OFFICIAL FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) FOR alt.music.bootlegs Version v2.2 January 15, 1996 8th Release By: Jeff Kuhn "Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But man, there's no boundary line to art." -Charlie Parker, U.S. Jazz musician "Nothing seperates the generations more than music. By the time a child is 8 or 9, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and wierd clothes." -Bill Cosby, U.S. comedian & actor They said "You have a blue guitar, You do not play things as they are." The man replied, "Things as they are Are changed upon a blue guitar." -Wallace Stevens, U.S. Poet ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I N T R O D U C T I O N This is a collection of information of interest to people that are interested in the collecting, trading, taping, and the exchanging of rare or live music. The information contained within has been contributed to me by many of the on-line community. The infomation within is in no way deemed to be 100% accurate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ N O T I C E Copyright 1995 J. Kuhn This article is Copyright 1995 by J. Kuhn. All rights reserved. The following is acceptable: I. You have the following rights make copies of this in original form, so long as: (a) the copies are complete and exact duplicates of the original; (b) the copies include the introduction, the copyright notice, and the following paragraphs; (c) you do not charge a fee for copying or distribution; (d) the distributed form is not in an electronic magazine, within computer software, unless you have gotten specific permission from me; (e) the distributed form is the newest version of this FAQ to the best of your knowledge; (f) the copies are in electronic form; ------------------------------------------------------------------------ D I S C L A I M E R S I. The following disclaimers are in effect: (a) The contributors are not responsible in any way for their contributions. (b) The contributors are not responsible or liable for any consequences resulting from the use or misuse of the information they gave. The contributors, as well as myself, make no guarantees as whether the information contained within is correct. (c) Vendors names and prices included in here are for reference, educational, and inforamtional usage only. This is done both with and without the vendors permission in different circumstances. Prices are approximate. (d) Some documents were re-printed electronically without permission. In doing so, they may have been been changed or edited. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC X. PROLOGUE - IMPORTANT INFO [0-01] Welcome to the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ [0-02] Who Am I? [0-03] Why did I make this FAQ? [0-04] My responsibility's [0-05] Copyrights [0-06] Do's and Don'ts [0-07] Begin the Begin N [0-08] WTF took so long on my part to get this FAQ out? TOPIC 1 - GENERAL / BASIC QUESTIONS [1-01] What IS a bootleg? % [1-02] If bootlegging is illegal, how come some stores sell them? [1-03] List of laws (alpha. by state) regarding bootlegs. [1-04] What IS alt.music.bootlegs? [1-05] Why is it called "alt.music.bootlegs" instead of "alt.music.tape-trading"? TOPIC 2 - BASIC TAPE MANAGEMENT / POSTING [2-01] How do I keep a record of all my tapes? [2-02] How do I begin to make a list? [2-03] What should I do with it? [2-04] Crossposting [2-05] UUEncode or ASCII? [2-06] How often can I post my list? [2-07] If I post often, won't it be a waste and improper use of bandwidth? [2-08] Use PRIVATE e-mail TOPIC 3 - DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE A LIST [3-01] What information goes in a list? [3-02] What is a setlist? [3-03] Should I include the setlists of each of my shows in my list? [3-04] How does one determine quality? [3-05] How is quality commonly shown? [3-06] What is a "generation"? [3-07] What are those letters under Source' such as SB, AUD, FM, 7 etc., mean? [3-08] Estimating time [3-09] Your own rules [3-10] List of traders you've traded with [3-11] "I've seen people that do something so that when I send them e-mail with "SEND LIST" or "SEND BOOT LIST" or something like that in the subject line, their machine automatically sends me this person's tape list. How the hell did they do that? TOPIC 4 - TAPES [4-01] What brand of tape should I use? [4-02] What's the difference between the "Types" of tapes? [4-03] What's generally the longest (in minutes) tape used in trading? [4-04] Why can't I use 110 or 120 minute tapes? U [4-05] What are MaxPoints? U [4-06] What is the address to send the MaxPoints to? U [4-07] How do I obtain current/more MaxPoints sheets to attach the points to? [4-08] Why not just always use Maxell if TDK doesn't have a promotion like this? [4-09] I've seen some good deals on tapes. What is a fair price for a Type II Tape? [4-10] Consumer Reports tape rating chart [4-11] Mail order companies TOPIC 5. MAKING / PREPARING THE TAPES [5-01] I've bought my tapes, what do I do? [5-02] What does "dubbing" mean? [5-03] What is Dolby NR? U [5-04] Should I use Dolby NR? [5-05] What is 'High Speed Dubbing', and why not always use it? [5-06] What does "filler" mean? [5-07] What is the "normal" amount of blank space that is usually considered to be the "cut-off" line between using and not using fillers? [5-08] "I'll write all of the songs on the J-Card given in the tape and I'll write on the sticker labels and paste them onto the tape, ok?" [5-09] Should I print out J-cards? [5-10] International Trades [5-11] Other helpful hints. TOPIC 6 - MAILING [6-01] Should we trade with or without cases, and why? [6-02] Padded envelope vs. box? [6-03] What class mail should I send the tapes? [6-04] What's the difference between Priority and First Class mail? [6-05] Describe the package [6-06] Addressing [6-07] Sealing the envelope or box. [6-08] Completing the trade - staying in E-mail contact TOPIC 7 - COMPLETING THE TRADE [7-01] Staying in e-mail contact [7-02] Trade with confidence [7-03] "I haven't received my tapes in 2 weeks, what should I do?" [7-04] "I haven't received my tapes in 1 month, what should I do?" [7-05] "I haven't received my tapes in nearly 2 months, what should I do?" [7-06] What should you do if you believe someone is a bad trader? [7-07] How do you know if someone is a bad trader [7-08] Giving people the benefit of the doubt [7-09] Why do a lot of people look down upon those who use AOL? TOPIC 8 - MISCELLANEOUS [8-01] What if I have nothing to trade? [8-02] How does a 2 for 1 trade work? [8-03] Where can I find bootlegs near me? * [8-04] Places to buy bootlegs in these cities: [8-05] What is a fair price for a bootleg? [8-06] What are some online bootleg companies/catalogs? [8-07] What is a DAT and how much do they cost? [8-08] What is a discography? N [8-09] What is "CD rot" and what causes it? TOPIC 9 - VIDEO BOOTLEGS (COMMON PRACTICES) [9-01] Video bootlegs - general info [9-02] Why collect video boots? [9-03] Generations and quality of recording [9-04] What tapes to use [9-05] Common trading practices [9-06] Tape recording speed; SP, LP, EP. TOPIC 10 - TAPING CONCERTS [10-01] General information [10-02] Easiest places to tape at [10-03] How to sneak the equipment in U [10-04] "Where do I put the mic?" U [10-05] "Where should I stand for best quality?" U [10-06] "Can I plug into the soundboard?" [10-07] "What happens if I get caught?" [10-08] What are the bands that allow some form of taping? TOPIC 11 - INTERNET RESOURCES / OTHER / THANKS U [11-01] Where can I find this FAQ? U [11-02] What are some other "tape related" FTP and WWW sites? [11-03] What are some books, magazines or other publications relating to bootlegs? [11-04] What are some online sources for buying bootlegs? [11-05] What is the DAT-HEADS list, and how do I subscribe? N [11-06] Is their a bootleg mailing list? [11-07] Thanks goes out to those that contributed information for this list... U [11-08] Special thanks to... [11-09] How to contact me U [11-10] History of alt.music.bootlegs FAQ TOPIC 12 - THE ALT.MUSIC.BOOTLEGS FTP SITE [12-01] What is it? U [12-02] Who runs it? U [12-03] How do I connect to it? KEY: N = New since last version of FAQ U = Updated/Changed since last version of FAQ % = Ever-changing information * = Removed until further notice from the FAQ Prologue - Important Info ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [0-01] Welcome to the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ Welcome to the FAQ for alt.music.bootlegs. This newsgroup has existed since mid-August of 1994 without a FAQ devoted to it. It was started by Ben Kierulff because he felt that people needed a place to trade their tapes. He had gotten into trading NIN, exclusively on alt.music.nin, because there was no other place around, and it was a pain to trade for other music groups on a.m.n. If you wanted a Pink Floyd boot, you would have to hope someone would post on the Pink Floyd newsgroup about it. There needed to be a place for tapes of any and all origins to be swapped amount netters, so he made one, alt.music.bootlegs. We can all thank him for it, because no one would be here today without him, and there wouldn't be a FAQ for a newsgroup that didn't exist. :) So, I began thinking about it a while ago, and recently, Chewtoy2@aol.com made a FAQ for this group. I read it, and I thought it was outstanding. I also had some of my own ideas. So, I e-mailed Chewtoy2 and proposed to him that I make a FAQ, using some of his info and some of my info to make a new FAQ. Since I'd be using a good amount of his info, I told him that his name would obviously be on it. So, he agreed, and thus, here is the FAQ for alt.music.bootlegs. I've tried to organize this FAQ into topics, and then smaller subjects and questions within those topics. By doing it in this way, it should be somewhat easy to find the answer you want somewhat quickly, either by looking at the titles, or using your word-processor to do a search. Hopefully, I can continue to maintain this FAQ through the summer of 1996. After that, I'm not sure due to other responsibilities that I will have. When the time comes for that in a little over a year, I'll make my decisions. For now, I'll post the FAQ every month to alt.music.bootlegs. After that, starting in the middle of September or so, I will only post once per month. However, by that time (middle of Sept 1995 - May 1996) my ftp site will be back up and the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ will be stored there, as well as many other "bootleg related" programs. For info on how to connect to this site, go to topic 12. So, here is the FAQ. I've done my best to organize it well, and only have correct answers to questions in here. If you see a mistake, please e-mail me and tell me what is wrong. Also, if you have something to add, please e-mail me and tell me. This will be discussed later, though. Enjoy. [0-02] Who Am I? Here is a little background of myself before I start to go into the FAQ. My Name is Jeff Kuhn, and I'm currently 