Big Daddy Cee
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Why Warm Fuzzies are bad for ya.......

Big Daddy Cee » Blog » » Why Warm Fuzzies are bad for ya.......

2008-10-08
By: bigddyc
Posted in:

<div class="content">Warm fuzzies are addictive and can lead to false self-opinion....... Sometimes we all need an "attaboy" or a "cool tune" ......but I think those of us that want to hone our craft need solid reviews and critiques.....I left my old site because I felt a little restricted there in what you can say to people without...hurting their feelings.... When I get a review,(and I've gotten quite a few here so far which shows an active and involved membership)....most are positive with lots of back pats and very little substance, (not so good) and a few are reviews with good suggestions and actual critiques (a very good thing!) I then make a beeline to that persons page....not just to return the favor, but to see if their material represents that they know what they're talking about and their opinions can actually help me reach my musical goals.....so far I've only ran across a few like that. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are lots of great musos on the site that I have yet to stumble upon, and I do tend to stick with genres that I'm comfortable with, but I have detected a pattern. Now I realize we are all at different skill levels here, and some of us don't have access to all the nifty bells and whistles that we salivate over in those new gear magazines.....heck I don't have a top of the line studio here, but I at least try to stick to a few personal standards and not release material that's just not ready......nor do I give the obligatory pat on the back that so many seem to want...lol...actually I don't review at all if I feel the person will become offended by constructive criticism ....which kinda defeats the whole idea of reviewing IMHO. If we as artists are releasing the products of our craft into the realm of public opinion, then we have to realize an important truism....YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE ALL THE TIME!!! There's bound to be someone that will think the mix is too bright, your song structure isn't cohesive, your chord structures and progressions are repetitive and lack direction....etc....etc. But these very same opinions are that which allow us to grow and evolve and become masters of our craft. .....whew....got kinda long winded here...lol....guess I needed to vent....anyway, when you drop by my page and give a listen to my tracks......please only leave warm fuzzies that have been earned! Peace! Cee <img src="images/smilies/face-wink.png" border="0" alt="wink" title="wink" /></div>

10/09/08 06:38:07PM @gary-hart:
You guys crack me up. I have been involved on many forums and I have never seen any group of people as sensitive as musicians. Come on it is ok to admit it hehe. It is ok to have an intelligent conversation without getting heated. I was telling someone the other day that people asked me why we banned Political and Religous discussions in the forum. Hell we can't agree on music most of the time, how are we going to handle those two topics?

Anyway I like this topic. It has been brought up many times before with usually the same results. I look at it this way. Leave any review you want. The artist can delete any review they want so what difference does it make? The problem we have had in the past is someone gets a bad review and I get PM's complaining about it. I think some have replied in this thread. You have a few options.

1. Call the review BS and tell everyone that the reviewer has no idea what they are talking about
2. Agree to disagree
3. Delete it
4. Agree with it and try and make improvements
5. Agree with some of it but not all of it

The problem as I see it is people do not utilize the site to their full advantage. You can add song information and tell people what you want in a review. I can click the little "I" information button and if people take the time to write in there and tell me what they are looking for, I will gladly comment on that area. It does not make sense for me to comment on a mix if it is a rough a demo. So tell us what you are looking for and ask for an honest review.

There are varying levels of skill on here. I have heard singers that I could blast their vocals on but I knew they could sing. It was their mix that did not do them justice. Teach them how to mix or put them in touch with Kent, Lonnie or any number of engineers on here and suddenly they sound like they just left the studio.

"Meet the new Boss. The same as the old Boss."??? LMAO

Big D this is a great topic and thanks for stating your thoughts in a professional way.

Dazed

10/09/08 12:07:44PM @rayon-vert:
Tsarg! You don't have to put up with anything. You made a statement that "NO ONE" seems to want to do honest reviews anymore. HOW can you say that? THAT'S what made me "GO OFF" as you put it. I don't know where you qualifiy yourself to make such a statement on everybody's behalf. It certainly isn't on mine. SO!! In MY OPINION, you can't have an OPINION on OTHERS THOUGHTS.......hehehehehehehehehehe ;-)

OK!!! THE REST of the comments are Directed to Big Daddy Cee's Blog......they were Cut and Pasted from the Forum Blog, which he started. I didn't bring this to the front page........and quite honestly, after I cut and pasted it on the front page, I wished I hadn't.

10/09/08 12:50:16PM @rayon-vert:
Ok.....Big Daddy...I know the Quote was from Tsargoth....That's over!!

In short reply to you. I am NOT upset with you, at all......and I think your music is SUPER!!! WHY?? Because I like it and It makes me feel good.

