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Author Topic: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters  (Read 33454 times)

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RobLowe

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #80 on: November 24, 2011, 10:24:55 AM »

I'm a newbie to the melodeon (and to playing music at all), so don't feel I've anything I've wanted to share just yet - however, I voted for The Sloe because I've been trying to make a reasonable stab at it and have found others' recordings really useful (thank you everyone - really useful for learning about the rhythm, the extra 'jauntiness' of the B music beyond the dots that I have for the piece, and about playing across the rows). I've also been able to use the youtube archive to go back and look at other tunes (after a great workshop with Julia Batters at Ingleton I've been playing La Marianne, and seeing how others experiment with the piece has given me inspiration).

I can't comment on what would make more people take part (although I hope I will be doing soon - mainly nerves and uncertainty about how to make the technology work probably stopping me at the moment, and that I'm already learning a tune a week at the More Music Morecambe session), but I'm glad people do!!!
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Bob Ellis

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #81 on: November 24, 2011, 11:27:50 AM »

Although I managed to post a recording of The Sloe last month, it has been impossible for me to learn Beatrice Hill's this month due to a combination of circumstances: learning tunes for Melodeons at Witney; learning four new Morris tunes that our foreman has just added to our repertoire; starting to learn a huge list of French tunes for the French music and dance group I have just joined; not to mention commitments that have nothing to do with music. I am sure that others are in a similar position.

Furthermore, a number of people who have not been playing very long have commented that a month is too short a time for them to learn a tune well enough for them to post a recording of it. However, there seems to be general acceptance that ToTM is a 'good thing' and many people who don't post recordings benefit from listening to the postings of others.

Soooooooo, might it be worth considering lengthening the time period of each tune from one month to two? This might enable less confident players to learn the tune well enough to post a recording and would allow those who are busy a bit more time to post a recording. If we were to run each ToTM and each ThoTM for two months, then there could still be a new one each month by introducing a new Tune one month and a new Theme the next month.

Just a thought!
« Last Edit: November 24, 2011, 11:30:45 AM by Bob Ellis »
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ladydetemps

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #82 on: November 24, 2011, 11:32:28 AM »

I am finding the tunes are getting more difficult (and sometimes -to me- obscure) and so I can't manage to learn them to a standard good enough to record in the month time limit. Plus when it comes to winter time the lighting condition is rubbish so my videos turn out all shadowy and dark.

Steve_freereeder

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #83 on: November 24, 2011, 12:51:12 PM »

Although it's run as 'Tune of the Month', there is no stipulated time limit. As Clive has always said, submissions are welcomed at any time, and they can be well after the particular month concerned. Also, some months' selections will be more popular than others, for all sorts of reasons. That's OK too.

I post recordings to TotM only very occasionally, but I always like to hear/see what other people are doing. TotM is a great feature and long may it continue. 
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Anahata

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #84 on: November 24, 2011, 01:20:33 PM »

I am finding the tunes are getting more difficult (and sometimes -to me- obscure) and so I can't manage to learn them to a standard good enough to record in the month time limit.

That's an interesting observation, and certainly something to watch out for.

I'm not sure that I agree - last year we had The Liberty Bell which was a mountainous challenge, and The Cheshire Waltz which is long and not especially well known, whereas recently we've had The Sloe and Oh Joe The Boat is Going Over which I think of as quite easy and standard stuff, but maybe that's just because I've been playing them for a long time. Anyway we all vote for the tune, so if something really easy is in the list and it doesn't get a majority vote, I'm not sure what can be done, other than keeping all the tunes simple.
I suppose we could have a choice - easy TOTM and harder TOTM, but I really think that's just making things too complicated.

Quote
Plus when it comes to winter time the lighting condition is rubbish so my videos turn out all shadowy and dark.
My camcorder is quite good but low light is definitely one of its weaker areas. Apart from the rare occasions when I've done recordings in broad daylight, I use a lot of supplementary lighting to deal with this. Borrow a couple of desk lamps/reading lamps from somewhere in the house and point them at you. One on either side works well, and pointed at the melodeon if they are directional enough, and then you're not staring direct at the light and dazzling yourself.

Although it's run as 'Tune of the Month', there is no stipulated time limit. As Clive has always said, submissions are welcomed at any time, and they can be well after the particular month concerned.

Yes, I was going to make that point too. I'm not at all convinced that having a two month interval would actually increase the number of contributions.
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ladydetemps

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #85 on: November 24, 2011, 02:11:19 PM »

I am finding the tunes are getting more difficult (and sometimes -to me- obscure) and so I can't manage to learn them to a standard good enough to record in the month time limit.
whereas recently we've had The Sloe and Oh Joe The Boat is Going Over which I think of as quite easy and standard stuff, but maybe that's just because I've been playing them for a long time.
Well ...
La Marianne (don't know it)
Dark girl dressed in blue (hard)
The cheshire waltz (hard)
LNB polka (don't know it)
Ash grove (don't know it)
Lemmie Brazils no2. (hard)
Three around three (Just about managed it)
Brighton Camp (did I miss that one?)
Oh, Joe (know that one - although quite slow)
The Sloe (Know it and got hang of it)
BH4HR (finding it really hard)

But that's just me others will have different POV. Its not a complaint just an observation.

