Contribution Resources on the Main Site

[Altissimo]

So I had a thought as I was driving home. It occurred to me that the NSM website is a little counterintuitive when it comes to expressing to visitors the ways in which arrangements get on site. For instance, the About page says this: "All of the music is arranged by members of the site. We also have forums where members can request and submit sheets, or just discuss games, music, and anything else."

In this, the "also" prefacing the note about the forums seems to indicate that the forums are separate from the main site, and that it is members of the site who submit sheets, not members of the forum. Do you see the difference? I feel like it might be rather difficult for a newcomer to figure out where they're supposed to go if they want to contribute to the site.

This is answered to some degree in the FAQ, which has the questions "How can I request an arrangement?" and "I have arranged a song, how can I submit this?", both of which direct the reader to the forums.
However I know from experience that not everyone always reads FAQs... that's why they're FAQs.

I propose that there be an entirely new page created for the main site specifically, entitled "Contribution Resources" or "Contributing to NSM" or "How To Contribute" or something like that that basically says in big bold letters what you need to do. The formatting guidelines could be provided there verbatim from the forums, or linked to with big bold letters that say "if you don't follow all of these we won't accept your arrangement". The same page could also link to Finale's website, explain that we use MUS's and why we use MUS's (because that's a common question from new submitters, and "new submitters that ask that question" is a category that used to include me lmao), and also explain, in detail, how one can transfer an arrangement from an alternate music software into Finale. It could also link to the Templates thread, or have a direct download for the templates, to assist people in that.

Not only would this decrease the number of people who show up to the forums asking questions about how to do something (as it stands now, this information is rather scattered through multiple threads and sometimes not made immediately obvious), which would save everyone time, but it would also (presumably) decrease the number of unformatted arrangements that get submitted, saving both the arranger and the updaters - whose time is, as we know, short to begin with lmao - valuable time.

Further, I had a second idea for this theoretical page. Notice that one of my titles for this page was "Contribution Resources". The FAQ has the following question: "I have arranged a song, how can I submit this?" In my mind, this implies an air of "you've already done it and don't know what to do now". I know from personal experience that people coming on the site for the first time may wish to arrange music, but have literally no idea where to start with that.

Therefore, I propose that this page, in addition to including information about the submission process at NSM, also include links to outside resources that will assist with arranging. For instance: youtube-to-audio-file pages; audiostretch; the bpm calculator; etc. In my vision, it would also include some resources on music theory for people who may not have much theoretical training. Links or explanations, of key signature, of rhythm and meter and how to notate it properly, of chords and scales, of the question of enharmonics and knowing which ones to use, of articulations and ornaments, etc. It would also include some general information about standards of piano-writing so we don't end up with new arrangements asking the player to play two octaves in a single hand. If we wanted explanations, I would be totally willing to write these up; I could use a chance to test my ability to write about music theory, haha.

In addition, the proposed page would also include a handful of guides on how to arrange prepared by seasoned arrangers, geared toward the new arranger who isn't sure where to start with a piece. They would walk the reader through the process as they perceive it, and the reader could obviously read them all and get an idea of which one works best with their individual experience.

I feel like there's a lot of defeatism when it comes to arranging. Like, "oh, that's too complicated, I could never do that." I thought so once, when I was a teenager, and... uh... that's changed after probably over 100 arrangements. It's easier than you think it will be, but I know it can be hard to figure out where to begin. By putting all the information in one place, and a place on the main site at that, I think it may encourage community interest and draw a new base to NSM.

Thoughts?

[Dudeman]

This is a really great idea, and now that you've pointed it out, it is a little baffling that we don't have any indication on the main site itself of how to go about becoming a member/arranger. Although I think the theory resources and more advanced information of the like would best be relegated to some sort of "advanced" subpage (and I guess with all the ideas you've got there, a few subpages would be in order anyway), any sort of instruction on the main site would do wonders for reducing the number of new members with misformatted sheets. I am in complete support of this.

[Altissimo]

Although I think the theory resources and more advanced information of the like would best be relegated to some sort of "advanced" subpage (and I guess with all the ideas you've got there, a few subpages would be in order anyway)

Yeah, that would be fine too. Just as long as it's somewhere publicly visible lol

[mikey]

Sure good idea

[WaluigiTime64]

I'm all for this idea. Adding more to the main site would be nice, and this would help remove some consistent problems on the forums.

[daj]

This is brilliant. And um, I'll be doing theory crash courses in time to come, so maybe I could help with that "advanced" part, hehe! ^^

[InsigTurtle]

As long as you include plenty of examples, I think it'll work out great
Also, maybe we're due for a main site redesign anyway, since the navigation is rather disgusting right now
So maybe this could be part of it

[Altissimo]

As long as you include plenty of examples, I think it'll work out great
Also, maybe we're due for a main site redesign anyway, since the navigation is rather disgusting right now
So maybe this could be part of it

tbh it kind of is lmao

[Yug_Guy]

I am in complete support of this.

[Sebastian]

This is a fantastic idea. Speaking from experience it took me a year and a half after finding the site to open an account because I didn't even know about the forum side...let alone submit arrangements.

[LeviR.star]

This is an excellent idea. We get too many new people that are scared away by as much as a single response, and try to contribute again.

[AmpharosAndy]

This is a fantastic idea. Speaking from experience it took me a year and a half after finding the site to open an account because I didn't even know about the forum side...let alone submit arrangements.

I was exactly the same! But even once I got on the forums after that I still took ages to figure out how anything worked. Getting messages from some random frustrated latios man about submissions topics confused me further XD Only now I realise what he was going on about.

[Dudeman]

some random frustrated latios man

man, that guy was a jerk

[Pianoth]

I agree with the idea, also considering I needed to search and read several pages before making my first submission. I think that the best thing that could be done is basically to put all NSM Resources on the main site, in some well-ordered way.

[mastersuperfan]

man, that guy was a jerk

man, this guy is a hypocrite