How do you get discussions on Videos?

ksiegel

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Just wondering...

When you (individually or collectively) post a video on UU, how do you encourage people to watch, discuss, comment, and/or criticize what you're doing?

I tend to post the video, and leave it at that, and don't get a whole lot of views, and little comments (usually 8 or less) - and this is often after several days to a week or more.

Yet I see plenty of other videos posted that get a ton of views, and lots of comments, often within a day or two of posting.

This isn't even counting people like Ken Middleton, Eugene Ukulele or Keonepax, who are just damned incredible and "Must View" videos, even if you don't comment, or the other dynamic posters, (including, but not limited to) TCK, wee_ginga_yin, and 23Skidoo.

Just wondering - I want to improve, but when I get so few views, and even fewer comments, what do I do?

Thanks!

-Kurt​
 
Don't take it personally dude, I've only posted 3 videos and I don't get many comments even though one has been viewed over 15 thousand times. To be honest I don't comment much on Youtube, I usually do it here. I think if you want to get people to comment, you have to be prepared to do the same, it's a bit like networking, the more friends you build up the more they will comment, especially if you comment on there vids.
 
Oh, the James Hill on? Yeah that's ace - really nice recording! :)
Thanks for the sub, they're of mixed quality but hopefully they're improving!
 
Hi Kurt, as ukuEroll said, I think commenting on others folks stuff and posting as many vids as you can will generate more discussion. I just subscribed.

Eric
 
Thanks, guys.

I wasn't't so much thinking YouTube comments, as much comments on UU, when a video is posted.

On lunch break at work now, will post a link to YouTube channel when I get later today.

-Kurt
 
Kurt - I missed 'Big Dead Bird' first time around, but just gave it a bump ..... I always dig your posts and try to comment, but this is such an active forum, sometimes things get lost in the shuffle.... Keep posting and more people will start to respond.... There definitely is a 'networking' sort of thing, as others have said. Seems like there are groups of folks on here with similar tastes who comment on each others videos - the more you post, the more folks can get into your style and are more likely to be on the look out for new videos from you.....

By the way - 'Big Dead Bird' was hilarious - a great tune......
 
When I was an active user of Flickr there was interminable discussions on how to get
"Explore" This was was that part of Flickr that featured photos from a particular users.
There were even strategies set out on "gaming the system" Long discussion on the
algorithm used to select the photos to be in explore. Some great photos never made
it into explore and there did not seem to be any rhyme or reason to the whole process.

The only photo of mine that ever got attention was 7x7=49 and that was because
it had been picked up by Boing Boing.

It is nice to get comments if they are affirmative, but that should not be the main reason
for posting videos. It should just be a way of expressing yourself... something you need to do.
At least that is my attitude. If I get ignored, I just move on and make another one, and at
the end of the year, I do a cull of all the duds. The following poem by Charles Bukowski
has sort of formed my attitude towards creativity. Just substitute musician for writer
and you will get the idea. So you want to be a writer by Charles Bukowski

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

[h=1][/h]
 
When I was an active user of Flickr there was interminable discussions on how to get
"Explore" This was was that part of Flickr that featured photos from a particular users.
There were even strategies set out on "gaming the system"

I appreciate this - I'm not looking to game the system, just ways to get better at doing a video/ improving my delivery, and figured that folks here on UU could help me out with some creative criticism, but there weren't many views, and very few comments overall.

I wasn't even looking at from the perspective of "How Many Hits Can I Get On YouTube?" - the first couple of videos I put on YouTube were "private", but anyone could get there from the UU Fora. I've now made them all public. (all 6...)

It is nice to get comments if they are affirmative, but that should not be the main reason
for posting videos. It should just be a way of expressing yourself... something you need to do.

Again, not looking for affirmation, though it is nice, but criticism - real, usable creative criticism.
Some of the comments I've received in the past have made me look closely at what I do - how I am finger picking, strumming style, even something as mundane as lighting.

I'm enjoying what I do - I just want to be better at it, and impartial observers can see things I don't.

The following poem by Charles Bukowski has sort of formed my attitude towards creativity.

Bukowski writes well. The poem makes me think of Billy Crystal's character in Throw Mama From The Train, and his admonition that "Writers write".

Luckily, I'm not trying to write songs, music or even poetry - I'm just trying to enjoy myself - I just want a more effective way of sharing with more people.

