Why would I donate?

I've been here lurking so some time now and I still have nothing from this site!
I've made several attempts to learn how to utilize this site, but never any assistance for any of it at all! I just keep getting e-mails from some guy posting base lines......whooHoo! WTF does that do for me?
I'm a self taught guitarist in a foreign country teaching myself how to play guitar and so far, I'm the best guitarist I know.
Maybe I'm syupid, but I don't get your "community". One of the things I tried to do was post to your forum and I got nothing in return of substance.....So this is my last shot at your site.....Here Goes.....My favorite guitar is a cheap, I paid $30.00 for a 3/4 Yamaha FG Junior with slinky Ernie Ball strings. It's the sweetish little thing I have. I like Blues and Pop. I sit around all day and ply along to Boz Skaggs wonderful music as well as Bobby Caldwell, I can play along with just about any Eagles song or Hall and Oates, just anyone almost! I've got the pentatonics just about worked in and would like to share and learn from others. One of the things I do best is play along with songs on You Tube, especially live stuff....I don't really care about the licks, I just know I'm playing along in the same register and have different notes but still on time and rhythm.
Some of the songs I play every day are: DNCE - Cake by the Ocean, GFS! Enrique Iglesias - Bailando, Dimilo, Heartbeat, Romeo Santos....working on all! All Bobby Caldwell, All Boz Scaggs, I just picked up a few I'd never heard of, Like - Downright Woman, It's epic and beautiful! ...so I keep coming back here to find friendship, community and help and all I get is blurbs wanting funds.....I'm OK with that, but there needs to be a two way street and so far I'm not seeing anything but one way signs.....What's up? I'm going to go and play JOJO by Boz Scaggs and just wallow in the sweet notes of the intro....God I love that song!

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Hey garcam123 If you are having problems why don't you PM Dick the person who runs this site he is very helpful. Don't know what you are trying to do upload a track ? add to someones track? Or something else. I have posted several tracks and added to others with no problems. If you are that good as a player post some of your work so we all can share our playing to your tracks. Read the post on how to use this site may help.

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hi Garcam and welcome to wikiloops !
i'm not sure what your problem is exactly but i wouldn't call a virtually unlimited source of musical backtracks nothing ?

the way you can search and pick and download the jam you need to practice your instrument ... the fact you can interact with other musicians around the globe ... the entire plateform is dedicated to a world of musical fun !! all of this took a tremendous amount of efforts to develop and the willing of many musicians who kindly shared their own music : this can't be called nothing in my books !!

however if you're looking for online lessons then wikiloops won't provide that in any way ! though it's a perfect match for practicing your instrument in a real musical situation which is absolutely priceless whatever your level is : we all need the practice ;)

i suggest you read some of the help section : you'll find everything you need to get started and even more ;)

have fun around !

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Well Garcam123,

You are a self taught guitarist. Use your talent to "self taught" wikiloops. Besides, you seem to have a lot of spare time.

Just ask what you want and someone will surely answear.

Welcome to the real world.

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Garcam , I ask myself that same question anytime people critique a bad mix of mine.

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One thing you will NOT find here is backing tracks of copyrighted music. And neither music that is in the public domain e.g folk tunes. That may seem a bit limiting but it actually a good challenge promoting your listening, analyzing, improvising and composing skills.

I can agree on that it sometimes may be a tad difficult to find the track that makes you jump. But that is just as difficult elsewhere and here is an ongoing discussion on how to improve the community.

I also agree on that basic information such as tonality, chords, structure etc is sparse on many of the tracks. I always offer transcriptions of my work if you like to have a look at what is going on. And if you ask politely im sure most members will do their best helping you utilize their work, either in the comment field of each track or you just pm them.

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[i]I've made several attempts to learn how to utilize this site, but never any assistance for any of it at all![/i]

Could you specify what have you tried?
If you have been thru the three video tutorials on how to use wikiloops and the uncounted help articles covering about every feature available on this platform and still feel you need assistance, feel free to ask for it.
"I don't get it" is not a question anyone could answer, I am sorry to say it.

If you do not wish to receive email notifications on peoples uploads, do not follow them (you are following two WL members at this time), or disable the notification settings.
How to do that is also explained in the help section.
wikiloops does not send such messages without your prior action.

Have a nice sunday and happy jamming, be it here or on youtube :)


edit:
I just had a look at your mentioned prior attempt to introduce yourself here in the forum (september 2015) and noticed I already had suggested you could have a look at the help section back then.
Another member offered you to ask specific questions by personal message... So much for "never any assistance".

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I can't help but feel you have partially missed the point of WikiLoops, Garcam. So here is my take. I don't intend to be rude and I hope it doesn't come across that way. But, as usual with me, there's not going to be a short reply...

The issue of covers/commercial music has been covered already. I know YouTube is covered in illegal copies of music but WikiLoops is neither on the scale of Google or can afford to fight such claims. Banning it is a very sensible legal measure.

There's the issue of you asking what you get from it. I can't answer that for you but I can tell you what it gives me: I've been playing a long time - well over 25 years, some of that as a professional. I'm what you'd call an experienced player having done countless concerts and recording sessions over the years. But I'm never too old to learn. Never too old to improve. My pleasure with WikiLoops comes from the creative process of contributing to *new* music. This allows me to think creatively, consider new techniques and new approaches. Causing me to listen and think about how I can add to a song.

