How to make the Techno Production Community Stronger.

I was thinking the other day that by far the most helpful place for making techno music on the net is (imo) (and of course I'm gonna say this hehe) this place.

Is there anyways anyone can think of that would help us all become a stronger and even better place? Is there anything anyone has seen anywhere else that really gets the community working better together?

I have the facility to add articles on the front page , which at the mo is only open to admins.. so i might open that up for everyone and see what happens. All the best helpful tips could be archived on the mian site.

I thought about some type of collaboration page.. when ppl can basically build a track on the site - but i need to see if there's a way we can do this.. Has anyone seen anything anywhere else??

OK let me know guys!!! Let's take this place somewhere!

:)

some boa web space might be a good idea, somwhere maybe that we could start to build sample libaries and loops that we have made, peeps could download them stick them into there choosen sequencer and then post the results.

it would be sweet too if all of us with hardware created sample packs of our machines so there was a hugh wealth of sounds that people who are just starting could get sounds from and i know i'm always looking for that certain synth or hook line to finish a track
bit like breakbeat paradise
http://www.breakbeat-paradise.com/bb_main.php

more stickies are needed too, some posts just get lost to quickly. i think this would need to be thought about cause it could get messy. thinking bout that could you make steves techno tips sticky:
http://www.blackoutaudio.co.uk/porta...ic&t=46992
and this
http://www.blackoutaudio.co.uk/porta...ic&t=48872

in fact could we have a sticky tips n tricks thread

that will do for now :scratch: or else i'll get myself confused

yeah a sample section would be good , some space to upload stuff and a few different sections would be great, eg kicks, bass, loops, percussion etc

i am also trying to figure out a system where everyone submits a 4 beat / bar loop that we wack them all together to make super layered booming new tunes

i remember reading in future music or computer music that there is a piece of software that does allow people to make tunes together when there miles apart in near real time. I think they had it running with cubase but ime sure as the technology gets better and becomes more widespread it will be available for other sequencers too, possibly even a generic version that would work with anything. pretty cool i thought.

anyway....

I love the idea of a sample pool, and maybe some remix parts aswell. Maybe put up some tutorials for noobs like me on how to acheive certain results or whatever. Either way i think this could only be a good thing.

i think the best idea would be an organised and well done sample pool, the breakbeat paradise site is cool but man half of those samples arent even cut looped and whilst its not exactly hard to sort it, it is time consuming and one of the main idea's behind loops is that they are relatively easy to get started with, and do, indeed, loop! The synths and one hit samples are pretty cool in places.

certain packs uploaded on a weekly basis would be cool, some beats one week, some synths the next etc etc and then archived, and the idea about people sampling their machines and making available for download is wikid too, although i notice a few have started that already :)

and whatever you do dont give access to EVERYONE to post articles Mark, do you not see the potential for disaster there mate? this is blackout audio afterall, there would be some seriously sick articles posted! I think maybe a good idea would be to designate someone and allow them the access to post articles and work it through them. I nominate Loop don hahaha

I think if everyone starts using the same samples it will just cause a surge of inbreeding amongst all that use them. Adding more to the pool of sameyness is not a good approach imho.

Find your own sources... be creative people.

You can turn just about anything into "techno" if you manipulate it properly.

It would be nice to be able to upload loops and samples to a location that everyone could access them, there are however a few considerations to take into account.

* Who would have access
* How much access
* Copyright implications
* File size
* File type

Stickies are a great idea in the short term, but tend to clutter up forums when used overly.

Linking to web pages is also good, but the main problem being that web pages have a habit of moving around, therefore copies would need to be taken and stored (with the permission of the web page copyright holder)

Im not deliberatly sounding negative, just playing devils advocate. On a positive note...

* How about a monthly contest to find the best synthloop/ percussion loop/ vocal loop/ techno lyric

This is somthing that would limit the amount of samples being uploaded, and ensure quality, it would of course build slowly, the top three being put in every month. The loops would have to be royalty and copyright free, perhaps under the creative commons licensing arrangement.

How about this one, once the amount of loops has reached critical mass, perhaps it would be good to sell the loop pack online to make a little bit of money to plow back into an event or perhaps a decent managed webspace for all those who contribted to have their music available in a more promotive (is that a word???) environment?

All this under the BOA logo.

I know it sounds a bit commercial, but it would certainly benefit us all, and increase focus on working together,.

just my 2p.

A sample area would be good - but there is the issue of quality control and volume.
I'd certainly be up for making sample-packs of my hardware, that seems a good way for people fortunate enough to have collected nice things to help people without.

I'd hope that people would respect it if the articles were opened up to all -on that theme what about setting up a wiki for production tips? That way everyone can contribute, but it's also easy for it to be looked after...

I did spend a lot of time making a production guide for techno, adn then posting it up.
loopdon said he wanted to make it sticky, but you haven`t given him the power to do it.
So maybe just sort out your mods abilities here.
I think this forum is fine as it is other than that.

when you think about it this is probably one of, if not the strongest section of the forum

how about some Q&A's by some leading producers?

or some samples as stated above but more along the lines of a couple of loops made by a releasing artist and then a tutorial about how they created those loops and go them sounding how they do?

and maybe some remix comps? purely for fun. maybe of some classic tracks?

How about getting plug-in manufacturers to ask us to preview their plug-ins. or something like that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dodgyedgy

How about getting plug-in manufacturers to ask us to preview their plug-ins. or something like that.

