Mandolessons

[Baron Collins-Hill]

hi everybody

i've been away for a couple years but recently rediscovered mandolincafe for what i remembered it to be, and im here to stay now. recently i've made a little project out of the website MandoLessons (http://www.mandolessons.com) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for things to add to it. its only been up a couple days now but its by no means perfect and i would love any input or advice people have for my site. from "put the videos up already" to "your grammar sucks" to "its too orange" i would love to hear anything anyone has to say.

thanks for your time,
baron collins-hill

Update: a few new things added. i have a tendency to blather on about things, and if anyone has the patience to read my intro to music theory section under lessons that would be great. also there is a new video on simple scales. thank

[Bruce Evans]

From your accessories page:
Useful Accessories FOr Your Mandolin

Note the upper case O in "for".

Hey, you said anything! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I do that all the time too. Looks like a good start. I know it's a lot of work to do a project like this, so thanks. Keep us informed here.

[MLT]

I also think you are off to a great start. Best of Luck to you. I will keep an eye out as you add content.

[Ace]

Hey Baron, your site looks awesome and appears to be user friendly as in easy! Now make it all work! I can't wait! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[fiddlingdan]

When you get a chance check out the lessons here

www.musicmoose.org

Bunch of mandolin lessons also guitar, banjo, and fiddle lessons all free and you can download them
Dan

[Baron Collins-Hill]

thanks for the input everyone, i've fixed the typo (i blame sticky keys http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif (and a slow brain) ) and added a bunch to the accessories link.

fiddlingdan: looks great, thats some purdy fancy picking.

thanks again.
baron

[Ace]

So when do the lessons get started?

[Baron Collins-Hill]

Pretty soon. I am borrowing a video camera but don't have the cable to get it to my computer so i have to go into school to see if i can find one.

glad to see there is interest.

thanks,
baron

[Kevin Briggs]

PhishPhan:

I'm looking forward to it for sure. I can't wait for your videos and lessons!

[Brian Sharpe]

When you get a chance check out the lessons here

www.musicmoose.org
Thanks for the link, I need all the help I can get!

[OzMando]

G'day PhishPhan, and hello mando cafe (first post http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif )

This newbie just wants to say thanks for another good looking online mando resource!
The site looks great, very workable.

As far as suggestions go:
The "resources" and "links" sections, is it neccesary to have both? or for online "resources" could you maybe have a single click to take you to the links page.
Maybe I'm wrong, and if you have some of the info twice then people won't have to go searching as far (not that I think that's neccesary, really great layout!).

Anyway, thanks and keep up the good work!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Baron Collins-Hill]

thanks for the input OzMando. the links tab is kind of useless right now, but i plan on having it having a different variety of links as i come upon them, but if that doesnt work i may change it out for something else. only time can tell

thanks for the input, you guys are priceless
baron

[sean808080]

i looked all over the site for some videos but couldnt find it. i'd recommend putting up some videos and then asking for feedback at that point because all can see is the framework which is pretty but i sure am not a web designer. :-)

[Baron Collins-Hill]

woohoo. i finished up a video today and then spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to run the scripts through flash. it turned out it was a simple drag and drop into dreamweaver. feeling smart.

anywho, the lesson is about as simple as it gets and is more of a trial than anything else, trying out camera views and whatnot.

any advice would be helpful. im hoping it works, it does on my end so ive got my fingers crossed.

thanks
baron

[alanz]

I just checked out your first video.

You're off to a good start.

A couple of observations/suggestions:
1. You can really use more/better lighting.
2. You fidget around a lot when you're talking, as if not knowing where to look. Try to talk to the audience (the camera) more, it will help keep you focused.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

thanks for the tips. i am definitely working on more lighting, its being recorded down in my basement which is below ground, so theres no natural light. thanks for the presentation advice as well, i do seem fidgety.

[Trip]

the video looks very good to me....I think you have good presence and looked pretty comfortable...but Im sure this will all get easier as you go........lighting was really fine for my viewing(Im sure it can always be better, so keep experimenting), easy to track your movements on the fiddle tune at the end of the video(what song is that?), and your left hand stayed in frame very well for a close up like that and I was able to quickly start picking out he melody....
after all the poor video I watch on youtube it was nice to see yours, I only wish I could have blown it up full screen......I look forward to learning some new tunes from you

[Kevin Briggs]

PhishPhan,

Hey, I just watched your video and thought it was great! I didn't think you were fidgity. I thought you were looking from your mandolin to the camera as need be. It's tough when the recorder is rolling, because it's a matter of which screw-ups a pwerson is willing to accept. I didn't notice any from you. The only thing I noticed was that the mandolin sounded slightly out of tune. I'm not sure which string or anything. Maybe my ears are just out of tune.... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

I think we can all agree that we're looking forward to more videos from you. Those multiple shots and angles were great. They took it from being a basement jobby like my own efforts to being something that's actually worth watching. You should get a subscription thing going so we can be alerted as to when you upload new videos.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

ooh, subscription thingy would be nice, but i am seriously lacking in the web skills. what i am doing here is about everything i know. ill definitely look into it though. gotta get some more lessons rolling. more to com soon. i'll be recording all of next week.

thanks
baron

[Baron Collins-Hill]

oh, and the song was fisher's hornpipe, ill be doing a lesson on it definitely

[Baron Collins-Hill]

thanks to ideas from here i now have a mailing list to let people know when new lessons come out. theres also a new lesson and some more info up.

thanks for all the help
baron

[jbrwky]

Phish, welcome back!
Just a question on the Musicology Section:
"The distance between two notes is called a half step or a semitone, the distance between two note is called a whole step or a tone. I prefer to use the terms semitone (ST) and whole step (WS)"
I think this is a typo?

[Baron Collins-Hill]

indeed, thanks for the notice. unfortunately, the site is going to be down as i was trying new things and cleared out everything online. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

should be back in about an hour

thanks,
baron