Al's
Tape
Trading
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Original Animation
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Al's
Tape
Trading
Page
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Original Animation
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I began trading tapes in 1985. That year I started to get heavily
into the Grateful Dead, and it was their enlightened attitude to the taping
of live musical performance that lead to my interest in the hobby. The
Dead were not alone in allowing the audience to record performances, and
trade them for non-profit use, but their 'institutionalization' of the
activity by introducing a 'taping section' specifically for use by private
recordist/archivists/collectors has been of monumental influence, and the
idea is now embraced by a great number of
bands that allow taping. Collectors of the music of other bands may
be unaware of the great debt tape traders owe the Dead.
To clarify what I mean by tape trading- I collect live recordings, normally of bands who allow live taping. However I am unable or unwilling to confirm the attitude of ALL the bands I trade tapes of, so I'll trade for any live recordings that are not available as official releases. In other words I am happy to trade with you for non-copyrighted material, on a non-profit one tape for one tape basis. If tape trading on the WWW is to be tolerated by a music industry extremely hostile to perceived loss of revenue from people recording copyrighted 'official releases' for each other we need to keep this ethos of 'respectable law abiding trades' alive. It is in our own best interest to be seen to be actively avoiding distribution of copyrighted material.
For this reason you won't find anything in my collection that can be found in shops, apart from in the form of illegal bootlegs- free, legal, and open tape trading of live recordings should reduce the reliance of people on these profit making acts of theft. If you have bootlegs- trade them around! Take the profits out of bootleggers pockets, and please support the artists you trade by buying their official releases. Remember that if a band is allowing taping it is assuming that enthusiasts have already purchased their CD's. This is an important way of showing our appreciation of their goodwill in allowing taping, and it's paying the band for their efforts. - if you check out a new band from one of my tapes, and you like them- go buy one of their CD's! You know it's the right thing to do ;-)
I believe in spreading tapes around, so if you get copies from me please distribute freely! That's how bands get known, no need to horde them...
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There are a lot of good ways to get started in tape trading. I think the best first step is to read A Guide To Cassette Decks And Tape Trading by Michael Bell which I've mirrored here. This document contains some technical details which you might not need to know initially, but it has good advice about generally accepted trading policy, and help on setting up your tapelist (and understanding other people's lists!). It's written from an American GD trader's point of view, so it has some price guides in dollars, etc. but the advice & principles apply in trading any artists recordings. Hats of to Mike Bell for creating such a useful document.
If you've chosen to read this section then your probably thinking about getting some live tapes to start your collection. Getting started can be a little difficult, because you have nothing to offer in trade until you get started (catch 22). Fortunately a lot of folks are willing to help out people new to trading. You can either look around on the usenet newsgroups of the artists your interested in hoping for offers to 'spin' for blanks & postage, or look for 'newbie' friendly traders on the tape trading posts, a prime selection of which are linked below.
If you live in Europe, and are interested in any of the artists I trade I am happy to make copies for you, by arrangement. I ask that you try make it as easy as you can for me by sending the tapes in a self addressed padded mailer, with return postage included. I don't ask for any payment, or extra blanks, and you shouldn't need to accept offers like those. Very occasionally folks thank me in some way, which is very kind, but not at all expected. In my opinion a good trader is more interested in spreading the joy of music than turning a profit. If postage/currency is hard to get due to foreign exchange I will accept additional blank(s) but there's no need to send more than the equivalent value of what return postage will cost me!
I'm afraid I am unable to extend this offer to folks living in the USA, due to the number of requests I receive, but there are plenty of helpful traders on The Tape Traders Network from all over the world.
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My WWW tapelist is here, generated automatically by Tapetracker for Windows. If you prefer I can email you a copy, or send a printed copy by post. Feel free to print off my list and pass it to folks you know who are not on the Internet. I'm also happy to supply setlists on request - the details can be emailed from Tapetracker (space prohibits having this much detail online).
Due to financial & time restraints I prefer reliable, high quality,
known generation trades- within Europe. This means I've tended to trade
with a fairly small circle of folks. That said, I am always happy
to hear from other traders. If you have something of historical or
personal interest (even if they are not, in your opinion, 'high quality')
let me know. I am usually interested in obtaining any Jazz, Bluegrass
or Zappa, but only quality Grateful Dead or Phish. Here
is some specific stuff I'm looking for. If you think
we should get to know each other then drop me a line, or I'll gladly
make copies onto your blanks if you've got nothing I'm looking for. Check
out 'Getting Started' for more on this.
My grading system is fairly simple, but as a general statement
I'm certain you will be satisfied with all A- or better tapes. I try to
be sparing with A+ grades, so A's are usually excellent. A- may have some
slight 'issues', but nothing to distract. B+ or lower means it sounds
like a recording; introduced hiss, badly set levels, crowd noise, or a
combination of issues are getting significantly in the way of the music.
B or below sound very poor, but I don't keep many of these. Some of these
grades may be inaccurate due to changes in my impressions, but if I notice
problems with a recording I'll let you know. Please let me know if
you feel I've graded too high or too low, and I'll re-think.
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