actual good songwriting forum?
 

is there an actually good-current songwriting forum? no offense, just don't like the culture on this board.

thanks

What are the prerequisites, in your opinion, that makes a forum "good"?

There are not too much teaching going on in here, if that is what you looking for, but if you have music theory questions or anything related to songwriting, you will get an answer or two.

Yup, the "culture" around here is definitely an acquired taste. :cowbell:

You can always Google: "Songwriting Forums" and maybe find something that is more to your liking.

Good Luck,
~HW

Not that I'm aware of.

How Groucho. :-)

What about the world culture right now? Is that so in line with our core beliefs that we never turn to specialized forums on the Internet?

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Why did he shoot the sheriff, but not Barney Fife?

:heh: :heh: :heh:

A wise man is sitting outside the gated walls of a great city. A traveler approaches. "Tell me, wise man, what kind of people will I find here?"

"What kind of of people did you find in the city whence you come?" asked the wise man.

"Good and kind. Generous and friendly."

"You will find the same, here, traveler."


Later that same day, another traveler approached the wise man.

"Wise man -- what sorts of men and women live in yon city?"

"What sorts of people did you find in the city you are coming from?"

"Fools and dolts, cheats and swindlers. A pack of liars."

"Sadly, my friend, you will find the same here."

It was all about Thelma Lou.

With a handle like @ death , I would have thought you would feel at home here?

While I've learned a lot from GS contributors about music recording and production, I do think other social media platforms currently offer more value for the process of songwriting, specifically. . .from Meetups to FB Groups to YouTube channels. Not yet knowing your specific goals, I would blindly suggest participation on YouTube as being most useful.

That said, there are many very talented and highly experienced members on GS.

And I would have the same question as @ Herr Weiss .


Best wishes,

Ray H.

I've been lurking on GS for years, it's not inexperience, GS is great for talking about gear and I've learned a lot from the engineers, producers on here but the songwriting forum is very 'dated' in my opinion.. I'm just not a fan of how people carry themselves here vs the other boards on here, that's all.. I never did talk down GS as a whole in the OP, simply the songwriting forum.

I just sent you a "Friendship Request".


We think alike. :heh:

~HW

It’s funny you should mention that... one is coming

Ugh... that’s my line of old chinese wisdom

But, in this case it doesn’t apply... GS is unique in this regard...

I'm not certain what you mean by 'dated'? For me, personally, the weakness is more an issue of lack of focused and sufficient participation.

Songwriters more often seem to make contributions across threads on other sub-forums on GS - sometimes diluting the value, sometime enhancing the value of their thoughts. . .for me. . .in context of that other discussion.

I suspect that if you increase your post count, you will find many useful responses - admittedly the quality will be mixed. . .and there will doubtless be much one just has to ignore or find a way to kindly tolerate.

Ignoring for a moment the way some 'carry themselves' here, can you articulate what is missing that would make it 'undated'?

Are there any threads on GS you can point to that are examples of what would be useful - from your perspective and specifically for songwriting?


Kind regards,

Ray H.

I dunno... it seems to generally hold in my observations.


But, of course, perspectives differ. ;)

As (possibly) the only one active in this thread who has moderated a songwriting forum (for about 7 or 8 years, a once-busy forum whose parent site name rhymed with Schmarmony Schmentral), I have a lot of thoughts on online songwriting workshops and other forums...

I think they can be really helpful to people who approach them looking for constructive peer criticism, but, like any forum filled with irascible, often-irritable creatives, it can take a LOT of hands-on moderating keeping things running more or less smoothly -- and it can also require some creative and flexible strategies for keeping such a forum free of the kind of relentless spam and promotional posting the evil viral marketing 'experts' push (for lack of actual good ideas). I found participation in such a forum as a songwriter to be, for me, quite valuable. But, as a moderator, it was ENORMOUSLY fatiguing and somewhat emotionally draining at times.

Ah yes........but that was a good forum....then.