20 years old. I go to the University of Delaware, in Newark, Delaware. I've been trading tapes for about a year and a half; a little longer than a.m.bootlegs has existed. After a long time of reading, posting and trading, I realized that this newsgroup needed the FAQ. Therefore, I debated with myself a little bit, and I decided to make a FAQ for this newsgroup (with help from several other important people.) Anyway, I knew I'd have a lot of work ahead of me, and I know I'd get a lot of e-mail most likely, and I was ready for that. So, here I am. If you want to know anything else about me, feel free to ask. [0-03] Why did I make this FAQ? Simply because alt.music.bootlegs needed a FAQ, and two other people had started their own versions of the FAQ, and we sort of compiled everything into one FAQ, since mine had the easiest "structure" to it. [0-04] My responsibilities I'm not responsible for any information that you read in here. To the best of my knowledge, it's correct. If I didn't think it was correct, I would not have put it in here. This FAQ is quite subjective, not complete, and open to personal interpretation. [0-05] Copyrights This FAQ is operated and maintained by myself, Jeff Kuhn. When taking any information from this FAQ to put in other publications, please NOTIFY ME FIRST. Do not change, manipulate, rearrange or modify this document in any way. Do not distribute this FAQ to any www site, ftp site, or Usenet. If you must distribute it, spread it "as is", meaning do not modify the document. I will post it every so often to a.m.b., and it will be available at many locations, including my soon-to-be-ftp site. Feel free to spread to other people via e-mail. But please, do not modify the document in any way. [0-06] Do's and Don'ts Do: Read this FAQ Don't: Not Read it :) Do: Give the FAQ to people Don't: Post this to Usenet yourself Do: Put this FAQ on Your WWW/FTP Site Don't: Forget to Notify Me First Do: Agree/Disagree with the info Don't: Change the info yourself. [0-07] Begin the Begin We're almost ready to start the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ. Before we begin, I want to say and emphasize one point. There is only one firm and absolute rule when it comes to boot tape trading, and that is be honest. That's it. Sure, it might be easy to rip people off, but it's cowardly, sleazy, and it increases the weight of bad karma on your shoulders. People will post your name, address, and other information about you all over the place for the whole internet community to see, hoping to destroy any credibility you might have. You don't want this to happen to you. So, BE HONEST. [0-08] WTF took so long on my part to get this FAQ out? Well, that's a hard question to answer. I can't believe the last time this FAQ was modified was October 10 1995. That's nearly 3 months of inactivity. So, on behalf of everyone, sorry about that. I guess school got the best of me. I planed to have this new edition out before the new year, but due to final examinations and the weather, that didn't happen. So, hopefully in the future, everyone can expect monthly updates of this FAQ. Topic I. General/Basic Questions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [1-01] What *is* a bootleg? Essentially, bootlegs are recordings that have not been released by an artist's main record label. They could be live recordings, studio outtakes, rehersals, or just jams. The source for these might be CD's that are put out by various bootleg labels, tapes made by tapers at concerts, or tapes that one way or another "escaped" from the recording studio. Bootlegging is not, I repeat, not the illegal making and distribution of alcohol. Well, it is, but that's not what we're talking about here. If you think that was the definition, you're in the wrong time and place. Go back about 80 years and go to alt.tv.dukes-of-hazzard. :) [No, that newsgroup does not exist - please don't e-mail me on that.] Well, then. What is bootlegging, really? Well, it's something A LOT of people disagree with. Bootlegging is where people go into concerts, record the concert, then go and press the music onto a CD and, in turn, sell this CD for monetary profit. There is another type of bootlegging, which is pretty different. There are people/companies that are making copies of legitimate releases and selling them as if they were legitimate. This however, is called pirating, and not really bootlegging. This type of pirating is what record companies are much most concerned with. [1-02] If bootlegging is illegal, then how come some stores sell them? This used to be an easy question to answer. Yes. From the record comapany's point of view, boots are illegal. By having that recording, you are in *theory* depriving the artist and recording company of their rightful earnings. But, in the real world, like everything else in life, it gets complicated. The word "theory" seems to not to have any meaning in every day life. Many bands allow the taping of their shows. The most famous of bands to allow taping is the Greatful Dead. Other bands "look the other way" when it comes to bootlegs. However, most of these bands that allow taping distinguish between taping for personal use and trading, and taping to press onto CDs and sell them. In the most famous case, the Greatful Dead had a store busted for selling boot Dead CDs. In reality, if you are simply trading tapes, no matter what artist or where the original material came from, you are not likely to be bothered. (Hell, I even sent a message to a radio station local to me (Z-100 (WHTZ 100.3 FM, New York), and I had "Interested in any bootlegs" or something to that effect in my .signature file, and they didn't even comment on it.) However, if you make it a business...well, who knows. There's plenty of places to buy boot CDs, so it's your perogative I guess. If you still have moral problems with bootlegs, there is a very simple answer. DON'T DO IT. Also, you won't find any bootlegs in Tower Records or any stores like that. You'll have to go to smaller stores. They carry them. But, I didn't answer the question yet. To my knowledge, it's not illegal to produce them in some countries currently; Italy, Germany, and Luxemburgh. Thus, they produce the music there, and then export it to the United States somehow, where you can buy them. Boots are no longer legal to produce in Australia. However, recently these laws are changing in some of the above mentioned countries, such as Italy. Lastly. One point that I never really thought was important until a person e-mailed me not too long ago, who had suggestions for this FAQ. Pirate recordings are copies of legitimately released recordings. Trying to trade tapes of the latest officially released U2 album will get you nothing but flames. That's not what all of this is about. [1-03] List of laws (alpha. by state) regarding bootlegs: * NEW YORK * 1995 - 1996 SENATE ASSEMBLY March 7 , 1995 An Act to amend the penal law, in relation to offenses regarding unauthorized recordings. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate & Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 275.00 of the penal law, as added by chapter 460 of the laws of 1990 is amended as follows: 2. "Owner" means (a) the person who owns or has exclusive license in the United States to reproduce or the exclusive license in the United States to distribute to the public copies of the sounds fixed in a master phonograph record, master disc, master tape master film or any other device used for reproducing sounds on phonogrpah records, discs, tapes, films, videocassettes, or any other articles upon which sound is recorded, and from which the transferred recorded sounds are directly derived; or (b) the person who owns the rights to record or authorize the recording of a live performance. 2. Subdivision 2 of section 275.05 of the penal law, as added by chapter 460 of the laws of 1990 is amended to read as follows: 2. transports within this state, for commercial advantage or private financial gain, a recording knowing that the sounds have been reproduced or transferred without the consent of the owner; provided however, that this section only apply to sound recordings initially fixed prior to February 15, 1972. 3. Subdivision 2 of section 275.10 of the penal law, as added by Chapter 460 of the laws of 1990, is amended as follows; 2. commits that crime by manufacture of one thousand unauthorized sound recordings; provided however, that this section shall only apply to sound recordings initially fixed to prior to February 15, 1972. 4. Section 275.15 of the penal law, as added by chapter 460 of the laws of 1990 is amended as follows; 275.15 (Unauthorized) manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the second degree. A person who commits the crime of manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the second degree when he knowingly, and without the consent of the performer records or fixes or causes to be recorded or fixed on a recording performance. With the intent to sell or rent or cause to be sold or rented such recording or with the intent to use such recording to promote the sale of any product; or when he knowingly possesses, transports, or advertises, for the purpose of sale, resale, or rental or sells, resells, rents or offers for rental sale, or resale any recording that the person knows has been produced in violation of this section. (Unauthorized) manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor. 5. Section 275.20 of the penal law , as added by chapter 460 of the laws of 1990, is amended as follows; (Unauthorized) manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the first degree. A person who commits the crime of unauthorized recording of a performance in the first degree when he commits the crime of manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the second degree as defined in section 275.15 of this article and either: 1. such person has been previously been convicted of that crime within the past 5 years or: 2. commission of that crime involves at least one thousand unauthorized sound recordings or at least one hundred unauthorized audiovisual recordings. (Unauthorized) Manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the first degree is a Class E felony. 6. The opening paragraph of section 275.25 of the penal law, as added by chapter 460 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows: A person guilty of advertisement or sale of unauthorized recordings recordings in the second degree when a person knowingly advertises, offers for sale,resale or rental, or sells, resells,rents distributes or possesses for any such purposes, any recording that has been produced, transferred without the consent of the owner. provided however, that this section shall only apply to to sound recordings initially fixed prior to February 15, 1972. 