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What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:19 am
by pcastag
This board is dying. Good thing there is a wealth of info in the archives.

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 4:12 am
by Mike
Yes, I also wonder what happened, hardly any new posts here.
But then, maybe we are all busy at the very same moment?
At least I do not currently find too much time to surf the Net.

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 5:57 am
by jorge
The merchants - sellers, collectors and advertisers - seem to have become more numerous and the players, learners, listeners and singers have become less active. Maybe all the fights with Cuco and Dr. Z kept up the interest in the substance of playing, learning and enjoying the music of congas.

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:30 am
by Mike
jorge wrote: Maybe all the fights with Cuco and Dr. Z kept up the interest in the substance of playing, learning and enjoying the music of congas.


I would mildly doubt that. There has been a great exchange of ideas over the the years before Cuco and Dr. Z joined in the game.
At least I can do very well without the constantly patronizing bickering of those legendary former board members...

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:40 pm
by RitmoBoricua
One thing to consider is that this forum format is very outdated and inching closer to obsolete. Social media is what is in vogue now
you know Facebook, Twitter etc. I see lots of the people that used to be here on Facebook doing there thing, tons of info on social media.
Like everything else in life people's taste and preferences change, I could be wrong but in my opinion this forum heydays are over and for
the most part it ran its course due to advances on information systems technology more specifically social media.

It goes without saying that there is wealth of really good information here provided by very knowledgeable people. Will see what happens.

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 1:59 pm
by Mike
RitmoBoricua wrote:One thing to consider is that this forum format is very outdated and inching closer to obsolete. Social media is what is in vogue now
you know Facebook, Twitter etc. I see lots of the people that used to be here on Facebook doing there thing, tons of info on social media.
Like everything else in life people's taste and preferences change, I could be wrong but in my opinion this forum heydays are over and for
the most part it ran its course due to advances on information systems technology more specifically social media.

It goes without saying that there is wealth of really good information here provided by very knowledgeable people. Will see what happens.


Yep, I guess especially the younger cats are more into facebook & stuff like that.
To me personally, the congaplace forum has always been and still is a social medium of high quality. 8)
But maybe I am just a tad old-fashioned. :)

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:00 pm
by Marcus
One item I have noticed is that the techniques and tips of playing rhythms have diminished. As one who is learning, I know I need a mentor and I know that I have let a few opportunities pass by me due to some life changes and I know there are other paths for which I will seriously look into--but that is where I am at right now.

I appreciate Johnny Conga's tips and vids, and David Penalosa's detailed explanations, and bongosnotbombs has also been very willing to share—there are others I have not mentioned --yet still few others tend to offer—maybe I just have not asked enough! I am not quite there yet to watch a vid and be able to play that rhythm.

I am an engineer with hopefully advance knowledge working amongst some very young and talented engineers. My philosophy is that when I share and teach, I also learn from how others learn and the whole process just makes me a better engineer and I remember when my elders took me aside and gave me that piece of knowledge for which opened my mind and “click”.

This forum has so many advanced congueros. Every time I sign in I hope to find a bit of knowledge or playing technique. I am not sure that the one’s who teach will have diminished students, maybe this will encourage more students and more interest. And there are others who do not formally teach and with a “pay it forward” cause it just encourages more players and students in my humble opinion and makes this forum that much more robust.

Thank you, marcus

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:11 pm
by JohnnyConga
Thank you!..Marcus... well the support here is waning..there are thousands of posts here and i guess we have run out of things to talk about..Im not sure... I have been here for over 10 years... and we have covered it all..the support for one another hasnt been as strong either here...for example when my CD came out ..how many of you actually purchased it? out of the 2,000 members we have here..I know the answer to that and it was disappointing....beginners are stuck on becoming "youtube' students rather than dealing with a Live mentor like myself, and others as well...these are just my personal observations here...some may agree some may not..so goes it on Planet Dirt...

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:31 pm
by vxla
Part of my issue with this forum is that the interface is so clunky by modern standards.

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:43 pm
by rhythmrhyme
I recently signed up for a FB account and then went ahead and "liked" a number of percussion related pages. Now everything that gets posted on those sites streams through my FB page - it's pretty entertaining. I only have so much time for social media and I now spend a portion of it there. I've also found the tone on this board can get tense at times. On the FB feeds the folks who fired up the pages have full control over them and the tolerance for criticism and anger is pretty much zero, which I've come to appreciate. Cuco has his page, but I haven't liked it, so I don't get an ear full of his, or anyone else's, negativity when I pop open my FB page. Lots of competition with different percussion pages as well, so if one gets stale I just search out another that is more active.

