Issue 9: Tape Me, Tape Me, Tape Me by John Book
"In music there is peace, and in taping there is documentation of unique sound events."
Music junkies like myself have benefitted from the internet in many ways. Even though there are ways to download songs for free, buying rare and out-of-print items has helped make our wallets much lighter. One major benefit has been for the local artist, who might not have ever been heard outside of their city, yet alone their block. Sites like MP3.com make it possible for your music to be heard across the country and around the world. No matter what your needs are in music, you can find them (or find your way to get there) on the internet.
The internet has also helped one aspect of music far greater than any article in Rolling Stone ever has. This is the aspect of "live taping", or recording a live concert. The Grateful Dead were one of the first rock bands to support fans recording their live shows, thus creating a taping "community". As long as fans did it on a non-profit basis, they were okay with the practice of trading cassettes, or for the true 70's audiophile, reel-to-reels. If you enjoyed that 40 minute solo in "Dark Star", you could do your research and find someone more than happy to send you a recording of it.
Having a "taping community" didn't stop bootleggers from pressing up records, but there weren't as many as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, or Bruce Springsteen, arguably the kings of bootleg vinyl. Led Zeppelin made it clear in their movie The Song Remains The Same that selling illegal merchandise would not be tolerated. Bootleggers could care less, and any true Led Zeppelin fan knew that you could not limit the Hammer Of The Gods just by buying the official records. Despite low-budget covers and sound quality that left a lot to be desired, one could go to any mom & pop store, or even a head shop, and find those illegal records. Led Zeppelin were a band that never played the same song twice. Robert Plant could burst into an Elvis Presley medley, John Bonham might be inspired to play funky, or Jimmy Page could be Satan in the flesh with a wicked solo within "Dazed And Confused". Led Zeppelin made their millions, but booleggers definitely got their share of the illegal pie as well. Listening to a bootleg album means you can hear a once-in-a-lifetime event, scars and all.
In the late 80's and 90's, more bands decided to take Grateful Dead's cue and open themselves to having fans record their shows. The fear of sneaking in your cassette deck, or hoping the mic doesn't fall out of your wife's bra, was removed when you could walk in to a club or arena and set up shop.
In the mid 90's, as internet use increased and technology improved, there was an invention that would change the world of live taping and trading (and music in general) forever: the CD burner. It was possible to save your computer files, be it text, photos, or programs, on much more than those small diskettes. The content of 60 diskettes could fit on one CD. The compact disc is music in a digital format, and it was possible to "rip" audio from a CD and save it onto your computer. No longer did you have to risk being in line for chicken and Zig-Zag's waiting for that rare album, when you could now produce it in the comfort of your own home. Recording sound on a computer had been around for awhile, and the first thing the recording industry worried about was of course, bootlegging. The first bootleg CD's appeared in the late 80's when there was Ultra Rare Trax CD by The Beatles. Oh no, bootlegs have reached the digital media. Now it was possible for anyone with some technical know-how to possibly mass-produce an album and sell it for profit.
On the other hand, it was realized that you could also put those live recordings onto CD and trade them. Since most tapers use digital audio tape (DAT), there would be absolutely no loss in resolution when transferred to a WAV file, and then to compact disc. No longer did you have to suffer through a great concert and massive hiss from being a 5th generation recording.
The fear has always been, to the artist, "loss of money". A bootlegger would sneak in a recorder, tape the show, find someone to press it up, and boom. The fan is satisfied, and the bootlegger makes his cash and moves on. The artist feels that perhaps they should get the money, since it is their music. Then there's the theory that how can the artist complain when said artist earns $250,000 or more on a show, not counting T-shirt and tour book sales. What will one loose live show do to their reputation? There are many arguments, most of which you can read elsewhere.
But the truth is, there are many bands today who are in full support of fans taping their live shows and distributing to the masses on a non-profit basis. How does one do this? Often times, by trading. U2 recently loosened up and now allow fans to record them. So let's say I missed the U2 show in Vancouver, British Columbia. I wasn't able to make it but I found someone on the internet who has it. Her list says the show takes up 3CD's, and states the sound quality isn't too bad. I want it, so I e-mail her and say I am interested in getting that CD. I happen to have a few shows, and ask her if she'd like to do a trade. If so, I refer her to my list and she will pick a show (or a group of shows) that take up 3 CD's. It is always an equal trade, although some traders are different. We negotiate the trade, and we're set. I burn the shows she wants from me, and mail it off. In a few days, I get a package with the U2 concert, for the cost of a few blanks and postage. In bootleg circles, a 3CD show might cost me anywhere from 60 to 75 U.S. dollars. Through this trade, maybe 3 U.S. dollars, if not less.
So what happens if you want that show, but have nothing to trade? Most traders will accept what is called a B+P deal, or a "blank plus postage". You still want that U2 show? You send her three blank CD-R's in a package, and include a postage paid mailer so she can mail it back to you. Outside of the money you used to buy the blank CD's and cost of postage, there is no money involved in the transaction.