7. The opening paragraph of section 275.35 of the penal law, as added by chapter 460 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows: A person guilty of failure to disclose the origin of a recording in the second degree when, for commercial advantage or private financial gain, he knowingly advertises or offers for sale, resale, or rental or sells, resells, or rents or possess for such purposes, a recording the (outside) cover, box, or jacket of which or label does not clearly and conspicuosly disclose the actual name/address of the performer or principal artist. The omission of the actual name/address of the manufacturer, or the omission of the name of the performer or principal artist, or the omission of both, shall constitute the failure to disclose the origin of a recording. NEW YORK STATE SENATE INTRODUCER'S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT submitted in accordance with Senate Rule VI, Section 1 SENATE BILL # TITLE: AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to piracy of sound recordings and live performances, the transfer of sound without permission of the lawful owner, and providing penalties for violation thereof. PURPOSE: This bill would provide additional protections to consumers, musicians, and recording companies by clarifying current law governing unauthorized or (Bootlegged) recordings. SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: The definition of "owner" under section 275 of the penal law is amended to add "the person who owns the rights to record or authorize the recording of a live performance." This provision will make illegal the bootlegging of a recording made before an audience, or transmitted by wire, radio, or television. such as in concert simulcast. Section 275.15 of the penal law is amended to clarify that the crime of manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording occurs when one knowingly possesses, transports or advertises for the purpose of selling, or in fact sells, a recording which the person knows was produced without the owner's consent. this change clarifies the persons entitled to the protection of the statute. Section 275.20 of the penal law is amended to include within the crime of unauthorized recording in the first degree a person who has within five previous years committed the crime of manufacture or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance in the second degree. Section 275.05, 275.10, 275.25 and 275.30 are all amended to limit the reach of state law to sound recordings initially fixed prior to February 15, 1972. Passge of the federal Sound Recording Act (P.L. 92-140, 17 U.S. Code section 301 pre-empts state laws which second protection to sound recordings that is equivalent to federal copyright protection. Section 275.35 of the penal law is amended to clarify that the crime of failure to disclose the origin of a recording occurs when the name and address of the performer, manufacturer, or both are omitted from cover, jacket or label., Previous court decisions necessitated change by interpreting prior statutory language in such a way that (1) counterfiet recordings NOT contained in a case were not subject to law, and (B) conterfiet recrdings which had the name of the performer, but lacked the name and address of the manufacturer, were not violative of the section. JUSTIFICATION: This bill necessitated by changes in federal copyright law and recentr New York caselaw interpreting the current statute. Amendments to sections 275.05,275.10, 275.25 and 275.30 indicate sections applicable to recordings prior to and subsequent to February 15, 1972. This change will keep the New York State statute current with federal copyright law, and will assist prosecutors in bringing charges that will not be pre-empted by federal law. The changes to sections 275.35 and 275.40 were necessiated by a recent case. People v. Stephen Burke (NYC Criminal Court, March 1994) that eviscerated the current law. The court in Burke interpreted the language requiring the outside package of a sound recording to contain the true name/address of the manfacturer and the name of the principal performer or artist in the conjunctive, requiring that both be lacking in order for violation to occur. Thus a pirated or bootlegged recording that has the correct name of the performer but is missing or has an incorrect name of the manufacturer does not under, the Burke coourt's contruction, violate the statute. Obviously the more reasoned reading of the law would be to construe the disclosure requirments such that the omission of either, or both, constitute a violation. The clarification of the statute comports with the Legislature's original intent. That is, consumers should be provided with the name/address of the manufacturer, in the event they have some complaint in respect to the recording. Also, the consumers should be provided the name of the principal artist, to avoid the misrepresentation that otherwise might occur if, for example, the recording failed to reveal "BARBARA STREISAND'S GREATEST HITS" were being sung by Jane Doe. The failure to do either should be a violation this section. Further, amendements to the definitional section, 275.00 are needed to recognize as an owner any person who owns rights to record or authorize the recording of a live performance. The ownership rights of such individuals are violated by those who would make unauthorized reproductions of liver performances, including those transmitted by wire (such as a cablecast) or over the airwaves (such as radio). The amendment of this definitional section protects performers from unauthorized bootlegging. In additioncurrent law subjects to criminal prosecution only the person who illicitly manufactures the unauthorized sound recording. The amendments, which add the language "for sale" are necessary to capture all those who distribute, sell, offer for sale or possess for purposes of selling, recordings made without the consent of the performer or owner of the rights to a live performance. There are numerous instances where such unauthorized recordings are sold, to the detriment of the artists and performers, and those who knowingly sell such illicit goods should not be immune from prosecution. Also, in the last four (4) years of experience with this felony statute have indicated to us that the persons who illicitly and illegally manufacture sound recordings without the permission of the copyright owners do so in an organized enterprise. It is our experience that small cartels of record pirates organize themselves to manufacture and distribute and sell illicit recordings throughout New York State. It is our experience that these well organized groups of individuals posess the economic wherewithal to withstand the seizure and forfeiture of their equipment and write such losses off as a business expense. Since most of the sound recordings priated by such illicit cartels in the State of New York are recordings of current music, sections 275.35 and 275.40 are sought to be included in the definitional section of the penal law section 460.10 as one of the many predicate crimes for which a charge of enterprise corruption may be brought. FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None EFFECTIVE DATES: November 1st the next succeeding the date on which it becomes law. [1-04] What *is* alt.music.bootlegs? Alt.music.bootlegs is NOT any of the above mentioned text. No one here goes to concerts and records them, and then presses them on CD for a profit. Alt.music.bootlegs is for the TRADING of TAPES/DATs for PERSONAL pleasure only, not for a profit. Something totally legal. Many people cringe at the name alt.music.bootlegs because that's not what goes on in the newsgroup. [1-05] Why is it called "alt.music.bootlegs" and not "alt.music.tape-trading"? Good question. That's what it should have been called, but it's really too late to do much about it right now. Topic II. Managing Your Tapes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [2-01] How do I keep a record of all my tapes? Exactly that. Make a record. Make a list of all of your tapes. That's the only way you can keep track. [2-02] How do I begin to make a list? See TOPIC III. [2-03] What should I do with it? When you have the list made, you should post it to alt.music.bootlegs in an attempt to have people respond to you, interested in some of your tapes. That's how trades start. [2-04] Crossposting Crossposting is posting your article to several newsgroups at once. Say you crosspost your list to the following groups: alt.music.bootlegs, alt.music.alternative, alt.music.pearl-jam, alt.music.nin, alt.music.u2. Your list gets to my site, but there is only 1 copy of your list on my site, not 5 copies. It just gets shown as an article in each newsgroup that you specified. This is commonly done. I do it. I don't know the correct netiquite for it, but I think people would advise you to post only to groups relevant to your list and what you generally collect. Don't go posting to rec.music.rem when you don't like them. [2-05] UUEncode or ASCII? It's highly suggestible that you post your list to the newsgroups you want in ASCII format. By this, I mean when I go to read your list I can read what shows you have and I can see what I want. UUEncoding is the process of turning your file into a standard which can be sent via e-mail and the newsgroups. However, you don't need to use it with text files. Uuencoding is designed for binary and image files. (Those of you that frequent certain binary newsgroups know what I'm talking about.) So, there is no need at all for you to UUEncode your list, as it is already text (ASCII), not binary. [2-06] How often can I post my list? Well, that's a personal judgement. If you have more free time than you can deal with, once every 2 weeks is usually good. I do it less frequently because I don't have the time, some might post more frequently. Whatever the reason, people post their lists whenever the hell they want. Do keep in mind though, that for about a week after you post your list, you will continue to get mail from some people. I guess their connection is slow, and/or they don't login daily. So, sometimes you will get e-mail regarding something on your list, and you posted it over a week ago. Don't be alarmed, it happens to all of us. :) [2-07] If I post often, won't it be a waste and improper use of bandwidth? Ah, bandwidth shmandwith. All of us pay for our internet access one way or another for the most part. If you're at school, a little itty-bitty part of your tuition goes toward your schools internet resources. If you belong to a commercial service such as AOL, Compuserve, Genie, or Prodigy you pay a monthly, hourly, and probably a connect fee of some sort. If you pay a monthly fee to a local provider (like me) you're paying for your use. If you work at a business, then well, I guess you may not pay for your internet access. But then again, that's supposed to be for work only, and you shouldn't be using that account for your personal tape collection. :) Alt.music.bootlegs commonly receives about 100 messages per 24 hr. period, give or take a few. Some newsgroups in the alt.binaries.pictures areas receive about 600 