Have you lost a fan? Nah, not anymore.........I do have a method I use of listening to artists here and responding and making friends. It's what I like to do here......I love to meet people, do collabs, and just have fun.

In any event, we can't all say.......Raise thr frequency level and compress the overdrive modulator, just as the left channel pans off to the right and the decibels fall to a frequency below the redline, then clip it!!! and fade slowly, off into the sunset :-)

You will then have a perfectly mixed song :-)

hehehehehehehehehehehehee If I only had a brain....
Anyway, BDC!! All I was trying to say is......take the "pats on the back" at face value.....they all mean something from somebody. Remember this......That person who said...."Sounds really cool", didn't HAVE to say anything at all.
Glad we talked, now I can get back to listening to your music and enjoying it, the way it was meant to be :-)

Rob
(see what I have to put up with around here) myself ;-)

hehehehehehe

10/09/08 12:33:29PM @huge-artist:
I'm bored.

Nigel

10/09/08 12:25:33PM @digger-stone:
rotflmao!!!!!!! this **** is a trip!!! can't we all just get along?

just agree to disagree!

10/09/08 01:59:06PM @rayon-vert:
I think Big Daddy was talking about WARM FIZZIES!!! and THEY ARE BAD for you.....Stomach Indigestion.......if they don't toally disolve in the glass, they bubble up in your stomach.......and THAT'S NOT GOOD AT ALL!!

10/09/08 08:34:58AM @test200:
I know what your saying, but for me, I don't think I'm in any positive to pass judgement on someones work. If its glaring I may suggest something via pm. For the most part I just like to say what I liked about a song on the review board, theres something in everyones work. I wouldn't mind constructive thoughts on anything I do, it means someone was listening close enough to notice.

Ed

10/09/08 11:44:18AM @digger-stone:
don't any one dare open there mouth and tell the truth about any thing around here!

or you'll be cast out!

ahahahahha! WHO GIVES A CRAP!

BUNCH OF CRY BABYS.

10/09/08 11:33:27AM @test200:
I spelled position as positive, how could I possibly be taken seriously anyway....lol

10/09/08 11:28:22AM @idiom:
Answered this in the forums, but I would like to add something. I worked as a partnership for many years, myself the lyricist and along with a musician, we recieved some stinging reviews to the point where it all became a bit disenchanting for us, yet we ploughed on. But something we learnt was this: People who told us what WAS working was a hell of a lot more helpful than those who told us how crap we were (in the nicest sense possible). Non constructive reviews can be the best solution at times, as long as feet remain firmly on the ground and you dont get shuttled off on a wave of egotistical euphoria.

10/09/08 10:34:48AM @rayon-vert:
TOTALLY DISAGREE!!! 100% No Offense to anyone....I don't see anybody here holding a BIG Recording Contract or even a Medium one

WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?!?!?! THIS IS THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE STATEMENT I'VE SEEN!!!! "I have almost completely stopped reviewing because no one seems to want to do honest reviews anymore. They just want to do the "atta boy" reviews so that their songs get reviewed in return, and like you said so well, what real good does that do anyone."

I will gladly reply to this.......I guess this is why you haven't replied to any of my comments on your music, huh?!?!?! Either you feel I have no substance in my comments and I don't know what I'm talking about or.......you just have no respect for my talent or lack of.....because I am just a hobbyist. SO!!! With ALL DUE RESPECT TO YOU.......I am an AVID LISTENER of music and have been a HUGE Fan of jazz an fusion for years. I worked in record stores all thru the 70's and half of the 80's.....and believe me, I've listened to my share of jazz and jazz rock artists from the US and all over the world. I'm not going to qualify myself here now and name drop again......BUT!!! I DID ENJOY YOUR MUSIC VERY MUCH and what I said, was meant from my musical soul and MEANT to be a compliment to you and NOT a "pat on the back" or to give you a "warm and fuzzy".....AND!!! on top of that.....what makes you THINK that's what the people here mean, with their comments?!?!?!?!? I found this quite insulting.....you took my comments as "warm and fuzzies".........and that this is the reason you have never responded to my comments. I left you quite a few comments......well??, at least 4 or 5, with no response back. So, Big DaddyCee.........where you gained a FAN....A true LISTENER.......Your thinking too much just lost you the same. Maybe you should just appreciate the positive.....and remember.....we're all not QUALIFIED to give you CONSTRUCTIVE PROFESSIONAL CRITICISM!! Isn't it nice to just get a "pat on the back" too.......isn't that what the $$$$ paying fans are for?!?!?!??!
WITH RESPECT for you BIG DADDY

