what the fuck is this forum comming too

[vespiz]

One thing that sometimes gets me is that stuff that (imo) should be in off-topic tavern gets posted on the "main" forum page (or wherever). I know it's sometimes difficult to make the distinction, but I guess you could always err on the side of caution?

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

One thing that sometimes gets me is that stuff that (imo) should be in off-topic tavern gets posted on the "main" forum page (or wherever). I know it's sometimes difficult to make the distinction, but I guess you could always err on the side of caution?

Yeah, the main page seems to draw more and more weed and "HEY I MADE THIS THREAD I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY BUT I TINK I'M FUNNAY!" threads.

What ever, the golden days are long gone

 

[smy1]

Hahaha, the reason for this is simple:

a) "in the beginning" it was only a few of the now-regulars, most of which didn't have a clue because forums like this didn't exist
b) it took years of trying and discussing, getting tips from Andy, collecting wisdom from all over the place to put it together. And then apply it.
c) these days we have impulses, Wagner Sharp, Superior 2.0, Slate ... so no need to actually mic up an amp, cause you got the Meshuggah Preset for PODFarm going into CatharsisImpulses for an InstaGood-Sound
d) all the wisdom collected in b) is available in one sticky and all the regulars think it's "old news", because they have now spent a few years finding and collecting and applying it.
e) a few new ppl making tons of pointless threads in the wrong forum-sections and using less humble more offensive tone (which I describe as "spoiled, only-child, internet toughguy"-tone)
f) since the forum is self moderated most people just shrug at e) and move on by not posting as much anymore (I know I semi-did)

There is only so much knowledge in the world! In the "pioneering days", everything is exciting, especially when you have to figure it out yourself. Today everyone theoretically knows how to make a record sound like "The Gathering".

Now everyone just has to go out and do it ...

 

[joelplagues]

I know I haven't been here for long enough to make a decent contribution to the forum but I agree that when I first started getting addicted to sneap forum I learnt alot and loved that people were willing to share every bit of knowledge they had.It sucks that in recent times we have seen alot less insight.

It seems people just keep coming in telling people to shut the fuck up for asking questions cause no matter what you will never acheive the persons sound, when really we all just wanna see how different people do things differently. It helps us all to think outside our usual little box an try something a little different.

And tbh the rate my tone thread is growing tired on me. It's almost as if that if you dont have ssd or a mesa then your mix isnt worthy of rating. I'd love some of the regulars to give their insight on some of the newer or less popular mixes/tones. I value everyones insight to my clips(when I receive any)but I just think people who arent regular posters that are more than willing to learn get jipped of helpful critiqueing. Isn't this forum here to help eachother?

I think helping eachother would be more useful then telling the regular geniuses that there tone is yet again AMAZING?

all in all thats is just my opinion and "to each their own" as with ryan and everyone on here.

 

[GarethSE]

yeah i've had my phase of being an internet tough guy around here and i realised quickly how fucking immature i was being and now im beginning to share everyone elses sentiments about this place, as much as i still adore it.

IMO, what this forum needs is some actual active moderation now, nothing extreme like OMG DO NOT SWEAR LOL COS U WILL GET BAN'D, just moving topics to the right forums, maybe short suspensions for members that are total cunts, some basic sub-form specific rules. for example, some guy was selling an audix kick mic and everyone was like WTF LOL Y U SELIN DAT THING LOL ITS SO GUD and i just thought, who cares? let him sell his fucking mic, make him an offer or stfu? maybe a sort of rule that prevents that sort of topic in the gear for sale section again
basically, no really ott moderation, just helpful nudges to keep the place more organised.

forums need to change to accomodate more users as they grow in popularity, it's just common sense. right now the sneap forum, as one big entity, is a toddler with teething problems, and we're refusing to give it calpol and wondering why it won't stop screaming.

my 2 centzz

 

[Ermz]

If you've been on any forum for any serious bit of time (longer than 1 year and 2 months, Ryan =P), you know that all forums, hell - all social gatherings or events of any kind go through phases. They ebb and they flow. Sometimes it's good, sometimes... not so great. We're just in a downswing right now. It'll pick up before long, I'm positive.