Ziachmusi/Louise

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #86 on: November 24, 2011, 03:04:29 PM »

I think I can honestly say that 99% of the TOTM tunes are new to me. A part from Folkcamp and Melnet I've no contact with english folk music, over here if it's folk it's usually Balfolk/ French.
So ToTM is great for learning new tunes, some I manage others I don't, but it's always fun.
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Nige Rivers

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #87 on: November 24, 2011, 03:17:52 PM »

Being a beginner with almost no control of the bass I find every tune a challenge, but no matter how hard the tune I shall try and post some sort of version of it (albeit slow and quite possible incorrect) towards the end of each month. This group is a great facility for learning, long may it continue.
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Graham Spencer

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #88 on: November 24, 2011, 03:30:20 PM »

I am finding the tunes are getting more difficult (and sometimes -to me- obscure) and so I can't manage to learn them to a standard good enough to record in the month time limit.
whereas recently we've had The Sloe and Oh Joe The Boat is Going Over which I think of as quite easy and standard stuff, but maybe that's just because I've been playing them for a long time.
Well ...
La Marianne (don't know it)
Dark girl dressed in blue (hard)
The cheshire waltz (hard)
LNB polka (don't know it)
Ash grove (don't know it)
Lemmie Brazils no2. (hard)
Three around three (Just about managed it)
Brighton Camp (did I miss that one?)
Oh, Joe (know that one - although quite slow)
The Sloe (Know it and got hang of it)
BH4HR (finding it really hard)

But that's just me others will have different POV. Its not a complaint just an observation.


That's really interesting, LDT; you're dead right when you say one player's nightmare is another's easy-peasy. Now I think of Dark Girl, Lemmie Brazil's No 2, 3 Around 3, The Sloe and B Hill's as a walk in the park, as I've been playing them for so many years; on the other hand, in December's poll there's only one tune I know and two I've never even heard of....(oh, and the other one I've heard of because it's been mentioned here, but I've never knowingly heard it and I've no idea how it goes!). No prizes for working out which is the one I know!

Graham
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Clive Williams

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #89 on: November 24, 2011, 05:13:28 PM »

Re: difficulty; yes, good points by all. I try to set a mix of complexity when choosing the poll; some easy, some hard, but I appreciate that's my judgement at work and what I think of as easy is not necessarily the case to all. I do try and pick at least one or two tunes that would be session standards, so if you learn it you've got something that'll be useful, as well as one or two that *should* be session standards! And I also try and pick a range of different countries too (sometimes more successfully than other times, I grant you). And then the best bit, we let democracy rule! It has one or two unexpected effects, which to me adds to the charm of the thing.

Re: 2 months; well, I've always thought that it's impossible to get a performance perfect, and if you try, you're going to be waiting a long time. So I'd bet that those who struggle to learn a tune perfectly in a month would equally struggle to learn it in two. Better to simply put out a 'this is where I got to' recording at the end of the month and move on to the next. But as we've said, the tunes and themes are always left open so that anyone who runs out of time can still have a go... but very few do if you'll notice.

Cheers,

Clive

Bob Ellis

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #90 on: November 24, 2011, 07:49:42 PM »

Re: 2 months; well, I've always thought that it's impossible to get a performance perfect, and if you try, you're going to be waiting a long time. So I'd bet that those who struggle to learn a tune perfectly in a month would equally struggle to learn it in two.

My reason for suggesting two months rather than one was not that performances would reach a higher standard (I'm not sure that they would). I am simply wondering whether some people might feel 'overfaced' - I know that I do. There is a new tune and a new theme each month and then there are those that I was too busy to get round to learning/recording last month or the month before. It leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed. Yes, I could pick out one or two to learn and record and ignore the rest, but I tend to just throw my hands up in frustration and do nothing, whereas if they did not come quite so thick and fast I would probably feel more inclined to learn and record them.

However, judging from the posts since I raised this issue, others don't see it see it like that, so I shall say no more and leave it to others to contribute their recordings. Mine wouldn't have been that good anyway.
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Thrupenny Bit

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #91 on: November 24, 2011, 08:00:28 PM »

I managed a post for the first time last month with The Sloe, only because I'd just about got there playing it before it was voted ToTM.
As a relative beginner, I'm conscious of the time I take to learn a tune properly, especially as it would be a fair bit quicker to get it to stick on the EC so I know tunes can be got up to speed quickly. I find this time taken frustrating. Enjoyable but frustrating!
That said I feel I'm getting things a bit quicker now, but a month's pushing me.
 
