike many other social gatherings: a lot of stuff unrelated specifically to the theme gets covered.
Ah well, at any rate I still like the board pretty well as it is.
Sara