Sound Design, personal lessons, tutorial, idea

[liqih]

Individual lessons also seem nice. I know that there are enough people who want to learn about synth programming but the problem is that articles, movies doesnt seem to help them. Maybe organised lesson would be the way to go for them ??

I do have one concern. I'm wondering if pure text on chat is enough to satisfy customers.

So D N A with your blog you're a competitor rather than a helper, <grin>
well you could write on your blog about this thread.

Let's hope what you wrote above is true, "would be the way to go for them"

About the chat, I thought about a chat with pictures too and maybe audio interaction, basically I know that there are some applications for software support which could be helpfull.

The poll is almost negative so far. But maybe KVR not the place where to start (?)

Anyway, let's keep ideas coming, and proposals for topics would also be great.

[pw]

Liqih Friend

I think the best way to approach this is using Skype.

They have that Skype Professional Service (whatever it is called, you pay a professional on a subject), so payments etc. can be handled through that.

Then, you have a combination of chat/webcam as suits the user(s), and you can also have groups.

Then, You use an application like Jing which is a screen capture tool designed precisely for quick screen caputres to be instantly shared via chat protocols.

Jing lets you send quick screenshots or mini videos of synth settings etc, bringing another level interactivity to the "webinar" you are hosting.

I think it is an interesting idea! It might be a bit rusty at first, managing webcam, screen capture, etc. But I think it is a good concept.

[eduardo_b]

How about a subscription service like Wusik?
Pay monthly for unlimited chat and Sound Advice Magazine, plus bonus goodies (sounds, plugs) for subscribers.

I have always considered the Wusik magazine a misguided effort that never served customers well and diverted attention needed for the products themselves. Practical guidance on sound design is, by nature, somewhat generic, leaving those with more complex synths to rely on manuals, which are well-intentioned but rarely offer quality sound design information. Sound design questions and answers on KVR's forum for this topic are the closest thing to hands-on advice, but the answers are not always from those who can offer specific advice for the synth in question. So a direct line to those who can offer specific advice would certainly appeal.

[softska]

Then, You use an application like Jing which is a screen capture tool designed precisely for quick screen caputres to be instantly shared via chat protocols.

I recall the new Skype have desktop sharing as well?

pw brings up a good idea though if that's what you're going for, since Skype Prime seems fit to what you're trying to offer.

[liqih]

Liqih Friend

I think the best way to approach this is using Skype.

They have that Skype Professional Service (whatever it is called, you pay a professional on a subject), so payments etc. can be handled through that.

Then, you have a combination of chat/webcam as suits the user(s), and you can also have groups.

Then, You use an application like Jing which is a screen capture tool designed precisely for quick screen caputres to be instantly shared via chat protocols.

Jing lets you send quick screenshots or mini videos of synth settings etc, bringing another level interactivity to the "webinar" you are hosting.

I think it is an interesting idea! It might be a bit rusty at first, managing webcam, screen capture, etc. But I think it is a good concept.

Hi Paul,

these sound like a good way to go!

now I check Jing,

Thanks

[liqih]

Sound design questions and answers on KVR's forum for this topic are the closest thing to hands-on advice, but the answers are not always from those who can offer specific advice for the synth in question. So a direct line to those who can offer specific advice would certainly appeal.

Glad you think that.

Thanks

Then, You use an application like Jing which is a screen capture tool designed precisely for quick screen caputres to be instantly shared via chat protocols.

I recall the new Skype have desktop sharing as well?

pw brings up a good idea though if that's what you're going for, since Skype Prime seems fit to what you're trying to offer.

desktop sharing is what I meant with "support software",

will check Skype Prime.

Thanks

[liqih]

unfortunately Sype Prime works only on Windows so far, and it's payable only with Skype Credit,
and Skype keeps 30% for themselves!!!

and with these rules:

2. Fees and Payment Terms


2.1 The price at which the Service is offered will be determined by Service Provider upon registration and can be changed from time to time. The permitted limits for the fee shall be between 0.1 EUR or 0.15 USD and 2 EUR or 2.5 USD (excl. 15% VAT) per minute and between 0.1 EUR or 0.15 USD and 10 EUR or 12 USD (excl. 15% VAT) per call. Service Provider shall be responsible for monitoring that such limits are not exceeded. Fees shall be expressed with and without VAT (15%) in all promotional and marketing communications, and Skype shall charge 15% Luxembourg VAT when applicable.

2.2 Skype shall either (i) enable Service Provider to communicate such fee to User through the Skype Software, prior to the provision of Service or (ii) communicate the fee defined by the Service Provider through the Skype Software or otherwise, in a way that User has necessary knowledge of the fee, prior to the provision of chargeable Service.