I'm with you here man...

not much original flavor on this board but it is what it is...

Let me know if you find something!

Thanks, man. I well understood one can't please everyone all the time and, after a while, it seemed some of the strictures were chafing some folks -- something I could easily understand. I tried to walk a delicate balance. Eventually, my own fatigue draining me, I felt I had to pass off the baton. I think Lee K. did a great job and I was glad he was willing to take the (unpaid) position, but I think both burnout and the real world pressures of being a studio owner, dad, and singer-songwriter while still modding the forum probably took their toll there, too.

I cruised through a few weeks back and it was pretty sleepy. Real sleepy. But then, the whole place is a bit that way these days, I'm afraid. I see more of the old folks on FB, seems like, via Ken L's entertaining photo threads.

Time. Eh? At least I ditched the cigarette it put in my mouth... ;)

It really would be nice to have a good, online songwriting forum. It's probably hard to get a good one happening because a good culture has to be established (and creating a healthy, nurturing culture on a message board might too much of an ask).

I've been in a few songwriting groups over the years. I found them to be very helpful. All of them were small, tight knit little circles where we established ground rules early on. The issue of trust was extremely important - after all, we were playing songs that were "works-in-progress" for the sake of obtaining constructive criticism. You needed to know that your peers would be honest yet gentle with their critiques, especially if you're baring your soul.

On any message board, that kind of culture would not be established easily. One troll and the whole thing could disintegrate quickly. And message boards are rife with anonymous trolls who gleefully enjoy upsetting people. The writers groups I was in would never have invited those types of people to participate. Here they can chime in at any moment and piss all over someone's heartfelt material. And if that happens even once, you will probably lose your most sensitive members (who often are the best at giving critiques).

You're right. Rocks been dead for a long time.

I guess it depends what your personal goals are?

Maybe I'm just not able to see the problem. In this forum I've only really seen two types of bad behavior

1. Thin skinned, not being able to take criticism or feedback and having a meltdown despite asking for criticism and feedback.
2. Veering off topic into irrelevancies such as personal politics or taking umbrage at a lyric that doesn't align with a personal world view.

Both of these are cognitive dissonance problems, i.e. reality didn't match expectation. It just takes a little self awareness to solve. I haven't seen anyone purposefully setting out to harm or hurt others, no trolling or flame baiting (yet).

In terms of usefulness of the forum itself, I haven't seen too much proactive community effort things like friendly competitions or collaborations so far, that seems the purview of facebook groups and discord servers these days. But when people post questions or looking for feedback it seems like people do make an effort to respond in an honest straightforward way.

What are your expectations?

You forgot one: people who can't seem to grasp (or refuse to use) the two clearly marked threads up top to post demos on and instead post an entirely diff thread because they think they merit "special attention" shiee

OP if you find such a place, please post.

Are there ANY other songwriting forums?

It astounds me how few people seem aware of this site www.google.com

Or if you don't like Google's snoopiness (and I don't blame you): www.duckduckgo.com

A few folks like this one...

https://www.songwriter-forum-kitchen...orum/index.php


Their songs for review forum looks fairly active:

https://www.songwriter-forum-kitchen...-for-review/2/

:cowbell:

Gee... I'm almost 70 and I hear a lot of great music that's new to me -- as well as older stuff I've never had a chance to get to know.

And it's not like I haven't been into music for a long time. I have more than 1200 LPs, a couple hundred singles and 78s, well over 500 albums on CD... but the 'celestial jukebox' era has allowed me to explore music I couldn't find or never got around to buying or simply hadn't come across. And I'm not really into the 'popular' stuff -- I wasn't into mainstream rock and pop, I never liked 'modern' country, don't like new age jazz, tired of electronica pop decades ago. But I still find loads of interesting music, including plenty that's fresh to me. For me, it's been about keeping my ears open -- and having good sources to draw from. In that regard, the modern distribution paradigm has been a heavensent, helping me to salvage and enjoy all-but-forgotten gems from both the long ago and even the recent past...