Welcome to the Wheel To The Storm Web Site!!

Let me start by explaining the choices that are included in the above menu. The "Welcome" page you are reading right now.  "Shows", will give you a list of my current holdings. Anything listed on this page can be traded for or, a BnP (more on this later) can be arranged. "Archives", is the download area. As I am a taper as well as a trader, this area was developed for the express purpose of archiving my masters, shows I recorded, and allowing them to be downloaded and/or streamed via the Internet. "-WheelDB-", is a database whose main focus is in trading live music. -WheelDB- is a good area to visit ,if you have any questions about downloading or using the files that you get from this site. WheelBB is the forums section, if -WheelDB- doesn't have the answer, you can go here and post a question to be answered later by another visitor. The "Taper’s Pit"  is a valuable resource for the live taper. It takes an in depth look at live concert recording, with plenty of tips and tricks of the trade in order to help make the best recording possible. And finally there is a link to “Contact” me in order to set up a trade, BnP, or just to give me a shout out. For more information on the standards in each area, see the corresponding section below.  

Archives:

The Archives area contains flac and shn audio files. Both formats are lossless. Formats that are lossy, such as mp3 and wma are not considered valid forms of compression here. Once you have downloaded the show you will need to uncompress the file you have downloaded. Each file type (.shn & .flac) has it's own compression software, so you will need to have this installed on your computer in order to uncompress the audio contained in the file into .wav files, which your computer can then read and burn to cd. For further help in obtaining any software you may need please see the HowTo page.

All material and activities on this site are legal. All artists offered here allow taping of there shows, and each bands trading policy is adhered to completely. Some bands draw a fine line on the distribution of recorded shows. Usually where the line is drawn is posting or allowing downloads of the show over the Internet. They feel that traditional methods of trading between actual people is fine, but mass distribution is a grey area right now. I honor all bands requests. For example, as of December 2005 The Grateful Dead continue to allow the downloading of Audience recordings, but do not wish for Soundboard recordings to be available for download. They do allow streaming of Soundboard recordings. So in their case, and any other artist with the same restrictions, there will be a download link to the Audience recording, and a stream link to the Soundboard recording.

The downloads are for those of you out there with a High Speed connection. For example a T1 connection running at 17Mbs takes approximately an hour and a half to download a show. A Broadband connection runs at 6Mbs, so naturally it will be much slower. I would suggest if you have a DSL connection, you don’t even want to try. Likewise a dialup connection would take days, so it’s not for those of you using dialup. For those of you using DSL, or Dialup, you can request a BnP or a trade, please refer to the Trades and BnP's section below for information.

Finally, not all shows are available for download. In fact only 1 percent of the shows available for trade are in the Archive. The full list of shows can be viewed by clicking the "Shows" button above.  Ftp transfers can be arranged on a person to person basis for shows not included in the "Archive". This is a public site, and is a small taste of a much larger collection. 

 If you are new to all of this, you may want to look at the help file.

Media:
In this day and age there are many mediums for trading. I trade in Reel-To-Reel, Cassette, DAT, CDR, DVDR, Blu-ray, SHN, and FLAC. Two forms that I refuse to trade in are MP3 and Mini Disk. DAT’s are recorded at 48kHz. CDR's are recorded at 16 bits, 44.1 kHz. The FLAC files are recorded at 24 bits as well as 16 bits, so be careful, make sure you can handle the 24 bit files.  I do not transfer between mediums, sorry, but it just takes up to much of my time. If you want a show that's on cassette you will need a blank cassette. Likewise DAT->DAT, CDr->CDr. The DAT->DAT transfers will have SCMS set to 11. 

Preferences:
Compression Preference: Flac over Shn - Never Mp3
DVDr Preference:  Fuji DVD+R 16x
CDR Preference: Fuji CD-RW 52x
DAT Preference: Sony 120’s or Maxell 30m -60m DAT’s - No 90m
Cassette Preference: Maxell XLII 90S’s
Reel To Reel Preference: Quantegy (Apex) Grand Master Platinum GP9

 

Trades and BnP's:

I prefer trades. As you are trying to get good shows and expand your collection, I too have these desires. Almost everybody has something to offer in trade, and I’m not too picky, so make trade requests first please. If you’re a newbie, or just have nothing that I don’t already have, then a BnP may be arranged. BnP stands for Blanks and Postage, where you pay for the blanks and the postage and I burn the shows on your blanks and send them back to you. For more information on BnP’s please see http://www.mcnichol.com/bnp/
 I will always take trades, and always have a turn around rate of within a week. BnP’s depend on how busy I am with trading. I really only have one rule. I don’t want 1st Set only or 2nd Set only type stuff. Full shows please. If it’s missing one or two songs then exceptions can be made depending on the show. I expect to be informed of missing parts before the trade. All requests for shows should be directed to WheelToTheStorm.

Who Am I:

My name is Robb McKeever. I currently live in the fine State of Colorado. I have been trading tapes since the mid 1970's. I've been a taper since 1998. A list of my gear can be viewed at the Wheel To The Storm Productions site. I would consider myself as an active trader, and encourage anyone to contact me about a trade, BnP, or transfer. I am also more than willing to give patches to all that want one, at any show I'm at. I'm a member of the Colorado Recording Guild, and part of the "On The Bus Network". My main web presence is here, where you are right now, but I can also be found at etree. I hope you find something interesting and look forward to hearing from you.