Brian Wood - Posted - 06/22/2025:  10:48:20

I'm hoping Webmaster Eric Schlange would be willing to add a few categories to Fiddle Hangout in order to see if it invites more discussion on the site. Categories might include British Isles, Jazz, Old Time, Bluegrass, and other suggestions you have. If you agree, post a response.

Edited by - Brian Wood on 06/22/2025 10:57:21

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 06/22/2025:  11:24:36

I’d be very interested in seeing it and would really enjoy hearing from some players of styles with which I’m less familiar. I don’t know of any of them are members or observers, but if so, perhaps they might chime in here.

I’ve noticed that other forums offer the ability to conduct polls. If that could be done here (even if it’s just done by starting a thread asking for suggestions and tabulating the answers) it might help to get a sense for the level of interest in it.

If anyone has friends who play some of those styles, recruiting them to stop by and join in would be a great way to grow the forum. I’m considering sending an email to my customer list and asking if anyone would be interested in contributing. I just sent out my latest newsletter, though, so I may need to wait a bit so I’m not bombarding everyone.

farmerjones - Posted - 06/22/2025:  14:22:54

I wouldn't be in a category that would have me as a member.



Seriously, I was trying to put some stuff together worthy of categorizing, and honestly I'm thinking something like 'PmP' for "passed my prime."

A (my) fiddle is like your voice. You don't mind it if you are talking, but I can't stand to hear it recorded/played back.

Edited by - farmerjones on 06/22/2025 14:26:24

RB-1 - Posted - 06/22/2025:  15:08:27

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

I'm hoping Webmaster Eric Schlange would be willing to add a few categories to Fiddle Hangout in order to see if it invites more discussion on the site. Categories might include British Isles, Jazz, Old Time, Bluegrass, and other suggestions you have. If you agree, post a response.

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Yes, please! Count me in...

Put me on the list for Bluegrass, Texas Style and Western Swing, all under Playing Advice.

Maybe Back Up would be a good category too, as 85% of our time that's what we'd be doing.

ChickenMan - Posted - 06/22/2025:  15:17:44

Vote: aye

Gigging, Bluegrass, Waltzes (because there are zillions of them and they don't get played at OT jams )

Edited by - ChickenMan on 06/22/2025 15:25:27

RB-1 - Posted - 06/23/2025:  12:35:42

Yes...? And where is the rest...

Or have the non-Old Timers effectively been scared away?

DougD - Posted - 06/23/2025:  12:41:51

Don't forget the categories for death spells, abortion pills, and embalming powder. They're very popular topics these days.

NCnotes - Posted - 06/23/2025:  20:16:18

LOL Doug!

Yes I’d be interested in an Irish Trad/Scottish/Cape Breton/Shetland genre section. But it may replicate what’s on thesession.org, and there may be very few participants! :-)

PS-There are players who dislike the word “Celtic” because it evokes Riverdance and faeries…or kind of the. New Age/World Music genre…but personally I don’t have strong feelings on that.

RB-1 - Posted - 06/23/2025:  23:11:14

What I forgot...

Not just one single category 'Other Fiddle-related Topics' but at least one separate that is visibly dedicated to Old Time, so we don't have to wade through a sea of those topics anymore before finding something of interest.

Look at the BHO and you'll ubderstand

gapbob - Posted - 06/24/2025:  00:47:30

Back about ten years ago, I made a site that would be more useful to me, with more breakouts, etc. I used it to put links to some good/great places, so you could go sign up and take a look around to see what it looks like. I made it to give an idea to the owner here, but nobody here did anything based on the forum there:



Here is the link:



fiddle.gapbob.net

I hadn't paid attention to it for a long time, it had a bunch of spammers on it, cleaned those out, so now you will be registered by me, so might take a day or two.

farmerjones - Posted - 06/24/2025:  05:47:30

Nice Bob!
On another planet, I found a similar forum. The moderator/owner puts everyone on a probation period where they are limited to a small section. Also there's an 'introduces yourself' section. That must be done first. (There's many peddlers trying to horn there way onto said forum) there's a difference between spam bombers and sneaky peddlers. Fiddle doesn't seem to lend itself to peddlers. Unfortunately, there's a bunch of work for someone. Bless them!