Rob Grant

10/09/08 02:35:06PM @stephan-foster:
Interesting thread, BDC and obviously one that garners a lot of differing opinions on the subject. I would note for everyone that Dazed has worked it out that anyone posting music can opt not to receive reviews, good, bad or otherwise. Personally speaking, I would prefer the honest, yet constructive review. I consider my music a journey (lifetime), a search for Nirvanna. Sometimes I am so close to a song that I cannot hear that which others hear and it is very hard for me to be objective. Sometimes someone else can open my eyes (or ears) and give me a perspective that I didn't have before, such as a lyric that makes perfect sense to me but nobody else understands. Also, a critical review can tell you that the reviewer has taken the time to examine your work, as opposed to the quick listen ala American Bandstand (for those of you who are too young to know or too old to remember - "it's got a great beat and you can dance to it"). I think if you hang your work out there, you take the wheat with the chaff and decide what's important for you. As far as reviewing, I try to rely on my musicianship and my technical knowledge, as limited as those may be; however, I rely to the largest extent on my ears and what I hear. That's the best I can do.
Stephan

10/09/08 03:43:15PM @skin-deep:
I agree and I disagree.

Warm fuzzies are good for you in that it can help your motivation to keep on
writing and creating.

I try to compliment what I like and mention 1 or 2 things I would change or
fix, if it were my mix.

But a lot of us are not trying to be "radio friendly" or "by the book song structure" so opinions are just that. Take them with a grain of salt.

I prefer constructive criticism myself, but I really just like it if other people
listen from time to time. I KNOW how I want to sound. And I do sound that way.
If other people don't like it, that is fine. I'm good with that.

The charts are meaningless.

10/09/08 03:47:41PM @les-beasley:
Yes, what Zfulder said.Why not sign up with Taxi.com?

10/09/08 05:45:08PM @pyramis:
"Meet the new Boss.
The same as the old Boss."

10/09/08 07:45:17PM @rayon-vert:
This is exactly why I stay out of Forums and why I ended up losing interest in SCS. I get sucked into these things, stating opinions, thinking I'm helping and protecting a place I love, when in fact, all I do is make a fool of myself. This place is getting VERY BIG now and it's changing.......it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. I never was good, in a big crowd. This is much like my life changes in the corporate buyout of York International by Johnson Controls. I just never could drink the Koolaid........On the whole it was a GREAT THING, but for me....that's enough sleeve for now.....hehehehehehehehe :-)

Rob

10/09/08 08:44:56PM @digger-stone:
there is no wrong here!, this was a great thread/discussion!

we all learnd alot! and thanks to addmin./dazed, these typs of prob's can be avoided. hell i didn't know half of what he said could be done!

i mean realy, if any one is afraid they are going to get a review that they won't like just turn them off! simple!

BTW, ROB: YOU DO GREAT IN A CROWD!

peace!

10/09/08 08:50:51PM @digger-stone:
one more thing: think about it! how boring would this thread have been if we all had the same opinion,!

can you amagian if we all had the same a---hole?

my turn!, no my turn! i've been waitin for an houre!............

10/09/08 10:32:41PM @self-tort:
This issue has been dogging mixposure since its first incarnation. Nigel has previously and succinctly advised us that it is every members right to review as he or she sees fit, and I agree with that.

I personally was pleased to see BDC's blog on this. I've avoided the past three or four episodes of this debate, because I know it gets emotional and words get taken out of context. But in my view BDC expressed pretty much my own view, and did it far better than I could.

As I see it, he is not accusing individual reviewers or artists of being dishonest. But a culture can develop and that culture can take over and become self-perpetuating. I think it has happened here over recent months.

I'm not telling anyone how to review. But the fact is that praising mediocrity merely encourages mediocrity. I have a mate who is a good songwriter but a dreadful singer. His lack of pitch spoils the effect of his good writing, and his lack of vocal range inhibits his ability to come up with different and original melodies. All of his mates slapped him on the back and told him how fantastic he was. His music has remained stagnant for the last three years. Same chords, same melodies but he keeps getting praised and wonders why, if he's so damn good, no one outside his group of friends is interested in his music.

I have no knowledge of the technical side of production and recording. But like Rob, I've been playing and listening to music for a long time. I can tell if someone is playing out of time, if instruments are out of tune. But what's the point of my trying to point that out to someone who's already got 15 reviews telling him how wonderful he and his music is. It only leads to complaints and discussions of this sort. So I ignore it, as does everyone else and the artist goes on blissfully unaware of something that is easily fixed.

