Interesting idea, Marion. I've thought for a long time that we (Mudcat members) should edit a book or books containing all the musicianship tips found here and produce a Mudcat Guide to the techniques. My thought was that sales of such volumes could be used to help support Mudcat.

To be sure, Rick supplied more than his share of tips here. But often, Rick would start a thread just to draw out tips from the rest of us. Occasionally, he would even admit to learning from them. How do we separate the tips Rick offered from the tips he elicited from the rest of us? Rick's threads were usually meant to enrich the Mudcat content by shaming or enticing the rest of us to help build something larger than any of us. This is the same spirit with which Dick and Susan began The Digital Tradition and with which Max began The Mudcat Café.

My thought was that everyone whose tips were used would be listed as a contributor but the book(s) would be Mudcat books. Do you think it would make sense to publish only tips that Rick personally offered? Would it then make sense to publish all other tips without including any of Rick's? Is that what Heather or the people closest to Rick would want to see?

The form of all of the Mudcat tips, as they appear in posts, is certainly not suitable for publication. A great deal of work needs to be done with editing and supporting graphics before any of it is really ready for publication. I should think the work would take a year or two to properly accomplish. Anything less than the most useful, most professional guide(s) available would be a failure of purpose in my view.

      - Mark