[Tony5175]

I feel like this is a great and helpful site. It lets you know about tons of brands, what is good or bad, and can act almost like a teacher. However, there is also lots of items for sale and it lets you know about even more types of saxophones making you low on cash very fast. So in your opinion, is SOTW good or bad?

 

[Bubba06]

Good.

-Bubba-

 

[Tony5175]

Also, what do you think the best amount of time would be per day that you should spend on the site, but not take over practice.

 

[SaxTMan]

It's in a grey area... so, stay here :mrgreen:

Also, what do you think the best amount of time would be per day that you should spend on the site, but not take over practice.

5 min per day is more than enough... and remember to practice your posts in all 12 keys :bluewink:

 

[zacworld]

Hi Tony,

I'd say any global resource like SOTW which brings so much useful information to everyone could be described as much more than just being *good*

As for your ratio of spending time on the site/practice time, you just need to assess your goals and your schedule and decide what your priorities are. Average I might spend at most 10 minutes on SOTW, while practice time can vary anywhere from just half an hour to on and off all day long, depending on what life has to throw at me that given day.

Just curious, how much time average do you think you spend on both now?

 

[Sidepipes]

And think about how much time you spend watching TV or on your cell phone, texting, etc. SOTW is more beneficial than reality shows, DWTS, Judge Judy ....

 

[dogster]

I spend hours on SOTW and play while I am reading posts Tenor Sax ,Alto Soprano , Bass Flute, Alto and Soprano lol

 

[Pete Thomas]

It lets you know about tons of brands, what is good or bad,

In what way does it let you know what is good or bad?

 

[Tony5175]

Hi Tony,

I'd say any global resource like SOTW which brings so much useful information to everyone could be described as much more than just being *good*
As for your ratio of spending time on the site/practice time, you just need to assess your goals and your schedule and decide what your priorities are. Average I might spend at most 10 minutes on SOTW, while practice time can vary anywhere from just half an hour to on and off all day long, depending on what life has to throw at me that given day.

Just curious, how much time average do you think you spend on both now?

Around 20 min on SOTW, 30 min to 5 hrs practicing depending on school or whatever.

 

[Tony5175]

In what way does it let you know what is good or bad?

Sorry, my posts was pretty not specific. I mean you can learn what breaks in two minutes, actually improves tone, is a marketing scam, etc, etc....

 

[Pete Thomas]

Sorry, my posts was pretty not specific. I mean you can learn what breaks in two minutes, actually improves tone, is a marketing scam, etc, etc....

Well, most of that can be extremely subjective.

Especially learning about what can improve tone. Well, long notes of course, but do people actually need SOTW to learn that?

Plus (obviously) a lot of the "glowing reviews" and shills should be taken with a pinch of salt. There's a lot of info (too much very often) which is to my mind a double edged sword. I so often see people quoting some things other people said as if it must be the truth.

 

[Tony5175]

Well, most of that can be extremely subjective.

Especially learning about what can improve tone. Well, long notes of course, but do people actually need SOTW to learn that?

Plus (obviously) a lot of the "glowing reviews" and shills should be taken with a pinch of salt. There's a lot of info (too much very often) which is to my mind a double edged sword. I so often see people quoting some things other people said as if it must be the truth.

Thank you very much! I will remember that.

 

[JL]

Just like anything else on the internet, you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. And that's not always easy to do. Whenever possible apply the scientific method and treat everything you read on here (aside from what you can immediately dismiss as nonsense) as a working hypothesis and don't take it as fact until you test it out for yourself. This applies to equipment (horns, mpcs, reeds, etc) and to various techniques and applying music theory. There are plenty of grey areas where something works for one person, but not the other.

Just in general, keep in mind that anyone can say anything on the internet with no peer review beyond how others might respond, so you really have to take everything with a grain of salt.

There is a lot that can be learned here, and elsewhere, if you are careful and maintain a healthy skepticism.

p.s. And yeah what Pete said about some who blindly quote what others write or say is very important. Beware of anyone who is not speaking from direct experience. That's how rumours and misinformation becomes so-called 'fact.'

