Portfolio Assignment 4

Scott Hommel

7/16/2013

CMSY-129-N091

Portfolio Assignment 4

Evaluating Web sites

     I've had this idea for awhile now, and I would like to create a guitar and bass tablature site. Tablature is simple music notation for guitar, used to transcribe rock and pop music. I do a lot of tabbing while on the job at School of Rock, and I'm always amazed at some of the inaccurate tabs found online. I've seen people incorporate tabs into instructional videos online, and that's what I would eventually like to get into. I already have the Blogger name registered and everything; perfect pitch tab. I envision putting some tablature on the site in word document format at first, and eventually getting into videos.

Ultimate Guitar (http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/) is one of the authorities when it comes to online guitar tablature. Like other sites, Ultimate Guitar's strength comes from its vast community of contributors. The catalog is extensive because users can submit and review tabs. What really sets this site apart from some others is its rating system. Skeptical guitarists can quickly have their doubts subside upon viewing a tab's star rating which ranges from one to five (poor to excellent). In addition to the number of stars, the number of reviews given for a particular tab help validate it.

There is no doubt that Ultimate Guitar is an authority when it comes to tablature, and because the tabs are submitted by like-minded musicians with the common goal of teaching and learning new songs, there is no objectivity or hidden agenda. As I said before, because people from all over the world contribute to the site its scope and depth is unparalleled  and the design is no busier than it needs to be. The home page is quite cluttered with advertisements and things of that nature, however the tab search bar is dead center and is the first thing visitors see. One advantage to having so many contributors is the added traffic and advertising potential; the downside is quality assurance and not being able to keep up with regulation of the outside contributions. In addition to the rating system, I really like that the tabs have a transpose feature and are easy to print. If I could change one thing, I would de-clutter the layout to draw attention to some of the site's other features.

Guitare Tab (http://www.guitaretab.com/) has a far less-cluttered display. The same qualities regarding authority, objectivity, and scope apply to this site as they do to Ultimate Guitar. Though the design is not lacking, I do call the functionality of this site into question. This search engine algorithm did not seem as efficient as that of Ultimate Guitar's. Using the same search as on Ultimate, I requested "guns n roses paradise city" from Guitare Tab's database. It took me an extra few steps however, as I was not directly led to a 5-star tab as I was on Ultimate Guitar. There is a similar rating system used by this site, though I would say Ultimate has a superior design and functionality. One thing I did like about this site was that it includes drum tablature, but I didn't like that searches seemed slightly more time-consuming on guitaretab.com.

After looking at Songsterr.com (http://www.songsterr.com/), an upstart company that a guitar student told me about, it becomes clear that Ultimate Guitar is a little outdated with its appearance and layout. Though great for accessing quality tabs quickly, ultimateguitar.com has a poorly designed layout compared to Guitare Tab and especially Songsterr. This home page looks gorgeous, and is divided into 3 sub-headings (beginner, intermediate, and advanced tabs). This site also has drum tabs and has quite a bit of depth to it. When attempting the same search on this site as on the previous two I needed only to type "guns" before auto-fill did the rest and I was directed to a quality tab.

 With a breathtaking design, modern and obviously more current than others, the  tabs are interactive, with so many more options including the ability to choose multiple instrument tabs from a virtual mixing console. Of course, with so much going for Songsterr.com there has to be a catch and indeed there is. Being able to print a tab is very important, and this site will not let you print tablature without agreeing to a $10/month plan. It's a shame, but then I guess that's the sacrifice you have to make for a website less cluttered with advertising and distractions.

If I were to design a guitar tablature site I would want it to be more of a community site like ultimateguitar.com and guitaretab.com, rather than a monthly membership like songsterr.com. Songsterr is great for looking at tabs on the spot, but without a free print option I just can't support that site. I would start by doing some tabs myself, and try to make more of a free communal sharing site for tablature. I would be open to advertisements, but would draw the line before the site's design and appeal were compromised. I really like Ultimate Guitar's system, minus all of the distractions. With my site I would carve out a niche by focusing on certain rock sub-genres such as hard rock, 90's grunge, and 80's hair bands.