messages per 24 hr. period, and those files are huge. Alt.music.bootlegs takes up virtually nothing on the internet bandwidth scale. Incidentley, I got e-mail from a person who was saying that bandwidth really did matter, and that I should change my wording. I'm not going to change what I wrote, but I'll state his opinion here, which is a valid opinion. He said that bandwidth does really matter, because when you post a message, every provider in the world who gets messages for that newsgroup, has to allocate space for that post, not to mention the data transfer throughout the world which costs a lot. Originally, my point was that a.m.b. has hardly any bandwidth compared to alt.binaries.pictures.. But, people be smart. Don't go crazy posting your list. Once every 2 weeks or so is efficient. Don't get the wrong idea about bandwidth. Use it, don't abuse it. INSERTING MY PERSONAL OPINION HERE: Please, if you are on a commercial service, think about going to a local provider. As time goes on, more and more providers are popping up all over the country. Check your local paper. (Those of you who live in the Long Island area, check every Tuesday's edition of the Science and Technology' section of Newsday, and you'll see 3 or 4 adds for local internet providers in the area.) There should be at least one local internet provider in your area. The advantages of these local providers heavily exceed the disadvantages of them. Among your advantages are: o monthly fee only; No connect fee. No hourly fee o e-mail address o ftp access o telnet access o WWW, gopher, etc... Among your disadvantages: o Roughly a $20 monthly fee which could be more than you're willing to spend. o You'd most likely have to learn some basic Unix. (Not hard!) [2-08] Use PRIVATE e-mail Simply, try not to respond publically to the person's list. It just makes it slightly more confusing for everyone else. Just reply privately and everyone will be a lot happier. Topic III. Detailed Descriptions On How To Make A List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [3-01] What information goes in a list? When you compile your list of live/rare tapes, make sure you have the following as part of your list: o Date of show o Venue (Title/Place/City - Where?) o Source (AUD, SB, FM, TV, VHS) o Time (minutes) o Grade of quality of SOUND o *Generation '*' = Some people choose not to include generations, others insist on having them. Generations is the most debated part of making lists; whether to include them or not. See the section on generations for more info. (Topic III, 06). Here is a sample portion of my list so you can get a rough idea: DATE (MM/DD/YY) VENUE/TITLE TIME SOURCE GRD. GEN ------------------ -------------------- ---- ----- ---- --- AEROSMITH --------- 1O/O4/93 Jones Beach - Long Island, NY ~135m AUD B BLACK CROWES ------------ O3/15/95 Shea's - Buffalo, New York ~90m SB B+ (1) Keep in mind, that's a very small portion of my list. It's just to kind get the idea of how a list could look. [3-02] What is a setlist? A setlist is the listing of the songs a particular group played at that show. [3-03] Should I include the setlists of each of my shows in my list? This, like many other questions, is a personal judgement. However, I can tell you that the great majority of people (including myself) DO NOT list the setlists for each tape. People feel that it takes away from your list, and makes it less attractive to read. It also takes up a lot more space. I've talked to some people and they say when they see lists like that, they don't even bother to read them because they hate them so much. Others simply don't even look at them because they are a waste of space, especially if mailing the list out privately to people with limited incoming mail space, and/or those that pay for (k)bytes of data they receive and send out. If people request setlists, I'd suggest you type the setlists for all of your shows and save them someplace on your computer. That way, when someone wants a setlist for a specific show, you don't have to type it out. Just find the file, and send it to them. [3-04] How does one determine quality? Each trader determines and assigns values of quality differently. There are also different methods of grading quality. (See next question.) A relatively common misconception to new traders, is that quality of a tape is based on "what good songs were played" as opposed to the actual sound quality of the tape. This is a misconception. When you grade a tape, you are making a grade that depends upon the SOUND AND OVERALL MUSIC QUALITY. [3-05] How is quality commonly shown? There are different ways of grading live tapes. Some ways of grading tapes include, from most common to least common, (though all are accepted methods of grading): o Common Standard o EX+ ---> (Excellent) EXcellent quality. Minimal tape hiss. Crystal Clear. o EX ---> Nearly as good as Excellent, but not quite perfect. o EX- ---> Minimal hiss and some minor flaws. o VG+ ---> (Very Good). Some hiss, people singing, show hard to hear. o VG ---> Considerable hiss and/or people talking/singing. o VG- ---> Only for the true collector. It's hard to hear and pretty bad overall. o "School Grading" Method o A+ ---> (Equivalent to EX+) o A ---> (Equivalent to EX) o A- ---> (Equivalent to EX-) o B+ ---> (Equivalent to VG+) o B ---> (Equivalent to VG) o B- ---> (Equivalent to VG-) o C+ ---> (See Below) o C ---> (See Below) For all intensive purposes, the grades of "C+" and "C" represent "F's" - they are really pretty crappy overall, and you should avoid it unless your objective is to have every concert performed by a specific artist. However, some people do grade on the entire grade scale, from A+ <-> F. o Number Grading System o "1" ---> Excellent o "2" ---> Good o "3" ---> Fair o "4" ---> Poor o "5" ---> True collector only For the most part, you are only going to see the first two methods of grading in peoples' lists. I use the "School Grading" method mainly because that's how I started doing it over a year ago, and I don't feel like changing. You'll hardly ever see the Number Grading System anymore. [3-06] What is a "generation"? A generation is kinda exactly what it sounds like. Did you ever tape a movie from someone on a VHS video-cassette tape? We probably all have. Say that person who you copied it from, taped it from someone else, and that person taped it from someone else, and that person taped it from someone else. Your copy of the tape will most likely be pretty shitty, because as you continue to make copies of copies of copies, the quality continues to deteriorate. Simply, the generation is a number that tells the person how many times your copy has been copied down from the original. For example, if I had a 1st generation tape, that means that the person that I got it from had the master. That means that if you wanted that tape from me, your tape would be 2nd generation, and so on. Generally, it's a good idea not to trade for anything that is higher than 5th generation or so. One of the main debated points of making lists is the listing of generations. Some people list them if they know, other people must know the generation of what they're getting. Personally, I think listing the generation (even though I do list it when I know it) is somewhat irrelevant when you are grading the sound quality of the tape in the first place. The generation shouldn't matter. Anyway, if you choose to list the generation, you list it as number. [3-07] What do those letters under 'Source' mean, such as SB, AUD, FM, etc mean? These abbreviations stand for the source of the live recording. o SBD = Soundboard (Generally, the best type of live recording) o AUD = Audience (These can be real good, or real bad) o FM = A show broadcast on FM radio o STU = Studio tracks o TV = A show broadcast on television o VHS = Audio was taken off a VHS video-cassette o TRI = TRIpod shot (video) o #PRO = Where # represents the # of cameras used in a pro-shot, but unreleased video. [3-08] Estimating time When estimating the time of your boots (not everything is exactly 90 minutes long) make sure you overguess, rather than underguess. [3-09] Your Own Rules Feel free to put all of your rules on your list. By "your own rules" I mean detailed information regarding: o Tapes o General Trades o International Trades o Mailing o General Rules o etc... The only thing about rules is this. Either (A) Try and make them short and to the point. Or (B) Put them all at the end of your list so people don't have to read through 5 pages of rules before they see your list. I've chosen option B [kicking your ass, and collecting $200 (My Cousin Vinny reference :))]. This is because I tend to be wordy and try and explain myself clearly. Others, I've seen compile all of my rules into half a page. [3-10] List of people you've traded with I was one of only a few people that I've seen do this, and I've received some positive feedback from it. Since people complain about "bad traders", I decided to make a list at the very bottom of my tape list of people who I have traded with SUCCESSFULLY in the past. I include their name, e-mail address, what was traded, and when I traded with them last. By doing this, you can recognize names and see a nice list of people that won't rip you off. [3-11] "I've seen people that do something so that when I send them e-mail with "SEND LIST" or "SEND BOOT LIST" in the subject line, their machine automatically sends me this person's tape list. How the hell did they do that? This is how you it. I was given this information recently, but I have not had a chance to fully test it out on my account as of yet due to my schedule. I have done a little with it, and I haven't gotten it to work for me yet. Keep in mind, that the directory's listed in this file could be different on your access provider. Also, this file will work only if you have an account on a Unix machine. Q: How do I have my mailbox 'automatically' respond to messages with an _EXACT_ match in the 'Subject:' line? A: It's simple, really. It requires you create a filed named '.procmailrc' in your home directory. When a message with a text like 'get boot list' is matched, it will automatically send back your list. The file below, exactly as mine is, will also save a copy of the message that was replied to in a mailbox 'responded'. Why do I do this? Simple: sometimes people will include there list or a message with their request for my list. --start-- PATH=/u/users/bin:/usr/local/bin/:/bin:/usr/bin:$HOME/bin SENDMAIL=/usr/lib/sendmail SHELL=/bin/csh MAILDIR=$HOME/Mail :0 whc * ^Subject: | (formail -r; cat ~[your dir]/) | $SENDMAIL -oi -t :0 A $HOME/mail/responded :: ^From: .