Music

The DC Dead Tape Exchange today maintains an active library of approximately 10,000 hours of live music. We divide the library into two categories, "Grateful Dead" and "Diversions" (all non-Grateful Dead) because, as we all know, man cannot live on Dead alone. By clicking on either of one of these two tabs, you will be taken immediately to each of these categories.

We have tried to make our website somewhat user friendly for browsing purposes. The Grateful Dead portion is broken down by year. The Diversions portion is broken down alphabetically by band name and then by date of performance. Additionally, because we periodically update this list with new finds, we also maintain a separate page called Bound to Cover Just a Little More Ground, (aka "What's New") which just lists the new material coming into the library. By clicking on this page, you can access this new stuff directly without sorting through the full menu.

As we have been collecting music since 1971, the media on which the music is stored has obviously gone through some serious evolution from reel-to-reel tapes to cassettes to Beta hi-fi tapes to digital audio tapes and now to compact discs. Since 1998, we have mastered in a digital format and have been regularly converting analog masters to digital clones (with sonic cleanups and other improvements as warranted). This conversion process continues and we anticipate completing it about the time we are admitted to nursing homes (by which time, of course, there will be even newer archiving options available).

Finally, on the issue of "sound quality grading," three plus decades of listening to live music has taught us to be flexible on trying to impose an objective classification on what is essentially a pretty subjective topic. We strive for consistency in our ratings and probably fall short of that goal on occasion depending on playback equipment, room acoustics, and whatever mood our ears happen to be in at the time. For grading purposes, our music is broken down into three sources: soundboard (sbd), radio (FM or XM), and audience (aud). Variables on these (IEMS or matrix [mix]) are noted when necessary but generally will be regarded as soundboards.

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Sound Grading

Soundboards:

A = overall excellent sound, crisp (master or low generation), balanced mix.

A- = generally excellent sound but with some minor flaws (mix, generation, compression) but nothing that substantially detracts from listening pleasure.

B+ = very good sound but some problems are now evident (multiple generations, minor hiss, substantial compression, mix balance suffering); still generally worth having.

B = soundboards at this level or below are for completists only; these are usually kept for historic purpose, the music outstanding, and no other source exists.

Radio:

A = crisp sound and well balanced mix; almost a great soundboard

A- = a noticeable retreat but still minor flaws (too much compression, a couple of generations, very minor hiss or very intermittent static).

B+ = problems begin to abound but still listenable (multiple generations, hiss, weak signal, poor mix); generally anything at this level or below in this category is for the serious collector only.

Audience:

A = rarely assigned to an audience recording; a truly exceptional recording in terms of presence, balanced mix, and non-existent audience noise.

A- = great presence and mix; minimal audience noise; no ill-defined low-end.

B+ = very good presence and mix but not as clearly defined; some audience noise but not to the point of distraction from music (most recordings prior to 1985 have this grade).

B = noticeable issues present (presence and mix not as well defined, multiple generations, some hiss, crowd evident).

B- (or worse) = for completists only; we have some of these but they are not for everyone.

DC Dead Tape Exchange

Music

Sound Grading

Soundboards:

Radio:

Audience:

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