Members nat whilk II Posted May 6, 2016 Members Share Posted May 6, 2016 In the Why HC thread, folks repeatedly mention FB as one of the places people go for things musical. Displacing forums, BBS formats and so on. Really? What things musical? What FB pages? . So tell me what I'm missing by not spending my time in FB. I can find FB pages for specific musicians, ok, that's a minor resource. Good for tour dates I guess. Videos I get on YT. Content I get on HC and Gearslutz and SOS. Are there FB pages with searchable gear reviews? With tutorials, tips and tricks, technical articles? Anything like Pro Reviews or User Reviews, indexed and searchable?. Are there discussion threads of any length or depth? Isn't FB 99% just scrolling snippets of mostly-useless content??? Please, reveal to me the depth of my ignorance and teach me how FB can be a deep resource for things musical in my life...something like....like.... nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 6, 2016 Members Share Posted May 6, 2016 Well, with Facebook you can look up girlfriends from high school. One of them may have become a musician, which you would find out from reading Facebook. I'll try to come up with something better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bieke Posted May 6, 2016 Members Share Posted May 6, 2016 the only thing I hate about FB is the inability to do deep search and retrieve information but I also cold not miss it, all by itself it gives me a constant feed of good info that I don't see anywhere else to get that info, I just did 3 things I made a FB account and started friending luthiers, builders, instrument brands, etc. until I reached 5000, I then skimmed it and now am down to 3800 and gradually adding more amongst those are also band pages and musicians I discovered along the way I also started adding groups, groups that share a wealth of information about a subject, amazing, even the most obscure piece of gear and there's a FB group for it, so I'm a member of about 400 different of these groups, going from obscure vintage guitars, FX pedals, synths, amps, gear, again bands (that no longer play, e.g. Zappa), etc ... and then for my own musical projects and bands, I have FB pages to get our music/gigs/news out there now if I go to facebook (any time of day) it will be a constant feed of cool music related info, a lot of it not available anywhere else OK, lemme check, so I go to my Facebook and scroll through my feed and withi one minute I've seen 3 new FX pedals, a couple of nice custom guitar builds, gear review from TC electronic, some guy building a cool outboard studio thing, custom made pickguard art and a rather nice looking vintage guitar -Wilkanowski ca. 1938, I never heard about or seen before ... and it just keeps on coming ... like this Facebook is really fun, and an invite from a friend who is putting me on the guestlist for his gig in my neigborhood, woohoo great band he has, for synth freaks [video=youtube;d3045jARMnM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted May 6, 2016 Members Share Posted May 6, 2016 It's given me an audience of friends (real, and unknown FB "friends?). https://www.facebook.com/jeff.leites...62166382749343 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dendy Jarrett Posted May 6, 2016 Members Share Posted May 6, 2016 I stay frustrated with Facebook. The ONLY thing it has been good for - with my experience, is reconnecting with long lost friends. Sometimes that's good, and sometimes ... not so much. While I know you can "save" things for later, FB seems to limit that based on how the thing you want to save is positioned. But when you save it, you then have to search for it. Sometimes, I can look at something - and think: "I'll scroll back up and show my wife in a few minutes." And then in a few minutes when I scroll back up - IT'S GONE! Argh! As for Harmony Central: I envision a time (in the not so distant future- hopefully) where we can log on to HC, and our conversations would be virtual (screen to screen FaceTime or Live Chat) but the conversation is dictated into the posts we still are accustomed to. Additionally, if someone wants to post, the posts are updated in real time ... like Facebook - but not infinitely changing and impossible to find. But, hey, Men will one day go to Mars - they say. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 6, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2016 the only thing I hate about FB is the inability to do deep search and retrieve information but I also cold not miss it, all by itself it gives me a constant feed of good info that I don't see anywhere else to get that info, I just did 3 things I made a FB account and started friending luthiers, builders, instrument brands, etc. until I reached 5000, I then skimmed it and now am down to 3800 and gradually adding more amongst those are also band pages and musicians I discovered along the way I also started adding groups, groups that share a wealth of information about a subject, amazing, even the most obscure piece of gear and there's a FB group for it, so I'm a member of about 400 different of these groups, going from obscure vintage guitars, FX pedals, synths, amps, gear, again bands (that no longer