* | formail -a "Status: O" >>[path to your mailbox]/newmail --end-- [your dir] = ~ = whatever the file is called [path to your mailbox] = the path from the ROOT of the hard drive through all dirs or ~ = your login id. Generally also your directory on the hard drive. ---- There you go. Again, some of this could vary depending upon the directory structure your provider has, so it may or may not work for you. If you did get it to work, I would like to know how if you have the time. Topic IV. TAPES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [4-01] What brand of tape should I use? Well, it doesn't really matter for the most part. Among the most common brands are Maxell and TDK. Make sure you buy and use Type II tapes though. Some brands, such as Sony, Denon, and Fuji claim to be the same quality as the TDK and Maxell, but it really hasn't caught on in the "bootleg community". One thing to keep in mind though. Some people are VERY particular in what kind of tapes they will expect to receive. If you use those two brands use the following: o Maxell XL II o Maxell XL II S o TDK SA o TDK SA-X [4-02] What's the difference between Type I and Type II tapes? First, let me explain the differences between the XL II / XL IIS, and SA / SA-X. The "S" (Maxell) and the "X" (TDK) represent the newer, and more advanced versions of their predecessors, with better high frequency performance, which means more highs unless you adjust the record deck for it. Here are the differences between the various "types" of tapes (i.e. Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV): o Type O = The original Phillips cassette tape, like Scotch 150. o Type I = Improved Fe203 tape, something like Scotch 203. To be played with 120 usec play eq. Ferric Oxide, (i.e. rust), the worst quality tapes. It's also known as the "Normal Bias" tape. Most of the tape of this type is just rust on a mylar backing with binders and lubricant. o Type II = CR02 Chrome tape or Fe203 and Co doped tape that performs like chrome tape. To be played with 70 usec play eq as are Type III and Type IV. It's a cobalt enriched ferric-oxide, known as the "High Bias", or chrome tape. The advantage of Type II over Type I is that Type II will hold considerably more high frequency material. o Type III = A dual layer "ferri-chrome". A Sony idea that died. It existed only briefly, and was phased out with the development of Type IV tapes. o Type IV = Type IV "Metal Bias" tapes use pure metal particles rather than oxides as their magnetic material. Type IV tape can produce at all frequencies a much higher output than Type I or Type II. Type IV tapes require about twice as much bias current than Type I or Type II, so you must have a tape deck built to record on a Type IV tape, but they may be played back on any tape deck. The sound quality of metal tapes is a dramatic improvement over previous tape formulations. Type I requires more bias than type 0; II more than I; IV more than II. Forget about Type III. Likewise, Type IV has the most high frequency level capability; II less, type I less than type II, and Type 0 least. (Thanks goes to David J. Carlstrom and Jerry Shugars for providing the information for this section.) [4-03] What's generally the longest (in minutes) tapes used in trading? Generally, 100 minute tapes are the longest tapes used in trading. [4-04] Why can't I use 110 or 120 minute tapes? People don't like to use 110 or 120 minute tapes because as they make longer and longer tapes, the physical tape is getting thinner. When the tape gets thinner, it doesn't retain the same quality and it is liable to break much more easily than a 90 or 100 minute tape would. [4-05] What are MaxPoints? MaxPoints is a type of promotion that Maxell has had for a few years now. With every single Maxell tape you buy, you get this little sticker that says "25 MaxPoints" on it. You peel that off, and stick it onto a sheet. Then, when you feel like it, you mail your sheet(s) to Maxell, and depending upon how many points you have, you can get certain prizes ranging from a blank tape to a t-shirt, to a pre-recorded movie, to a camcorder, to a trip. The trip is slightly on the rediculous side. (Incidentley, anyone who has exchanged their MaxPoints for a camcorder or trip, I'd be interested in hearing from you). Anyway, it's nice getting a free blank tape every now and then. ** IMPORTANT NOTICE ** Through confirmed reports, Maxell has indeed *stopped* the MaxPoints Awards Promotion. All of those unclaimed MaxPoints are now worth even less than the 1/10th of a penny the were worth before they stopped the program. Incidently, December 31 1995 was the last possible day that you had to get your points to the address. Hope you all did what you could do to at least try and recieve the prizes you deserve. [4-06] What is the address to send the MaxPoints to? Send your completed MaxPoints sheet(s) to: Max Awards Frequent Buyer Program III P.O. Box 5787 Kalamazoo, MI 49003-5787 This address was only good through December 31 1995. Maxell is no longer accepting any Maxpoints since this promotion has ended. [4-07] How do I obtain current/more MaxPoints sheets to attach the points to? Call them at: Write them at: 1-800-648-4641 Max Awards Brochure Request P.O. Box 5570 Kalamazoo, MI 49003 You can't and don't bother calling or writing. As I have said twice now, the promotion has ended. Stop asking. :) [4-08] Why not just always use Maxell of TDK doesn't have a promotion like this? Well, this is a hard question to answer. I personally have not noticed, but I've heard from people that TDK tapes are slightly better in quality than the Maxells. From my understanding, the MaxPoints awards promotion ends December 31, 1995 so we'll see what happens then. Here is some info about all of that: The Max point program has been in operation for the last three or four years. Each subsequent year Maxell has make some minor changes in the kinds of merchandise that one can acquire using Max Points". Also the address used to redeem points has changed from year to year, so don't rely on old brochures for accurate information. Maxell points come with some Maxell products, audio tapes, video tapes, and diskettes. Depending on the cost of the product Maxell with provide between 10 and 50 points to the consumer for each tape or diskette purchased. Note that not all tapes come with MaxPoints (for whatever reason). Maxell used to provide a redemption brochure with their products. This is no longer the case. It has become increasingly difficult to obtain one of these forms. Presently, one has to send an SASE to Maxell to obtain one of the brochures. Thankfully, Maxell accepts photocopies of their brochures, so when you do get your hands on one make as many photocopies as you will need. The current incarnation of the program allows you to redeem points for the following items: XLII audiotapes 150 pts/tape Man in Chair Poster 150 pts/item GX-Silver T-120 Videotape 300 pts/tape Maxell T-Shirt 300 pts Maxell headphones 300 pts Multi-Media storage case 400 pts CD Wallet 400 pts 3 1/2" HD floppies (MF2) 400 pts/5 pack CD or prerecorded cassette 750 pts Max Awards sportsbag 750 pts Software Print Shop 3,000 pts Quicken 3,000 pts Stacker 3,000 pts CD and cassette boom box 7,500 pts Wireless headphones 7,500 pts This list is valid until 12/30/95. All points must be sent in before that date in order to receive merchandise from this brochure. It is not yet certain whether or not Maxell intends to continue with this program. The offer is for residents of the United States and Canada only. For CD's and cassettes one has to request titles which appear on Maxell's "Max Awards Music Title List" of 2,500 selections. To receive this list send a postcard with your name and address to: Max Awards Music Title List P.O. Box 5802 Kalamazoo, MI 49003-5802. The list should arrive in three weeks. I have never redeemed points for CDs, so I'm unfamiliar with how difficult it is to receive this list from Maxell or what disks are represented on the list. Max Points can be redeemed by sending brochures with affixed points to: Max Awards Frequent Buyers Program III P.O. Box 5787 Kalamazoo, MI 49003-5787 Orders will be delivered within 8 to 12 weeks, although I have had to wait longer. Be patient. Large orders should be sent via registered mail. It is also a good idea to make photocopies of your points sheets. Maxell is not responsible for lost mail so make sure you have yourself covered before sending anything out. Be forewarned, Maxell misplaced one of my orders six months ago and I lost 21 tapes as a result. I understand that some people have got away with sending in points affixed to paper rather than an official brochure. I can't, however, recommend this as I did so once in the past and had everything sent back to me (8 weeks later). The 800 number for Maxell is 1-800 648-4641. The last time I called this number, however, all that I received was a recording. If you want to talk to a live person, esp. if you have problems with an order, then you have to make a toll call to 616 964-2433. I believe that the office is open from 9 to 4. I hope that this has been helpful to some of you. I'll update this post as new information becomes available. [4-09] I've seen some good deals on tapes. What's a fair price for a Type II Tape? Well, stores vary. If you're looking not to spend too much, go to a store like Tower Records, The Wiz, and stores like that. There, you can pick up 4 or 5 tape packs (90 min Type II's) for about $8 or $9 on average. If you go to your local store that is not a big chain like Tower Records, you'll spend more money. A store near me at school charges $6.98 for 2 Maxell XL II's, which is a ripoff. Also try Sam's Club, Price Club, or other types of wholesale stores like that where you can find great deals on just about anything. [4-10] Consumer Reports tape rating chart Date: 4 Feb 1995 04:25:50 -0500 The following is a summary of Consumer Reports most recent audio tape ratings. Just a little something to think about for those of us who go through bunches of tapes... ============================= AUDIO TAPE RATINGS ----------------------------- BRAND PRICE SCORE TDK SA-X $3.75 87 FUJI DR-II $2.00 84 Prices are based on US$ and are MAXELL XLIIS $3.25 83 representative of what one would SONY ES II $2.25 83 normally pay. Could be a lot more SONY UX TURBO $2.50 82 or a lot less at certain locations. SONY UX-PRO $4.00 81 BASF CHROME $2.25 79 Scores based on frequency response, MAXELL XLII $2.75 79 distortion, dropout resistance and FUJI FR-IIX $2.00 78 bias shift. Differences of less TDK SD $2.50 78 than TEN on the total score are FUJI FR-IIXPRO $1.75 76 judged to be insignificant. TDK SA $2.75 76 DENON HD6 $2.25 75 What can be seen from this list: REALISTIC M-II $4.75 75 DENON S-PORT $2.25 74 FUJI DR-II is the best buy being REALISTIC HD $1.75 74 near cheapest and near best. SONY ES II(100) $3.25 74 TDK SA (100) $2.75 74 MAXELL XLII are near the top but 3M BLACK WATCH $3.50 73 by far not the best for the money. DENON HD8 $3.25 72 SONY CDit $2.00 72 SONY UX $2.75 71 DENON HD7 $3.00 69 MEMOREX HBS II $2.25 68 ----------------------------- [4-11] Mail order companies: **NOTICE** I take no responsibility for these companies, nor endorse them in any way. Anything described here is from what I've heard reading alt.music.bootlegs the last few months. Also, I am in no way associated, work