2.3 The duration of the chargeable Service shall be from the moment a User requests for the Service and approves the applicable fee, until the termination of the call by User or Service Provider. The total fee is calculated in one-minute increments, and fractions of minutes will be rounded up to the next minute after 5 seconds.

2.4 Skype shall collect fees from Users. Service Provider shall be entitled for a service fee for the provision of the Service (the "Service Fee") as a percentage of Gross Adjusted Revenue. Skype reserves the right to change the Service Fee from time to time by publishing the revised Service Fee on the Skype Website. The revised Service Fee shall become effective within thirty (30) days of such publication. The express acceptance or continued provision of the Service or Content by Service Provider after expiry of the 30-day period shall constitute Service Provider's acceptance to be bound by the revised Service Fee. You can find the current Service Fee(s) at: www.skype.com/go/skypeprimefee

[liqih]

this could work for visual feedback
http://www.oneeko.com/

[liqih]

wanna try? Please ask me first, to meet at the same time and then click this
http://camwii.com/code/v2b1/cjrpe.html?280187446443QZ3

you just need Flash installed in your browser and I should be able to show my screen and send audio

[liqih]

... that's just to try, it's free of course,<sigh>

[imfurior]

I'm going to throw this out there, since this idea is what brought me to this thread. I recently finished One of my best learning experiences, an online course (computer programming) for college, and I thought to myself, I wonder if there is anything like that for sound design.

This course worked like this. 10 weeks, 1 week for a topic. The instructor released notes related to each topic at the beginning of the week, with related assignments dues on Sunday. You then had the week to study and work on assignment,
and this part is key... a discussion forum, where you could post a question, get (close enough to) immidiate response from the instructor, and other student could observe or add to the conversation.

My ideas for an ideal sound design "course" would be similar. Cut it down from 10 weeks and design it to be more "modular"
perhaps you could do two week mini courses
you could allow a certain number of students, charge them for the lesson materials, access to the forum (your feedback) and maybe assignment feedback.
You could maybe run two or more different courses simultaneously. And repeat topics every two weeks. If someone wants to learn a topic, they have to "enroll" for a specific two week installation of the course, all students would start and stop at the same time.

What concerns me about your chat idea, would be, that I could probably never commit to being at the chat live, since I am so busy. But if it was an extended, week or two, you could do it at a more convinient pace and still have access to feedback.

Some advantages of this for you would be, you could charge a fair amount, you could recycle the lesson material every two weeks, and you would really end up being paid to guide the discussion in the forum and feedback for an assignment.

Advantages for students: guided learning, work on own time, participate in conversation with other students. The reasons I loved the class I took so much was, the instructor knew how to teach me what I needed to know. I need that when learning, I had that when I took guitar lessons when I was younger. I also loved the forum. Questions were rarely duplicated, and often times, students helped answer each others question, the instructor popped in to clarify if needed.

Your lessons could be built like this. Abstract theory lessons, then detailed practical lessons, then assignment could be to recreate the sound you upload as mp3, and we make as close a sound as possible, send you a patch, you critique and send the correct patch back. There's plenty of freeware synths to make this work, and I myself am more concerned with learning ideas than any specific synth anyway.


it seems to me, it would accomplish many of the same things.. direct feedback, and it also seems to me, that your time spent doing this would be directly related to how many students you have and how much you get paid, which is still controlled by you.

This may be way of from what you want to accomplish, feel free to ignore it, I just got excited by the idea of it. If someone wanted to, they could build an "institution" around this idea, with a few different teachers, constant two week sessions, a ton of different topics offered any given session.

[rob_lee]

Why not just do a bunch of high quality videos of whatever users request and sell them the personal download.
If they want a Hypersaw for example for a certain instrument then just make a 10 minute video for them personally so that they have the tutorial on their HD stored and can keep going back for reference purposes.
That's the way i'd go and might still do so yet...

5-10 euro per tutorial would be good depending on what is required from the client

Rob

[liqih]

Thanks imfurior, lots of good ideas and comments in your post, anyway I just wanted to add a service beside my activity of developer, but I may collaborate with others for something bigger involving "teachers, students, sessions, etc...",

[liqih]

Sounds good Rob, but we're still back on selling videos, ok that's maybe the only think that would work, so I rather archive my chat idea, <wink>

Morover what about if you want to reuse your videos?

[liqih]

Or the service could be differentiated, offering Sound Design advice by chat, e-mail and custom videos.

Users choose what they like the best and by a price list