Listening Booth - Optimization - Discussion

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One thing that seems true (I could be wrong, and my memory is extremely hazy) is that, for every, “Check out my track! See ya!” post, there was always at least a small percentage of people who wanted to stick around and contribute in the midst of it all. I see the random spam (even though the moderation cuts down on most of that) as a byproduct of having an uptick in traffic in general, although this definitely is not a view of the backend, where the numbers could be way different from how they appear on the surface.

From browsing elsewhere, it seems as though people (likely the youngins) still have the same questions that some of us oldtimers might’ve asked decades ago, but it seems like the answers they’re receiving are very haphazard and misguided. Say what you will about the forum, but it’s very unlikely that someone is going to ask a genuine question and get a response like, “I dunno, get it from FIleCR fam”. @morphic cracked me up about the LB opinions, but have you been on Reddit lately? I’m not sure if you’re aware of the absolute batshit unmedicated ADHD energy going on elsewhere, but it’s complete mayhem. At least we’re likely to stick around and troubleshoot something for someone, whether that’s a mix, routing issue, DAW problem, etc.

Of course, another question is, “Does anyone want an in-depth answer anymore?”. Do they even care if we get to the bottom of their recording issue or find the one thing that makes their track shine? Maybe a need for something like that just doesn’t exist anymore, and I’m just holding onto a false hope that people are even putting any thought into the music-making process as it is. I guess the ballgame changes when we’re all shelling out money to companies to host our music instead of the opposite, and that’s probably just what’s being reflected and what I’m picking up on.

Also, I still think this is still the least circle-jerky place to go, aside from your spouse or best friend who will rip your track to shreds with no mercy because they know it’s not going to break you. Everyone’s track sounds great if it’s contingent on the idea that they want to spam you theirs as well, and I shit you not, that’s the state of Reddit and Discord right now. IDMF can (and casually does) better than that, simply by being honest and not having an axe to grind, but it’s hard to sell it that way. “Hey, we’ll tell you if it’s not our cup of tea, so there you go!”

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22

@KvlT - For the record, that was just a joke, “soft trolling” of sorts, if you will :grimacing:

IDMf certainly know what they’re talking about. There is so much useful advice everywhere on here when it comes to electronic music-making, mixing and mastering, it’s amazing. To woo younger crowds, maybe there could be a sub that is labeled “Video Tutorials” and gathers all the ones that have been posted here in one place? Maybe they could be placed in 3 sub-categories, such as “Beginner”, “Intermediate” and “Advanced” (again, with the idea to make it as easy as possible for folks to find what they’re looking for).

@wayne - I wouldn’t get rid of the Music Marketing sub. It doesn’t hurt anyone just existing and could be helpful if people were adding to it. I think the lack of activity in there stems from the fact that most of us are quite past hoping to “make it” in the music business. With that said, when I decide to make album #3 or single (later this year or in 2026), I will still want to know what the best options are, just so I can have people actually listen to it, regardless of any money being made. So I will defo add info/topics re: what I attempted and what it brought.

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I think having some guidelines for LB would go a long way -

  • What do you think of your track?
  • What were you going for?
  • What do you think the strong and weak parts are?
  • What are you wanting feedback on?
  • Extended: what are the influences?
  • What production techniques did you use?
  • What are the things you’re not interested in changing and why?

“Do you like my track?” or “I just made this” as a starting point is nebulous and unhelpful. This is a “help us help you” sort of thing. I’m all for the freeform talk everywhere else, but giving and receiving feedback is hard, and I think having a framework would both promote people thinking hard about their track before posting and give others a better idea of how to listen and respond.

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I’ve added the above list to the Listening Booth Rules - which were buried under the years of threads. They are now Pinned. Thanks @Artificer. Great suggestions.

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