• 2003: 3/13, 3/15, 3/18, 3/22
  
• 2002: 1/17, 2/26, 4/26, 5/10, 9/26, 10/18, 10/24, 11/27, 11/30
  
• 2001: 1/27, 2/4, 4/25, 5/18, 6/21, 7/13, 8/18, 9/15, 10/25, 11/18
  
  

(edit MS: add more shows to above list)

Matrix: An AUD and SBD source recorded at the same time during the show.

Which one is better?
An AUD generally has more of the crowd feeling and is representative of what the show was actually like for someone in the crowd. SBDs are usually clearer because the recording is made straight from the board before it enters the room. No microphones are used for a SBD. In general, a Digital Mix or Matrix is the best source to get, but not nearly as common as the other two. A Digital Mix or Matrix combine the best of both worlds. The clarity of a soundboard tape, with the feel of an audience recording.


B&P  

What's a B&P?
B&P stands for “blanks and postage” and is a way to attain life O.A.R. concerts. Simply send blank CD’s and a self-addressed, postage-paid bubble mailer to the person who made the B&P offer and they burn the show and send it back to you. More information can be found at www.oarsa.org/bnp/

How do I get in on a B&P?
There are usually a lot of B&P offers in this forum so keep your eyes peeled. Follow the instructions from the person who offered the B&P and you should be set to go. They'll let you know what to do from there. There are also a few kind souls who sometimes offer up an unlimited B&P so as many people as want can sign up for it?


DOWNLOADING SHOWS  

Can I download shows if on i'm dial-up?
Probably not. There are a few servers that allow dial-up users, but shows generally take a few days to download at dial-up speeds. You're welcome to try, but only if the server explicity says that dial-up users are welcome.

Where are the servers?
There are a lot of servers that offer live OAR shows for download. You can find a listing of them at www.oarsa.org/links.html

How do I download the shows?
To download the shows, you're going to need to download some software and do some reading. It'll take a try or two to get the hang of it, but this is by far the easiest/fastest/cheapest method to getting shows.

What programs do I need?
Try downloading these two programs. With those two and a cd burning program of your choice, you should be all set. Go ahead and install them both after you have finished downloading them.

SmartFTP: www.etree.org/smartftp.html
mkwACT: www.etree.org/mkw.html

How do I set up SmartFTP?
First off, there are some default settings that need to be changed quickly. On the menu bar at the top select Tools, and then Settings. Now choose the connection tab.

1. Uncheck "Keep Alive"
2. Uncheck "Use Passive Mode"
3. Change retry delay to 180 seconds.

Hit ok to save those settings.

How do I connect to a server?
Open SmartFTP, after looking at the servers on oarsa, enter the server information you want into the address bar at the top. Fill in the approrpiate server address, login, password, and port. Hit enter and you will connect to the server and see a directory listing.

Ok, now how do I get the show?
Look through the directory listing until you find the show you want and just right-click the folder and choose "Download." The show will begin downloading. Shows are generally about 1 GB in size, so you can just leave SmartFTP on until the show finishes. It's most likely going to take a few hours.

What are these weird error messages I'm getting?
Sometimes servers are full or not up. You may get a variety of responses because it varies from server to server, but either way, you won't connect. Don't try to connect again, just move on and try a different server.

Why did I get banned from a server?
You probably did something against the siteop's rules in the welcome message such as hammering (repeatedly trying to connect to the server after getting error messages). Try contacting the siteop and resolving the problem.


SHN FILES  

What are .shn files?
All OAR shows come in a format called .shn (Shorten) which is a high quality audio archive file type.

Why are there no shows in mp3?
The MP3 format is lossy which means there is a loss of quality when a file is converted to mp3. Shorten preserves all of the quality so you get the best possible source of music.

Why are the shorten files so big?
To preserve the quality, more data must be stored in the file, so shorten files are generally fairly large and approximately 50 MB or so.

What is this md5 file?
An md5 is a checksum, or basically just a file that checks that the shorten files you downloaded are exactly perfect replicas of the originals. Run this file before you convert the show to see if your show downloaded ok. If some tracks are missing or incomplete, it will let you know. Hop onto the FTP server again and just finish up downloading those tracks that you need.

How do I listen to the .shn files?
You can download a plugin for Winamp v2 or v3 at www.etree.org/shnamp.html

How do I burn the show to cd?
Open up mkwACT and the folder with your shorten files. Now just drag the shorten files into the mkw window and it will begin converting the files to .wav files. Those are the files you can then burn to an audio cd.

What should I do with my leftover shorten files?
That's up to you. Some people burn the shorten files to a data disc for backup reasons. That way you never have to download the show again if your audio cds get scratched. You can just pop in the disc with the shns, convert to wav, and burn the audio again. Others just delete the shns once they're done. It's your choice.


FLAC FILES  

What are .flac files?
A number of live shows come in a format called FLAC which is a high quality audio archive file type.

Why are the .flac files so big?
To preserve the quality, more data must be stored in the file, so flac files are generally large and approximately 50 MB or so.

Where can I download the .flac encoder?
Mike Wren's website contains the encoder: http://mikewren.com/flac

How can I listen to .flac files?
You can download a .flac plugin for Winamp v2 at http://winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=131643

I want to use .flac files on my MAC, is there help available?
There is a program called MacFLAC available here: http://www.danrules.com/macflac

Where can I obtain more information about .flac files?
The very helpful Etree FLAC reference is here: http://wiki.etree.org/index.php?page=FLAC


This seems overwhelming at first, but you'll get the hang of it quickly and your show collection can start growing.

Good luck!