Tony Higgins, in the above referenced link, made mention of Clips and Snips which is turning into a wonderful reference and a place to hear what other people on the board are talking about. I particularly like that it makes me practice a lot to get to the point where I’m willing to record it.
Here though, I’d like to make mention of something that I’ve been trying to promote but haven’t seen a lot of bandwagon jumpers. I’m hoping that it’s something that can work in tandem with Clips and Snips. Wouldn’t it be nice, when someone posts a question like “How do you play 3 same tone notes in a row” to have a selection of audio answers come back? In this case I think that a sound is worth the thousand words. Or if someone reviews a whistle, they include a clip of it going up and down the scales or a short tune? Or if you find a song that you love, not just posting the ABC but the audio as well?
I’ve been trying to figure out why others haven’t been following. Here are some of my possible conclusions.
It’s a bad idea. That’s pretty self explanatory.
It looks pretentious. I suppose in some ways it is and it is fun to know that people are actually listening to what you played. But I’ve also tried to make it clear that I know that my playing isn’t top notch (actually I wouldn’t mind constructive criticism, but that’s a different topic). My thinking is that we just need to know a little bit more in order to be able to help someone who doesn’t know.
The technology is unknown. This can be overcome.
Folks don’t have web space to hold their creations. This too is not impossible to overcome.
I takes time. Well, yeah.
So, I’d be interested in your thoughts. Is this a worthwhile pursuit?
Erik,
I think that would be a great idea! For people that don’t have access to professionals (like me) to critique them this would be perfect. There would be some drawbacks though…Like if the listener couldn’t see what the player was doing. Oh well…These are my thoughts.
I’ll just add that it’s totally available to whoever wants to use it. I compulsively check my email when I get home from work and that’s when I update and upload the pages if there’s something there. I try to get things online the same day.
Short sound clips don’t take up that much space, and I can start a new page for this function if it flies. Everything would be noted on the news page, as usual.
Tony
Back on the old board, where we could simply click a button, start whistling, and ‘automatically’ imbed a sound file into a message, I nearly always posted sound clips of whatever whistle/tune I was talking about.
Now, it’s a lot less convenient, so I don’t do it too often…but it’s still a nifty idea
I tried recording, but the software wouldn’t take more than a minute of recording, and I need to warm up, fuss around, then edit out what is worth listening to. What program (free if possible) would you recommend?
I use Goldwave, and you can make huge files if you want (though be prepared with a big harddrive). I usually only work with about 1 minute files and just continue taking “takes” until I get one that works.
I use Goldwave, too. Fairly inexpensive, and has an excellent noise filter that lets you copy a piece of the noise to the clipboard and apply the filter across your entire recording. I use it by copying 2 or 3 seconds of “silence” at the beginning of my recording to the clipboard. (This ‘silence’ has the computer hum and other background noise)…Goldwave does an excellent job of cleaning that stuff out. I even once tested it by having someone crinkle cellophane all throughout a recording, and goldwave cleaned it all out except for one little pop. I was impressed