 

[Tony5175]

Just like anything else on the internet, you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. And that's not always easy to do. Whenever possible apply the scientific method and treat everything you read on here (aside from what you can immediately dismiss as nonsense) as a working hypothesis and don't take it as fact until you test it out for yourself. This applies to equipment (horns, mpcs, reeds, etc) and to various techniques and applying music theory. There are plenty of grey areas where something works for one person, but not the other.

Just in general, keep in mind that anyone can say anything on the internet with no peer review beyond how others might respond, so you really have to take everything with a grain of salt.

There is a lot that can be learned here, and elsewhere, if you are careful and maintain a healthy skepticism.

p.s. And yeah what Pete said about some who blindly quote what others write or say is very important. Beware of anyone who is not speaking from direct experience. That's how rumours and misinformation becomes so-called 'fact.'

OK, thanks!

 

[drwhippet]

Just like anything else on the internet, you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. And that's not always easy to do. Whenever possible apply the scientific method and treat everything you read on here (aside from what you can immediately dismiss as nonsense) as a working hypothesis and don't take it as fact until you test it out for yourself. This applies to equipment (horns, mpcs, reeds, etc) and to various techniques and applying music theory. There are plenty of grey areas where something works for one person, but not the other.

Just in general, keep in mind that anyone can say anything on the internet with no peer review beyond how others might respond, so you really have to take everything with a grain of salt.

There is a lot that can be learned here, and elsewhere, if you are careful and maintain a healthy skepticism.

p.s. And yeah what Pete said about some who blindly quote what others write or say is very important. Beware of anyone who is not speaking from direct experience. That's how rumours and misinformation becomes so-called 'fact.'

And remember that this applies to everyone on here, including we so-called Distinguished Members with tons of posts dispensing sage advice. :bluewink: And I hope that no one on here (with the possible exception of another gorgeous Dr. who hangs out here from time to time) would be that self-righteous or arrogant to maintain that they never make mistakes or are omniscient. :bluewink:

Basically, a good rule of thumb on this forum and most others is that there is usually no positive correlation between post count (or fancy titles for that matter) and content knowledge.

 

[marton]

SOTW gets into circle jerking easily and often.

But it can be useful for finding out about new products n stuff, and for unearthing interesting jazz stuff. and generally speaking, people are helpful. Some of the contributors are also interesting composers.

On the other side of the coin though, it can bog down in minutiae and Kenny G threads.

I give it a 6.5/10

 

[Dr G]

It depends on the time of year and how many high schoolers are "contributing"...

 

[Atonal]

It depends on the time of year and how many high schoolers are "contributing"...

or middle schoolers!

 

[Rondalo]

two benefits I've gained from SotW -
1. I'm practicing more (although from near zero to a half hour every other day I've still got a ways to go)
2. I'm listening more - between all the links and listening suggestions I've been immersed in a lot more music than I ever had (and Amazon has profited as well! )

so, yes, I'd say it's good.

 

[CooolJazzz]

...keep in mind that anyone can say anything on the internet with no peer review beyond how others might respond, so you really have to take everything with a grain of salt.

There is a lot that can be learned here, and elsewhere, if you are careful and maintain a healthy skepticism.

+1

SOTW is an entirely different experience for each and every one of us because we all come here with different cultural backgrounds, different levels of experience and education, different skill levels, different tastes, different ways of looking at the world, different ways of expressing the same ideas, different ways of interpreting the same information, different ways of handling conflict, etc, etc, etc... For this reason, taking everything with a grain of salt and maintaining a healthy skepticism about everything you see here is vital. I've seen some relatively inexperienced people give great advice and I've seen some very experienced people give terrible advice, so you should never totally discount or totally trust ANY advice you find here without running it through your own common sense filters first. The SOTW experience is, and can only be, what you yourself make of it. There are too many variables at play for SOTW to be either good or bad in and of itself.