+1

Though I'm not entirely as positive on it picking up again.

Part of the quaint charm of this place early on was that barely anybody knew about it. We had barely enough posts per day to bump stuff halfway up the main page, and at that point we obviously had no sub-forums.

The more people from abroad come here, lured by the great impulses, DIs, shoot-outs and whatever else originating here are going to eventually going to dilute the place, and its great core repository of knowledge.

Though I'm very glad this forum had a great run in its time. I learned almost everything I know about engineering here, along with applying things out in the real world and seeing what stuck and what didn't. If only more people came here with reasonable attitudes, and actually wanted to learn, instead of posturing and showing others how much they think they know.

I think one of the worst things to ever happen to this place were the impulses and the Slate gear (no disrespect big man, I really love your drums). Not because they don't have their place in recording, but because everyone reaches for them at the very first opportunity, first chance, first fix - enter the band-aid mixing generation.

One of the most hilarious things you see on here from time to time is people complaining that the Slate samples sound no good in their mixes. Honestly, I don't think it's possible to get something much more 'pre-mixed' for you. If you're struggling at that point, it's probably a fair point you've started to run before you could walk.

Anyway, I digress. Here's to attempting to not leave the place for another few months!

 

[Sweetnothing]

I don't think it will fade slowly...I mean, it's august, vacations, etc...

Besides, I'm more of a lurker than a poster, even tho I read this forum 2-3 times a day ( just nothing to contribute to the things already being said)
I've learnt a lot more than I can give, but I refuse to see the forum in that apocalyptic way.

Impulses, SSD, S2.0...before that was DFH and PodXT, it's all a diferent phase I guess.

Chill a little and you'll see when there's no sun or good weather

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

e) a few new ppl making tons of pointless threads in the wrong forum-sections and using less humble more offensive tone (which I describe as "spoiled, only-child, internet toughguy"-tone)

That's what irks me the most. Of course, new faces are always more than welcome, but lately we've been getting quite a lot of the flaming, arrogant, not-hugged-enough-as-a-kid type around here. We still haven't got nearly as much of the mindless flaming and trash-talking as most other forums, but seems like we're about to start the journey. Back when I joined, the atmosphere on this forum was unbelievably welcoming and laid-back.

But what the hell, we can always retreat to a secret underground society when things get too hectic here. To the Batcave!

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Impulses, Ampsims, samples... and so on.. yeah for most of you they may suck but for some of us that is the only solution that we have to record our things. Speaking for myself I have to say that I dont have conditions to record a real drum, to mic a cab and so on. I would love to do all that things without using all this virtual shit but not all of us have the space and money to do what we want. It´s fucked but it´s true and so I do what I do with the things I have. And all that virtual shit it´s not so negative as you may see because it give to some of us the oportunity to do what we love without spending rivers of money.
And some of us dont have it.

This forum may be losing some of his essence, but a lot of what I know I learn from here. So I just have to thanks to this forum.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

+1

Though I'm not entirely as positive on it picking up again.

Part of the quaint charm of this place early on was that barely anybody knew about it. We had barely enough posts per day to bump stuff halfway up the main page, and at that point we obviously had no sub-forums.

The more people from abroad come here, lured by the great impulses, DIs, shoot-outs and whatever else originating here are going to eventually going to dilute the place, and its great core repository of knowledge.

Though I'm very glad this forum had a great run in its time. I learned almost everything I know about engineering here, along with applying things out in the real world and seeing what stuck and what didn't. If only more people came here with reasonable attitudes, and actually wanted to learn, instead of posturing and showing others how much they think they know.

I think one of the worst things to ever happen to this place were the impulses and the Slate gear (no disrespect big man, I really love your drums). Not because they don't have their place in recording, but because everyone reaches for them at the very first opportunity, first chance, first fix - enter the band-aid mixing generation.