play, e.g. Zappa), etc ... and then for my own musical projects and bands, I have FB pages to get our music/gigs/news out there now if I go to facebook (any time of day) it will be a constant feed of cool music related info, a lot of it not available anywhere else OK, lemme check, so I go to my Facebook and scroll through my feed and withi one minute I've seen 3 new FX pedals, a couple of nice custom guitar builds, gear review from TC electronic, some guy building a cool outboard studio thing, custom made pickguard art and a rather nice looking vintage guitar -Wilkanowski ca. 1938, I never heard about or seen before ... and it just keeps on coming ... like this Facebook is really fun, and an invite from a friend who is putting me on the guestlist for his gig in my neigborhood, woohoo great band he has, for synth freaks Well, this is interesting. Really, my question about FB is not intended to be rhetorical, but inquisitive. Of course, if no one can justify FB as a music resource in some way, the question will become rhetorical. What you're doing reminds me of what magazine skimming used to be like - you go to Barnes & Noble, grab about 10 music-related titles off the rack, sit down with some coffee and start flipping pages 'till something catches your attention. Fun, yes - even if rather shallow, it was valuable, and led to other things. But there was drill-down in the magazines - at least back in the day - long articles, in-depth interviews, tutorials and music lessons and so on. But those days are so long gone I'm over the grieving phase - just looking for new connections now. I'll try searching for groups on gear in FB, see what I get. For me, it's going to have to have a decent signal-to-noise ratio, or I'll get bored fast. But that's me. I've never been interested in surfing over masses of content - I do hover over the musical fields, but once I find a flower I land and feed a long time. Surfing behavior, whether TV or radio channel dialing, or headline skimming, or feed scanning...gives me a headache, makes me feel like I'm looking at an irritating strobe of unprocessable information flashes, drives me nuts. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 Well, this is interesting. Really, my question about FB is not intended to be rhetorical, but inquisitive. Of course, if no one can justify FB as a music resource in some way, the question will become rhetorical. What you're doing reminds me of what magazine skimming used to be like - you go to Barnes & Noble, grab about 10 music-related titles off the rack, sit down with some coffee and start flipping pages 'till something catches your attention. Fun, yes - even if rather shallow, it was valuable, and led to other things. But there was drill-down in the magazines - at least back in the day - long articles, in-depth interviews, tutorials and music lessons and so on. But those days are so long gone I'm over the grieving phase - just looking for new connections now. I'll try searching for groups on gear in FB, see what I get. For me, it's going to have to have a decent signal-to-noise ratio, or I'll get bored fast. But that's me. I've never been interested in surfing over masses of content - I do hover over the musical fields, but once I find a flower I land and feed a long time. Surfing behavior, whether TV or radio channel dialing, or headline skimming, or feed scanning...gives me a headache, makes me feel like I'm looking at an irritating strobe of unprocessable information flashes, drives me nuts. nat whilk ii I know what you mean Nat. We're 20th Century men that have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 In the Why HC thread, folks repeatedly mention FB as one of the places people go for things musical. Displacing forums, BBS formats and so on. Really? What things musical? What FB pages? . So tell me what I'm missing by not spending my time in FB. I can find FB pages for specific musicians, ok, that's a minor resource. Good for tour dates I guess. Videos I get on YT. Content I get on HC and Gearslutz and SOS. Are there FB pages with searchable gear reviews? With tutorials, tips and tricks, technical articles? Anything like Pro Reviews or User Reviews, indexed and searchable?. Are there discussion threads of any length or depth? Isn't FB 99% just scrolling snippets of mostly-useless content??? Please, reveal to me the depth of my ignorance and teach me how FB can be a deep resource for things musical in my life...something like....like.... nat whilk ii I was one of those people. Yes, FB is a lot of scrolling through content but I also "like" many musicians and manufacturers pages so whenever they post content, it shows up on my feed where I can like it, comment on it, save the page, or share it. The community there is vibrant. I know the mods here on HC are doing their best to resurrect this place but like I said in the other thread, I think forums are 2005. We have all moved. Yes, some forums are still thriving like GS but they are few and far between. YMMV EB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 7, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 "one of those people"??? Geez, Ernest, you never struck me as the "othering" type. I'll assume you didn't mean that the way it reads. Ok, so I'll try to expand my friends list. But signal-to-noise....rules in my world. I ain't got time for dumpster-diving chatter-detritus. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 7, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 There are always people who let the current media formats take over their lives. Like my parents and their TV. It was so cool I'm sure to be one of the first to own one. And then to own a color set...major suburban cred no doubt. Then my parent's home life devolved into sitting in front of the tube every evening for three or so hours before bed. Anyone who's been inside a retirement home knows the TVs that run all bloody day long. It's a societal disease IMHO - this obsession with media access all the time. This plugging in and keeping it on all the time. Replacing your own thoughts and feelings and reactions with the big feed from the big spoon. It's not new. It's not progress. It's not inevitable. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 What you're doing reminds me of what magazine skimming used to be like - you go to Barnes & Noble, grab about 10 music-related titles off the rack, sit down with some coffee and start flipping pages 'till something catches your attention. Fun, yes - even if rather shallow, it was valuable, and led to other things. But there was drill-down in the magazines - at least back in the day - long articles, in-depth interviews, tutorials and music lessons and so on. But those days are so long gone I'm over the grieving phase - just looking for new connections now. They're not gone for me. I just got back from Barnes and Noble. Spent about an hour reading a bunch of guitar and recording mags. One of them had a cool article by a guy called Craig Anderton. He talked about how you can run your guitar through softsynths. Something I had not really thought much about until I saw his article. I still go there probably about once a month. A lot of info you can find on the internet these days but it's not the same as holding a magazine and turning the pages. I still read the newspaper everyday also. As far as Facebook. I use it to see what's going on. Who's playing where type stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 There are Facebook groups for just about everything, including cool music stuff, including Weird and Unusual Instruments, ambient/drone music, psychedelic music, specific artists, and a whole bunch of other things. I love this stuff!!! One of the things I keep posting about Facebook is that they have vibrant communities for all sorts of things, including Mojave Desert exploration, long exposure photography, and all sorts of other things. And so it is with music as well. I know some like to think that social media is all about self-absorption. And to be sure, there's a lot of that. But largely, you get out of it what you want. And if you have boring ass friends who post nothing but political tripe and stupid stuff, then that's more about your friends and less about Facebook. My friends are fascinating, and I belong to a lot of groups that are vibrant communities. Facebook's search function does blow. And much of the actual platform of Facebook really leaves something to be desired. I go to it largely because of the communities. I've made quite a number o friends in music and photography and learned a TON of information from really knowledgeable professionals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 7, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 They're not gone for me. I just got back from Barnes and Noble. Spent about an hour reading a bunch of guitar and recording mags. One of them had a cool article by a guy called Craig Anderton. He talked about how you can run your guitar through softsynths. Something I had not really thought much about until I saw his article. I still go there probably about once a month. A lot of info you can find on the internet these days but it's not the same as holding a magazine and turning the pages. I still read the newspaper everyday also. As far as Facebook. I use it to see what's going on. Who's playing where type stuff. I hear you. But the magazines themselves - haven't you found that, of the ones that still exist, that they are 10% content and 90% ads? Are you finding really in-depth articles? I was a long-time subscriber to Electronic Musician and Keyboard magazine, but they shrank and shrank in total pages, and what was left became mostly ads. Reviews that used to take 3-6 full pages reduced to 1/4 pages. All the in-depth content disappeared, and the prices continued to increase and it seemed all targeted to newbie-level readership - so I bailed on all the print resources. Anyway - cup half-full or half-empty I guess is the deal. It just feels strange that as the digital age "advances", truly valuable access in some cases recedes. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 7, 2016 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 There are Facebook groups for just about everything, including cool music stuff, including Weird and Unusual Instruments, ambient/drone music, psychedelic music, specific artists, and a whole bunch of other things. I love this stuff!!! One of the things I keep posting about Facebook is that they have vibrant communities for all sorts of things, including Mojave Desert exploration, long exposure photography, and all sorts of other things. And so it is with music as well. I know some like to think that social media is all about self-absorption. And to be sure, there's a lot of that. But largely, you get out of it what you want. And if you have boring ass friends who post nothing but political tripe and stupid stuff, then that's more about your friends and less about Facebook. My friends are fascinating, and I belong to a lot of groups that are vibrant communities. Facebook's search function does blow. And much of the actual platform of Facebook really leaves something to be desired. I go to it largely because of the communities. I've made quite a number o friends in music and photography and learned a TON of information from really knowledgeable professionals. Ok, this is even more interesting. I might launch a 2nd FB persona to work up a music-only network of friends. Can you give me some specific FB page references along ambient/synth lines? Or post on my FB page - if you remember who I am nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bieke Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 Ok, this is even more interesting. I might launch a 2nd FB persona to work up a music-only network of friends. Can you give me some specific FB page references along ambient/synth lines? Or post on my FB page - if you remember who I am nat whilk ii here are links to some of the synth groups i've added I'm not much into ambient, so it's more gear related groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/Synthesizer.Freaks.Music/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/synth.hoarding/?fref=ts https://www.facebook.com/groups/194422250580402/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/111029938930272/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/Synthesizerscom/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/254231414700425/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/74352871983/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/74352871983/?ref=groups https://www.facebook.com/groups/synthesizer.freaks/?ref=groups ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted May 7, 2016 Members Share Posted May 7, 2016 Ok, this is even more interesting. I might launch a 2nd FB persona to work up a music-only network of friends. Can you give me some specific FB page references along ambient/synth lines? Or post on my FB page - if you remember who I am nat whilk ii Well, the best thing to do is to type in the keywords and search for groups on Facebook and check them out. But this is one that might be good for you: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1527780834149424/ And this group is simply entitled "Ambient Music": https://www.facebook.com/groups/57904705717/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 8, 2016 Members Share Posted May 8, 2016 Since most of my FB 'friends' are drawn from my real world friends and associates (with a small smattering from here and elsewhere around the web), and most of my real world friends are musicians, there appears to be a limited tolerance for self-promotion. Everyone could be hyping themselves -- but that would look crass and, of course, might soon lead to the same everyone-promoing-nobody-reading phenomenon that overtakes so many musician forums. People post their shows and usually post about a new album or single, but it's usually from their band page rather than a regular member page. And then there's the issue of bragging about your pizza house gig when your other friends are headlining festivals and whatnot. What I find great about my FB friends is the music by others that they post. I have a number of friends in the roots/blues community and as many old acts as I already know, I'm nonetheless still often getting turned on to songs and artists from decades ago that I either had never picked up on or who had got lost in my shuffle. And that is brilliant combined with today's relatively unfettered access to the music of the past through subscription or other streaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philboking Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 I've met many dozens of musicians and studio people. I've joined various FB groups with musical focus: Beaker Street, Blues Harmonica, too many to list.. I've made online acquaintance with a number of music professionals, who I occasionally meet in person and make personal connections. There have been times where they have come up and tell me they know me from somewhere. Likewise, I've had total strangers walk up and say "thanks for many years of music" because they know my face from 'somewhere'. I've gotten quite a number of gigs thru FB messages. Disclaimer: I inhabit the blues world which is a relatively small universe. These things I mention will probably not happen for people in crowded genres... