It has been a month since drdosido.net went online. After I announced it on several fiddle-oriented websites, the first comment I got was “Where are the tunes. I must have missed a link.” I understand that it can be frustrating to have to puzzle out how to get around a new site. So I put some effort into inserting navigation links and aids that are both systematic and rational. They are rather clunky looking, due to the my html limitations. But they work.
That initial criticism also inspired me to think about how my website’s design fits my purpose. I am quite happy with the direction I have taken. I never intended drdosido.net to be an easy mark for tune-suckers. My goal all along was to provide music, stories, and historical background for discerning tune-suckers. The tunes are there, like a pot of gold, at the end of each path. There are twelve paths, three for each of the four boxes at the top of my home page. Each path leads to a page on which are links to the sound files I have uploaded. Each online path, in a way, mirrors the real-life paths I followed to locate traditional musicians, learn about their lives, and share in their music. This arrangement allows me to share more of what I learned.
I have also constructed a number of intermediate tables–rosters of artists or recording sessions–that reveal some of the activities and projects in which I was involved. The data contained therein fills in more of the stories. And that is what I set out to do, to share the sounds and stories of the great musicians I have had the pleasure to meet.