for, or a family member of anyone who works for these companies. TERRAPIN TAPES For a price list, send e-mail to with a subject line that reads [send price list]. Or give them a call at 1-800-225-8650. The XLIIs go for about $1.60/tape. Plus, there is a discount if you have an internet e-mail address. From what I've heard, they guarantee the lowest price in the country. Topic V. MAKING/PREPARING THE TAPES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [5-01] I've bought my tapes, what do I do? Well, based on the arrangements of the trade, you start to copy the shows the other person wanted. [5-02] What does "dubbing" mean? Dubbing is the process of simultaneously playing your tape in the play back deck, and recording onto a blank tape on your play/record deck. This is how you copy shows for people that need to be copied from a tape to a tape. Playing a CD in your CD player and copying it to a tape at the same time is NOT dubbing. [5-03] What is DOLBY NR? DOLBY NR stands for DOLBY NOISE REDUCTION. It is a feature available on most stereo's, most of the time located near the dubbing button. The function of noise reduction is simply exactly what it says. When copying a tape and DOLBY NR is ON, it will supress a good amount of the hiss onto the copy. That sounds good, right? Well, there are disadvantages. One of them being that it takes away from the overall quality of the tape. Also, did you ever try and play a tape real loud that was recorded with DOLBY NR? It doesn't work too well, does it. Here is a much better definition of dolby: How It Works: ------------ There are 4 main types of double-ended Noise Reduction systems that appear on consumer cassette decks. By far the most common of these are Dolby B and C; less common are dbx and Dolby S, which tend to only appear on high end decks. Dolby S is the newest and "best" system, while dbx has largely disappeared from new decks. These 4 noise reduction systems are incompatible, but they all operate on a variation of the same idea. All tape recordings suffer from noise; its inherent to the tape (and to the tape recording process) and is unavoidable. However, this noise, while random, is more noticable in some frequency regions than in others. In particular, "tape hiss" (the main noise) is mostly in the higher frequency range. The method employed by the noise reduction systems is to boost certain frequency regions when recording, and then apply the inverse reduction on playback. That is, they are "double-ended" systems and require the system be switched "on" during both recording and playback. On playback, the signal consists of the boosted music plus the tape noise; the noise reduction system then applies the inverse reduction to restores the music to its original level. But since the tape noise was not subject to the boost during recording but was subject to the reduction on playback, it's level is reduced. This is the basic trick employed by all 4 systems, which differ in the particulars of the boost/reduction applied. Note that these noise reduction systems only reduce the noise associated with the act of making a tape copy; they doing *nothing* to reduce any noise present in the source. Try the folowing experiment. Put a blank cassette in your deck and hit play. Turn up the volume until you can easily hear the tape hiss/noise. A similar level of noise/hiss will be present even after the tape is recorded upon. Now turn on the noise reduction; you should hear a dramatic drop in the volume of the hiss. This is the (only) noise that these noise reduction systems reduce. Things To Consider When Deciding What Noise Reduction (if any) To Use: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dolby B is the oldest, cheapest, and least effective. But it's also the least objectionable when played back without Dolby B on. Dobly C is quite effective, but unpleasant when played without Dolby C. dbx is a bit more effective than Dolby C, but similarly unpleasant when played without dbx. Dolby S is about as effective as dbx, but isn't too bad when played back without Dolby S, and sounds almost OK played back with Dolby B. Many tape traders do not like these types of noise reduction. They may be unhappy (to the point of being unwilling to trade) if your master tape has it. Car and portable cassette decks often lack noise reduction circuitry. Tapes recorded with Dolby B can usually be played on such equipment with reasonable sound quality by turning the "treble" or "tone" knob down a bit. But this trick won't work for the other 3 systems. Most consumer hi-fi cassette decks have Dolby B and C. However, the licensing agreement that allows cassette deck manufacturers to use this Dolby circuitry is a bit lax...there is no guarantee the deck was designed and built well enough to be able to use Dolby C effectively. In particular, there may be some compatibility problems with tapes recorded with Dolby C on different deck. It may sound fine on the deck it was recorded on, but on another deck it may sound too bright or not bright enough. Dolby Labs has tighter licensing requirements with Dolby S (this is apparently a large part of the reason it's not standard on most consumer cassette decks...they fail to met the requirements) and thus should not have the quality/compatibility problems of Dolby C. But most tape traders don't have it. Many people do not seem to know how to properly use noise reduction systems. Politely explaining to them what to do might be helpful but is no guarantee they'll get it right. Setting the Noise Reduction Switchs When Recording: -------------------------------------------------- Here "X" and "Y" are any one of the 4 types of noise reduction (ie dbx, Dolby B, C, or S), and "none" means no noise reduction. When making a copy of a tape, you need to consider the settings of the noise reduction on both decks. In the case of copies made on dual-well decks, the controls vary too much between models to allow detailed instruction; often there is only one Dolby circuit for both decks so what you want to do may well be impossible. Master | Desired || Master | Copy Tape | Tape Copy || Play Deck | Record Deck ------ | -------- || --------- | ----------- none | none || off | off none | X || off | X on X | none || X on | off X | X || off | off (yes, both off) X | Y || X on | Y on (not recommended) When making a copy from a non-tape source, the only deck you need to consider is the copy record deck. Desired || Copy Tape Copy || Record Deck --------- || ----------- none || off X || X on Other Noise Reduction Systems You Might Come Across: --------------------------------------------------- Dolby HX is a single ended system that works on an entirely different principle. It occurs only during record, not playback, and a deck either has it or doesn't; there is no "on/off" (or "in/out") switch to worry about. It works by reducing the bias signal level during loud passages so that the maximum signal level applied to the tape does not go above the optimum level. This allows the whole recording to be made a bit "hotter" (louder), thus lowering the noise floor relative to the maximum signal level. I'll resist the temptation to explain the bias signal; all you realy need to know is Dolby HX is generally regarded as good. Dynamic Noise Reduction (DNR) and similar systems are also single ended systems, and also work (sort of) on a different principle. Basically they listen (electronically) to the music and turn down the treble when the music is quiet. It doesn't work too well, and not surprisingly is fairly rare these days. However, much more sophisticated systems using related processing principles have been developed for professional use (and work much better). [5-04] Should I use DOLBY NR? Again, it's your personal opinion. I don't like it. Many don't. It's your call. Here is some info on DOLBY from a fellow user who seemed to know quite a bit about DOLBY: o One of the recommened setups when copying dolby-dolby is alwasy to decode and then re-code NR when dubbing. (The exception is dubbing decks, in which supposedly the two sides are level-matched.) NOTE: This info might cotradict info in [5-03], but this info here in [5-04] was almost insisted upon by a user who seemed to know his stuff about Dolby. So, I'm including this as well as leaving the info above. [5-05] What is 'High Speed Dubbing', and why not always use it? High Speed Dubbing is the process of dubbing a tape, but at a higher speed. It takes about 45 minutes to copy side A of a 90 minute tape; with high speed dubbing OFF. duh. :) With it ON, it cuts that 45mins down to about 20-25 minutes or so. Sounds great, right? Well, again it has it's disadvantages. There is only one advantage of high speed dubbing, and that is that you get the tape copied quicker. However, the person receiving the tapes won't be too happy. When you use high speed dubbing, then you lose a good amount of quality. All traders insist on high speed dubbing OFF. Make sure you follow that guideline, as it is an important one. [5-06] What does "filler" mean? When there is extra space on a side of a tape or perhaps a whole side blank, people will fill that extra space with miscellaneous songs or parts of shows, hence, the name "filler". It's custom if there is more than half of a side blank, then you should include some kind of filler. If possible, give the person some type of choice, or fill it to the best of your ability. Don't worry about 10 minutes of blank space, we can't be perfect. [5-07] What is the "normal" amount of blank space that is usually considered to be the "cut-off" line between using and not using fillers? As I've said, it varies. Generaly if there is anything more than 20 minutes of blank space anywhere, you should try and attempt to fill it with something. If you really don't want to be bothered with fillers, make sure you mention that someplace in your rules on your list. [5-08] "I'll write all of the songs on the J-card given in the tape and I'll write on the sticker labels and paste them onto the tape, OK?" That is a usually a no-no. Please, do not print the song names on the Maxell/TDK J-card that comes with the tape. Also, do not write on those stickers and place them on the tape itself. There is nothing more annoying than looking at a J-card with horrible handwriting that is anything but legible. The best thing you can do, is send the J-card and the stickers to the person blank, as they will do the same for you. Then, include a printed out setlist from a program specifically designed for making J-cards for tapes, such as CaseLinr. CaseLinr can be found on SimTel as well as the alt.music.bootlegs FTP site. [5-09] Should I print out J-cards A definite YES if you have the ability to do so. Make sure you have a printer before you begin. :) [5-10] International Trades International traders are good to trade with. Both of you can trade for shows that might be hard to find because you might live on opposite sides of the world. There are a couple of things to remember when doing international