A new home for congaplace

[martingoodson]

Yes I’m also a member there and it’s good but it’s strictly about folkloric drumming and I think we need something wider. Maybe Reddit is not the right place because of its annoying insistence that you install the mobile app.

I disagree with Thomas that moving to different software is unnecessary. This forum software is *old*. Nobody understands how to post video on it, you can’t upvote posts, there’s no mobile app and no notifications for new posts. It’s completely obsolete and doesn’t have the features people now expect.
This is how modern forums look:
https://community.naturephotographers.network/latest
https://experts.feverbee.com/

In order to make a new forum work we need at least five people who are working to actively post content. If there is enough interest I will press ahead. If you want this to happen please say so!

[Chtimulato]

Hello everybody.

I’m still there too.

I just brought my 2 cents on Thoma’ post about « silence ».


@martingoodson :

The facebook groups that many people seem to have moved to did not appear in my google searches. Facebook doesn't want people to be able to search old threads - they want constant 'engagement' so they can make money from adverts. It just isn't the right place for a community like this

There is a « search » function on Facebook pages to find old threads, amongst others. But I believe you’ve got to be member of the group to be able to use it. And mostly to make a member request. Which is logical, to avoid robots, spammers, etc. As I said in the other post, I’m an admin in such a group, and moderator in another one. And you have no idea how many BS we have to refuse, and how many charlatans, crooks and madmen/women send us member requests. We had to set some rules and establish a (small) questionnaire (« Do you play congas or bongó ? », « Do you accept the page rules ? »). Which allows to "filter" a bit.

I’m gonna « throw an eye » (as we say in French) on your Reddit link (it’s my procrastination again).

About your 2 questions, here are my quick answers :

- I use 2 Shure SM57 microphones with clamps (I don’t carry any mike stand anymore), and am quite happy with them. You should find some for 100, 120$ each. Here are some links (in French, sorry) :
https://www.thomann.de/fr/shure_sm57_lc.htm
https://www.baguetterie.fr/catalogsearch/result/?q=Shure%20SM57

Since I have a dry skin, and it’s even worse when it gets cold, like nowadays, I always use something to grease my hands before playing : either vaseline, shea butter or coconut oil. And the grease also gets little by little into the drum skin, which I believe is good for it. And I try as much as possible to warm up before playing (some palm-tip exercises, faster and faster). And, as Greensail said, playing as softly as possible, while still trying to produce a good sound. I have to anyway : my 2 kids, though grown up, are still at home and have to learn and study (that’s what they say at least ), and the neighbours have 2 very young kids who can shout very loud and for a very long time when they’re upset – which happens 15 times a day . So I learned to play softly… I even practice on a wooden stool with a pair of gloves. And touch my drums only once I’m satisfied with my warming up and practicing.

Oldtimers are perhaps tired of sharing perspectives that have become undisputible normalcy for them.

That’s what I said on your post thread about « Slilence », Thomas :

Maybe many of us got the feeling "everything has been already said" and just need to browse the forum if they have any question. I don't really know, it's just an assumption, an attempt of an explanation. Most members moved to Facebook indeed.

I think I remember some of the moderators. Laurent Lamy in France may have been the founder of the forum.

Laurent Lamy’s still in business. I happen to know him (virtually). He has even run a Facebook page for a few years.

That's all for today. I swear I'll have a look at Reddit.

Stay safe, you all.

[vxla]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AfroCuban has a pretty large discussion base already.


By the way:

Yes I’m also a member there and it’s good but it’s strictly about folkloric drumming and I think we need something wider. Maybe Reddit is not the right place because of its annoying insistence that you install the mobile app.

It is not necessary to install any app to use reddit.

[martingoodson]

Three months after starting this thread, after joining all the Facebook groups, I still think Reddit is the best place for a successor to congaplace. Facebook is just not suitable for a forum, it's for current chatter, not for long developing discussion.

I think https://www.reddit.com/r/AfroCuban is the best bet. It has a growing community and has active moderators. I recommend it.

[Mike]

Perhaps I am old-fashioned or digitally retarded, but I do not find the reddit website well-structured.
And I detest Facebook.
So despite the fact that there has hardly been been much input here in great numbers over the last months/years, I still do like congaplace more than any other percussion platform, because it is an invaluable treasure chest I tried to fill and gained from in equal measures. And I have a more personal attachment to you guys here, as I have been in contact with some of you for more than 20 years now, sharing good and less good times - and I have drawn so much from this great brotherhood personally! And I have always considered congaplace as a living organism providing insights, knowledge and help for all congueros worldwide.
Big words, but all of them straight from the heart!

[Thomas Altmann]

I just visited the Reddit site, and it looked attractive to me - not for me. It looked attractive in a modern (or rather post-modern) way, attractive for people who need an immediate, in-your-face address that can compete with all the loud sensations out there, not just digitally. The long list of headlines und colored pictures captivates you like a display in the supermarket (or toy store?). I didn't make a test by clicking on any of the topic buttons, but I suppose that the information hidden behind the headers wouldn't differ much from the info stored at congaplace.

Actually, I don't think it has to be an either-or affair. A serious percussionist looking for a specific information in order to get ahead with his/her own stuff, will probably inquire all and any resources available, even analogue ones. And even Facebook - additionally to congaplace.

I don't want to make this thing too big now. But I've been engaged a lot in western philosphy lately, and many contemporary thinkers feel urged to make suggestions on how to design the future - and warning against dystopian living conditions. Artificial intelligence, transhumanism, cyborgization, and big data are at least ambivalent, if not catastrophic, topics that have already begun to take hold in our everyday lives. I am pretty suspicious about how many algorithms an optimized social medium like Reddit can derive from our postings; but this process has been on its way for quite some time now, and I'm afraid it has already gone off, out of sight.

Another point is that, personally, I am not interested in a forum/social medium/blog that is designed to absorb my time and continuous attention on a 24/7 basis. I'm not looking for that. As a matter of fact, I am rather glad that a forum like congaplace can be silent for a period of time. A recent survey in Germany has just revealed that the ratio of social-media- and gaming-addicted adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age has more than doubled after Corona, from about 3 to 6,7%, which did not surprise me. Of course, we are not really in that cohort; but the research shows a general social trend, clearly fostered by modern web design and other parameters.

On the long run, we all have to make up our minds on whether we are ready to keep pace with technology, have every possible information available at all times, and be caught up in a system that will eventually force us to let go everything that we thought would constitute our human individuality; or, dispense with the latest achievements of digital technology and be taken over by just about anyone else who is only halfway up to date.

While most younger people probably tend to not only follow the accelerating technological (and social) progress, but be in front of it, I can afford staying behind now, letting the latest news calmly pass by. In 15 to 20 years I'll be gone, and I wish my survivors a glittering, brave new world, hoping that reincarnation will prove to be a myth. However, I don't think that my reluctance to immediately embrace every new, "improved" technical device that has just been invented, has anything to do with my age. I have always been like that. I wonder whether there may be some kind of correspondence to my choice of the conga drum as my musical instrument, my voice?

Anyway, I wish martingoodson a lot of success with the Afro-Cuban Reddit site. Honestly!

Thomas

[Psych1]

Agree 100% with what Mike said and most of what Thomas Altmann said too. Obviously, this place isn't totally dead. Nice to see the old gang sticking their heads up every once in a while. I'm still playing but at a point that I need to start passing on most of my bongos & congas and just keep the few that I treasure. I'll probably list them here first.