I've got plenty of friends who are writers - published, NY Times best-seller list fiction writers, Grammy-winning musicians (OK, just one friend who has won multiple Grammys...), and folk musicians who I adore. I support all of them when I can, and hope others will also. I'm not trying to join their ranks - I'm too old to embrace that kind of discipline. I just want to have fun.

And try to make a video or two that looks halfway decent. (Which is why I sent one off to TCK, to see if he's like to collaborate - now I just need some better equipment/software so that I can make that happen)

I do appreciate the time you've given in responding to my question. (All of you!) It even let me understand that I had a YouTube Channel, even though I thought I was just posting videos. (g).


-Kurt​


Oh, yeah - the YouTube channel can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/euphretes2?feature=watch
 
Just spent an enjoyable time browsing your channel Kurt.

Particularly enjoyed your San Francisco Bay Blues - You Rock that Sceptre!

And I see you have a firefly too - how are you liking it? I wasn't sure at first but I'm warming to mine now.

:)
 
Just spent an enjoyable time browsing your channel Kurt.

Particularly enjoyed your San Francisco Bay Blues - You Rock that Sceptre!

Thanks, Gavin - That Sceptre was, in all honesty, the first ukukele I'd ever played that just struck me dumb. As I've stated elsewhere, my wife was knitting, and I was playing all the instruments in the shop, and when I started playing the Sceptre, we both stopped, looked at each other, and simply said "Wow." No exclamation point, a simple statement of fact. Took my breath away.

And still does.

And I see you have a firefly too - how are you liking it? I wasn't sure at first but I'm warming to mine now.
:)


The Firefly, while not as breathtaking as the Sceptre, is also wonderful. I played two prototypes where they make the Flukes (I hesitate to say "factory" - it's as if you walked into a big workshop in someone's living room.) and ordered one on the spot. (Only because they wouldn't let me buy one of the prototypes then and there.)

I enjoy the Firefly (Serial No. 22, he bragged.) a lot - it is both similar, and different from my 80+ year-old Stella. The Stella is a strummer , the Firefly is both a strummer and a picker. Great for bluegrass and old time, but works well with all. At the San Jose Ukulele Club, Gillian was playing some Formby style on the Firefly, and it worked wonderfully - just plinky enough.

I'm playing around with the next video - plan on using the firefly for it. If I could find the right software, I could do a duet between the Firefly and my Fluke Tenor, on an old Bluegrass standard - which it turns out, was not really a bluegrass standard, isn't that old, and was written by a Husband/Wife tin pan alley style writing team responsible for at least one major Everly Brothers Hit.

-Kurt​
 
Hi Kurt,

Just looked up your channel and subscribed. You've got some great stuff there, and pretty advanced.

I have had a similar frustration in garnering constructive criticism on my videos. I am self-taught and suspect there is a long list of items I should be working on in terms of technique and performance. What exactly is on this list and how to address it escapes me. I've even solicited private criticism from some of the friends I've made here, but never gotten feedback.

I've moved on.

The best approach is to "network"; comment on other videos you find engaging, join discussions here, and perhaps enter a contest or two. And continue to practice and to play. The bulk of my video comments come from friends. And frankly, most of the videos I watch and comment on these days are friend's too. If you're dead set on quality feedback perhaps partner with another player and trade commentary.

Oh. And add your youtube address to your signature ; )
 
Hi Kurt,

Just looked up your channel and subscribed. You've got some great stuff there, and pretty advanced.

I have had a similar frustration in garnering constructive criticism on my videos. I am self-taught and suspect there is a long list of items I should be working on in terms of technique and performance. What exactly is on this list and how to address it escapes me. I've even solicited private criticism from some of the friends I've made here, but never gotten feedback.

I've moved on.

The best approach is to "network"; comment on other videos you find engaging, join discussions here, and perhaps enter a contest or two. And continue to practice and to play. The bulk of my video comments come from friends. And frankly, most of the videos I watch and comment on these days are friend's too. If you're dead set on quality feedback perhaps partner with another player and trade commentary.

Oh. And add your youtube address to your signature ; )

Thanks for the comments.

I'm actually pretty much of a beginner, too - started playing last year around Thanksgiving, when my Father-in-law gave me his old 1950s harmony uke. Yes, I'd played guitar for nearly 40 years up to then, but I'd never had any lessons, can't read music, and can't really read tab (well, very very slow at it, and can't get rhythm or tempo from a page.)