I was someone who actively looked for Beastie Boys bootlegs on eBay. Oh wow, the Beasties at Wembley! I had collected Living Colour live tapes in the early 90's, but hadn't traded for awhile. I too was unaware of trading live CD's. What good would it be for me to trade these shows when I don't have a CD burner, which is out of my price range? Of course, that would change when CD burners went down in price. Once I did, I made my first trade and there was no stopping me. I had to have more.
If you're a music junkie, trading live shows is a dream come true. You support your favorite band by buying every new record, CD or 12" that comes out. If they play near you, you buy a ticket and check them out. With an increasing number of bands having an open taping policy, you can now listen to them in whatever town you want on any given night.
Some of the artists that have an open taping policy include Ozomatli, Dave Matthews Band, Medeski Martin & Wood, Ben Harper, Soulive, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Ween, Aiko Shimada, and countless others. (Click to http://btat.wagnerone.com/ to find a current list of bands who support live taping). There are really no trading rules, which means if you need to find a live show by someone, you'll find it anyway. The plus side to enjoying an artist with an open taping policy is that the taping community always makes sure the recordings that circulate are of top notch quality. If your opinion of a live audience recording is that dingy AC/DC bootleg album your uncle owned, you may want to listen to what is out there. The right microphones and positioning can often times result in a recording far better than something that comes from the "soundboard".
I hear you asking the question, "I don't want all that hippie shit. I want some hip hop. Where's the hip hop, kid?" Hip hop live recordings do exist, but because hip hop has not embraced (or acknowledged for that matter) live taping, good recordings are few. Fortunately there have been ways to get around that. The Roots, a group who definitely rely on the support of their fans, have often toured with so-called "jam bands", including the Dave Matthews Band. A small handful of live Roots shows are circulating, including one where Black Thought was replaced by Common. The sound quality isn't too bad, and you get to hear Common mess up the lyrics in every song. I have been on the okayplayer.com boards and asked about The Roots taping policy, and so far there has not been an answer.
It would be nice for at least one hip hop artist to go out and say "yes, I support live taping. Record us, trade our shows, we'd even like a copy. Just don't sell it for profit and we'll keep on allowing fans to record us."
From personal experience, getting live recordings of your favorite artist can be difficult. I run an Ozomatli fan site at ozoland.net, and two years ago there were only three live Ozomatli recordings. The others that were circulating all sounded like crap. It blew me away, especially since I knew the band supported live taping. I felt I had to put things in my own hands, and I did some research and found a few collectors with shows. I obtained them. I pushed for more people to record their live shows. I got those shows. I did more research and found the band has performed literally every month since their start in April of 1995. Do you know how many live recordings that could have been? From all of this, I decided to create the Ozomatli Taping Community, and now have created an interest in archiving Ozomatli's live legacy properly. Much of this is due in part to the work done by Medeski Martin & Wood's taping and trading community. Now, whenever I obtain a live Ozo show, I make sure it goes directly to the band for their archives. If I didn't have a job, I would follow them for a year and just tape them. They consider me a good friend, although I am always thanking them for the great music they offer. So, if you are devoted to your favorite artist to the point where you want to archive their live shows, go for it. It's tough, but it does and can work.
Of course, if you wish to be a fan and just listen to every show on Casa Chapala's winter tour, you can. Do you love a song so much that you want to hear every version of it played live, just to hear the progression? You can. In a hip hop setting, maybe someone drops a freestyle that is never said again. It's taped, it's preserved, and that moment will last forever, outside of your own memory. Did Quasimoto mess up a Yesterdays New Quintet performance? With luck, maybe he/they did. If Madlib approved, you could listen to it and let everyone else hear it.
If you do plan on taping and archiving live shows, I offer a tip. Do NOT be afraid to get in touch with the artist themselves. Musicians/artists are people, and just as you are a fan to them, they are fans of the music as well. Music should be fun, something I always mention in my column here, but I also take it seriously. Musicians wouldn't be performing and recording if it didn't mean something to them. Be aware that not every artist will be in support of live taping, so always prepare for a negative response. With luck, if one sets the example, others will follow. If the Soul Destroyers ever played in the U.S. (hint hint), I would definitely ask them if they allowed it.
Once you're hooked, you'll find only one problem and that is you'll want more. But that's the risk you take as a music junkie, isn't it?
(FINAL NOTES: Fast internet speeds now makes it possible to trade live recordings through SHN files. SHN (shorten) is a compression file like an MP3, but unlike MP3's, there is no loss of sound quality with a SHN. If you have broadband or T1-T3 connections, you can find someone with a show and download a complete three hour concert in a few minutes. All you need to do is transfer the SHN file into an audio WAV file, assemble them in a folder, burn them on CD, and you're set. Most serious traders do not trade with MP3's. Even a high quality MP3 does not guarantee good sound quality, but SHN files are much more reliable. As the saying goes, "friends don't let friends trade MP3's." )