Time's Just Slippin' Away

I love being here and hearing so much great music and having the opportunity to also join in. However I’m feeling a bit pressured by time (as sign of being old and not having much time left?).

So, just wondering how many of you can relate to the following:

I’m following around 50 fellow players here, not a lot by some standards. If most of these musicians posted only a track or two a week there would be time to listen to everything as well as try to hear a few new members.

My tendency is to try and listen to everything from those I’m following. I suspect that some listeners don’t do that and just post thumbs and comments like “awesome” without listening. I’d rather not do that for ethical reasons, although pats on the back are usually a friendly/nice thing to do.

Several musicians I’d really like to listen to are no longer being “followed” just because I feel like I’m being “spamed”. I know it’s not their intent, yet I’d be really pleased to just hear their best tracks of the week.

We all know when a track is good, but then there are lots where we just might want to play along, practice, or have fun. It’s everyone’s right to post these, yet what does it do for your followers/listeners? Yes, your number of listeners and thumbs etc. goes dramatically down. You’ve diluted your good work with...well...other stuff.

So here’s my dilemma: I want to just hear the good stuff and not all the rest. I no longer can afford the time to listen to everything but want to give full attention to the ones I listen to (anything less is truly a waste of time!).

If you’re one of those posting heaps please consider this: Become more discerning about what you post. You can take up a new membership (supporter of course!) and post your excess tracks there. Alternatively choose a day of the week to post all the “excess” for us to either plod through or ignore.

Hopefully this makes sense and isn’t offending anyone.

Your thoughts?

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Good thoughts Wade.

I'm also looking for Wikiloops' "greatest hits" if you would call them like that, and looking to my own uploads I see that I'm not following this chain of thoughts myself. Meaning I upload too much stuff, and some isn't even ready. I should stop that - keep practise practise, and let only the good stuff through.

(Btw, side story: I still love our (mostly yours and Oliv's) Saturday jam from Steinfeld - but my audio recording of it is just awful (ask Oliv, I've sent him a link to it). Just received a Zoom H5 mobile recorder because I never want this to happen again.)

So thanks for reminding me my friend, I'll keep it in mind. And I hope to see and hear many more tunes from your lovely sax.

Cheers,
Wolfgang

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Yeah the problem of trying to keep up is known... I am lucky in that I can hear Wikiloops radio at work, although I can't really always listen 100% as I am working, I do get to hear a lot of users who are not on my list that way, which is nice. I put on the "latest jams" station... love it! And sometimes I just go on my news feed and listen to the latest stuff there. But it is impossible to keep track of everyone, and I am definitely not going to feel pressured about it. I just try to enjoy it :)

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The fact is it's not easy to be our self-juge.
It's impossible to be objective on your creativity, is it ?

As far as my own stuff is concerned, when I do something new, I love it on monday, I hate it on tuesday, sometimes, I have many nice comments on something I finally don't find good at all, sometimes I'm proud-so-proud but nobody seems to understand why... I guess I'm not the only one !

:(

I must admit I don't take the time to listen to everything or sometimes just skip to the next one and then... put some Miles Davis in my ears ;)

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Thank you for your food for thought my dear Wade. Wikiloops has become a huge thing and you just can not overlook everything.
On some evenings, I just stroll through the loops, enter different search terms and listen in here and in there ... in this way, I've come across some pearls or at least what I personally regard as a pearl. I have already released several Wikiloops sampler albums in which I present such finds.
As far as my personal music on wikiloops is concerned I screwed myself back a lot. It also depends on me writing the lyrics, sometimes I have the feeling that I have already written about everything and just repeat myself.
The amount of songs I did earlier in a month may be in one year today. To be honest, my enthusiasm has been lost a bit, in any case in relation to necessarily wanting to sing a song. Sometimes it comes over me again ... ;o)
I hope I have not strayed too far and you understand my translator-English ;o)

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I stray through the new as well as the old tracks and have my fun with it. If I like something then I contribute something or I just let it be because just my motivation is not enough. I have stopped feeling obliged or obliged to follow somebody. If I like something I have to have fun with it. Otherwise it will not help me. I can also deal with zero comments or without attention. I have to like what I upload here. If that pleases one or the other, the better. I'm happy about it and I'm satisfied until next time.
Yes, with time comes a different attitude and you evolve. And that's good! But with all the different experiences that we make here, everyone has to learn what he wants or not. We have seen many come and go again and that will hardly change. Do not forget the fun. If the fun stops, just take a break;)

best regards
Adu

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It's a tough topic which you've managed to touch on in your inimitable and eloquent way, Wade! I completely relate to the difficulties in following too many people.