One of the most hilarious things you see on here from time to time is people complaining that the Slate samples sound no good in their mixes. Honestly, I don't think it's possible to get something much more 'pre-mixed' for you. If you're struggling at that point, it's probably a fair point you've started to run before you could walk.

Anyway, I digress. Here's to attempting to not leave the place for another few months!

very good post, also the one SMY1 posted.

tbh I'm still hoping it's just a phase (although I know that it's very unlikely).
I think the purpose of the forum has changed (not judging whether that's good or bad), it used to be a small community of pros and semi pros, where the pros tought the semi pros and the semi-pros really wanted to learn the craft.
now it's a huge community of beginners and some semipros and the beginners learn(sometimes) from the semipros. unfortunately I have the feeling that todays beginners are far less eager to learn the craft than yesterdays semi-pros....
they want presets and impulses to become the next big sneap of/in their bedrooms.
many of the old posters have even left this forum for that reason (James for example, I also haven't seen Brett around lately)....
I don't wanna say the forum sucks like it is now, I'm sure lots of people can still learn something here (or rather get/download new IRs and samples...I haven't seen many threads lately asking for production techniques like drum micing etc....learning the craft doesn't seem to be the main reason for coming here anymore unfortunately).

Still...there are many cool people left and I'm still talking to many of the great guys I met here on AIM etc, it's still a fun place to hang out, just as I said, the purpose and community has changed....that's a good thing for some and a bad thing for others (I liked it best even before the subforums came)....I don't think I can change it, I'll just monitor the forum, try to contribute, try to get angry as little as possible and when I feel this forum can't give me anything anymore I'll move on (but that's not today and not tomorrow ).

yeah, I know, I'm the first one to complain about the HCAF-ization of this forum, but I've accepted the fact that I can't change it.
Eventually I'll just open a new forum which is invite only....when things get too worse we all can go there, abandoning this place, leaving it for the "ZOMFG NEW 6" IMPULSES"-generation.

I'm fully aware that my above post sounds very confusing and confused...that's because I typed while watching TV and editing drums...not doublechecking etc, so I may just have left a sentence unfinished or something


EDIT: thanks for the kind words and compliments

P.P.S. I actually didn't mean this post to sound as bitter as it did.


and brett, Andy: please move this thread to to OT section

 

[vespiz]

Things change, people change. Maybe some of the semi-pros who started here have become pros themselves and thus have less and less time - or need - to hang out here?

And, again imo, this place has a slight tendency towards getting a good guitar sound more than anything else..

Not that there's anything wrong with that! That's why I came here in the first place!

For my part, I'm trying to keep a good, clean signal-to-noise ratio here.

It's still a better forum than some. :zombie:

 

[Line666]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/203997-andy-hows-krankenstein.html

I think the above link illustrates that this is not a recent phenomenon, as its dated back four years ago to 2005 and people are still making the same complaints, back before people like Jarkko, Gareth, Kyle or myself even joined this forum, people have been complaining that Andy has "posted less recently" or that the attitude is more reminiscent of Insert X Forum here (could be Cobot, HCAF or Gearslutz):

Anyone else notice that Andy hasn't been in here and posted for quite a while?
James' visits have also become less and less frequent.
Ya think that COULD have something to do with all the bullshit going on in this forum right now?
Everyone just check the hostile attitudes and random cuntish behaviour at the door and lets get on with the regular helping eachother out that normally goes on in this forum...

Even Ermz stated at the time:

^ Wholeheartedly agree. I'm starting to think that Deron should just give James and Andy mod powers on here, so we don't see this kind of crap. Put it in the CoB forum or something.

And then theres the obligatory harping on about aggressive newbies and people who want a quick fix:

MAN!! It's impossible to go through a thread anymore without having some shitface get irate. This forum blows now. I wish all these retarded fucking noobs would take a hike.

And also the usual threat of leaving:

Goodbye cruel forum.

This is not a recent thing, people WILL disagree, its in peoples nature to disagree with each other, it's a given and I wouldnt expect that to change. If people want a cleaner forum, with stupid topics locked or deleted then they need to request it be more heavily moderated, but that in itself can be a tricky business, as instead of self moderation where people make decisions together you have a select amount of people pulling the strings and making decisions (which may not always be liked).

