I want to ask about the"many views vs few comments&quot

Sometimes the lyrics posted are not good to me for reasons that can hardly be discussed. In such cases I can't leave constructive criticism, so I can either lie, hurt their feelings or just leave. Last one seems best.

Sometimes I am just at lost for what to think. Without hearing music love songs, for example, can get awefully similar at times, and I don't want to be the sixth person to say 'great image, powerfull analogies'. So in those cases I leave. I actually only post when I think I can add something, or to reqeust a recording, if possible.

What I find interesting about these forums is that although we all hide our real personalities behind our avatars and logons, what happens over time is that our logons develop personalities of their own. So just like in real life where we need to work at relationships, I don't think things are that much different on the boards either.
There are members out there that put in a lot of time and effort into responding to others and there are those that just post and wait for others to do all the work. From my perspective I think its all about give and take, and obviously you cant respond to everybody so I try to respond to those I know are prepared to put in the work and respond to others. And there's always something to be learnt by reviewing other peoples work.
If you don't like a song then its ok to say so, as long as its done in a constructive way, isn't a personal attack on the author. It's a good chance to practice your relationship skills. Id rather someone tell me that they didn't like my song because it was too predictable or one-dimensional or whatever, than not say anything at all (R2 where are you :wink: ?) cos at least I know, and its about the song, not me.

pb

Hey Manontheside, I'm glad you brought this up. I'd been wanting to, but I couldn't find a nice positive way to mention it like you have. Thanks for that.

Part of the reason for the vast difference between the number of views and the number of comments is partially accounted for using the following example:
Say 26 people are on a forum.
Day 1) Person A posts. B through Z read the post. B, C and D post replies. (25 views, 3 comments)
Day 2) A, and E through Z come back the next day and read the posts. A, E and F post replies. (58 views, 6 comments)
Day 3) B rebutts A. A, plus C through Z read. A replies (82 views, 7 comments)
Day 4) A rebutts B. B through Z read, no-one replies (107 views, 8 comments).
Day 5) Everyone reads A's rebuttle. (132 views, 8 replies)
Now you can't take that result and say that there are 132 people reading the messages, and only 8 replied (6%)... it was 26 and 5 (19%).
If A and B continue to talk back and forth day after day for a while, the views to replies ratio will approach 26:1.

However, there are some specific reasons why I don't reply to a particular song that I'd like to share.

Top Reasons Why I Don't Reply To A Song

1) The Poster Never Replies to Anyone Else's Songs
Like Pbee said, some people only post their own stuff and never participate. Call me shallow, but if I see a song posted and notice that the person has 8 posts, 7 of which are his songs, I tend not to reply.

2) The Poster Replies, But Doesn't Put Much Work Into It
Take my example above: 8 posts, 7 of his own songs, if the single remaining post consists only of "good job, keep it up," then I'm doubly disinclined to reply.

3) The Poster Disregards Other's Comments
When I've replied to most of the 7 songs the person has posted, and there have been no comments back, no changes to the song, just more posted songs, I tend to stop posting. What's the point except to provide my viewpoint to other readers? If that's the only reason left, I'll find another song to critique.

4) There Are Way Too Many
This is great, that there are so many post, but it means that I can't possible reply to everyone's posts. Some days I don't have time even to read all the posts. I may open them all, but I run out of steam before I make it through.

5) Some Songs Really Suck
This doesn't happen often, but some song I just find so poor that I don't know where to start without being offensive. Maybe it's me. Maybe I just don't get it, but either way, I find it difficult to respond. If this is a first time poster, or relatively new, I'll put in the effort to be positive and constructive. However, when a bad song is written by someone who disregards comments, or doesn't comment himself, there's no chance I'm replying.

6) "I Just Dashed This Off in 5 Seconds, What Do You Think?"
I just read it in 5 seconds... time's up. Am I being petty here? Mabye. I'll forgive a regular for this sort of thing, but only someone who tends to be helpful to others.

7) I've Got Nothing to Say
It's an OK song, well written, well structured, but I just doesn't do it for me. Because there are only so many minutes in a day, I reserve the right to reply only to songs that I have some insight into, or that I can constructively critique in some valuable way. It was my desire to say "Wow, that was great, but..." that eventually made me take the plunge to join the group. That's what drives me still.

My rant is now over.... ah, that felt good.

I almost forgot...

8) This Is Not My Primary Forum
My first committment is to the SSG, then here. I'm guessing there are lots of others who only scan this forum for interest's sake, but are actively involved in the discussions in another forum.

I reply with honest constructive crits when ever I can , some people take offence to what I say , and if this is the case I just don't crit their stuff anymore.

My stuff is not everybodys cup of tea, but as the mighty NICK says, if one person doesn't like it, there are probably 100 others who feel the same way, so I always take note of what people say, I don't necessarily change what I have but I sure take note and try to improve on future songs.

The stats also don't really ring true, as when someone posts a note and goes back to look at their own note to reply or review another
view number is added. So theoretically you can 1/4 the number of views as each time someone replies to mine , I go and read once at least, if not twice.