I think that one factor which keeps the FB feed so civilized is that everyone who posts can be identified. I'm guessing Jorge will appreciate that, I believe he's made a few comments about sellers etc on this board identifying themselves etc.

Cheers,
RR

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:32 am
by Thomas Altmann
Hi,

I'm not into facebook and stuff, and I liked the previous, old format of this forum site even better. I guess it's true what Johnny said: We covered it all. There's nothing left to say. The forum archives and history must have grown to a treasure of knowledge. For this reason I don't feel addressed if someone has a question that has been answered 5 years ago. My own present questions cannot be answered in a conga drum forum, either. And even less in a forum for instrument sellers and self-promoters. It's boring. There is no music. Every once in a while I take a look, but it's always the same.

Everything has its time, friends ...

TA

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 5:51 am
by Mike
OK, there is a point of saturation, e.g. as far as the basic questions about equipment are concerned.
Maybe everybody has found the best congas for life.
Still, some chatting here and there about skins etc. is something at least I find interesting.
The "science" of conga might not have evolved all that much, but keeping the magic art of music alive
is quite more challenging IMO. I try my best every day to kindle enthusiasm for music in pupils at a state school.
Usually, percussion-related topics really do ignite that spark!

Back to our forum:
Yes, Thomas, instrument sellers and self-promoters are absolutely boring, and there has been a significant increase of them
over the last months indeed. These guys never contribute anything, but stumble onto the selling platform, often without any decent introduction.

But I would not agree with your statement "There is no music" on this forum. Well, feel free to contribute!
There is a bunch of top-notch musicians here, and Johnny Conga is the best example, being an expert in education
that shares his knowledge (Thanks, Johnny! :-) Like me, some might feel a bit self-conscious posting video or audio files as
we are no professional musicians, but have to rely on other day jobs.
However, a forum can only be as informative and openminded as its members are. Congaplace was conceived as
a worldwide conga community. It is up to every member to keep this spirit- or let the forum die....

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 12:39 pm
by CongaTick
Some of the responsibility for the slow fadeout here rests within our community. I do not place myself in the circle of pros who have for so long been the prime bulwarks of knowledge and skill disseminated here. I play with rock bands, fusion groups, reggaefunk bands, accoustic trios/duos, etc--- never any traditional nor folkloric Afrocuban nor latin music...not by choice, but that's my landscape. MY skills are not comparable in complexity with the articulated knowledge available from a true devotee of traditional forms. The justifiable pride in their mastery of rhythmic skills by the pro-conguero communtiy in many ways isolates them-- an isolation which many assume with pride. However, we know that the majority of musicians not familiar with the conga and its art --- view the instrument as a frivolous addition, ("Oh, you're the congo-bonga player!") and have no hesitation in assuming we will let them bang away on our drums after they've had a few too many. We've tried to swim upstream against the tide of "popular" music and musicians, but, just as so much of our culture has eroded into a swamp of twitterfacebooking social interaction, and traditional values are replaced by "entitlement" attitudes, so too has the art of the conga been by-passed. I AM so grateful, however, for the vast knowledge contributed by the forum pros whose encyclopedic experience has been posted in voluminous threads that stand today as a treasured archive.

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 2:22 pm
by Marcus
Suggestion,

Let’s go back to basics. Same thing happened in my engineering field. All the conferences were so elevated by the nearing retirement salts with their interests that required 20 years plus of knowledge to even begin to understand. All the new people continually said, "we need training from the start", eventually the conference leaders heard the message and now "basics training" became a conference track. Sorry I dislike bringing my other life into my real life, but sometimes parallels are needed.

Guys, knowledge is knowledge, it does not really matter the format or the modern technology that it is presented. You want this forum to grow then teach and share. This does not replace the mentor, it encourages others to seek out mentors using modern technology.

Show me a riff and why it works or a support. I have cousins in Montana, very conservative and they listen to country/country rock a lot. Now a conga there makes people think of "Dragnet and kettle drums". I would love to play along with confidence and place a cuban spin in the rhythm.

Okay too early this morning, too much coffee.

.....marcus

Re: What happened?

PostPosted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 4:56 pm
by KidCuba
I highly appreciate this forum - the interaction and the knowledge base. I have meet some greet people on here and love the opportunity to interact with other like-minded individuals.

A lot of my activity on here could be considered self-promotion and advertisement - as I post a lot of information about local events and workshops. But keep in mind, none of these events are for profit (except for workshops where all proceeds go to the teacher - usually a visiting master such as Lali, or Changuito, etc...)

I hope my positing of this information does not bother too many of you.

Lets keep it going, however it looks like going into the future.