Everybody hates practising. Including me. You sit down at your instrument wondering what to work on without getting bored with scales (in my case, rudiments). Often you end up putting on your favourite tunes and playing along. These are tunes where the whole song has already been created - to an extent, you're copying what's already there. That can help with learning, of course, but you're just playing along, rehearsing if you will. I spent years playing along to my favourite players and it's been invaluable.

But the only way to expand your creativity is to get stuck in and give it a go. Blaze the trail rather than copy what's already there. Be a part of the very creation of that music.

And this is my other point: Wikiloops gives me a completely random practice routine. One day I could be doing some funk, the next a bossa nova, the next a piece of pop or jazz. It generates what I'm going to try out, it makes me work outside what I'm comfortable with and try new areas of playing where I'm not so happy. It *is* my practice routine, guiding what I'm going to work on. If I like the sound of the tune, I'll get stuck in and have a go. If I can't find something which suits what I want, then I create a template in an attempt to steer something in that direction.

Which brings me onto the other part: the utter pleasure of hearing other's interpretations of the same piece of music, and also hearing tracks evolve from simple riffs into rip-roaring tunes fit to be played on the radio - it does happen. All whilst getting to collaborate with some of the finest and most-talented musicians from all over the world I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I've made a lot of friends through here, initially virtually but also in person thanks to the Urft meet last year.

Wikiloops is about musical creation and collaboration for me. Downloading them as backing tracks to practise to is just a very useful by-product of that but represents only a fraction of what the site's really about for me.

As for the site nagging about donations, Wikiloops, like many websites, still costs money to run. With over 68,000 tracks already on here and that number increasing exponentially, have a quick think about the amount of bandwidth, servers and storage it might take to maintain that. Someone still has to pay for it. That someone is currently Dick.

Wikiloop's value to my musical learning and enjoyment is virtually limitless. I happily donate because I realise and appreciate that value and want to help sustain it. I'm not saying you have to donate - it's entirely up to you - but to ask what it gives you having not contributed as yet I find a little short-sighted.

I don't intend to preach but I probably have. Sorry about that. I just want to give you an insight into what an amazing learning resource and fun place for budding musicians this site really is. And it's certainly worth a few Euros a month for me.

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Please speak only for yourself on this. But excellent post otherwise

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Fair point, Nilton. Maybe that was somewhat blunt phrasing!

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For me one of the things I like to do within this community is to challenge myself on how I can create an addition either on one instrument, or several combined tracks that adds something to the atmosphere or overall feel of a piece that someone has uploaded. Its very rewarding and encouraging if people listen and appreciate what you create. Through this process I've improved my abilities to record, arrange, mix etc. in a way that would not have been otherwise possible, I've also had the opportunity to collaborate with a whole community of great people that I am learning so much from....and have made some great "pen friends". Just my €0.02 :)

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Man oh man..You are missing out. Sometimes you have to go after the things you want..They don't always come to you. That's all I am gonna say.

Mark

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Yeah man - wikiloops is a shitty place for musicians to jam - that`s the reason why i am on the loops since 2011...

Ask not what your community can do for you - ask what you can do for your community.

Just take your instrument and try to play - if you can`t, ask the guy you want to jam on for help and he will help you - of course.....

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hmmmm... nothing ? really?
i get to play with guys way above my level , and i don't feel i tread too much on their toes..so i'm already a better player for being part of the loopy community.
give yourself a chance, be brave and upload! you know it makes sense.
...and what mr p said...yes. i totally agree with all he so eloquently wrote.

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I teach Bass online, and it's your mentioning that you are teaching yourself guitar that made me post this.

The answer isn't as obvious as 'You'll learn this song, or how to play this riff, lick or technique' It goes a bit deeper than that, but is probably one of the most important, but understated parts of being a musician - musicianship.

To play with others, and to hear others playing is so important. Out of the context of your favourite records, it's what things like jam nights and open mic nights are about. We can sit behind our computers and jam to the songs we love all day long, but it means nothing if you can't transpose that into a musical environment, playing and learning from other musicians.

Some people don't have the opportunity to cut their teeth in a band, a jam night or open Mic night. This site fills that gap, and is why I think it is genius. If you truly want to become a better musician, at some point you're going to have to learn how to play with others. In a nutshell, this does that. :)

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I agree with Basster! When you think to much, your soul is drifting away! I hear so much of very talented musicians that make my heart warmth, my ears clear and my fingers restlessly! Go for it and don´t think about what the Crowd want to hear. When you have no one you can jam with, this is the best place to jam with the whole world. My opinion! ;)

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Garcam, upload to at least 50 tracks the best you can do and see if the first is as good as the 50th, talk to people along the way on the songs you work on. If you have not developed into a better musician and have not started to feel a sense of friendship with the people you have chose to work with than you may never feel like this place will be worth it to you. I figured I would do the same when I started and 2 years and 650 songs later I am still here.

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I found this place two years ago and had so much fun on this platform! It is easy to use and you get to play with awesome musicians! That is the greatest thing!
And it improves your playing, way of listening, approaching songs, genre and english skills :) That must be something ain't it?

Just play and you will see!

Cheers,

Marc

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