Although I'm regularly on Wikiloops (at last after a few enforced hiatuses!), it's usually via my phone and I hate typing on my phone so I spend a lot of my time not thanking people who have added which ultimately makes me feel guilty. But that's the way it is - I just hit thumb instead.

The problem is also compounded by how regularly you visit. Like so many websites out there (social media, news feeds), if you don't catch it at the time, it disappears off the feed to be forgotten. In terms of following players, I rarely add people because I fear exactly your problem: too much to follow. In fact I've probably pruned more people than added! Saying that, probably half my following list consists of people who've moved on...

I used to be one of the guilty - adding a lot. These days, I use my time more wisely favouring quality rather than quantity.

Rather than follow people, when I'm up for a jam, I search for the latest jams and see what takes my fancy although there are certain 'loopers who always deliver quality and interest for me and I will tend to favour them.

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Interesting topic Wade.

Lack of time is a big issue for me too these days.
I follow a lot of folks here too and it is just impossible for me to dedicate
a listen to each and every one of them at each sitting.

I rely on what pops up in my news feed or whatever new tracks first appear on the main
wikiloops page. Then from there the combination of players involved and genre of the track
as it relates to my mood at the moment dictates whether or not I listen to a track when I'm on
the prowl for a jam.

Having said all of that I can say that wikiloops radio has replaced my local radio
stations :)

At the end of the day I'm grateful to be surrounded by so much talent and to have all
these choices available to me.

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I discovered that when listening to new tracks from the main page (so mostly from people whom I don't actually 'follow' due to lack of time), I sometimes discover clear rules violations, which makes me kind of sad.

No matter if it's old jazz standards (and who wouldn't love to play these?) or even themes from really famous musicals, we only endanger ourselves and the whole project if we do so.

Yes, I'd love to play these, too. But we can't do that here folks - sorry to Wade in case I hijacked your thread for this. But this also has to do with time management IMO - our rules are clear, and we shouldn't need to waste time in discussing them over and over again.

Cheers,
Wolfgang

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No problem bringing this up. Hopefully you are hitting the little red flag whenever this happens and reporting it. When you hit the red flag the moderators will check it out and get rid of it. That's the only way to keep the site clean. No good letting them go as it will then be in the system and can be potentially found by a corporate money grubbing "head hunter" and cause a problem later. Keeping the site clean requires vigilance on everybody's part.

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I have a lot of time for music production these days. Retirement is a blessing...
Making music is my main activity now and I like to try new things and different styles.
But I hardly can tell what is good or not.

I do not expect people following me to listen to everything I do. I do not do it myself with the people I follow.
Besides, I do not think I can judge objectively what I produce.
It seems rather difficult for me to implement Wade's proposal.

The questionI am asking myself is: Should we limit the number of publications per unit of time? (Example: 2 publications per week). This is a possibility ... It could partly solve the problem of the operating costs of the wikiloops project.

But do not ask me to judge my work. When I make music I always try to give my best. I do not need much approval of others despite that I find it very pleasant.

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I understand what you mean Wade and i have difficulty listening to a lot of tracks too.... time is the issue...

The community of musicians on Wikiloops is getting larger and people are uploading a lot (including myself i suppose)
I think everyone got their own perspective of looking at music and it will be very hard to drive musicians to “only” upload their “ best” tracks... that is in some way a matter of opinion... isn’t it?

But i also feel you, i uploaded some tracks too and had some doubts if i should have uploaded it afterwards.... but i gues it’s the moment that it felt good what can get changed later on.....

Cheers,

Marc

Ps.
Sorry if my English is a bit strange.....i don’t want to use a translator.... :)

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Interesting post

@ Wade & Marc - yes i agree with you both, but the comment you made Marc I also agree with :-

"I think everyone got their own perspective of looking at music and it will be very hard to drive musicians to “only” upload their “ best” tracks... that is in some way a matter of opinion... isn’t it?"

The best stuff is subjective, just like some people think the beatles are the best ever band, but then the guy next door thinks the rolling stones are the best

However, I really must say this (and I dont feel too comfortable about it) :-

The people who know me well enough on here, know that im a traditional drummer who dabbles with electronica too, but I also like to compose movie tracks, and some other stuff, that may have comical elements etc.

