Finding a musician online...

I was thinking,

I've seen before, online, certain studio musicians that offer their services of playing a track that you need recorded.

Is there a resource for this kind of thing? Or just a label I could put on it, other than "online musician" (which doesn't seem specific enough...)?

More specifically, I, personally, am looking for a violinist and maybe a someone who can play viola to record a couple tracks.

That would be a nice thing if a web site had a pool of musicians available for this. Perhaps we have enough musicians on this website to provide something like this?

I will be adding an auction system that will facilitate this need very shortly.

*facepalm*

Chopin, with all due respect, can you PLEASE fix the site before adding more features before you drive more people away. This erratic development is very frustrating to users.

What needs to be fixed Justin? You always state this... but you never give anything that needs to be fixed. It's almost becoming a mute rallying cry of yours.

The coding in the network. It still isn't bug free. Also, we have all these features (like Tutorials and the Wiki) that aren't being finished and just sitting there. Also, we need a base of PEOPLE to make ANY money-for-anything feature worth while. We simply don't have the users to make that venture useful. To auction services you wouldn't only need people who are willing to auction but people who are willing to BUY services. We have few in the first group and even fewer in the second.

Like I've said before, Ambition is great, but you have to temper it with practical reasoning.

The coding in the network. It still isn't bug free. Also, we have all these features (like Tutorials and the Wiki) that aren't being finished and just sitting there. Also, we need a base of PEOPLE to make ANY money-for-anything feature worth while. We simply don't have the users to make that venture useful. To auction services you wouldn't only need people who are willing to auction but people who are willing to BUY services. We have few in the first group and even fewer in the second.

Like I've said before, Ambition is great, but you have to temper it with practical reasoning.

Coding in the network: Give me an example. I haven't experienced any bugs in quite sometime. What browser are you using? What types of bugs are you experiencing? If you don't let us know... we have no idea what you are experiencing. Overall, however, the bugs are mostly gone - occassionally we get someone with problems... but its usually a problem on their end and not the forums.

Tutorials and Wiki: These are areas of the site that will take time to be finished. They aren't going to be finished anytime soon. And really, both are long term projects. Tutorials... we have a team of teachers, yourself included, who have the responsibility of working on the tutorials. So what problems are there you have with this? If you don't want to do this - please let us know, so we can find someone who can handle the job.

Auction: The auction service was one reason why the network itself was implemented... if you think back to a few months before the implementation that was something discussed amongst the entire community. Just because it's said that this will eventually be available... doesn't mean that it will be there when you wake up tomorrow. Things like that take time.

Membership: So, we're suffering from lack of activity? Look around, Justin. This site is far more active now than it was a month ago. The tutorials are active... the uploads are active... we have the members now and have more coming back. It will take time to get up to whatever level you want it to be at. Just have to be patient. If you really want to help bring more activity here, then by all means advertise the site to musicians, composers, teachers, conductors, and others whom you feel will benefit from this site. Every little bit helps.

Coding in the network: Give me an example. I haven't experienced any bugs in quite sometime. What browser are you using? What types of bugs are you experiencing? If you don't let us know... we have no idea what you are experiencing. Overall, however, the bugs are mostly gone - occassionally we get someone with problems... but its usually a problem on their end and not the forums.

The bugs are better but the site isn't flawless. I'm using Chrome BTW. There are little bugs, like the login not always being consistent (looks like a cookie issue). Or sometimes the formatting of the forum content gets messed up. Or sometimes an upload won't work and an error message. These are getting less and less but the thing still isn't bug proof.

Tutorials and Wiki: These are areas of the site that will take time to be finished. They aren't going to be finished anytime soon. And really, both are long term projects. Tutorials... we have a team of teachers, yourself included, who have the responsibility of working on the tutorials. So what problems are there you have with this? If you don't want to do this - please let us know, so we can find someone who can handle the job.

The tutorials aren't organized properly and there's no coordination to get anything done. There's a problem with it being a "long term project." The system should be set up in the short term and ready to go, flawlessly, and then we can just upload content at our heart's content. Because right now, with the clunky organization and no system for review before it goes up that's in place yet (if one exists, its not being used), I am wary about writing this orchestration masterclass which is like writing a small or even medium-sized book and it not being integrated properly into the site. I realize there are "workarounds" for some things but that shouldn't be necessary. It should be ready to go right from the start. Good programs and sites are not developed as if in Beta actively online, otherwise users get frustrated, and the more users there are the more frustration. That's probably why Mike got away with the massive site transformation and the thing didn't completely collapse on itself. There were simply too few users to piss off, to put it bluntly. Non-tech-savy people hate things that don't work the way they should, but tech-savy people hate it even more because they know it can work.