With a self moderated forum theres always going to be a certain amount of give or take, but I'd like to believe in this forums ability to tell the difference between the shit and the sugar, most of you guys are smart and know what you're talking about enough to tell when someone is just playing keyboard jockey or when they actually know shit, you're always going to get your eager "I'm here for a quick fix" newbie, who wants instant gratification, hell, don't we all, it's not always a bad attitude, but with the realisation that skill is the effort put in to something - not the time wasted searching for a instant gratification, it can be frustrating.

I've been a member of several boards that have gone through this stage now, hell, on most boards you will find someone who says it was better in the good old days, Marcus referred to this in another topic as "rose tinted spectacles" and I'm inclined to agree, nostalgia is a powerful emotion that can warp our perceptions of how things really were and when things expand theres bound to be some growing pains anyway.

 

[crillemannen]

That's what irks me the most. Of course, new faces are always more than welcome, but lately we've been getting quite a lot of the flaming, arrogant, not-hugged-enough-as-a-kid type around here. We still haven't got nearly as much of the mindless flaming and trash-talking as most other forums, but seems like we're about to start the journey. Back when I joined, the atmosphere on this forum was unbelievably welcoming and laid-back.

But what the hell, we can always retreat to a secret underground society when things get too hectic here. To the Batcave!

I totally agree.

And dont forget all the... I need Subdrop sample threads hahaha..

But this have been a great forum but i agree with you all on the descending quality of this forum.
But all credit to Lasse for supplying useful samples etc
I'll see what i can provide when i get my studio up an running

CHeers

 

[Emdprodukt]

I'm not a pro. Wouldn't consider myself a semipro neither. I'm around for 2 years and I've learned a lot. I can make my own goodsounding stuff now without using presets or something from someone else. And why? Because pro's are hanging around here teaching stuff. it's not like everyone who is working in a bedroom studio just wants the sneapsound or has no attitude to learn. I have it. no teacher means no one to learn from.

EVEN if some of the newbies are just like "gimme impulses and how do make my mix sound good?" - that's just how it starts. maybe he will learn, maybe not. I just think that everyone should get a chance to learn from this forum. that's why it needs people like Lasse.

and lasse - why should someone ask for drum micing technique if everyone just tells you to look up the "Acoustic Drums for Metal" guide? it's always like that. someone asks a question and gets pointed to the search function or google because it was allready covered. at least it seems like that.

I totally get your point. It just feels like "where do I belong if the pros are starting to leave". Because you always had a smart answer for my questions and it helped me out. thanks for that. thanks to anyone who helped me out. I still love this forum because I just ignore people that doesn't "fit" in here and I don't get why some of the pro's can't do that too. because it's really easy to IGNORE people that suck. especially on the internet.

 

[Russtopher]

I also agree that things are cyclical, every single forum/mailing list/newsgroup etc. that I've ever been a part of has it's good times, and it's bad/slow times.

FWIW I've been coming here for 2+ years, and the sheer amount of info I've learned is ENORMOUS. And I've learned it from people with 1000+ post counts, and people with barely 100 posts. I've gone from recording myself using a V-Amp 2 and 1 shitty MXL mic, to working with my first *real* band right now (granted I'm being paid in beer, but this should give me the boost to be able to charge cash for the next few bands).

The thing with a main topic like music is, the fundamentals don't change. Compressor use doesn't change, EQing toms doesn't change, how to use *just* enough reverb doesn't change, so yeah I can totally see how some people are viewing the forum as stagnant when you get the same q's over and over again. And some of that is due to people who have the "I am on teh intar-webz, it should all be here, I want it now I want it for free gimmie gimmie gimmie or I'll call you a poophead from the safety of my mommy's basement" mentality. It sucks, but it's there.

I've been trying to post more lately, not because I want the board to have more traffic, but because I finally feel like I can make an active contribution that'll be helpful If we don't like the way the board is headed, it's up to us to change the direction. Just MHO, of course!

