TromboneChat

Hello
I'm working on this website https://tetraphosphate.github.io/trombo ... /list.html. I'm aiming to make a list of trombone models, so that people can compare model specs.
Currently it only has two listed, I'd like to add more but I don't really know where to start
Do you guys have any models you love/recommend? would this site be useful? any ideas on how I can improve it?
Thanks!

(also, I know the site looks bad , I'm working on the CSS atm)

Suggest you go to Web Sites of the various trombone manufacturers (e.g., Conn-Selmer, Yamaha, Getzen, Holton, Kanstul, Rath, Shires, M&K, ...) or prominent retailers (Woodwind Brasswind, Dillon Music, Brook Mays, etc.).

There you will find enough data to keep you busy on your project for quite a while. Have fun!

Great.

I'm a fan of the history that Hornucopia has built. I found this handy when looking at some vintage horns. This may give you some ideas.
http://horn-u-copia.net/Reference/Produ ... t=Trombone

When I'm working on project in my day job as instructional designer, I try to think about "What is the problem I'm trying to solve?" If your focus is on horns that are currently available, there is a lot you can do beyond specs like bell size and bore. I think part of your success would be predicated on what kind of added value you present. As a consumer of this kind of info, here are some problems and features that come to mind that I'd like to see. Others can feel free to add.

*Some sites don't have the latest model or feature listed. Be not only accurate but up to date.

*Some sites have images but omit something important like how the trigger is set up. Images that highlight distinct features, and help identify a model from similar horns.

*Some videos are incomplete or biased by maker. Links to high quality independent review videos by pros and teachers.

*Sometimes I can't find the maker's promo material. Links to manufacturers promo video, which sometimes have quite good performances, are polished, but biased.

*Who makes this horn? Links to manufacturer's site.

A related technique is creating a user's story, kind of in this structure: "I am a ______ and I want (to be able to_______". Designers like this format of problem statement because it does not a force a solution and is not limiting like a problem statement.

*"I'm a serious buyer and I want to avoid watching people practicing on new horns or videoing taking it out of the box, and wasting my time waiting for them to actually play the horn." One solution is to add a filter or limit really low level amateur videos, which have their place but don't typically examine in a way that shows the strength and weakness of the horn. This kind of feature would be a help to me to avoid the random stuff in a typical video search. Another solution might be to just add a clear description to videos, another is to add a rating system on key parameters like "quality of demo" "quality of info".

*I'm a novice and I want to buy a new Conn Constellation but I don't know if it is still made. One solution is to add year the model came into production, or year a feature was added. And note they year ending if a horn is out of production. Another solution is to categorize the listing as currently available vs. historic.

*I'm a teacher and I want to know about horns in a specific price range that I already have approved. One solution is to add some kind of filter or search. Add drop downs to filter by price, place of manufacture, etc., like a real estate site.

*I am a pro with a lot of gear and I want to share my experience and knowledge with others. One solution is to add ways for users to add content, like Wikipedia. I might want to add links to videos on manufacturing process by the maker. Others might like to link to their ebay post

We actually have a wiki on this site at trombonechat.com/wiki. We were planning on doing more with it but I got sidetracked this summer. You have to create another account and one of us has to approve it. We also approve changes too in order to prevent stuff form disappearing or being incorrect. I'll start checking it more regularly and maybe actually contributing now that some of the summer stuff I was doing is winding down. If you need approval for something, PM me or put it in the comments & suggestions section and I and approve it. Technically there is a "talk" feature of WIki where discussions are supposed to go but I think it makes a lot more sense to put those discussions on the forum where everyone here already has an account.

Thanks for the replies!

Would it be a better idea if I transferred this site over to the wiki? That way other people would be able to contribute to it as well.

(I've just requested an account, could you please approve it for me?)

Tetraphosphate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 1:42 pm Thanks for the replies!

Would it be a better idea if I transferred this site over to the wiki? That way other people would be able to contribute to it as well.

(I've just requested an account, could you please approve it for me?)

Approved!

You're obviously welcome to do whichever you feel is the best use of your time. Redundancy isn't necessarily bad! If you aren't familiar with Wiki editing, there is a bit of a learning curve. I made some videos about editing:

https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php? ... iki#p59956

It actually occurs to me that we might want to focus on certain area of the wiki each week or something. Make a thread about it and then just have people updated it, even if it's primarily transferring information from the forum to the Wiki. It's pretty vacant now and it seems quite dauntng to put everything there, but once we start doing it in pieces, I bet it'll go a lot faster.

