Jun 05, 2006 05:54 pm I'll be giving it a look a little later this evening. And I'll have a listen to some music as well.
My Music Site
Posted on Jun 05, 2006 07:23 am
chex81
Cheese
Member Since: Jul 21, 2004
Please check out my music site: www.purplei-music.com
I learned quite a bit from this website, primarily thanks to dB and the rest of the regulars. Anyway, the sites bland but will get nicer over time. Please feel free to check out some music samples from my album or just audio samples in the "Music" section.
Leave comments and let me know what you think
thanks
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Jun 05, 2006 05:54 pm I'll be giving it a look a little later this evening. And I'll have a listen to some music as well.
Jun 05, 2006 06:59 pm Nice stuff. A few wee points...
Avoid the scrolling text, its hard to read and doesnt look all that braw...
Generally speaking, music on page entry annoys the hell outta me. Still, each to their own.
Finally - go for consistency, I see ye have logos for each page on the first page but text based titles on the actual pages i.e. the photos page has a different font from the header on the photos page, go for the same one if poss.
Still all in, a good wee effort...just avoid the stuff above and take some time and yer there.
Mind, the good ole chap dB has a fine system that will take care of all yer needs and make life easy for ya to update the sucka!! Check out his curium content management system...tis also free for use!
All the best.
Coco.
Jun 05, 2006 09:09 pm Nice simple site, no distractions. I like the logo, pretty cool. Didnt have time to listen yet. I will when I get some extra time.
Jun 06, 2006 07:36 am Thanks, ya I need some suggestions for the site. It is kinda bland, and I will eventually add a "player" for the music. thanks coco.
Jun 06, 2006 07:39 am Well, I figured you were looking for feedback for the music, not the site. As far as the site goes, nothing pisses me off more than going to a site and the front page is nothing but a logo and links...no readable, useable, tangible content until I click beyond that front page. And that scrolling text...argh...
Jun 06, 2006 10:34 am well, i was actually hoping for both.
I don't want to make the main page as boring as what I've got, but I dont want to make it over full. I want it plain, but to have some class. As you can tell i am not very good at design...and thats why im here for help. I am going to other band or music sites and seeing what they have on their main page, but most of them have too much going on.
I thought the marque text would be cool, but i guess not HAHA
Keep on feeding me suggestions. I will take what you guys are suggesting and add it to the site Wed night (when im home).
Jun 06, 2006 11:12 am You may also want to run your site through a validation service such as validator.w3.org/
This will assist you in optimizing your pages.
Jun 06, 2006 11:26 am what is the actual benefit of having your stie validated? I mean, the site is displayed either way right?...
Jun 06, 2006 11:38 am Every browser is different, every one has quirks and supports different technologies to different levels, validating your code is just a good way to ensure it's at least proper code.
Jun 06, 2006 12:42 pm Oh, ok cool...thank you.
I took off the marque and tomorrow night ill work on making the main page 'more pleasing', as I agree it's bland and boring.
I will post again when i've got it changed.
Thanks guys
Jun 06, 2006 05:45 pm it is a 'no no' in web design to have splash pages these days. a splash page is technically less than what you have here, i think. a splash page is i think a page that says something like 'enter.'
youve got some links, but theres still no information there until you click on something, so in a sense it is a splash page.
however, many bands take this approach. for years radiohead and nine inch nails have kept purposefully uncluttered, maddeningly contentless homepages with just a small updating table:
page one, NIN: www.nin.com/
page two, NIN:www.nin.com/index2.html
two layers and still no content, but for trent, it works. its an aesthetic.
radiohead's site at times seems insane: radiohead.com/
but again, sometimes such things are for effect, and with music especially, you can get away with it. keep in mind, though, that these are two world-famous bands. people WILL click through.
my friend's site tries to strike a balance:
thesleepersopera.com/
Jun 06, 2006 06:14 pm that doesn't work for trent, that sucks ***...
Jun 07, 2006 12:09 am yes it does, but it works for trent because trent is all about a certain image. radiohead too.
screwed up web design is apparently appropriate for some people and groups and bands.
Jun 07, 2006 05:15 am no, doesn't matter who you are, what you do or what your "image" is...bad design is bad design across the boards, humans are humans and act and react essentially the same way. While the imagery may be cool on the NIN and site, the usability of the UI is, quite possibly the worst I have seen in ages...
Now, I am no NIN fan, I don't like or dislike Trent Reznor, so there is really nothing personal about it in either direction, but, that site goes against every UI design convention in the book. Not saying it doesn't "look" cool, cuz it does, but, looking cool isn't the only thing a web site is judged by.
Very few bands, or artists of any sort have good web designs from a UI vantage point, though most of them look good. Looking good is only a piece of the puzzle when you are talking about an interactive medium like the web. For posters, CD jackets, t-shirts, magazine ads and that sort of non-interactive stuff looks is all that matters, very few people appreciate or embrace the differences...
I work with a lot of "design firms" hired by marketing departments to make their magazine ads, newspaper ads, marketing collateral and web sites, and quite honestly, it's amazing how many of these design firms are very good at print ads and other print work, but suck at the web stuff...though the firms kind of had no choice but to take it on to keep their companies moving forward, it's obviously not their strong suits.
