Organissimo Blindfold Test?

[Dan Gould]

You shouldn't pass, Moose, if you are interested at least in being a participant (recipient). And if participation is really widespread, my experience shows that the vast majority of recipients are "free riders" and only one or two people will be asked to burn copies and mail to late joiners.

[Noj]

I have a cd burner, and would be willing to participate when all the details are worked out.

[Jim Dye]

I really like this idea. I have not participated in the AOW as of yet. I haven't had a whole lot of free time at home. But I'd really like to participate in this. Sounds like a lot of fun

I would be more than happy to send off CD-r's, encode MP3's or help in any way I can. I just got my turntable hooked up to my computer yesterday so I am already considering the possibilities :)

Count me in!

[Peter Johnson]

Love this idea too--please count me in. Though, like Moose, I'm burnerless, so would not be able to reciprocate until I can replace my computer!!!

[Daniel A]

I'm all for this idea! MP3s through a server would be the ideal means of transferring the music (no CDR costs), given that it wouldn't be considered illegal.

[Dan Gould]

Why, Daniel, would it not be considered illegal? In fact, its even more cut & dried than Napster, because a centralized server-Organissimo's-would be providing copies of copyrighted music.

[relyles]

I recently experimented with a blindfold test on another board. That other board is much smaller than organissimo, so the task of copying and mailing the blindfold test disc to the participants was not very burdensome. In any event the experiment was a huge success. We got some very interesting responses and I think it generated decent discussion.

This is not an attempt to promote another board, but if anyone is interested in learning how the test went on a much smaller scale than contemplated here, the link to the thread for the first blindfold test is at http://www.52ndstreet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=432. We recently completed a second blindfold test compiled by another board member and today I am mailing out the discs for Blindfold Test #3.

Its great fun and I think you all will enjoy it.

Edited August 4, 2003 by relyles

[Dan Gould]

I'm not sure what couw means by contributors. I do think that this should be under the control of an individual who creates his own disc of selections and distributes them to all who request it, with the understanding that there may be designated "helpers" on either side of the pond, and that help may be requested in the event of a multitude of requests.

For what its worth, even with a couple of mailings to Europe, my postal costs have never exceeded $10.

[relyles]

I forgot to mention in my original post that I would love to participate. Like several people mentioned in earlier posts, it is wonderful to learn how people respond to music when the preconceived prejudices associated with knowledge of the musicians are removed. It truly forces you to simply listen.

[Dan Gould]

OK, now I understand.

However, I do think that the idea behind this is not a compilation of donated tunes, but like the AOTW, the selection of a specific group of tunes by an individual who is then in charge of distribution, sometimes with the help of a few of the recipients. I think that's what Dr. J was talking about, especially considering his comment about Blindfold Tests with uniting "themes."

[Alexander]

I like this idea, too. I'm in!

[DrJ]

Pickin' up some steam again - keep the ideas comin', I'm taking 'em in and will firm things up at end of week. Thanks!

[Daniel A]

Why, Daniel, would it not be considered illegal?  In fact, its even more cut & dried than Napster, because a centralized server-Organissimo's-would be providing copies of copyrighted music.

My thought was not to use the Organissimo site, but an FTP server run by someone else. To log on and access the files each user must have a user name and password, and the server will identify that the user name corresponds with a given IP address (or that it's within a given span of IP addresses). This way only the specific persons for which user accounts have been created may enter the server.

The board member chosen to select the blindfold test tunes of the week simply uploads them to the "secret" server, and then all other users may download them. No address or login info is announced on the site - all account information is sent in private emails to the participants of the test.

Edited August 4, 2003 by Daniel A

[Jim Dye]

Rather than FTP, why not set up a dedicated KDX server?

Then we could all login and chat with each other.

It's fun! Check it out:

http://www.haxial.com/products/kdx/index2.html

[pryan]

Count me in, too. I don't have a burner myself but could probably get access to one when and if my turn came up.

[J.A.W.]

...thread goes up again...

Looks like we have 18 people thus far, of which two are "technically handicapped."

Anyone else out there?

Don't count me in, haven't got time.

[Peter Johnson]

At least I'm technologically handicapped!

Sorry, couw, couldn't resist!

[Dan Gould]

If 17 are truly willing to receive blindfold test CDRs and participate, that is considerably more than the participation I got in my AOTWs. I think its fair to expect that Dr. J and future compilers should expect some assistance from participants, i.e., maybe 8 burns go out and those 8 people cover the other half of the interested parties.

But this is good-if 17 are interested, we could easily do this as a bi-weekly to monthly thing (I wouldn't do it on a weekly basis because people need time to ship and receive the tests-I always took two weeks before my AOTW.)

Guess now we're just waiting for Dr. J to make his announcement.

[Peter Johnson]

[Peter Johnson]

Dan, how about this:

- Those with the capability to do so can do the burns; then,

- Send something like 2-5 burns to those of us who can't do burns; and

- We (who can't do burns) in turn can pick up the postage and labor of

mailing them on to individuals.

Does that sound workable as far as spreading around the labor and cost, or just overcomplicated?