Sometimes when I try and learn something, I find I bump into another tune and it is learnt more quickly thant the first tune, and realise some tunes don't stick in my brain. Not necessarily related to how hard it is, sometimes the simple ones won't stick, whether it be a month or a year, they don't go in and I let them drop. Time limits are not necessarily the restriction for me, some just don't go in.

I the mixture is important, like any 'club' thing, you have to cater for the beginner to get them involved, and also cater for the experienced player too or they get bored. I find the mix is reasonable, and even if I don't want to learn the tune, it's still good to see how others tackle things. It has also nudged me towards some tunes I didn't know, I'm currently getting to grips witht 'Scraping the mould off the marmalade' after listening to Anahata  play it with Lemmie's.  Cheshire Waltz wouldn't quite stick, but it's one of those I will come back to. Never heard it til I listened here.

I think ToTM is a broad church and caters for a range of abilities and objectives, some wanting to learn it and post, some learning it for later and others using it as brain fodder in some way.
I think it is A Good Idea!
Q

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joreema

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #92 on: November 24, 2011, 09:48:53 PM »

Learned melnet by ziachmusi. I love it. In my area Irish and bal folk is nthe normal folk music. So, I enjoy to speak with people who loves the same music as me and learn tunes together. Some months it is really hard and the others it is quite easy. But I enjoy the contact. This is the main point for me: to be the community of melodeon players. The difficulty or the standard on youtube etc. comes after this.
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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #93 on: November 24, 2011, 09:53:34 PM »

joreema: ' enjoying the contact..... a community of melodeon players...'
Well put - exactly!
Q
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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #94 on: November 24, 2011, 10:33:57 PM »


Sometimes when I try and learn something, I find I bump into another tune and it is learnt more quickly thant the first tune,

  ;D Same here, especially if there's a tune on Youtube I need to learn and make the mistake of following links to other tunes


  ..... some tunes don't stick in my brain. Not necessarily related to how hard it is, sometimes the simple ones won't stick, whether it be a month or a year, they don't go in and I let them drop. Time limits are not necessarily the restriction for me, some just don't go in. ....


   :Ph thought I was on my own sometimes not being able to pick up some things everyone else seems to play  ;D  you're right, it's nothing to do with the difficulty of the tune,  some are 'stayers', others go in one ear and straight out the other without leaving a trace  ;D

 ToTM is great for bringing up tunes I'd never come across before  :D
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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #95 on: November 24, 2011, 11:15:44 PM »

Kautilya has it nailed down very well.

Many of you posters don't know how much your stuff is appreciated.

Unfortunately, some of us (me) are still back at Canal en Octobre and  Orange in Bloom.

(though was inspired to learn "In a Garden Green" out of order, as the Anahata version was so nicely done that it just cried out "hey, you can do this one".

--Faithful lurker.   :|bl
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Martin J

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #96 on: November 25, 2011, 12:31:53 AM »

Almost everything that can be said about TOTM has been covered.  I've just read the thread in one go and it amazes me that the same theme keeps cropping up, ie. you can post anytime, even after the month end.  This gives perfectionists, beginners or busy people not just the opportunity to post but also to choose the level of tune they are comfortable with.

At first take this late posting may seem a little pointless but the second consistent message is just how much the postings are appreciated.  I want to press the Youtube 'like' button to show my appreciation but if I do I'm then forced to fill in my details which I don't want to so I don't know how to give my support to those who have posted except by way of this thread.

The format is spot on as is the monthly choice.  Encouragement and tweaks will hopefully restore the figures.

confession: I'm also guilty of voting and learning the tunes but not posting.
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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #97 on: November 25, 2011, 11:41:59 AM »

I want to press the Youtube 'like' button to show my appreciation but if I do I'm then forced to fill in my details which I don't want to so I don't know how to give my support to those who have posted except by way of this thread.
Many people post their appreciative comments directly on the individual TotM threads as they occur.

Quote
confession: I'm also guilty of voting and learning the tunes but not posting.
Don't worry, you're not the only one!  ;)
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Andy Next Tune

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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #98 on: November 27, 2011, 06:43:41 PM »

I like TOTM...

It gives me a kick up the backside to look at new tunes.
It makes me rethink tunes I kind of know already.
And reminds me of tunes my fingers somehow remember but I've never known the name of - e.g. Beatrice Hill 3HR.

And the diversity of the videos inspires.

Andy
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Re: Discussion: Should we change TOTM: Q1- Why are we having less posters
« Reply #99 on: November 27, 2011, 08:23:50 PM »

Speaking as a beginner, I tend to go through the Youtube listings & find a tune that I like, being played in a key I can accommodate (I currently have no D/G box). I'm not at the point that it makes sense to simply pick the current TOTM. BUT I do hugely appreciate the resource that TOTM has provided. Thank you all!

I've started making my own pitiful efforts to record something. It remains a salutary experience to realise just how big a gap there is between being able to play a tune reasonably competently, & being able to play it start-to-finish with absolutely NO screw-ups.  :-[
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