trades. o When you trade internationally, make sure you make it a relatively big trade, i.e. about 5 tapes or more because initial shipping is rather expensive, so I doubt you want to pay a rather large postage fee for only a few tapes. Make it worth your while. o Send tapes WITHOUT the cases, as adding cases only adds weight, which increases postage. o Make sure you are receiving a Type II or equivalent tape. o When mailing overseas, mail via AIRMAIL or it will take weeks. o Make sure you have the person's address down EXACTLY how it should be. o Try to keep in close contact with the person during the trade via e-mail. o Don't send cocaine, heroin, marijuana, fireworks, beer, or any other contraband over international boarders, as you will have the FBI, CIA, NSA, and ATF paying you a visit or two. :) o Make sure that when you go the post office that you put that little sheet on there describing what is in the package. Make sure it's attached firmly and that it is complete in describing what is inside. The post office will supply those sheets for you. Here's a little story...I recently mailed something to Canada and marked "audio tapes" on that sheet. Apparently, that wasn't descriptive enough, as the trader that received my package said that the Canadian government or the Canadian post office or whatever had opened it. o Seriously here, does the United States Postal Service have the right to open international packages. They did so to me when I traded with someone from Canada. They opened up my package to make sure I really did have tapes in there, as I had marked on the little sheet they give you. Some of do live in the United States, right? The land of the free? What happened to my freedom at the Post Office that morning..... [5-11] Other helpful hints o "Personalize" the printed J-card you're sending: o Include your name and e-mail address somewhere o Include group, place, date, quality, time (minutes), source, and setlist on the J-card. o Try to make all of your J-cards follow some form. o I capitalize the group on all my J-cards. o Search around for good tape deals. If possible, look for a mail order company where you can get Maxell/TDK quality Type II tapes. o Recording audio on HiFi video tape is sometimes recommended because it is a good way to avoid large generation loss and side changes. TOPIC VI. MAILING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [6-01] Should we trade with or without cases, and why? This is up to the both of you. Some people want to trade with cases because there is less chance of the tape breaking during transit. Others feel that the cases increases the postage, and doesn't really increase the chances of breaking during shipping due to the fact that the envelopes are padded in the first place. [6-02] Padded envelope vs. box? For trades of about 6 tapes or less, I would use a padded envelope. Anything more than that, get a box. [6-03] What class mail should I send the tapes? For domestic trades, send either first class or priority. For international trades, send Airmail, or priority at least. [6-04] What's the difference between Priority and First Class mail? From what I've seen, Priority is, on average about a day quicker than first class mail. I usually mail first class, but if you want, mail Priority. It will make the other trader happy. Incidentley, if your package is over a certain weight, (I think 2 pounds), it automatically goes via Priority mail. [6-05] Describe the Package When mailing, it might be a good idea to mark your package with something like "Magnetic Material Inside" or "Do Not Expose to Magnetic Fields". It also couldn't hurt to mark it fragile. Though, they'll still throw it over their shoulder, and you wince as you envision all of the tapes cracking into a pieces. :) [6-06] Addressing Make sure your return address and the TO: address is clearly written. While the computers are excellent at reading zip codes, they sometimes can't read certain types of numbers. Write clearly. Make your numbers as you see them on the keyboard. Don't make any fancy "2's" or "7"'s, as the computer sometimes can't read it, and then a human will actually look at it and then you could run into human error. Your best option is to get a program that prints out your address onto a sheet of paper. Then, affix your address and the other person's address to the package with some tape. [6-07] Sealing the envelope or box If you are using an envelope, then most likely there is a thing you peel off and there is glue on the back. In addition to that glue, put a few staples in the envelope to ensure that it will stay closed. If you are using a box, seal the box good with mailing tape. Scotch and masking tape are not good things to use with boxes. Also, staples won't work too well. You can pick up mailing tape almost anywhere. That "Priority Mail Tape" that they have at the post office is real good. It's really sticky and it's hard to rip. TOPIC VII. COMPLETING THE TRADE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [7-01] Staying in e-mail contact It is important to stay in e-mail contact through the trade, from beginning to end. Type out what each person is getting clearly, and agree on it. Then, confirm to each other when you mailed the package. Then, when you get the package, e-mail the person letting them know that you got it. E-mail is essentially free and virtually instentaneous, so don't be afraid to use it. [7-02] Trade with confidence If you're skeptical about trading because you have been ripped off, don't "retire" from the trading hobby. Continue. It's not all too often that people get screwed. Simply, if you are skeptical, and still want to trade with people you have never traded with in the past, just trade 2 tapes the first time and see how that works. [7-03] "I haven't received my tapes in 2 weeks, what should I do?" The answer to this is wait. Even if you are not in e-mail contact with the person, give the person at least two weeks. If you can e-mail the person, e-mail him/her to see what's going on. If you get no response, continue mailing every two(2) days or so until you get a response. [7-04] "I haven't received my tapes in 1 month, what should I do?" E-mail the person and hopefully get a response. Now is also the time to post a message to alt.music.bootlegs ASKING IF ANYONE HAS TRADED WITH HIM/HER BEFORE, **NOT** TO VERBALLY ABUSE THE PERSON. Hopefully, you'll get a few responses and then you can get an idea of what kind of problem you may or may not have in your hand. [7-05] "I haven't received my tapes in nearly 2 months, what should I do?" Now you definatly have a legitimate argument. If you have done all that you can... o e-mail the person continuously o possibly call/snail mail the person o talk to others regarding your trader ...and you still have no luck, post a message to alt.music.bootlegs describing what has happened. People will be reluctant to trade with him/her, and if he has ripped people off before, he/she will no longer. If you got ripped off, and there is nothing left that you can do, you just might have to bite the bullet this time. Hopefully, it wasn't for too many tapes. [7-06] What should you do if you believe someone is a bad trader? See [7-05]. [7-07] How do you know if someone is a bad trader? You really don't. We're all trusting each other to a certain extent. Common sense would tell you if people have traded with someone before and had problems, you would tend not to trade with this person. Every so often, there is a file that gets posted to alt.music.bootlegs and it lists traders that people have had problems with in the past. I have not seen it recently, though. Michael Burstin keeps two files relating to this on his web server. One of the files is a list from which he collected from other people. It includes a lot of details, such as who sent the complaint, the date, and sometimes a paragraph or two of what exactly happened. There is also another list there that a different person sent to him. It's not as detailed, but still good none the less. So, check out his web page: [7-08] Giving people the benefit of the doubt You should give people the benefit of the doubt most times on small trades; less than 4 or 5 tapes or so. DO NOT make big trades with someone you have never traded with before. I did this once, and it worked out in the end, but it wasn't worth the grief. This person is a good trader, just the mail got screwed up and I changed addresses and it was just a mess. So, trade small with new people remember. [7-09] Why do some people look down upon those who use AOL? If you real alt.music.bootlegs for a while, and you'll probably see people saying nasty things about AOL'ers (America On-Line). This is unfortunate, but in some cases, it is justified. The main part of the problem is that AOL allows people to assume up to five(5) identities (for game playing apparently) which can be changed at will. It's a perfect situation for rip-off artists and some of them do it. Furthermore, complaints to AOL don't seem to bring any worthwhile results. That's why some people refuse to trade with AOL'ers. (I have personally traded with some AOL'ers, and I found them to be as good as the next person, as far as being reliable goes.) It is unfortunate that the 99% of honest AOL'ers are getting tagged with this, but until AOL does something about this, the bad feelings will persist. TOPIC VIII. MISCELLANEOUS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [8-01] What if I have nothing to trade? If you have nothing to trade you can: o Do a 2 for 1 [2-1] trade (See #02) o Buy a bootleg (See #03, #04, #05) [8-02] How does a 2 for 1 trade work? A 2 for 1 trade is simple, effective and beneficial to both people. If you have nothing to trade, but you see something you like on another person's list then this is what you do. For every 1 tape of his/hers that you want, you send 2 blank tapes. You will get 1 tape back with music on it, and the person will keep the other tape. So, if you wanted 5 tapes from me, you would send me 10 blank tapes, and I'd keep 5 of them and you would get back 5 of them with the shows you wanted. This helps everyone. It helps the new person to start his/her collection and it gives the person with the music the incentive to spread the music out to anyone who wants it. When you do a 2 for 1 trade, make sure you discuss and agree on the following before you send the blank tapes: o Who is paying for return postage? (Normally, the person who sends the blanks pays for return postage.) o Who is paying for the envelope/box to send the package back? (Normally, the person sending the blanks sends an additional bag or box.) In short, the person who is sending the blanks usually pays for EVERYTHING. [8-03] Where can I find bootlegs near me? You will have to go to smalled CD stores. Tower Records, The Wall, The Wiz, Record World, Coconuts, or anything like that won't carry bootlegs. You will have to go to smaller, non-chain music stores. They may or may not have a section called IMPORTS. Check