We are all different. I am in no way accusing anyone of deliberately doing fluffy reviews. But in my view that a culture of pat on the back has developed and limits the growth potential of the site. I am all for being positive and encouraging, but take the view that if you have opted to have your music available for review, you can't seek to maintain your artistic freedom and at the same time restrict the reviewer's freedom of expression.

If I make what is intended as a constructive criticism, it is not in the context of my saying "I know more than you", but rather in the context of "as a listener, I think ....". In many cases I wouldn't be able to do myself what I might suggesting the artist do. But I'm giving a subjective reaction to his or her art that can be taken on board or ignored. It doesn't bother me either way as I know there is no right or wrong. It's all a question of taste.

For my part I would prefer to receive constructive criticism. I am still rewriting songs that I recorded yonks ago, as a result of feedback I've received. Little things such as phrasing of lyrics, spotlighting the parts of the song that should be spotlit can make a huge difference to a song. So far I've never complained about a review I've received and that even goes for some shockers I've received on garageband. So feel free to open your shoulders on my stuff and tell it like it is.

And most importantly, let's keep calm about these sorts of issues. From my perspective BDC was not being aggressive or arrogant, but was raising something that, in my view, for the long-term benefit of the site, needs to be addressed.

Cheers

Brian

10/09/08 12:08:52PM @rayon-vert:
and digger, I ain't cryin'..........waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

10/09/08 12:50:36PM @big-daddy-cee:
Don't worry fellas....I am done with this whole line.....I initially started this as a favor to a couple of friends on the site that ....well....felt they needed a spokesman as they had tried to open this discussion in the past and were pretty much shot down in flames.....nothing I've said here was meant to hurt, disrespect, or damage anyone in any way.....but I can see by a few posts here and in the forums that some have taken this as a personal attack mostly because I haven't had time to respond to them........I've been called "presumptious, passively aggressive, arrogant and, well, just plain ignorant" and I don't think thats what I signed up for......lol....so I will get back to those who have left me messages and comments, and then keep my mouth shut and my fingers off the keys. For those who are so outraged by my use of freedom of speech that they have said I will never hear from them again......
Peace!
Cee

10/09/08 12:13:28PM @big-daddy-cee:
geez.....what the heck happened?.....Rob I think you may be yelling at the wrong guy.....the quote you used wasn't from my blog, it's from Tsargoth's reply to me.....and as far as me not liking your work.....I haven't even had a chance to listen to your stuff yet so I think you're jumping the gun a bit.....why you're taking this as a personal attack is beyond me....just an FYI since I signed up on the 18th of September I have received over 200 private e-mails and reviews, so it's taking me some time to whittle them down and respond....and yes.....listen and constructively critique.

Everybody that has ears can listen and respond constructively on what they like or dislike in a particular track, the point I was making was if a fellow artist takes the time to fine-tune a piece then the review should be a bit more fleshed out than "hey...nice one"...conversely if a piece is lacking then that same artist (be they hobbyist or striving towards more) deserves an honest yet tactful review of what that listener thought was missing. Rob if you read my blog all the way through to the end, then you saw that my closing point was a plea for thicker skins and open minds..... I'm sorry this was taken in a bad light by you....but no offense was implied....and if I've lost you as a fan then I am saddened that what I thought(and still feel) was a quite clear and concise blog caused such.

When I saw the Mixposure name I assumed this was the old site reborn and was happy to join since the reviews that were given there were quite insightful and I learned and grew in my chosen craft because of them.....I hope I wasn't mistaken.....

Peace!
Cee

10/09/08 11:26:20PM @dazed:
well said guys! I love when a team comes together!

10/09/08 01:22:26PM @digger-stone:
BIG DADDY SAID, AND I QUOTE:so I will get back to those who have left me messages and comments, and then keep my mouth shut and my fingers off the keys. For those who are so outraged by my use of freedom of speech that they have said I will never hear from them again......

all i can say is, please don't!
man, that's what makes freedom so great. right? the right to say what we want to say, when we want to say it. there will allways be people that disagree with one another, under any given subject. but we don't get quite because were going to lose a { in our case }muse/fan!
look! there was a time when i could post a song up here, and i would get 10-15 reviews in the first day! now i'm lucky to get 5 in a week.lol
why? because i spoke my mind! and it ok! it does not matter,and it never has. which is why i will not elaborate any further on that! lmao!

if your person has somthing to say, say it! it think it's cool! as long as we stay civil with one another, it should be all good!

peace!

10/09/08 02:05:54PM @big-daddy-cee:
yeah....yeah....that was it......lol....way too much carbonation can rot yer teeth

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Why Warm Fuzzies are bad for ya.......

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