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 As much as I actively dislike Facebook for all sorts of the usual reasons and stay away from it as much as possible, I can't say it's been totally useless for me musically. A couple of years back, there was big musical reunion of many bands from the local Las Vegas scene I was a part of in the 1980s. A weekend of fun and party and gigs and a reunion with my old band and none of that would have happened without FB to hook everyone up, I'm certain. And just today a neighbor from across the street comes over with a tshirt he made for me with my bands logo on it. I asked him how he even knew my bands name let alone find our website for the logo and such. He said "oh, because my wife friended you on FB". So that was very nice and very cool My band is working hard this year on stepping up our advertising and promotion on FB and see how that works for getting more gigs through targeted marketing. I still personally dislike it though, for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members techristian Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 Someone I worked with ALMOST 35 years ago "friended" me and I got a few paying gigs last fall, as a result of that contact. Otherwise, Facebook is like an addictive BLACK HOLE that sucks me into political arguments....an incredible waste of time. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 I hear you. But the magazines themselves - haven't you found that, of the ones that still exist, that they are 10% content and 90% ads? Are you finding really in-depth articles? I was a long-time subscriber to Electronic Musician and Keyboard magazine, but they shrank and shrank in total pages, and what was left became mostly ads. Reviews that used to take 3-6 full pages reduced to 1/4 pages. All the in-depth content disappeared, and the prices continued to increase and it seemed all targeted to newbie-level readership - so I bailed on all the print resources. Well those are mostly the American mags that have shrunk like that. And yeah I can usually flip through one of 'em in about two minutes and be done with it. Premium Guitar is about the only American mag that I read regularly but I still read all the British music mags . The best overall recording magazine by far is Sound on Sound. It has lots of in depth articles and tutorials. Great in-depth reviews and my favorite which is the "Classic Tracks" articles where they interview producers and engineers about how they made certain classic records. The "Classic Tracks" articles are worth the purchase price alone most of the time. and I still have stacks of them that I can reference. Our very own Craig Anderton has written lots of great tutorials in Sound on Sound. I also like "Q", and "Mojo" and "Classic Rock" and "Prog" magazine. British magazines are like what we in America call "books". It's incredible the amount of information that each issue can have. They have things that you will never see on the internet and they are big and thick with lots of glossy photos. And lots of times they come with a CD. The only American mag that comes close to a British mag would be Premium Guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bieke Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 I still read TapeOp, it's now an online digital subscriptionand Gearphoria (also digital) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JIM683 Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 But, hey, Men will one day go to Mars - they say. my granddaughter just got back from space camp and says she wants to go to Mars....might be possible in her lifetime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 my granddaughter just got back from space camp and says she wants to go to Mars....might be possible in her lifetime I'm hoping we manage to do it in my lifetime. I see no reason why we can't if we decide to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted May 9, 2016 Members Share Posted May 9, 2016 Someone I worked with ALMOST 35 years ago "friended" me and I got a few paying gigs last fall, as a result of that contact. Otherwise, Facebook is like an addictive BLACK HOLE that sucks me into political arguments....an incredible waste of time. Dan I have a fairly large number of FB friends I haven't physically seen in decades. One is pianist who used to play stride and boogie woogie at an old upright in a local Long Beach bar I frequented in the 70s. He was a cornucopia of musical knowledge then, had recently worked with a very prominent American blues rock band and went on to be a member of a very influential roots rock band of the late 70s and 80s. I hadn't seen him in literally decades when he showed up among my friends' posts... since we already had a number of mutual friends and I actually knew him, I overcame my aversion to friend-requesting. One thing that amazed me... he was so knowledgeable and experienced back then (and had already worked with legendary blues survivors from the postwar era), I could barely believe it when it turned out he was younger than me. On the political thing... yeah, that can be problematic. That said, recent trends have so shell-shocked my 'classic conservative' and libertarian friends that I find even them popping up in the political threads of my generally left/progressive friends. Shared nightmares, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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