Will there be life here again?

[Tropicalfruitmom]

I miss the "old" Maestronet. You know, the one before the demise of the Soapbox? I rarely visited that forum, mostly because I had so much fun learning things here and on the the Pegbox. So many of our members have stopped visiting since the Soapbox was killed that much of the information sharing has stopped. This is a great place to teach, learn and share and I miss it. Does anyone out there feel the same way? Is there anything we can do to get that back? Does anybody care?

[Michael Darnton]

I wouldn't jump to that assumption. For a while I checked relative traffic on this site, and theirs. In spite of all the self-congratulatory noise there about how they were burying us, our traffic wasn't down, and theirs was relatively low. At this time (mid-August) everyone's out of town or somewhere--every single board I participate in is down to close to zero posts every day. One that generates 20-30 a day in the winter hasn't had a post in a week. IMO this has very little to do with the Soapbox, unless those people are boycotting guitar boards and all the other violin boards, and camera boards, even though the people who participated there make statements like that (that aren't verified by any numbers) all the time. (I loved their claim to be the hottest board on the internet--one obscure single-purpose guitar board I watch has nearly 100 people on it at any given moment--right now, a slow day, there are nearly 60!)

[Ken Nielsen]

I prefer the Maestronet Sans-Soapbox. What went on before was not in keeping with the pure discussion of strings.

Remember, we still have our 'instant Graemlins'

[Mark_W]

I don't think we're missing any core content, but it's a bit less chatty and familiar without the Soapbox to catch the drippings, so to speak.

There's nothing to stop you from visiting 'over there.' I look in occasionally, but I generally don't post.

[crazy jane]

We could start a shoulder pad debate, just for old times' sake. My kid came back from camp sans shoulder rest....We've disowned her, of course.

J.

[Guy_Gallo]

The current state feels more like the discussion board I joined a few years back.

And I agree with Michael. If you really compare what is being said abou the violin here with what is being said about the violin there -- there's no comparison, and no indication that people who actually talk about the violin are staying away.

[oldgeezer]

Maestronet is in the dog days of summer. The ‘other board ‘ seems quiet too. Things will pick up on Maestronet and we’ll get some new characters to entertain us. There are still a lot of long time posters here and I’ve noticed the return of some names we haven’t seen for a while.

[thom]

I would not worry. We'll get a new crop of people and they'll start up the same threads that we have already through several times, e.g., should you use a shoulder rest or not, which strings do you use, which bow should I buy, which edition of the Bach sonatas and partitas is best. To the extent we seem to have a fairly stable group, it is not surprising that we have run out of issues for the moment.

[DougP]

Yes, I have noticed that the number of posts seems to be down and that the posts are kinda boring. But I realized that I contribute to that situation myself by not posting more. However, this is still the best forum for fiddlers. I have been spending a lot of time in the forum archives. There is a world of great information there, enough for several books on stringed instrument playing and repair. I am an amatuer fiddle-fixer and fiddler and this forum and the archives have helped greatly with my playing and has helped me repair and set up three old fiddles. Like most fiddlers, I never knew how much a setup could transform even a lower grade fiddle. This forum and the archives are a treasure.

[administrator]

It's true what Doug says. I too, have been reading the forum archives (what I would give for a copy of the Soapbox archives!). There is a lot of excellent information there and well worth the read.

But for discussions, this forum is practically dead. I check in now each day, but mostly to make sure my banner is still loaded. I hear what you're saying, Michael, but I think people have taken their active discussions elsewhere. I see more activity on other boards than I do here.

[Michael Darnton]

I don't agree at all--I think your observation is highly subjective, not objective--the MIMF violin board has posts sit for days--it's maybe the least active forum they run. Good grief--the third post down the list originated August 8, and hasn't had a single response. The Pegbox has had 20 active threads running since then! I haven't looked at Usenet lately--usually it has a lot of posts, but it's the blind leading the blind a lot of the time, with a few notable exceptions.

.....ah, just checked it:

rec.music.makers.bowed-strings

Not too much there to envy unless you're into gross screen names and the usual run of personal attacks that seem to be the main function of Usenet.

[administrator]

I concede your point about MIMF. And it's true there are a variety of active posts here. But it seems to me, and maybe this is subjective conjecture again, that the discussions are simply rehashing old discussions from the archives.

Maybe I just have the summer blues - too much rain! Today's the first day we have blue sky here in Northampton...

Back to work!

[Michael Darnton]

There's really only so much to say about violins, and everywhere you look the same questions come up again and again (which is the reason for the shoulder rest comment above :-). I think that's part of the reason for the constant change of participants in such forums.

Taking the headline somewhat differently--I wondered if we'd ever see Maestronet or the East Coast ever again after yesterday. I kept trying to log on, and then realized where Maestronet servers probably are located. . . .