Auction: The auction service was one reason why the network itself was implemented... if you think back to a few months before the implementation that was something discussed amongst the entire community. Just because it's said that this will eventually be available... doesn't mean that it will be there when you wake up tomorrow. Things like that take time.

As I said before, fix the stuff above. Then build up a user base, then release an Auction thing. If you really want to you can set up a beta of the auction system, but DO NOT release it from the start or you will have another fiasco like you did with the implementation of the network in the first place. It will fall on its face without a user base too because without people to use it, its a meaningless service. Why is eBay so successful? Because people use it! No other reason really. So while this auction thing is a a neat idea this site can't support it in its current state. We can talk about it all day long, but focus your energies on something more productive, like fixing bugs and building a user base first.

Membership: So, we're suffering from lack of activity? Look around, Justin. This site is far more active now than it was a month ago. The tutorials are active... the uploads are active... we have the members now and have more coming back. It will take time to get up to whatever level you want it to be at. Just have to be patient. If you really want to help bring more activity here, then by all means advertise the site to musicians, composers, teachers, conductors, and others whom you feel will benefit from this site. Every little bit helps.

Lack of activity compared to pre-new-look days. It's getting into a nice rhythm which is good, but there are still only about 20-30 active users at a time, not 150-200, which is what y'all should aim for. Get people to come to the site and appreciate it and USE the services here. Its great as a hangout for young composers, but if you want all these services to work, you need people to use them. I wouldn't advertise this site yet simply because its too error prone and the code needs to be streamlined. The site is faster, but nowhere near as fast as it could be, and y'all know that (or if you don't, well, boo hoo). But no one's pressuring for a fantastic site of music here, only some mediocre hang-out spot on a random forum that no one's ever heard about. The old YC, full of polarizing flame wars, problematic behavior, and stupid people (kinda) is gone. Shed the old facade and begin anew. Let's build it up from here.

The bugs are better but the site isn't flawless. I'm using Chrome BTW. There are little bugs, like the login not always being consistent (looks like a cookie issue). Or sometimes the formatting of the forum content gets messed up. Or sometimes an upload won't work and an error message. These are getting less and less but the thing still isn't bug proof.

The login issues have been fixed already. The cookie issue is not something that this site can prevent. We can post a thread to inform members of how to set their security settings to preven the cookie issue from happening. I've not had it happen to myself personally - on any computer or browser I log on with.

The tutorials aren't organized properly and there's no coordination to get anything done. There's a problem with it being a "long term project." The system should be set up in the short term and ready to go, flawlessly, and then we can just upload content at our heart's content. Because right now, with the clunky organization and no system for review before it goes up that's in place yet (if one exists, its not being used), I am wary about writing this orchestration masterclass which is like writing a small or even medium-sized book and it not being integrated properly into the site. I realize there are "workarounds" for some things but that shouldn't be necessary. It should be ready to go right from the start. Good programs and sites are not developed as if in Beta actively online, otherwise users get frustrated, and the more users there are the more frustration. That's probably why Mike got away with the massive site transformation and the thing didn't completely collapse on itself. There were simply too few users to piss off, to put it bluntly. Non-tech-savy people hate things that don't work the way they should, but tech-savy people hate it even more because they know it can work.

Again, let's remember that YOU are the one who is part of the team that is meant to address the Tutorial issues. The tutorials really aren't that much of a problem. I've been on numerous websites, games, forums, social network sites and have seen first hand that NOTHING is ever integrated properly into the site till far after its first introduction. All one has to do to see this is log on to their Facebook account and play any of their new games - all of which suffer from this same problem you mention. Our answer to fixing this was to set up a team of members to add to, clean up, and make functional that particular forum. As we've stated to you many times... you have an idea in this regard - let us know. We are willing to try it. The tutorials forum is very much geared to member cooperation and upkeep - hence why I said it will never be a completed project but instead will be long going.

