The Second Coming

( of Major Works)

So...

Jason, Robin, and I were talking about the seeming decline in quality of the music offered on this site.

I use the word seeming because there obviously still are quite a few outstanding works that are posted to this site, but it is very difficult to find them, or to differentiate them from other works that may not show the same polish and musical depth that these outstanding works do.

Prior to the installation of the new forum format, the major works (although critized as being too entwined with the existing cliques on the site) forum was a clear directory of what the reviewing staff deemed to be quality work and provided a huge incentive to the posting of quality music. It was somewhat of a milestone as a member of this site to have a work in that forum. Now that this showcase is gone, music that a person had spent years on in musical depth can quite easily be forgotten for music that is not as musically deep, but shorter and more compatible with the human attention span.

Now, I am aware of the debate that occurred regarding new members that would just post one work in the major works and refrain from commenting on other members music, which is why the three of us are not suggesting an entirely new forum for posting a major work.

Instead, we believe that a "reviewer's pick" box above the shoutbox would be more suitable as a clique-free and efficient way of showcasing works that a reviewer has deemed to be a quality work, thereby providing incentive to post more quality work on this site and giving the member community a taste of what the artists on this site have to offer.

I would suggest having a weekly rotation between reviewers in each forum to submit their picks, and since their duties involve listening to most of the music in their respective forum, they would in theory be able to suggest one work to display.

Suggestions? Is this a terrible idea?

( of Major Works)

So...

Jason, Robin, and I were talking about the seeming decline in quality of the music offered on this site.

I use the word seeming because there obviously still are quite a few outstanding works that are posted to this site, but it is very difficult to find them, or to differentiate them from other works that may not show the same polish and musical depth that these outstanding works do.

Prior to the installation of the new forum format, the major works (although critized as being too entwined with the existing cliques on the site) forum was a clear directory of what the reviewing staff deemed to be quality work and provided a huge incentive to the posting of quality music. It was somewhat of a milestone as a member of this site to have a work in that forum. Now that this showcase is gone, music that a person had spent years on in musical depth can quite easily be forgotten for music that is not as musically deep, but shorter and more compatible with the human attention span.

Now, I am aware of the debate that occurred regarding new members that would just post one work in the major works and refrain from commenting on other members music, which is why the three of us are not suggesting an entirely new forum for posting a major work.

Instead, we believe that a "reviewer's pick" box above the shoutbox would be more suitable as a clique-free and efficient way of showcasing works that a reviewer has deemed to be a quality work, thereby providing incentive to post more quality work on this site and giving the member community a taste of what the artists on this site have to offer.

I would suggest having a weekly rotation between reviewers in each forum to submit their picks, and since their duties involve listening to most of the music in their respective forum, they would in theory be able to suggest one work to display.

Suggestions? Is this a terrible idea?

I think its a wonderful idea. Perhaps, to ensure no favoritism, ALL of the Reviewers in a given forum should vote on the work in question - and discuss it.

Anant -

It sounds fine. The supposed "decline" (which I do think is real but impermanent) in new music posted simply comes from all the changes that have occurred and the lack of ease to post new music. For example, I found it easier to just sign out and sign back in to add a "new" composition rather than stay logged in as I can never get directed to the page to upload compositions. Plus major works require file space, if you are charging once you go beyond a certain limit then first timers may be reluctant to do so. Also, the old major works forum had one problem - the overall quality would decline as people posted longer and longer works more often and reviewers didn't have time to go through it all. The advantage of the clique was you could depend on a certain level of quality BUT it engendered reviewers to approved a bit too soon sometimes.

Nevertheless, I do think chopin should charge due to the size of this operation and resources available.

Pardon the digressions. I think your idea is fine. I suggest another one - once a year you invite composers to submit one major work of a specified duration range , specified musical forces, and the maximum number of compositions to be considered set. After a few weeks, the top three (if you get sufficient entrants) are posted with a synopsis of the reviewers thoughts. This would encourage those who have been working hard for months or years on a work to submit something. Those works that do not make it get a place in the other categories and a brief summation of why it didn't make into major works as well what is the works

strong points.

This is quite feasible if you do it just once a year.

I miss MW. This reviewers pick sounds like a good idea to me.

So it seems like there is some general support for the idea...

What would we need now to have done in order for the idea to actually be carried out?

Let me just add my two cents' worth here:

I think that this may be a good idea, but I'm not exactly convinced. If we make a "Reviewer's Pick" column, we're basically inferring (and not so subtly, either) that we think that these so-and-so pieces by these so-and-so people are the cream of the crop. There are only so many greatly talented musicians on this site, won't there be far too many of pieces by the same people over time? Ron and Marius would be there all the time! :lol:

Also, since we're saying that this is a list of the finest work (because we're supposed to be Reviewer's because we know good from bad in a musical light, presumably, and know how to offer helpful/insightful criticism to enhance a piece in need of serious help, and also when a piece goes above and beyond being merely alright to being a masterpiece of some sort), isn't it, in effect, the exact same clique-like thing? That you don't really need to bother looking at the other stuff, because it basically isn't as well thought-out? Let's not pretend that pieces in this Reviewer's Pick won't get more views and comments than the others, please.

I must admit, I'm pretty wary of this <.< I'm not even opposed to the idea, really, and I'd actually like you to go ahead and do it, but I also had to voice my concerns as well.

My 2 cents:

I'd think that it'd by interesting to try it for a while at least..... However, you could consider imposing limit on how many time one composer can go on the list (say, once every 2-4 months )so to avoid the problem pointed out by SergeofArni.