I was recently given the opportunity to try out a WebCam. The idea of these of course is that “for the price of a local phone call” you are no longer restricted to sending” typed messages, but you can now also see and hear people from all over the world. Installation was easy, results on my desktop were impressive – I mean technically as opposed to having the remotest attraction for the face smiling benignly back at me – but there was one small problem. When I logged on to the Internet and tried to find someone who would have a little NetMeeting with me, I kept getting the same response: “The other party did not accept your call.” Which, as well as backing up my own feelings towards my face, in a rather roundabout way reminds us of one of the golden rules of Web site design – first impressions count.
I will begin with a look at sites which I have mentioned before but which have made significant steps in both design and content and which have coincidentally changed addresses. One site that has come on a long way since I last visited it is the “Fo’c’sle Folk Club”, which is designed and maintained by Trevor Gilson. Trevor’s site obeys all the rules. It is informative, there is just enough flashy stuff to keep you entertained – like the slide show on the right of the screen – yet it is still quick to load.
As far as information goes, Trevor’s site almost matches Martin Nail’s “English folk and traditional music on the Internet – A guide to resources” site for depth. Both sites are superb starting off points if you want to surf the Web for folk and traditional music sites, but don’t want to rely on a directory like Yahoo – where the sites on offer are arbitrarily selected – or a search engine like Altavista, where there is no selection at all – Fairport Convention? 6,348 pages found. Suits you, sir.
Malc Gurnham’s “FolkFax” site is also an excellent place to begin your travels. There are some impressive hi-tech gizmos on the site, including a bulletin board where visitors can post messages – forthcoming gigs, small ads, bits of gossip – which is underused at the moment but, when people know it’s there and start making use of it, could turn into a highly useful resource. Some pages have music files attached, including a nifty midi rendering of ‘Anji’ – how Sixties can you get? (and no, it wasn’t one of Paul Simon’s early instrumentals!)
Someone has been working hard to make the “EFDSS” site worth a visit at last. Not only does it look good, it is informative as well, which is what of course we should all be aiming at or looking for, depending on which side of the server we are sitting. As well as being up-to-date with notices of forthcoming events, when I looked there were interesting snippets of news such as an illustrated piece by Jon Dudley on Bob Copper’s 85th birthday celebrations in January at the Royal Oak, Lewes, as well as the text of the presentation speech when Bob was given an honorary degree by Sussex University.
One rather useful device for finding sites linked to your interests is the Web ring. There are an enormous number of different rings – from the Simpsons to South Park – and music in general has many genres covered. But the last time I checked there were already more than 600 sites on the Folk Club Web Ring. If a site is a member – such as my own site or Malc Gurnham’s – find the “portal” and click on the link for the next five sites or, if you have the time, the list of all the sites available and you have a ready-made list of places to visit. Click on “random” and you will often be pleasantly surprised by what turns up – it could even be a folk club just down the road. That’s how I found the “Windmill Acoustic Music Club” site in Farnham, with an excellent animated windmill on its homepage, and if you sneak a quick look at the address for this site, you will quickly understand the importance of hypertext links – it’s so much easier to click on highlighted text than to type that lot in!
(Since the above was published I had a very polite email from Chris Clarke, the Windmill Webmaster, who pointed out that in fact, and in common with other ClaraNet customers, you only need to type in www.csclarke.clara.net/windmill, which of course completely ruins my punchline – but I’ve still linked it for you, and it will probably get the Windmill another mention in the next issue.)
Another club in my neck of the woods with a respectable Web presence – unassuming yet effective – is the “Deptford Folk Club”, which also hosts a singaround in a pub in nearby Greenwich.
Joe Stead’s Web page has been taken over by John McGlinchey in Philadelphia. John is a computer expert who has his own server. John receives a grant from the US government to run Web pages for folk singers. Makes you sick, doesn’t it – though the now regular appearance in the honours lists of singers and musicians who are often found in this and similar magazines offers some hope. John handles the Web pages of Oscar Brand, Pete and Maura Kennedy and other leading American folk performers. Joe met John when he was touring in America last year. John took an immediate liking to Joe and offered to manage his page for him. When I looked at it, it was still under construction, but judging by what I’ve seen of other pages on the site – including Europe’s own blues maestro Hans Theessink – by the time you are reading this, it should be well worth a visit, particularly for the MP3 jukebox, where you can listen to a minute or so of many of the performers’ songs. And don’t worry, you aren’t likely to need fancy equipment to listen to this latest phenomenon. If you have Windows 95 or 98 (or 2000!) the chances are your version of Windows Media Player will be able to play them.
Happy listening – and if my face appears on a desktop near you, please answer back!