should there be a new thread called “performing and playing out?”

[YamahaGuy]

One thing I particularly enjoyed related to this was on a Christian acoustic guitar forum, there was a thread for Sunday morning sets that were picked. What songs. What keys.

[mike o]

Totally agree. Please don’t take this as a knock as I’m sure some folks will. AGF is a great/safe place share things you learn as a hobby from home.

I sent a personal request to the mods in the past year on the same ask for a new sub category on gigging. It would be a great spot for those who gig to share tips, tricks, equipment (gig specific), getting gigs, social media, etc. the responses were “play and write already covers this”. Acoustic amplification has too many folks expressing their personal options/ shoot outs on amps, pickups, mixers, sound systems who have absolutely no experience in what is needed to gig. Probably most of them will never play a paid gig. The information is basically useless. Play and write is all over the place as well. I would guess that AGF has a decent number of folks who play paid gigs in public at a business (not busking or retirement homes, but paid gigs) which is a completely different experience. These are the people who I would value opinions from. Is what it is.

Originally Posted by sublro

seems like maybe it’s a distinct enough topic from equipment-related discussion but with obvious overlap in the overall AGF community. sample things to discuss and explore could include

audience interaction techniques
venue types
band dynamics
song selection
making the leap from bedroom to love performance

etc.

thoughts?

[KevWind]

Humm ? while there are arguments to made for both a new sub forum, and already covered by Play and Write and Acoustic Amplification

The problem in general is that as you add additional sub forums two things happen:
#1 you reduce traffic to all sub forums
#2 you create an additional sub forum for the already overworked volunteer Mods to have to monitor .

That and given the fact that "Playing" (out or in) is already 50 % of the Play and Write forum description

And Gigging gear is already the main focus of the Acoustic Amplification Forum

Any subject matter related to gigging is already pretty well covered One simply needs to make their thread title accurately descriptive

And note :: a specific Gigging subform, will not change the the fact that people with no experience, all the way to people with vast experience,, are going to chime in on any subject in any forum -- that is just the the nature of a public forum

[strangebloom]

I am all for a "Performing" subforum. There is a lot to a live show, so plenty to share both for fun and technical expertise.

[jseth]

I'd suggest that, if you want to talk about experiences gained with gigging, that you write about it here! Plenty of room for that sort of discussion, and as you sort through answers and responses from the general membership, very quickly you can ascertain "who" actually has much, if any experience with what's involved playing gigs...

I know that over the years, I have a pretty good sense of the experiential level of most of the members who actively post or respond to threads. Doesn't mean I discount someone's replies if they don't gig or play out, but I certainly consider where they are coming from with their statements.

I know that, while I haven't gigged lately, I have many years of doing so - even still, I recognize that I have never been the type of player that does mainly covers and "entertains", choosing to treat and present my music as my art - not to get too precious about it, but hey! This is how I live my life and being genuine is important to me, as a man - so I don't just chime in on every topic mentioned by folks.

So, go right ahead and start putting stuff out there that's important to you, and see how folks respond...

[Glennwillow]

Should there be a new thread called “performing and playing out?”

To me the Play and Write subforum already covers this kind of thread.

More subforums tends to defuse interest on the forum. The challenge is to keep sub forums interesting enough to appeal to people but not to spread stuff out so much that nobody goes to the subforum at all.

When I was a moderator we were often asked to establish new sub-forums. Mostly, we rejected the suggestions because they were already covered on the forum and would only dilute interest.

- Glenn

[mike o]

Hmmmm. I’ve never run an online forum so I will ask, is there any analytical or historical research showing additional sub categories has a negative impact on forum traffic? Categories like “live performance”, “learn guitar”, “for song writers” make more sense than play and write. I understand that would be a huge undertaking to sort out all past post into new cats. The other forums I belong to will add a new category and state, start posting here your “name a topic” and let it roll. Not may people care about dialogue from a year ago. They want current info . I do believe resistance to change has impacted traffic on AGF. I’ll just use Talk Bass forum as an example of a very active vibrant community with all age groups participating. https://www.talkbass.com/categories/bass-guitar.45/
A few other things they do really well. Much easier to post photos (good quality photos) and when re-visiting a thread, you go to the exact place you left off so you don’t have to sort through all pre-read material again. Does the world have more bass players than acoustic guitar players? Something to consider.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yes.

And it's annoying that we can't just say yes. Why do we need to use ten characters when we only need four?

Okay: Yes yes yes.

[Mr. Jelly]

I don't think it's needed and would be more hassle than it's worth. IMO.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

Yes.

And it's annoying that we can't just say yes. Why do we need to use ten characters when we only need four?

Okay: Yes yes yes.

It helps stimulate creativity ?

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

I don't think it's needed and would be more hassle than it's worth. IMO.

Exactly -- it isn't really needed, and more complexity does not necessarily equal more efficient or an improvement. And that is not resistance to change, that is simple objectivity .

[Chipotle]

Maybe the subforum just needs a slight re-name. I think "play and write" implies sitting at home practicing or composing.

How about "Play, Perform and Write"? Mods?

[sublro]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

Maybe the subforum just needs a slight re-name. I think "play and write" implies sitting at home practicing or composing.

How about "Play, Perform and Write"? Mods?

I think this might make the most sense all things considered

[mike o]

I’ve beaten this horse enough so, bagging out. Opinions and suggestions are the same right. Every ones got ‘em (me included).

Peace all and Merry Christmas. 🎁 🎄

[rllink]

Originally Posted by mike o

Totally agree. Please don’t take this as a knock as I’m sure some folks will. AGF is a great/safe place share things you learn as a hobby from home.

I sent a personal request to the mods in the past year on the same ask for a new sub category on gigging. It would be a great spot for those who gig to share tips, tricks, equipment (gig specific), getting gigs, social media, etc. the responses were “play and write already covers this”. Acoustic amplification has too many folks expressing their personal options/ shoot outs on amps, pickups, mixers, sound systems who have absolutely no experience in what is needed to gig. Probably most of them will never play a paid gig. The information is basically useless. Play and write is all over the place as well. I would guess that AGF has a decent number of folks who play paid gigs in public at a business (not busking or retirement homes, but paid gigs) which is a completely different experience. These are the people who I would value opinions from. Is what it is.

So how would a new sub forum determine who is worthy and prevent those deemed unworthy from expressing their opinions? Just wondering how it would work.