Blog business
Rather than posting another concert I am sharing here some considerations regarding this weblog.
1. First of all, I wish all followers/downloaders a very happy New Year, with lots of good music.
2. Several downloaders are leaving messages to thank me for my uploads. I appreciate that, but nobody should feel obliged to do the same.
3. I have noticed that some of my postings also appear elsewhere. I have no problems with that whatsoever. If you want to publish my postings on a website, a forum or a subscription list, feel free to do so. I would appreciate a reference to this weblog, though.
4. I also now and then publish postings that I have found elsewhere. One uploader has given me special permission to use his recordings, and I very much appreciate that. I mostly don't mention the first uploader, because I don't know who it was, especially if the original posting dates from long ago, or the site where it was posted, prefers not to be known.
If someone has recordings that he/she would like to be posted on my weblog, please send me a message (tcadfael@gmail.com). Obviously the decision whether it will be posted is entirely mine. I assume any follower of this blog knows what kind of music and performances it is about.
5. I regularly receive requests to re-upload past postings. I am willing to do so, but I would like to ask for some patience. It takes some time to dig up old files (which are stored at an external harddisc), and to zip and post them. If you have requested a re-upload, please follow the chatbox, as there I am announcing re-uploads and new links.
6. Recently, at a mailing list, I asked what members thought about postings of mp3 recordings, and in particular those at a bitrate of 128 kbps. Among those who replied, the general opinion was that such a posting is better than nothing at all. Moreover, if a radio channel is only available at a bitrate of 128 kbps (which is the majority of the classical channels), there is nothing one can do about it. It is my personal experience that today the sound quality of most recordings at this bitrate, and especially online broadcasts of classical channels, is very good.
So far I have generally avoided posting recordings in mp3 format, and if I posted them, they usually had a bitrate of 256 kbps. The replies to my question have encouraged me to post mp3 recordings at a bitrate of 128 kbps as well, in case no recording at a higher bitrate is available. If such a recording is becoming available later, I'll replace the original upload. The bitrate will always be mentioned at the posting page. If it is necessary to turn an mp recording into a flac file, for instance to make some adjustments (cutting off announcements and noises, and fade out applause), the original bitrate will always be mentioned.
7. This strongly increases the number of recordings in my collection that are available for posting. I have quite a lot of things that have not been posted yet. Therefore I have decided to increase the frequency of my postings. Since a few years I am posting two times a week: on Sunday morning GMT and on Wednesday morning GMT. The Sunday posting will continue as usual. The Wednesday posting will move to Tuesday night GMT. I am planning to add another posting at Thursday night GMT. I don't know whether that will happen every week. Now and then I may be too busy to prepare a posting, but I expect that most weeks will see three postings. Each posting will be announced at the usual platforms (MIMIC, Twitter, Facebook).
8. I appreciate any comments on my postings, including criticism and suggestions for improvement.
9. Enjoy the music!
Thomas Cadfael
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