I actually took a sabbatical for a year on the forums, as i was giving out about 30 - 50 crits a week, a lot more than I was getting back . A break is good maybe i was just getting old and stale in my writing, I'll see what happens now I am backl

Go well
Ja'mir

Manontheside,

Let me start with a quote from SlowPlay
This Is Not My Primary Forum
My first committment is to the SSG, then here. I'm guessing there are lots of others who only scan this forum for interest's sake, but are actively involved in the discussions in another forum.

This is true for me as well and although a song may be very good
there are only so many hours in a day.

Sometime I find in reading a post that everything I wanted
to comment on has already been said. (better than I could most times)

This is just one of the reasons why I may keep quiet most
of the others have been covered in SlowPlays comments

It's easy to say" Good Song Keep It Up " but I try to be sincere
in my critques and save comments like that for when I really mean it.

Thank You for bringing up this subject. It is something that has been on my mind for a while and it is nice to see others comment on it.

(Maybe this should be a "Sticky")

John

I read this forum a lot, but never respond. Reason is that I'm not good enough to even begin to make suggestions as to what I like and don't like about a song. I leave that for others with more experience and understanding. Often I'll read or hear a song and think that something isn't quite right, but I can't put my finger on it. Other times I hear a song and love it, but again I can't really explain why.

But I mainly read through here to get ideas. I'm trying to write my own songs and sometimes seeing how other people have their songs written (format, words used, etc.) helps point me in better directions with my own stuff.

I hope that as I become a better player and writer I'll be able to add to the discussions in here.

Crank, I've gotta say you are wrong.

What you like is what you like. If something doesn't work for you, just say it.

Your opinion is valuable.

SlowPlay, that was an excellent and well thought out post.

I gotta agree with Nick there, he once gave me some advice I have never forgotten.
If one person doesn't like it there are probably 100 others who feel the same way, so I always keep crits in mind even if I disagree on some points.
The listeners perception ( or the reader in some cases) is the most important, without you we don't have an audience. without you we can't be heard, withoout you we have no one to tell our stories to, your opinion is the most valuable we can get.

Ja'mir

For me, I have yet to criticize a song because it takes me so long to figure out what people are trying to get across. In school, it would take me three read-throughs to be able to guess on what the author was trying to portray. Those are professional writers! So imagine, first, me trying to understand what the author is trying to say, then, figuring out what went wrong and what went right in the song. It would take me a good half hour per song because I believe you should not criticize (constructively, or not) until you know the whole story.

Please don't mistake these for excuses--I'm trying to learn to read and understand these songs faster so that I can be of use to the forum. I just wanted to add a possible explanation.

Hi'a Whitneyzeldow

Your point is very valid, but if you are listening ( not reading a song ) it would have the same effect unless it had an amazing melody.

Nicks songwriting rule number ?????( can't remember ) If you have to explain it, rewrite it !!!! wise words from a wise man

I have been doing this for a couple of years now and i still have a problem understanding songs, and that would be my constructive crit, people don't always like my crits, and I don't always like theirs, but hey if we are here to improve our skills we must take what comes our way if we want to get better . You would be amazed what insite people like you who think they know nothing have.

Ja'mir

It's not that I don't have confidence in my opinions. And I am definitely not concerned with whether I'm being too harsh or not because I like unfiltered bluntness. What I'm saying the problem is is that figuring out what actually needs to be said takes forever. I could do a quick review of people's songs, criticize, and be done with it, but chances are that the criticism would be useless because I didn't take the time to figure out what the author wanted to get across and how he/she wanted to do so. I don't know if that's confusing or not. Part of the problem is, also, that I really hate it when someone criticizes your work when it appears that they haven't even attempted to read it in depth. I may ask for criticism, but what I'm really asking for is educated criticism, not ignorance. Someone could tell me my work stinks and I should give up and I wouldn't care, as long as they tell me what led them to that belief. That's educated criticism. That's what I'm going for (not crushing dreams, but the educated criticism).

Hi,

This is my first vist to this section and I just read about ten posts and only replied to one.

Reason:

Apart from the one I replied to, the rest weren't really songs, they were just lyrics. And to be honest, much of it seemed more like a personal poetry contest that a genuine songwriting exercise.

That's fine, but I'm much more interested in hearing, and writing, complete songs.

Just my reason.... Not meaning to offend the poets here. :)

Chris_C (or everyone, actually :) ), would you reply more often if the lyrics came with MP3's?

I think it is helpful to actually be able to listen what sort of style the song is meant to be (gaah, that has to be horrible english :oops: ) and how it is meant to be sung. Sort of sets the mood of the song easier for me, I think...

Definitely. I find it extremely hard to judge just lyrics. Post an MP3 and I will respond pretty much always, don't and I probably won.t I'm just not good with it, which is why I post my stuff myself.

I think we each have our speciality, or areas where we feel more comfortable. Which can be lyrics, melody, general tone, recording techniques and whatnot. You really can't expect everyone to be able to properly judge lyrics.