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Volume 27, No. 2 - January 2003
Anderson, Michael: Internet Trumpet Communities Jan03/56
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The Internet, with its vast resources, offers an unprecedented volume of information to trumpet players. ITG offers this column as an introduction to this exponentially expanding resource. ITG cannot guarantee that these locations are completely accurate, and that all copyright laws have been observed. For suggestions and/or comments, contact Michael Anderson, website@trumpetguild.org
Internet Trumpet Communities
THIS COLUMN WIL FOCUS on Internet trumpet communities. I believe the phenomenon of online communities to be the most significant collective contribution made by the advent of Internet technology. There are tens of thousands of email discussion lists and web-based forums on the Internet that connect people with like interests from literally across the globe. The ability to communicate with others who share our passion for the trumpet both instantaneously and asynchronously has revolutionized our culture.
These communities enable trumpet players and enthusiasts of all types to gather and exchange information, opinions, experiences, and much more. Using an Internet trumpet community is relatively convenient because most of the interactions between members of the community are text-based. This means that the community members can read and send messages to the group at their leisure. In other words, you can participate in the discussions  on your own terms, when you have time. Some subscribers are quite prolific, sending messages daily to the group, while others only read messages and never post – we refer to these people as "lurkers."
Internet communities have limitations. Because text is the primary mode of communication there is great opportunity for misunderstanding. The lack of vocal and facial expressions when having a passionate discussion can severely alter one’s interpretation of what is being expressed. To participate in an online discussion group, you must learn to use text in a unique way that fits the culture and guidelines of the community. Some groups have strict rules and others have none. Some groups are "moderated," meaning that the messages pass through someone who filters them for content and appropriateness, while others are "unmoderated," which means anyone belonging to the group can post anything to the forum. This doesn’t mean that unmoderated groups aren’t strictly monitored because some are.
Discussion groups come in three basic formats: web-based forums, email discussion lists and USENET Newsgroups, commonly referred to as "Network Newsgroups." Each accomplishes the same thing but in different ways. Discussion group services are usually free to the end user. You don’t ever need to pay to participate in a quality discussion group, although with some you must endure some advertising. You should be able to find a discussion group of some type on virtually any imaginable subject (and some you can’t imagine, as well!).
When participating in a web-based forum, you read and post messages on a web site through your browser. Most people use Internet Explorer or Netscape for this task, although there are other web browsers available. The advantage to this type of forum is that you only receive and send messages when you choose to go to the web site and view them. They reside on the forum servers and are not sent to you directly. The disadvantage to this type of forum is that you must actually visit the web site to read and post messages. Some find that if messages are not sent to them via e-mail every day they either forget to visit the web site or find that they don’t take the time to participate in discussions. The Trumpet Herald (www.trumpetherald.com) has excellent web-based forums.
E-mail discussion lists require that users "subscribe" to the list, usually by sending an email message to the list’s server. The message that must be sent varies from system to system. Most require a specific way of subscribing in order for this automated system to work. Once subscribed, all messages sent to the list address are turned around by the server and sent to every member of the list. Most lists process messages quickly, sometimes within seconds or minutes. Some lists have what is called a "digest" version, where many individual messages are automatically combined into one large message that is sent out daily. Some users prefer this to receiving the individual messages as they come into the server throughout the day, but it is more difficult to reply directly to topics when the messages come to you in digest format. Those who subscribe to active lists with high message traffic usually set up filters so that all the messages from that list go into one mailbox. This makes it easier to follow the discussions and to keep list mail out of the flow of your regular, more personal email. Some even setup free e-mail accounts on Yahoo or Hotmail to receive only discussion list mail to keep it separate from their other mail.
