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Help Wanted !
 

Some people ask us how they can help Planet Harmonica. There are many ways to do so, here's a little bit about it !

  • Passive Help
There's one easy way to help us without even lifting a finger : as you probably realise, it costs us quite a bit of money to do Planet Harmonica : good wuality web-hosting, software, phone, etc. all that adds up to quite a little bit.

In order to offset for this we've decided to participate in affiliate programs on the internet, expecially ones with online record shops like Amazon. Whenever we point to a record on Amazon, if you purchase it we earn 5% of the value of the record. It's not much, but it adds up !

So one easy way to help us is, whenever you wish to purchase something on Amazon, even if it's not harmonica related, head there through the Amazon link on the contents page of Planet Harmonica. By doing so, Amazon will know you come recommended by us and reward us accordingly.

We've affiliated ourselves with Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk for our English readers and Alapage.com in France. We are still waiting for the French Amazon affiliate program but we'll join it as soon as its available.

  • Active Help
A lot of the jobs that need doing in order to get Planet Harmonica our are not very glamorous or thrilling. Indeed, some of them are downright tedious ! So we recommend that you propose your help only if you
  • a/ feel highly motivated
  • b/ have a passion for the harmonica

If you don't fill in these requirements, you are likely to get bored before the job gets done, which wouldn't help us much since we'd have to find someone else to do it.

  • What needs doing ?
Roughly, we can split the job that needs to be done in 6 different categories :
  • writing
  • transcribing
  • translating
  • proof-reading
  • site design
  • artwork

If you feel suited for any of these, see below.
  • Writing ?
If you have a great idea for a harp article, or feel like contributing a column, please tell us about it. There are a few things you need to take into account though :
  • You should be fluent at writing in either English or French, so that your contribution won't need to be re-written to be in decent English or French.
  • You should be ready to adjust your ideas to suggestions we make if we feel that the material would be improved by these changes. We don't want to edit anything without your approval, but if we feel that something you submit really doesn't fit with the spirit of the magazine, we will not publish it.

Still, that leaves plenty of space available for writers. Here are a few things you could write about :

  • reviews : that's the easiest. You've just bought a record, and you love it. You want to write about it. The record has to have at least some harp featured, of course. Please note that we don't feel that we're in the business of writing evil reviews : we're not professionals, and we don't feel that these reviews are very interesting anyway. So if you don't like a record, just don't review it ! It doesn't mean you can't be critical, but you shouldn't be personal, and you should keep things in perspective : others may like a record you don't.
  • articles : there's a subject you feel you know enough about to write an article. It could be about a famous player, or the harp scene of your home country, any subject that you feel may be interesting to harp players. Please consult us before writing so we can discuss it a little bit.
  • interviews : a famous player you know comes through your area and you get a chance to interview him. You will have to record (of course) and transcribe the interview. Please write us before doing the interview if at all possible for us to discuss the "spirit" of Planet Harmonica interviews. Generally they tend to focus more on the music than on the harp playing.
  • Transcribing
Transcribing is the process of putting an interview down on paper, or rather on computer. We will send you a tape of the interview, and you will type it down in Word format so we can pick it up by e-mail and integrate it in Planet Harmonica.

Transcribing can be time-consuming, even though we now try to limit the length of the interviews. You should only attempt to transcribe an interview in a language that you are fluent with (ideally, your native language) and if you're reasonably good at typing.

There are always interviews lying around on Ben'd desk to be transcribed, so if you feel like giving them a go, please ask !
  • Translating
Planet Harmonica, as you know, is published both in French and in English. This is part of what gives us our particular flavour, bridging the European and American scenes. Of course, it also makes everything more complicated. The texts are written in either language and need to be translated in the other language.

So if you feel like translating stuff, you'll need to have a very good mastery of both French and English. We would normally only ask you to translate things into your native langauge since we feel that is much easier.

  • Proof-Reading
Because of all the stress and deadlines when writing and translating, the writers and/or translators don't have time for a serious proof-reading. If you feel like doing it for them, please let us know !
  • Site Design
So far, the site is almost exclusively designed by Ben, with a little help from Laurent. Neither of them are professional webmasters, so if you are and feel like helping, please let us know !
  • Artwork
There is little in the way of Artwork on Planet Harmonica, but that's not because we want it to be so, but rather because we don't know any good artists ! If you feel like drawing/painting/designing graphic art or even a comic for Planet harmonica, please let us know !