As I said before, fix the stuff above. Then build up a user base, then release an Auction thing. If you really want to you can set up a beta of the auction system, but DO NOT release it from the start or you will have another fiasco like you did with the implementation of the network in the first place. It will fall on its face without a user base too because without people to use it, its a meaningless service. Why is eBay so successful? Because people use it! No other reason really. So while this auction thing is a a neat idea this site can't support it in its current state. We can talk about it all day long, but focus your energies on something more productive, like fixing bugs and building a user base first.

The main reason its not being implemented yet (and Mike can be the one to really state that), is largely due to the activity on the site. We have member levels increasing - yet, the member levels are not to the size ready to complement the auction service. This is something realized. As far as bugs, again... I can attest to this, bug complaints have gone to about 1 every month or two. That's a virtually non-existent level. Facebook, which houses millions of members, has more bugs in a single second than this site does in a month - that should say something. As for me focusing my energies on something more productive... this is a productive discussion. You are the one sole member left who has continuously made complaint after complaint after complaint with little backing up. If we didn't care about our members... I wouldn't be so adamant to hear your complaints - especially on the rare occasion that we get such a lofty novela from you in this regard. So this is a very productive use of my time as an administrator on the site.

Lack of activity compared to pre-new-look days. It's getting into a nice rhythm which is good, but there are still only about 20-30 active users at a time, not 150-200, which is what y'all should aim for. Get people to come to the site and appreciate it and USE the services here. Its great as a hangout for young composers, but if you want all these services to work, you need people to use them. I wouldn't advertise this site yet simply because its too error prone and the code needs to be streamlined. The site is faster, but nowhere near as fast as it could be, and y'all know that (or if you don't, well, boo hoo). But no one's pressuring for a fantastic site of music here, only some mediocre hang-out spot on a random forum that no one's ever heard about. The old YC, full of polarizing flame wars, problematic behavior, and stupid people (kinda) is gone. Shed the old facade and begin anew. Let's build it up from here.

Again, what errors do you experience that causes you to not want to advertise the site to your friends and colleagues. I found it interesting, by the way, that just today someone joined the forum and said their composition professor referred them to this site. If this site has as many problems as you are making it out to have... you would think that that professor would refer that new member to any of the 30 or so other music forums online. Instead, he chose to refer this member to YC. That say's something there, doesn't it? Yes, the activity isn't at 150 - 200 members steady... I've been a member for about 2 years now and haven't seen it at that level in that entire period. Daily we are back to the levels we had a year ago.

Again, Justin. What problems are you having? This is your chance to go into great detail here - and your passing it up. I have a feeling that your problems have less to do with the once a month or two bug OR lack of activity.

Ignoring the thread topic, I'll try to add something constructive. In regards to the Wiki, it would be nice if the Wiki had the same navigation as the forum! When you click on Wiki you lose Chat, Tutorials, and Contact, and gain Calendar, Search, and Help. Why not put Calendar, Search, and Help in the wiki Navigation panel instead? Help will have to be renamed since there's already another type of Help in the Navigation panel. And it looks like clicking on Calendar brings you back to the Forum anyway. Oh, and don't forget about keeping the secondary navigation throughout as well (Community, Code of Conduct, Network Guidelines - unless you mean for this to be Forum-specific. In that case, maybe the Wiki-specific navigation could be added to the secondary navigation on the Wiki page).

Also... What exactly is Chat, and why do we need it when we have the Shoutbox?

I was thinking,

I've seen before, online, certain studio musicians that offer their services of playing a track that you need recorded.

Is there a resource for this kind of thing? Or just a label I could put on it, other than "online musician" (which doesn't seem specific enough...)?

More specifically, I, personally, am looking for a violinist and maybe a someone who can play viola to record a couple tracks.

To actually answer this question; I'm a professional-level violinist / amateur violist. What do you want recorded?

~Jeremy L., violinist of 3 and a half years. (Yeah, I know, short time, but I'm playing standard violin solo repertoire - the Saint-Saens Intro + Rondo Capriccioso, the Kreisler Praeludium and Allegro, the Bach Gavotte en Rondeau from the E Major violin partita, etc.)

So, Msr. Violinist....

If I composed a work for violin... you'd be able to record it for me. :D

Try your local craigslist.

I have actually. Craigslist is alright but... the musicians in my area don't use it. I've got connections now... but, I'm waiting till I get back into college June 7. The connections there will be far greater AND putting on a recital would be a lot cheaper.

So, Msr. Violinist....

If I composed a work for violin... you'd be able to record it for me. :D

Yeah, not with video though :P And my microphone is kinda crappy.