But to recap, Rob started this out by saying
My personal opinion is that Rob is not far off the mark with this. The only change I would make would be to add at the end if they want or expect to have their opinion taken seriously by any readers here. The whole issue is one of credibility, and the credibility of any C&F poster is solely determined on a one-by-one basis by everyone who reads his or her post. As a reader, I have to decide whether or not to put any stock in what someone is telling me here, and I can only make that decision based on what I know about the person making the comment. Sometimes I will have met that person in real life, and I will know right away even if it's only their first comment here whether or not I can trust what they are saying. Other times, that person may have a body of written work in the form of many prior postings here that I can use as a benchmark in evaluating their current comment. Or sometimes a poster will cite their resume or other relevant facts in their post before offering up an opinion, and I can use what they tell me about who they are to help me decide if I should believe what they say. In the absence of any of that, though, I basically have to take anything said on this forum with a grain of salt.My own opinion on this subject is already out there, but to recap: I think anyone who gives advice, posts flute reviews, or criticizes the playing or the opinions of others here should absolutely post a clip.
This system works well for evaluating the credibility of any poster's comments here. But in the case of comments about flutes or flute playing, there is another way that a poster can establish credibility with me, the reader, and that is by posting a clip of their playing. This tells me immediately whether or not the poster can actually play the instrument they are discussing. Even if the quality of the recording is poor, a lot can be learned from it - the equivalent of many, many prior comments made by that person, actually. So the clip is a great way for the poster to establish his or her level of credibility with the reader, at least on the topic of flutes and flute playing. In the Pub or the PROCTology forum or even the ITM forum, it will of course be less relevant and carry little or even no weight.
Of course no one should be forced or pressured to submit a clip to establish their credibility on the topic of flutes and flute playing. As I said already, credibility can be built up over time as the poster makes more and more comments allowing readers to make a gradual determination of the level of their knowledge and expertise on the instrument. And if a particular poster decides to go that route towards establishing their credibility here, that's their choice and it should be respected and not challenged. But if there is a poster or posters here who have made a lot of posts over an extended period of time, offered up a lot of opinions, and yet for whatever reason still feel that readers are questioning their credibility, then they might want to consider posting a clip as a way of establishing more credibility and having their opinions, playing tips and reviews taken more seriously by more readers here. But it should be entirely their choice. If they feel their opinions are not being taken seriously by readers who they would like to have take their opinions seriously, and they are happy with that situation and decide not to post a clip, there's nothing wrong with that. Their opinions, playing tips and flute reviews will continue to be ignored by those who have been ignoring them all along.
However, everyone should know that posting a clip here is not technically difficult at all. Anyone, no matter how computer-phobic they may claim to be, who owns a computer, can get on the Internet and make hundreds or thousands of posts to C&F has all the technical know-how they need to post a clip. Any C&Fer who already has posted one can tell them how to do it if asked. There is of course the issue of recording equipment, and there is a cost involved with that. But again, the computer is the biggest expense item on the list, and presumably if they are on C&F they already have that. Mp3 recorders that include a built-in mic and are capable of transferring sound files directly to a computer (the Edirol is a good example of one) can be had for $300-$400. Or a good mic can be bought for less than $100 and a program like GarageBand can be bought for a couple hundred bucks allowing recordings to be made directly to the computer. While this may seem like a lot of money, and indeed to many folks it is, anyone who finds themself owning several flutes might well consider selling one of them and investing in recording capability instead - whether they plan to post a clip here or not. Every player, even the best, needs feedback on their playing if they want to improve. As the Catholics say, even the Pope goes to confession. If you're not in a situation where you have a teacher or mentor to listen to your playing and offer a critique, the next best way to get feedback on your playing is to record yourself and listen to what you really sound like. Even if you never share those recordings with others, you will learn enough from them to justify the money you spent on recording equipment and software. So sell an Olwell bamboo or a Delrin flute and buy a recorder instead. Your flute-playing credibility with at least one person (yourself) will instantly improve.