The Trumpet Players’ International Network (TPIN) is the most popular e-mail discussion list dedicated to the trumpet. It was also the first discussion forum on the Internet dedicated specifically to the trumpet. I founded the TPIN in December of 1993, before the World Wide Web was popular and at a time when Internet service was just beginning to become more widely available. In early 1993 I subscribed to the brass listserv and enjoyed participating in that community. The idea to start a list dedicated only to the trumpet came to me in the summer of 1993. With the help of Dana College’s network administrator, we launched the TPIN list in December and soon followed it with a web site. The TPIN has always had somewhere around 1000 subscribers and continues to be a very active discussion group. Participating in this group requires time and patience, but the rewards can be many. This community is always ready to help others with problems and issues, and is populated with people who can be very giving and caring. It has proven to be an incredible resource of information on just about anything related to our "loud and lofty art." (Ellis Workman, TPIN member)
As in real life communities, online groups can also have their spats and arguments. To benefit from participating in a group such as this you need to learn how to filter out the messages that are of no interest to you. This takes time and regular commitment, so this type of group is not for everyone, but you won’t know if it works for you until you try it for a month or so. TPIN is housed and sponsored by Dana College, a liberal arts college in Blair, Nebraska, near Omaha. Information for subscribing to the TPIN can be found at: www.tpin.org.
USENET Newsgroups have been around much longer than email discussion lists and web-based forums. They differ in that they require the end user to use a different piece of software than their e-mail program or web browser. Also, the end user's Internet service provider (ISP) must provide a network news connection in order for its clientele to have full posting access to newsgroups. USENET Newsgroups are open to the public and free. Some require users to register or subscribe in order to post messages, but anyone can read network news posts through the Google archives: groups.google.com. As an infrequent reader of network news, I use the web browser Netscape because it has a convenient news reader built into it. The leading news reader for computers using the Windows operating system is called "Agent." There is a free version of this software called "Free Agent" and both are available at: www.forteinc.com.
Soon after the beginning of the TPIN, Mark Van Cleave began the process of applying for a USENET newsgroup for trumpet players. He followed this long and complicated procedure and, in 1994, we were all rewarded with a new newsgroup called rec.music.makers.trumpet. This group is active and spirited. It has no moderator or administrator, so it is completely self-governed. Anyone can read messages posted to this forum through the Google Usenet archive system by simply putting rec.music.makers.trumpet in the search window on groups.google.com and following the links that come up. To post messages to this group you must use a network news reader and register with this newsgroup.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the newest type of discussion forum, Yahoo Groups. Yahoo Groups has become popular as a discussion format because it is very easy and free to setup and administer a discussion group through the Yahoo servers. You can start your own discussion group on any subject without access to your own local server. Yahoo Groups has many features for the administrator of the group to choose from. It is a hybrid discussion group in that you can set it up to deliver messages though the web, or have them delivered to the user as individual e-mail messages or in digest form. As administrator of the group, you can specify the delivery format or leave it up to the choice of each user. Using Yahoo Groups is convenient, but you must first register as a Yahoo member, which is free and easy to do. The only downside is the ads in almost every message that goes through the system. To some people these ads are annoying; others hardly notice them. Although there are several Yahoo Groups related to the trumpet, there are none as active as the communities listed above. You can find them all by going to groups.yahoo.com, typing "trumpet" in the search window and following the links from there.
TPIN messages are archived on Yahoo Groups at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tpin_list/. This means you can read all TPIN messages there, but you cannot post messages to the community without subscribing the conventional way. The TPIN archive is a handy resource for searching through old messages for information. There is also a great Yahoo group dedicated to discussing brass quintets at http;//groups.yahoo.com/group/BrassQuintet/
I encourage everyone with Internet access to try one of these trumpet discussion groups. They can enhance your life in many ways. Through the TPIN, I have made a wealth of contacts with people all over the world and have thousands of stories of people helping each other and sharing their knowledge with others in the community.
In my next column, I will take you through a journey of some wonderful personal web sites loaded with great trumpet material. In the meantime please feel free to visit my Top 25 Online Trumpet Resources list at: www.trumpetguild.org/top25.html.
| About the author: Michael Anderson is Assistant Professor of Music at Dana College in Blair, Nebraska. He is the Executive Director of the ITG Web Site, a member of the ITG Board of Directors, the ITG Journal Editorial Committee and Chair of the Technology Committee. Anderson was also the project manager of the ITG Journal CD-ROM that was distributed to each member three years ago. |
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