 

[Soundlurker]

I just need to say a big +1 to:

Thank god for Lasse XD

you gotta account for the natural learning curve

all social gatherings or events of any kind go through phases

+ what smy1 and Lasse said.

However, to the OP's list you can add "6. complaining about the forum". Lasse had a point and mentioned the HCAF thing. From that point on, either do something about it or accept it. Some people almost sound like they expect other people to suddenly change. I think there are three options:
1. leave it be the way it is
2. moderators
3. invite-only forum
The first option's drawbacks are painfully obvious. The second option will be the death of this forum as we know it (the best self-moderated forum ever). The third option may come of as elitist but it's the only way to retain what's left of this awesome forum and who knows maybe we can even get back some awesome people.


on a side note

I think one of the worst things to ever happen to this place were the impulses and the Slate gear

You remember before that it was all about superior and pod, right

Edit: it just ocurred to me that we can add a VIP sub-forum that would be a resurrected "Andy's forum" of sorts.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

I am new to this forum.... and I actually agree with much of what's being said here.

I joined because there was TONS of useful information here - great people who genuinely wanted to help others. Actually, GuitarHack's impulses brought me here, only because I'd never used or even heard an impulse for that matter. Then, I started taking a look around and said "Holy shit! Theres a ton of useful information and advice, but you're exactly right - now I have to search harder amongst the garbage threads to get to the threads that will help me (note - other newbies like myself need to use the fucking SEARCH button, instead of posting a thread saying "hey guise, can yoo help me with that thing that you helped 97 other people with already").

I say this, because I am an avid reader of the forum, and occasional poster. I realize that I have nothing to add to the discussion when you have vets like Lasse and others talking about AE, so that's my cue to sit back and listen and learn everything I possibly can!

As an aside - Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[LydonB]

Not sure what the problem is. I learn things here and there, but not as often as I used to. Hopefully things will pick up again. It's just annoying seeing the same threads re-created all the time.

 

[Williamn]

I am new to this forum.... and I actually agree with much of what's being said here.

I joined because there was TONS of useful information here - great people who genuinely wanted to help others. Actually, GuitarHack's impulses brought me here, only because I'd never used or even heard an impulse for that matter. Then, I started taking a look around and said "Holy shit! Theres a ton of useful information and advice, but you're exactly right - now I have to search harder amongst the garbage threads to get to the threads that will help me (note - other newbies like myself need to use the fucking SEARCH button, instead of posting a thread saying "hey guise, can yoo help me with that thing that you helped 97 other people with already").

I say this, because I am an avid reader of the forum, and occasional poster. I realize that I have nothing to add to the discussion when you have vets like Lasse and others talking about AE, so that's my cue to sit back and listen and learn everything I possibly can!

As an aside - Thank you everyone for your help!

+1

The problem with new people is they don't bother to do any searching of their own, instead they just go read the first page and then creates a topic asking for magic presets.. but this is how it is on ANY forum tbh.

also agree on what Nuno Filipe posted.. I would love to be able to mic a real amp or drumkit in my apartment but sadly that will have to wait a few years.

I don't really have much to add to the discussion, as you can obviously see im one of the new people.. but a I want to give a big thank you to all the people that share their knowledge, I have already learned so much already and will only continue to leech knowledge from here by reading, searching and learning by doing

 

[Fox Mulder]

marcus holy diver di's

By the way I'm really sick too of hearing all these tone tests with the Holy Diver DI's, realllly nice from him to share them, but I don't understand why everyone use them instead of taking 5 minutes to write their own riff.

I really don't see what's wrong with using Marcus' DIs. As we all know, '70% of the tone comes from the player', and some people aren't that fortunate. Okay, I won't call anyone a shitty player, but maybe they have intonation issues? Buzzes?

My intonation makes me feel like breaking my guitar every time I pick it up, and from my research only a nut replacement or going back to 9-42s can fix it. Apart from that, I'm a shitty player.