Thanks. I reckon I'll start a new article, if that's alright

Tetraphosphate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:29 pm Thanks. I reckon I'll start a new article, if that's alright

Of course! Changes won't be made immediately. One of the moderators will review it first, if for no reason than for consistency of formatting across the site. Bruce, for example, wrote something on lubricants in the BBCode formatting I believe, which isn't compatible so I went ahead and spruced it up before finalizing it.

Matt K wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:39 pm

Tetraphosphate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:29 pm Thanks. I reckon I'll start a new article, if that's alright

...Bruce, for example, wrote something on lubricants in the BBCode formatting I believe, which isn't compatible so I went ahead and spruced it up before finalizing it.

And I appreciate your doing it.

Right now I think it's the only information in the Wiki.

A comparison of trombone models is going to be complex. Remember, different instruments are targeted at different markets. A King 606 can't be compared with an Edwards T-302 even though they are of similar size, but VERY different cost factors. It would be wasteful to start a student on a T-302 (the Getzen 700 series is much better for that) and a sophisticated jazz musician might find the 606 rather unresponsive.

Yeah, the way that everything is structured right now, there is a list of manufacturers. There are also dummy (re not yet created) lists of instruments that fit into broader categories (using the US system of "small bore", "medium bore", etc.)
https://trombonechat.com/wiki/index.php?title=Trombone

I dunno if this is the right place to say this, but it would make it easier to find things on the wiki if there was a navigation system (maybe putting the pages into categories, and having a page with a list of categories?)

Tetraphosphate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:59 pm I dunno if this is the right place to say this, but it would make it easier to find things on the wiki if there was a navigation system (maybe putting the pages into categories, and having a page with a list of categories?)

Maybe you could provide an example? The front page (trombonechat.com/wiki) is a list of the categories. We just don't have many categories worth of information yet! Red links are pages that have yet to be created, blue links are links that go to a page. To start a page or link to an existing one, use double brackets, for example: [[topic]]

That makes it easy to restructure if there is a better way (or an alternative way that is preferred). That structure is absolutely not set in stone. I did that in like 2 hours in like May and it made sense to me so there's a high probability it will make sense to anyone else.

It's pretty on topic here so you can continue to post here or you can make suggestions in the Comments & Suggestions. Maybe 1 topic per idea but in this case the organizational structure is sort of its own topic that is encompassing of others so whatever your preference is.

Also, I literally learned how to spell "BOUTIQUE" literally 2 hours ago when I approved someone elses' edit and realized I had been spelling it wrong for nigh a decade now. So it's misspelled like, everywhere. I'm busy finishing up a consulting project at the moment but I'll try to fix that or at least approve those changes if someone else goes through it and makes them!

Noooooooooooooooooo
I finished writing up the page.... you know how Chrome sometimes reloads tabs when you click on them? Well, that happened to me, and all my progress was lost.
Time... to... rewrite... everything...

Matt K wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 4:20 pm

Tetraphosphate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 3:59 pm I dunno if this is the right place to say this, but it would make it easier to find things on the wiki if there was a navigation system (maybe putting the pages into categories, and having a page with a list of categories?)

Maybe you could provide an example? The front page (trombonechat.com/wiki) is a list of the categories.

Oh, I didn't see that

Tetraphosphate wrote: ↑Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:26 pm Noooooooooooooooooo
I finished writing up the page.... you know how Chrome sometimes reloads tabs when you click on them? Well, that happened to me, and all my progress was lost.
Time... to... rewrite... everything...

Aggh! I normally write stuff in notepad and then copy and paste it over for that very reason. The reason Chrome does that is that it's so heavy on RAM usage that it now will put tabs in the background. If you wait too long, it'll just think "Oh that's probably stale data anyway, I bet they wanted me to RELOAD IT WITHOUT ASKING!" For what it's worth, Lazarus used to be really good at that but the developer abandoned it. There is another that people who liked Lazarus like called Typio that you might want to try. I've not used it myself but potentially worth checking out nontheless.

It was for 2 seconds... I switched tabs for two seconds...

But oh well... it's gone. There's nothing I can do, except write it again (which I will do as soon as I have time)

Current (link appears broken, but if you stop it in time or go to the main page and click the current model link, it works):
http://webspace.webring.com/people/oy/y ... v2ehtm.htm

Discontinued:
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=trombo ... ecs%2Ehtml

Conn:
https://cderksen.home.xs4all.nl/ConnLooksTrombone.html

King / HN White:
http://hnwhite.com/hn%20white%20store.htm#Trombones

There's gotta be something better to do with your valuable time. Write a piece, arrange something, play some lip slurs, or make money on MTurk.

You're worth it. Believe in yourself.