Frank Wortmann - Posted - 06/24/2025:  07:13:30

quote:

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Originally posted by RB-1

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

I'm hoping Webmaster Eric Schlange would be willing to add a few categories to Fiddle Hangout in order to see if it invites more discussion on the site. Categories might include British Isles, Jazz, Old Time, Bluegrass, and other suggestions you have. If you agree, post a response.

---

Yes, please! Count me in...

Put me on the list for Bluegrass, Texas Style and Western Swing, all under Playing Advice.

Maybe Back Up would be a good category too, as 85% of our time that's what we'd be doing.

---

Dito.

Old Scratch - Posted - 06/24/2025:  08:50:03

I'm not sure this is actually such a great idea. On the one hand, if you do a Google search on, for example, "Jazz fiddle", it might well bring you here, but, OTOH, if you find a Jazz Fiddle forum, and open it up and ... there are only one or two posts from months or years previous, chances are that will be the end of your interest in Fiddle Hangout. Also, I find it elucidating to get the perspectives of people from different fiddling traditions on various topics, and would not want to miss out on those different perspectives because I'm only following discussions in, I suppose, the "Cape Breton, etc." forum.

I don't have a particular interest in Old Time fiddle of the American type, but I've found this site as it is very much worth my while. So I'm willing to be the lone vote, perhaps, to keep it as it is.

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 06/24/2025:  09:35:09

I think the forum has a workable setup, and while I would enjoy more variety in topics, I don’t see it as necessary to have additional headings for topics. As the forum is set up currently, the headings are not specific to Old Time and they cover the needs for discussion categories well. If a lot of extra categories are added, it will either overfill the home page with too many listings or things will get buried in a progression of submenus.

Instead, I think it’s more practical to just start threads on topics and make the titles clear enough that people will know what to expect. That makes content readily visible to viewers with multiple interests and still keeps the site visually clean. Less is more in this sense.

Although a variety of topics have been suggested, it is nonetheless unclear how much broader interest all those topics garner. I think it is simply too early for an administrator to reimagine the design because it’s not obvious that those types of changes are going to have a worthwhile impact.

The name of the forum and its design are already broad enough to have room to include everything. Most members seem to focus on Old Time, but since even those who claim expertise in it can’t give any intelligible explanation for what it is, the forum can still be relevant to any players who have an interest in other aspects of fiddling.

I think what is needed much more than more topics is more young players with a desire to talk about fiddling. Just like the music itself, the history and tradition of the playing is handed down from older players to younger ones in informal settings. This forum is a great way to do that and make those insights accessible to a broader audience.

Brian Wood - Posted - 06/24/2025:  13:45:37

quote:

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

I think what is needed much more than more topics is more young players ...

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I agree. Getting more people on the Hangout, young or old... All I'm trying to figure out is how. My thought is other topic headings might be an invitation to lurkers and folks already here. That's my suggestion. I really don't think there is a downside to trying it. Sometimes days go by without much of anything being posted. It's great to hear what you think is needed, but can you or anyone suggest how else for us to get there? Your idea of clearly mentioning other styles in new posts is okay, but I'm not sure it's better than more categories because when a thread  goes dark so will the title.

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 06/24/2025:  14:45:07

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Wood

quote:

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It's great to hear what you think is needed, but can you or anyone suggest how else for us to get there? Your idea of clearly mentioning other styles in new posts is okay, but I'm not sure it's better than more categories because when a thread  goes dark so will the title.

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Honestly, I don't know the answer. Adding categories doesn't strike me as a bad idea, I just worry about information getting buried or the page getting so full of categories that it makes it harder to find everything. And in the meantime, simply posting new topics is something any member can do to see if it gets any traction. 

Strabo - Posted - 06/24/2025:  18:43:03

I like the idea of adding a few more categories, and the suggestions above sound good to me. It may be that having those categories will draw in people who do internet searches on those topics.

I check in with the Mandolin Cafe forum and they seem to have a reasonable lineup of categories, with good participation. (They also have classified ads, but mandolin and fiddle sales are very different animals.)