Jun 07, 2006 08:22 am Me being a huge NIN fan, I can admit the website sucks. lol. I don't think it identifies the image, but more so bad design for a well respected group. That is the reason the site does well, cause it's NIN...now if it was a lesser popular group, that style wouldn't work (i guess thats my case, lol).
As for your friends site (oprea chick), i see what you guys are saying. I am not going to have any news, as I don't really see the point. However, I will give a brief description explaining the purpose of the site and my music. That will be my job tonight.
As for the music (my album, not the samples), have you guys listened? What do you think? I would like to see what some of you guys think. It was my second attempt multitrack recording, a first time recording live drums. Let me know.
Jun 07, 2006 02:57 pm Radiohead wasn't really trying to make an image, if you know the band's history thats kind of all inside jokes for them not artsy crap. The reason they decided just to make a website of whatever the heck they wanted was because there are sites like greenplastic.com that have every possible piece of information about Radiohead concerning the past present and future that there was no reason to make a band site that has usefull info.
Jun 13, 2006 11:06 pm Ok, I added some text and i think the site is a bit more appealing. I plan to add a mini flash video in the future, so its going to improve over time.
how is it looking now? how does the audio quality sound from the album i recorded?
thanks
Jun 13, 2006 11:59 pm Hello chex81. I have been monitoring this thread and viewed your older home page and now the new one. I think the new page is looking better, but from a design aspect there is an issue. Your logo with the streamers has its own theme going and it blends/fades right into the black background which looks nice. But then that cat picture is just plopped on top of it with its rigid square shape overlapping the creamy goodness. I would just work on that. Either eliminate the picture or work something in better.
As far as the music goes, I listened to your samples first and I enjoyed them. But in my opinion, the album recordings have some issues that really need fixing before I would listen to it. It is harsh on my ears because the synths are blaring on top of everything and have a very dry and imposed sound to them while the drums have a room ambience. The drums get muffled at times and overall feels distanced from the synths as opposed to mixed with them. The mix doesnt seem to work for me. I like how the samples were done though. Each piece had a sense of cohesiveness.
Jun 14, 2006 07:31 pm I appreciate how you examined both and gave me a good idea of where to work with the site. I agree, it seems the cat picture just lays ontop for no reason or something...thanks for making my thoughts speak out loud.
as for the music, what is funny is it sounds TONS better on CD than on PC. I completely agree with what you're saying, but i compared it to listening to the songs on my ipod or CD player...and the PC to me sounded flat, bassless and the synths were kinda overpowering. Where as on my CD player, everything sounds perfect (to me and anyone else whos heard it). That is usual the best comment i get, is with regards to the quality of recording. But either way, this advice will be taken carefully and my next recording will focus on these areas.
thank you very much for your help
Jun 14, 2006 11:12 pm No problem, I'm glad you appreciated my input. I would agree with everyone else that your recordings are very good. Sound quality is not an issue, just the mixing on the album. I would say if there is a discrepancy between your tracks on the PC and on a CD player or iPOD, then you could utilize some comparative monitoring so your mixes translate well to all playback systems. Monitor during the mix with your studio monitors, a middle of the road stereo system and/or surround system, and PC speakers and eq accordingly to make your mixes well rounded for playback in less than optimum conditions.
Jun 15, 2006 12:58 pm thats exactly the problem.
i have poor *** pc speakers...and my music sounds completely different on my PC speakers vs Stereo/Ipod. It's probably not the best method, but I usually mix the tracks (levels and what not) to the best sound possible...and when im done, i rip them to CD and listen again on Car speakers or ipod. If levels are off, i fix them based on what I heard externally (anything other than PC speakers).
Ya its pretty poor, but i thought it worked...maybe it doesn't.
I guess i should invest in better quality PC speakers.
Jun 15, 2006 09:56 pm Well people do use hi-fi systems and in some cases PC speakers for monitoring with a level of success. But usually you would want to get a good pair of studio monitors. Or at least a low end pair which would still be better than PC speakers. Its all up to you really, but I think a decent set-up would do your music and recordings more justice.
Jun 15, 2006 10:06 pm But you do have the right idea, by going to a Cd and testing it out on other sources.
One thing is to try and learn exactly what it is that might be missing or over emphasized in your mixes and try to look ahead and learn what it will sound like on the lower end speakers when it is mixed just right.
One trick is to use a CD you are extremely familier with and listen to it on the PC speakers and learn wht exactly is missing. Then you can make your mixes sound like that for a good starting point.
Jun 16, 2006 06:58 am Gold, ya i am in the process of writing a new album...so I will definitely invest in better quality speakers this time around. I didn't realize how much of a difference it made in the end.
------
One trick is to use a CD you are extremely familier with and listen to it on the PC speakers and learn wht exactly is missing.
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yes, thats exactly what i do noize. I think over the process of the first album i became familiar with what levels sounded off on my PC speaker...long process but i like it.
I will invest in better speakers, the end. This way i can go back and re-adjust some of the levels on the first album as well.
Thanks guys!
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