I've noticed that I've chucked out some utter nonsense, and got say 20 thumbs for it, while my "very best stuff" has been largely ignored and got 3 or 4 thumbs - and it made me think about leaving the loops. I think the support on here can be quite poor to be honest

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I think i was lucky to discover the Loops a few years ago and in that time people started to follow new musicians much more quickly!
This way my tracks are showing on a lot more timelaps as other musicians that joined the Loops later in time!
Guess that is an influence also on how many “thumbs” a track will get! However the number of “thumbs” isn’t always in line with the “quality” of the track.... perspectives again!

Please don’t leave the loops but do your cool thing, a lot of people are enjoying it, including me!

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Seconded, strongly. Please stay. :)

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Ha..For me..being rather unskilled in all this process here(And that's from A to Z)..I am guilty of posting too many remixes..I think at first..I was just enamored with the whole idea. How cool it is..but I didn't have the ears to distinguish anything good from just anything. So post away I did. I usually tend to run through here like FrankieJ does..start with the most recent uploads and go down the list. Moreso now..I am hoping I am a bit more selective as to what I post. Many get tossed..and when I am tossing them I wonder if others actually might like them..but I suppose the real "bar" is what "I" think...and my stuff can and often is marginal. I never professed to be a pro player as I don't want to sound like and emulate the Sandborn's, Merianthals, G's etc. of the world. We are all fortunate to play along here with some pretty fantastic musicians..and there are a couple here that have really helped me progress behind the scenes. And to those individuals..you know who you are..and I am, and will be forever grateful.<3

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Hi Friends, good discussion! From my side .. I am totally happy with the loops, although time pressure is a tough issue in my life. And as some of you said, I feel it is impossible to listen through all this music popping up because I follow a couple of you guys!
But why not?!?
I miss gems.. sure .. I hear some eh "rubbish" and of course I produce some rubbish and hopefully sometimes a gem..
That's all ok for me ..
I would be very unhappy if I would feel the obligation to filter the "good" from the "bad" .. especially since I have the same experience like Paul .. some of the tracks which I thought to be really excellent had been ignored by you, others where I thought .. "ok .. was not your best day today..." suddenly were liked by many many of you..
Paul, for me this is much more interesting than frustrating .. other people other preferences.. and maybe with all my narcism I thought tracks to be GREAT where I hear from myself what made me proud or happy, although the music suffered from my add .. I don't know - anyway.. I am still totally happy with you guys, actually feeling you are friends, you are family, and wikiloops in fact feels a bit like "at home" .
At the end of the day.. I would like to still upload, when I feel "cool, like it" and I would still like to listen to your tracks when popping up and I have enough time to dive into your music .. and if not, I don't and miss something.
And at the very end .. I would like to tell you I am very grateful for all your music and the chance to play together with you .. You know, I am 55years old, actually the direction of my life went away from music, I decided 100 years ago not to stay with music but switch to science and then business .. And I thought, I lost the music .. Wikiloops brought it back into my life! And especially: Most of you guys are so excellent musicians, I would never have had the chance to play with you in "real" life .. Here it works - and you know what? This is totally WOW!! for a guy like me .. thank you very much!! (And Paul ... pleeeaase stay!!! )

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Well, the issue with the likes is not new, personally I would not pay much attention to it. Depending on the time of day, the day of the week and other factors, it can mean a lot of likes or very few. For me, the joy of Wikiloops is not in the "likes" but in making the music, and listening to the remixes of my music.

But, everything is cool, and everyone has their own reasons for enjoying Wikiloops. I hope you stay here and make some more music here :W

Peace :)

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These thoughts of leaving wikiloops are not new. But what do you expect when you pour out your musical outpourings in front of the whole world? Should we set a memorial to anyone who can play an A or keep the rhythm?
People come down! Just ask yourself, why?
This is a community that allows us to play across borders and continents. It does not really matter to me what each one of me thinks. Thanks a lot to Dick! Personally, I've learned a lot here in terms of ability and tolerance. I'm happy when I can make music, that's the most important thing. If anyone hears that and finds it good, then of course I'm happy too.

Again, do not forget the fun of it!

I hope nobody leaves Wikiloops because he thinks he will not be noticed!
Pull the crown straight and continue. ;)

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