[crystal]

I miss the Maestronet from 2 years ago. This was when all the topics were together. There were no separate Pegbox, or Soapbox, or whatever. When you came on, you could see every kind of topic imaginable, and you had your choice which ones you got involved with.

HKV and many others were on then. There were 3X's the new posts per day. It was a really hot discussion board and a happening place to be. It was fun and there was always several new topics to get involved with anytime you came to the Maestronet. Most of us were coming on the discussion board several times a day.

What started its demise was when people's threads became randomly deleted because Big Brother didn't like what was being said.

I'll admit that sometimes the death threats were a bit much and they needed to be removed, but I've seen many a heated, but harmless, discussion deleted out of meanness. It was completely uncalled for. Fact is, most people got tired of being treated like that. I don't like it at all anymore. I stayed away for about 6 months and only came back recently because I had a question.

But you are right, a good discussion is few and far between now.

[Michael Darnton]

"What started its demise was when people's threads became randomly deleted because Big Brother didn't like what was being said."

One of those things that's become "truth" by repetition. Geoffrey and I (who was challenged as the Great Deleter) sat down one day and came up with 12 deletes between us. The board owners took down a few other persistently childish attacks on them, which is certainly their right to do. That's about it, on a board now holding over 150,000 posts. The board that started as a protest to our deletes topped our combined career total in about their first week, courtesy of some of the exact same people who accused us of being "delete-happy". :-)

[Justen]

Quote:

---

Does anyone out there feel the same way?

---

I read considerably more than I actually post these days, and to be honest, it's easier without having to sift through 30 new threads in the morning.

[crazy jane]

At least on this board the censorship is usually visible. Unpleasant as it may be, I prefer that to the invisible type of censorship I've seen elsewhere: if you can no longer see the post, then it never existed--and therefore we never censored it (*cough*cough*).

It has been quiet here, not just in the number of posts, but in the tenor of the posts. No fights, no blood, no porn--and no laughs, either. --Kinda like the board's on Thorazine right now!

Yet I've noticed that the Pegbox has been very active. It's great.

And I notice that a lot of violists seem to have been active--probably because the atmosphere has become a bit less agressive and threatening.

J.

[robheys]

"And I notice that a lot of violists seem to have been active--probably because the atmosphere has become a bit less agressive and threatening"

Are violists particularly sensitive then? :-)

Rob

[Primrose84]

WE ARE NOT SENSITIVE!!!!

were just...laid back. yeah, that's it. laid back.

maybe we were always here, and just never noticed...like in an orchestra.

[crazy jane]

Quote:

---

were just...laid back. yeah, that's it. laid back.

---

Just incredibly cool.

J.

[simon]

Quote:

---

Are violists particularly sensitive then? :-)

---

To everything but pitch.

Muahaha, sorry Primrose.

[sunnybear]

I like the tone of things now. There is plenty of fluff on the "other" board, but no content. There is also VERY little action. This is the place to read and discuss topics that are relevant to strings and such. There are plenty of other boards around to air personal grievances against the system, etc. Things are going through abit of change and adjustment period that is natural after fallout. I would hardly call the board lifeless, though.

[Kabal]

Quote:

---

I wouldn't jump to that assumption. For a while I checked relative traffic on this site, and theirs. In spite of all the self-congratulatory noise there about how they were burying us, our traffic wasn't down, and theirs was relatively low. even though the people who participated there make statements like that (that aren't verified by any numbers) all the time. (I loved their claim to be the hottest board on the internet--

---

Somebody on my board sent me a link to this thread, so I think I should reply.

Sorry Michael, but I dont think you got tropical mom's point: She wasnt talking about "my" board, she was lamenting the slow times at Maestronet.

Cmon Michael, the "duel" between Mnet and the " other board" is long over. Lots of people post on both boards, BFD. The "other" board has a lounge for non-violin stuff, and we enjoy that stuff, which you used to too. We like a board that is not 100% string talk, most human beings like different subjects.

No, it is not the hottest board on the internet, just 16,000 posts in three months, not bad for a non-commercial board that hasnt made the major search engines, 408 members.

Yes, we delete some posts in the "other place". We feel that this is better than deleting the 30,000+ posts that were deleted here in the soapbox. I would assume that this thread will be deleted soon.

Best of luck to Maestronet. I like this place, I will continue to add some violin stuff here as well.

[MsMazas]

Quote:

---

I would assume that this thread will be deleted soon.

---

Drama queen.

Oh, but I am back from meadowmount. It kinda sucked this year, what was the intense Nazi scenario and all. You'll all be suprised to hear that the shoulder pad is gone, for now. We'll see, I'm just trying this out after recomendation, and it's neither good nor bad.

I think I actually kinda missed this place, as crazy as it seems!

--Mazas

[Primrose84]

actually *sheeping grin* i'd have to agree with you

*cowers* don't hit me violists...