[Rooster_Ties]

Count me in too, and I've got a burner. I'm only just now skimming the thread (which I hadn't really been following). Am I right in surmising that I would need to contribute one track of my own choosing to the "Blind Fold Test" compilation?? -- regardless of how it is distributed??

However it turns out, count me in too!!!

PS: I suppose we can contribute anything we like to the quiz, but is there any preference to submitting obscure music by relatively well-known artists?? - or music from obscure artists (which would be at least somewhat obscure, by definition).

In other words - is the goal to make it possible to people to actually guess who's playing on each cut??

And by "relatively well-known" I mean the kinds of names we see on this board, day-in and day-out. I realize that names like Booker Ervin, Curtis Amy, and Charles Tolliver aren't at all "well-known" in the normal sense - but most of us here know at least some work by each of these kind of artists. And by "obscure", I mean cats who literally only recorded a hand-full of times in their whole life. ( Funny how somebody like Tina Brooks is both "really obscure" in one sense, and "pretty well known" in another sense - at least in circles like ours!!! )

And I realize that everyone's gonna submit what they want to submit, to hell with any "recommendations" or "guidelines" -- but I thought it might be good to discuss, for those of use who are on the fence about how to pick stuff to submit.

[Dan Gould]

Actually, I think its over-complicated, Peter. My plan would be this:

Dr. J compiles the inaugural blindfold test CDR.

Interested members send PMs to him with their info, knowing that they may be asked to send out an additional burn or two.

European members understand that each European will be expected to send a burn onto subsequent European members (that is, Tony only sends one burn to Europe and Europe takes care of its own).

Tony burns and sends out 5-10 burns maximum, and those people are asked to send out one burn each to any remaining list members.

Tony posts a thread in which members are invited to post their comments on the music received.

After a suitable interval-maybe two or three weeks after mailing, Tony posts the answers and his own comments, and of course people are invited to post their reactions to learning what the music actually was.

At some point, Tony names the next organizer and round and round we go.

(Most of that probably wasn't necessary but I thought it might be a good idea to just write up the steps as I see them so its nice and simply laid out). I do think its fair if moderators spend around $10 or maybe $15 total including burns and postal costs, though. We could make it so that Tony sends out a single burn to America and a single burn to Europe but we would get things out much much quicker if he sent out multiples, at least to America, so that the music would reach people sooner and it wouldn't rely on the timely response of each person individually.)

Edited August 7, 2003 by Dan Gould

[Rooster_Ties]

However it turns out, count me in too!!!

what on EARTH took you so long to find your way to this thread?

I skimmed this thead once, probably after about the 4th or 5th post, and then I kinda forgot about it. Then today, I realized it had grown in size by quite a bit, and I didn't want to be left out!!!

I'm pretty bad about guessing who's who on blindfold tests, but who knows - maybe I'll surprise myself and actually figure a couple of the cuts out. If I get anywhere even close to being right on a few, I'd be happy. (Like mistaking later Lee Morgan for early Woody Shaw -- that'd be 'close enough' in my book. )

And actually, it's been years since I've tried to guess anything (there's not much jazz on the radio here, so the only jazz I ever listen to is what I pick out myself), so perhaps my ears are better than I'm giving myself credit for. We'll see!!!!!

[Dan Gould]

Count me in too, and I've got a burner. I'm only just now skimming the thread (which I hadn't really been following). Am I right in surmising that I would need to contribute one track of my own choosing to the "Blind Fold Test" compilation?? -- regardless of how it is distributed??

PS: I suppose we can contribute anything we like to the quiz, but is there any preference to submitting obscure music by relatively well-known artists?? - or music from obscure artists (which would be at least somewhat obscure, by definition).

Rooster,

I really feel strongly that the idea of a compilation of different people's submission is NOT the way to go here. I think it should be done individually so that one person can pick particular music and if he chooses, there can be an overarching theme, perhaps instrument-wise or maybe something like "pop hits covered by jazz artists" or whatever. I think the idea of downloads, even with an "anonymous" FTP server is not a good idea. Plus, I'd like to be able to play the music anywhere, and MP3 downloads might be burned but they won't necessarily be playable anywhere.

On your second question, I think it should be entirely up to the individual. Personally, I think it would be informative to hear players and identify their influences or guess at who they are and then learn that its someone who's somewhat obscure.

******************

Last but not least, we might avoid the complaints of some who wish they'd be chosen for AOTW by assuring that those who have posted here and are technologically capable will be selected, sequentially, for being moderator of the Blindfold Test.

[pryan]

Sounds like a good plan, Dan. I should be able to do subsequent burns (ie. of burns already sent/made) far easier than, say, making my own CDR (although I could probably do that too).

Rooster, I think any material, obscure or not, should be included on your CDR, when and if you make one. I think if the musicians are somewhat "well-known", than more obscure stuff is better. For instance if you put on a cut from MOTHER SHIP (which I know is one of your favorites), I'd probably know Lee was the trumpet player, but deciphering the rest of the musicians might be more of a challenge. Although not if I buy it when it comes out as a Conn beforehand.