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How to solve the versions problem?
Hi Master Tabbers, and you too Master Tabber LoudLon -
As BigAndy said above, I echo: thanks tons. I'm not a beginner, but I do audio hallucinate trying to understand bass lines that I'm working on. Black Velvet is one of those songs. The riff at the end of the intro being one of the harder.
Thanks for helping me - an individual you'll likely never meet (darn.)
I use tab to keep me on the straight and narrow, and get me back on track. I'm 68 now, and have read many great tabs on Big Bass Tabs. Thanks for the efforts and hard work.
BendBob
Hey guys. It's not that I don't trust the tabbers on this site, but almost every tab posted for a while now has had either 5 or 0 stars. On a purely statistical basis that can't be right.
It needs to be easier to rate something other than 5, because the chance someone abuses the rating system is a) slim, and b) nominal compared to the importance of realistic ratings across the site.
If we remove reasons for low ratings or have a reason for every rating, that should even it out and we could get generally more accurate ratings.
We implemented having to leave a comment for any rating lower than 5 because people would low rate a tab without offering any kind of insight as to what they felt was wrong with it, so we ended up with a number of tabbers getting frustrated because they'd get a low rating, but zero feedback on where they went wrong (if they even WERE wrong – a lot of times they weren't, it was just the rater didn't know what they were talking about). But that hasn't worked out as well as we'd hoped.
Personally, I find it frustrating. At the risk of sounding like an arrogant ass, why should I continue to put my life on hold for hours at a time as I pore over and painstakingly transcribe songs not for note, most of them requests, if someone else can turn in a half-assed, incomplete and inaccurate tab and get the same rating? Sure, it's my choice to put in all that time, nobody's holding a gun to my head and forcing me to keep my word to honor requests I've been PMed/emailed/what-not, but every time I see a shit tab get awarded our highest rating, I can't help but wonder why I fuckin' bother.
About a nine on the tension scale there Rube!
I wonder if the 5-star ratings are because you don't have to give any feedback/comments to give it, and ends up being used as a “Like” as much as a rating. So maybe a tweak to the ratings system would help - require a comment for ALL ratings. My guess is the number of ratings will go down, but the accuracy of the ratings should improve.
I'm up to three 5-star ratings on my “Don't Answer Me” tab - and it's not transcribed as recorded, but how I play it. That's flattering, in a way, but it doesn't indicate the accuracy for someone who is looking to play that song.
Lon - it's pretty indisputable that your tabs are spot on. Those of us using them (and I'm looking at myself here first), or even just reading them while listening to the song (I can't play a lot of what you post), need to do a better job of acknowledging that with a rating.
I don't mean to come off as a prima donna, though I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that. If it helps, I really am my own worst critic, so as much as some folks who read this thread probably think, “Wow, that Lon dude's kind of an asshole,” trust me, I say the same thing to myself.
Still, I feel my point stands. It all comes down to the purpose of the site, and that purpose is to teach people how to play songs – not how to play songs incorrectly. This is why the rating system is pivotal, and needs to be used properly. And the tabber should also hold their self to the rating standards. If you know your tab's not entirely correct, say so for the user's edification. A few missed notes here or there are no big deal, no one's perfect, but it would be foolish of a person to expect 5 stars for posting just a couple bars of a song, especially when those couple bars also happen to be way, way off.
nick – You say right up front in your tab that it's your own interpretation, it's how YOU play the song, and it's not meant to represent the original recording. So no harm, no foul, you're fine.
And to be clear, I know not all my tabs are perfect. There have been many, many times I've gone back in and fixed a tab after realizing I got something wrong, even after it's already been rated. Sometimes it's just a missed or misheard note, sometimes it's a complete, top-to-bottom rewrite. I'm always going back in and touching my shit up. Point is, if I get a 5-star rating, I want it to be because it DESERVES it, not just because it's easier for a rater to give it a 5 and move on than rate it lower and have to actually – gasp! – leave a helpful comment. Of course, there is still the chance the rater will give a lower rating and be entirely wrong (which has also happened to me a few times).
Anyway. I'm thinking, I'm almost at 500 tabs. Maybe that's a good point to call it quits. I love music, and I enjoy tabbing, and I really enjoy sharing what I learn, but yeah, it's starting to feel like a lot of effort for nothing. I mean I still have a bunch of requests I want to honor, but other than that…
Or maybe I'm just on my man-period and will feel differently tomorrow. I don't know.
Hey Lon, you have probably never seen my name around here, but that's mostly due to my forum inactivity. I am on this site almost every single time I pick up the bass. The reason I ever started using this site in the first place was your tabs. Whenever i see a tab by you, I almost always know it will be right, or at least close enough to it that i can learn most of the song from the tab. I am really sorry to see that tabbing is getting you down. I doubt it means much from some random dude, but your tabs have been hands down the biggest improvement in my playing.
If you want to know the difference between your five star ratings and someone else's, it is the impact it makes on the people playing. If I find a five star tab that doesn't cut it out for me, I look at every tab till i find something closer. I have never looked at one of your tabs and thought: “This just doesn't sound right” If you stop tabbing now, I'm sure we would all understand. You really have done wonders for us bassists! So thank you very much. But if you do keep tabbing, I look forward to any tabs that fit what I am looking to learn. Thank you very much Lon. Your tabs do make a difference and we do appreciate them. Sorry I haven't really provided that feedback before. You have earned it.
Thanks, man, I really appreciate that. My problem is I tend to get…well, “obsessive” might be too strong a word, but it's close. And along with that comes a bunch of high falutin' stuff about principals and integrity and how I set my standards so high that often even I can't reach them. But it takes me having a moment like above, voicing my frustration, to make me realize I need to take a beat, step back, and stop being all OCD about shit. Suffice to say, it's not just tabbing that I'm like that with.
I should really be thanking our users for putting up with my flightiness and occasional bitching lol
You had me at “hello”, Lon.
I have to echo Ganaelin's comments. Big Bass Tabs is my go to for tab, and this is largely due to the quality of Lon's contribution to the site.
Your efforts are very much appreciated, Lon.
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