---

Hopeful, but I like your style C ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Electrictribe

how about some Q&A's by some leading producers?

or some samples as stated above but more along the lines of a couple of loops made by a releasing artist and then a tutorial about how they created those loops and go them sounding how they do?

and maybe some remix comps? purely for fun. maybe of some classic tracks?

---

really good idea. this'll draw more people to the site, as well as make it better for all of us.

competitions to win stuff is going to draw people in.
also for producers - tutorials, and remix competitions from established labels.

making the 'techniques for writing techno thread' sticky would be good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TechMouse

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dodgyedgy

How about getting plug-in manufacturers to ask us to preview their plug-ins. or something like that.

---

Hopeful, but I like your style C ;)

---

As usual, the wind changes and the urine soaks my trousers..

:lol:

:blush:

articles/interviews/reviews etc by users would be a good. A bit like that god awful harderfaster place. Thats a mecca for information about hardhouse, and general london clubbing

To do that on a more worldwide scale, interviewing some of the worlds best electronic artists would guarentee to push BOA further

Very active board/community would help. But not just that, friendly, informative people would make it that much stronger, no matter how naive or ignorant the visitors (new or old) may be. For a new people visiting, what experience should they except?

It doesn't matter if you have all the samples, loops, interviews, news articles, information in the world, a community must have heart. All it is, is making people feel welcomed and comfortable; a place where they actually can take something and learn. You want them to come back time and time again; not just to, for example, get loops and samples. Also, the key is to have good word of mouth.

Maybe combine the "tunes" forum with the "production" forum? nuskoolbreaks.com does this, and it seems to work well...I think that it gives the creation more attention and makes the production theory less theoretical.

Nah way too much traffic in each forum for that.
I don't think anyone wants to sift through one while looking for the other. Seperate is much better.

i agree with chris on keeping them seperate too

so then with all these suggestions what are we going to do about it

Mark??

Some interveiws would be good I think, a bit like is done in the other forums but focusing on production of course.
Not realy much help towards a stronger comunity but would improove in here for me at least: )

more input from more people would make the place stronger I guess.

i'd vote for an experiment: open at least the production part of the forum to everyone. i'll sort the jerks out if there should be any. if that experiment fails we can always go back to the usual procedure. but i guess mark has his reasons for not having it like this anyway...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loopdon

i'd vote for an experiment: open at least the production part of the forum to everyone. i'll sort the jerks out if there should be any. if that experiment fails we can always go back to the usual procedure. but i guess mark has his reasons for not having it like this anyway...

---

I second that. Could be interesting. it would fit in with the rearrangement if the forums that mark has been talking about,

Quote:

---

I don't think anyone wants to sift through one while looking for the other. Seperate is much better.

---

Point taken on the "too much traffic" thing, but the latter problem they solve by just having [TUNE] at the start of the topic so that you know what it's about.

I think one of the things that can dilute forum communities is....too many forums. I count 37 forums here...there are probly reasons for that that I'm unaware of (after all you guys are administering the place and have no doubt paid it some thought and debate) but it does look a tad overkill at first blush.

On the other hand, having a forum specifically for oldskool trance or hardstyle encourages discussion about that that might not otherwise occur in something more generic, and sends out the message "we're a hardstyle-friendly place"....so maybe I'm wrong.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dirty_bass

I did spend a lot of time making a production guide for techno, adn then posting it up.
loopdon said he wanted to make it sticky, but you haven`t given him the power to do it.
So maybe just sort out your mods abilities here.
I think this forum is fine as it is other than that.

---

I have... He just needs to edit your first post and change it from normal to sticky :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mattboyslim

articles/interviews/reviews etc by users would be a good. A bit like that god awful harderfaster place. Thats a mecca for information about hardhouse, and general london clubbing

To do that on a more worldwide scale, interviewing some of the worlds best electronic artists would guarentee to push BOA further

---

i really would love to do this. like i say, i could open up the 'submit' module to everyone and people can submit useful articles. but we need the quality control. will the forum provide it's own qulaity control or will it get out of hand and we end up with useless articles??? i mean i can try it and see what happens - perhaps i need to put something on the module like 'before submitting an article, please make sure you have posted it in the forums and it has been rated for submission'. hmmmmm this is interesting. we could have a system where ppl can rate an article that has been posted in the forum and once it gets a high enough rating, that's when you guys know it needs to be posted as an article.

interesting.. i wonder if there's a hack you can do that means a post gets tagged as a 'article' cause the poster gave it that tag, which automatically puts a rating system at the bottom. once the rating hits like 100 voters all saying helpful, then it marks it a different colour and then you know it's useful. then if a member sees it, they can post it up in the articles section...

i dunno it's an idea.

also re: sample space. EXCELLENT idea BUT i would like to find a goood module to do this.. so we can collaborate on music.. i will check out a few forums...

:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MARK EG

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dirty_bass

I did spend a lot of time making a production guide for techno, adn then posting it up.
loopdon said he wanted to make it sticky, but you haven`t given him the power to do it.
So maybe just sort out your mods abilities here.
I think this forum is fine as it is other than that.

---

I have... He just needs to edit your first post and change it from normal to sticky :)

---

i really tried. dunno what i did wrong, honestly. i didn't exactly say you (Mark) hadn't given me the power - i just said i absolutely didn't get it worked out. sorry :(

You have the power.

What track was that from?

I think sticky`s that answer some of the most common questions would be good too.

Not really too bothered with interviews, they are all the same anyway, and just get used to fill up space in magazines.

Maybe some deconstruction like you get in computer music and future music: an artist deconstructing one of their own tracks and telling how they did it.

no problems loopy i will have to pm ya and we can work this out!!!

:)