I do have someone I play with at the monthly Uke Night, and try to get together with (Fitncrafty), but she is so busy with family and kids (and the associated activities kids have), we've only gotten together once so far. But I've been invited over for Chanukah while my wife is with her Mom, so I'll bring a couple of ukes with me when I go. Another member of the Uke Club is coming back from 6 months of taking care of his new grandchild in California, and we're going to try and get together, too. (Interestingly, Ron was only about 3-4 miles from my in-laws while I was in California this past summer, and we got together at the San Jose Uke Club meetings.)


-Kurt​


http://www.youtube.com/user/euphretes2
 
I appreciate this - I'm not looking to game the system, just ways to get better at doing a video/ improving my delivery, and figured that folks here on UU could help me out with some creative criticism, but there weren't many views, and very few comments overall.

On the whole comments are polite and positive on UU. It is very
rare that you would get more that a few sentences out of anybody,
so you are hardly likely to get any extended critique.
I think this is part of the UU ethos... short and polite.

However in Starwars terms there is also a Ukulele "dark side" namely
the European based Ukulele Cosmos where things are a bit "madder."
Every month they have an open invitational where members are asked to
take a standard tune and do their own style. For december it has been
a "Christmas song" or to be more politically correct a "holiday song"


The Cosmos and UU are a bit like oil and water... they don't mix but there
you will come across some excellent ukulele players, who I find quite inspirational.

To give you an idea of what to expect please check out

Cosmos invitational for April: Windmills of your Mind.




Some of the comments I've received in the past have made me look closely at what I do - how I am finger picking, strumming style, even something as mundane as lighting.
I'm enjoying what I do - I just want to be better at it, and impartial observers can see things I don't. And try to make a video or two that looks halfway decent. (Which is why I sent one off to TCK, to see if he's like to collaborate - now I just need some better equipment/software so that I can make that happen)

If you and to make good videos then you would need a good camera and
perhaps lighting and then some video editing software. My setup is a
Panasonic HM-TA1 a cheap flip camera. The audio from it is not all that great
so I usually tweak it in Garageband and I confess that sometimes I don't want to
improve the video quality but instead degrade it to give the video an old
fashioned feel to go along with the mood of the music. I do all the post processing
on a Mac with a cheapo video editor called MediaEdit3. For a free audio editor
then Audacity is available for both Mac and PC, but it has quite a steep learning curve.
 
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I'm new at creating and posting videos, so I don't have any sage advice. Most of my comments come from FB groups that I am a part of that make comments on my posts there. I write my own songs for a much more narrow interest group than ukulele players, so I haven't expected a lot of feedback from this forum or the overall YouTube community. Not a bad thing, that's just the way it is. I have received a few comments on YouTube and a few here as well. There have been more comments received on FB and they have been about enjoying or liking the content of the video. The comments I have received on this forum and on YouTube have been about more about the video itself, which is very helpful.
 
Wow! This thread certainly has an awful lot of words in. It has just taken me ages even to skim read it. Interesting though.
 
Wow! This thread certainly has an awful lot of words in. It has just taken me ages even to skim read it. Interesting though.

Thanks, Ken.

I watch your videos closely, to try and see what you're doing - not to imitate, as I cannot even come close, but to try and understand.


I'm very impressed by your versions of many of the songs I've been playing around with, trying out for a while, or songs I've known for years (without necessarily realizing it) that I have been just plain noodling around with.

For example, I was noodling around this summer, realized I was playing "Simple Gifts/Lord of The Dance" on the uke, played it for a few people at the SJUC, and then used that tune to try out all of the ukuleles at Ukulele Source, where I fell in love with the Sceptre.

Then, a month or two later, there was your Double Video of the same song - and I realized that I was playing it not too differently from what you did! There was positive reinforcement for me in a big way, and while I didn't comment on the video (here or on YouTube), I have watched it at least 10 -15 times, stopping and replaying sections, to try and hear what you did differently from what I did.

And of course, as I type this, I realize I really SHOULD have commented, because that's how these discussions happen.

So please accept this belated "Thank You", even if I have used way to many words to get around to the point. (g)

(And thanks again for answering my questions about the Ohana Vita Uke, this past summer. I changed the strings to Worth Clear Tenor strings, and the sound has become so rich I am amazed! Of course now, I'm thinking about changing out the tuners to something a little more robust...)


-Kurt​
 
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