there. You can also post a message to alt.music.bootlegs asking if there are any bootleg stores near where you live (make sure you tell them the general area where you live.) Generally, people are against bootlegs because these companies are taping the performers and then selling it for money which is really wrong. [8-04] Places to buy bootlegs in the following cities: In alphabetic order by STATE: Due to the ever-changing laws regarding bootlegs, and the confusion by the media between 'pirate' and 'bootleg' CDs, as well as recent busts of stores selling bootleg CDs, this section of the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ has been removed indefinatly. This means that you will not find any mention of any actual stores in cities around the United States or elsewhere listed in this FAQ, due to the fact that we don't want these stores out of business. From now on, I will *ONLY* list bootleg CD distributers that have contacted *me* stating in one form or another that they WANT to be listed in the FAQ. Also, due to similar laws just enstated in the EEC, I will no longer list European boot distributers as well as United States distributers. I think I can still list any boot distributers from Australia, but I don't know of any. Plus, it might be illegal in Australia any day now. So, bascially there won't be too much information in this FAQ regarding where to buy bootlegs, either in the U.S. (by city) or from any organization in EEC. [8-05] What is a fair price for a bootleg? A fair price for a bootleg is anywhere between $15 and $25 dollars. (That's for singles.) Doubles can be anywhere from about $35 to $50. [8-06] What are some online bootleg companies/catalogs? See Topic XI, #03 [8-07] What is a DAT, and how much do they cost? DAT stands for Digital Audio Tape. It is an outstanding way of recording music. Music is recorded digitally on it, so music quality is generally outstanding on DATs. DATs are somewhat smaller than analog tapes, and only record on one side. When a DAT is copied to another DAT there is no generation quality loss. A portable DAT will cost about $475 - $550 A rack mount DAT will cost about $500 - $1400 For a whole bunch of great information about DATs, check the DAT-HEADS Homepage at: [8-08] What is a discography? A discography is a listing of all of a groups released music, including imports, import singles, and legitimate releases. Much of this is available on the internet. I've personally seen them for Pearl Jam, U2, and R.E.M. They can be extremely helpful with bootlegs because the people that put them together have rated the available bootlegs in the store in terms of quality, and they usually list the setlist. Keep this in mind before you go out and buy a bootleg for $20. (Some stores let you listen to the disc before buying it, but not all.) [8-09] What is "CD rot" and what causes it? Great Dane was one of the first CD only bootleg labels out of Italy. They started up in about 1989. They just folded (supposedly) last year due to the changes in the laws. Laser rot is a problem that a bunch of CDs have that were pressed in the late 80s in Europe. The CDs begin to oxidize and the sound gets ruined. (Thanks to Adam Stanley for giving me this information, and to Rich Breton for typing this CD rot text.) I posted a message to the Springsteen list concerning CD rot on my copy of Great Dane's "Piece De Resistance" and asked for others that have had CD rot problems, particularly with Great Dane's CDs, to write to me. What I got was an outpouring of e-mails from folks who have had similar problems with a few of Great Dane's Bruce Springsteen titles, and as many folks who have not but were concerned that their prized possessions may someday suffer a similar fate. I asked most a series of questions concerning the CDs that they owned (mostly on Bruce titles and some non-Bruce titles put out by Great Dane for those who mentioned having some) in an effort to ferret out how to tell if a Great Dane CD may or may not be proned to rot. For those who don't know how to spot if their CD is "rotting", here's a quick list of symptoms: (1) The silver color on the "label" side of the CD has started to change to a color variously described as bronze, copper, golden-brown or rusty-orange color. On the "black label" CDs, such as "You Mean So Much To Me", all that can be checked is the 2mm area of aluminum just beyond the black area on the outer portion of the disc. The discoloration doesn't necessarily show up on the "playing" side of the CDs (I've yet to see or hear of one), so don't check on that side. This symptom happens on 100% of "rotting" discs, the worse the "rot" - the more pronounced the discoloration will be. (2) The ink used from the "label" side appears to be "bleeding" through to the playing side. This symptom only happens sporadically. (3) On playing the disc, there seems to be an inordinate amount of "static-like" background noise. The level of noise that can be heard rises and falls with the the volume (ie. soft passages vs. loud passages) of the music on the disc (not your volume knob). The louder the actual music, the more apparent the background noise will be. This symptom is not apparent at the outset, but eventually creeps in and gets worse and worse over time. (4) Your CD player exhibits tracking problems while playing the discs. This symptom is not apparent at the outset - or it could be due to other factors like the CD player itself. All that is known is that the affected discs will exhibit this problem at some point. Note: If your CD is suffering from 2 or more of the above symptoms, especially (1), then your CD is probably suffering from CD rot. There seems to be no correlation between how many times you've played a CD and when CD rot sets in. The first method used was to determine of the numbers/letters found inscribed on the inner "mirror-like" silver ring on the playing side of the CDs themselves could be used as an indicator. This method proved inconclusive, especially in the case of "Piece De Resistance". In one persons case, the new discs they received from Great Dane had the same numbers/letters as my "rotted" copy. Even in my case, the 3rd CD in my new copy had the same series of numbers/letters as the 3rd disc on my old copy. Some had 2 discs out of the 3 with the same numbers/letters. This method was abandoned rather quickly. The only other difference I could detect was the proximity of the aluminum layer to the center hole on the CDs themselves. In comparing an old CD suffering from CD rot to a new copy by placing the CDs on a flat surface, I noticed a difference between how close the aluminum layer came to the center hole. On the old (rotted) CDs, the aluminum layer comes closer to the hole than the new CDs. Between the aluminum layer and the center hole is a portion of clear plastic. The "old" CDs only have about 5-6mm of clear plastic between the aluminum layer and the center hole, while the "new" copies have approximately 10-12mm of clear plastic. After conferring with those who had written to me, and after personally checking a few Bruce titles that have rotted and many that have not, I can say that in every case reported the CDs that have rotted have only 5-6mm of clear plastic between the aluminum layer and the center hole. While I wanted to be conclusive, there are some inconsistencies. Not every Great Dane title that only has 5-6mm of clear plastic between the aluminum and the center hole has suffered from CD rot. So while I cannot definitely say that all Great Dane titles that have 5-6mm of clear plastic will suffer from CD rot, I can only report that all Great Dane CDs that I know of to have rotted have only had 5-6mm of clear plastic. I can also say that so far no Great Dane CDs that have the 10-12mm amount of clear plastic have been reported to have rotted. The other inconsistency is time. Different titles seem to go at different times, even though they were all pressed within the same 6-12 month period between '89-'90. "Piece De Resistance" has only been reported as a problem this past year, but other titles have been known for years now. The following is a list of Great Dane's Bruce Springsteen titles that have been reported to have rotted: "The Saint, The Incident, And The Main Point Shuffle" (Note: The original version only - no "Masters Plus" (M+) versions have been reported.) "Live In The Promised Land" (Note: The original version only - no "Masters Plus" (M+) versions have been reported.) "Piece De Resistance" "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" "Good Rockin' Tonight" EP (Note: Found in Great Dane's "Follow That Dream" issue #10/11.) "Point Blank" AKA "The Live Experience" EP (Note: Found in Great Dane's "Follow That Dream" issue #13.) "You Mean So Much To Me" (Note: All copies have the "black" label, but the proximity of the "black" portion to the center hole and the amount of clear plastic mimics the findings using the aluminum layer described above. This hasn't been reported, but the aluminum I can see on the label side of my copy appears to have started to "bronze" with no other symptoms.) There are other Great Dane Springsteen titles that were released around the same time as the above, but none of them have ever been reported to have suffered from CD rot. They appear to have been manufactured correctly and are so far immune. As far as I know, all of the following have the 10-12mm of clear plastic: "Live In The Bottom Line", "Forced To Confess", "Thundercrack" (original version - not M+) and "Steel Mill - Live At The Matrix". I'm not trying to start a panic here, I just want to inform those who have Great Dane's discs what to look for to replace or to avoid. Many expressed an interest in whatever I could dig up, more for peace of mind than anything else. And as the number of new Brucelegs has dwindled considerably and existing titles seem to be drying up, I've actually seen or heard about "used" Brucelegs being traded and/or sold in some stores. I hope I was able to clear up something here. I still need to know more about some other artists titles released on Great Dane around the same time. I know that there are a few Pink Floyd titles that have suffered from CD rot, but I have not attempted to find out if the findings expressed above apply to these discs as well, but I assume they do. If you have any Great Dane discs, check 'em out and send me a note (especially if they appear to be suffereing from CD rot). I'm interested if the "bad" discs have the 5-6mm of clear space. I addition, a few reports of some Seagull Records titles pressed around the same time have come to light. So far the same finding as used to distinguish "bad" Great Dane discs (5-6mm of clear space) applies here as well. If you have any Seagull Records discs, check 'em out and send me a note (especially if they appear to be suffereing from CD rot). TOPIC IX. VIDEO BOOTLEGS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [9-01] Video bootlegs - general info Well, it came to my attention by someone who e-mailed me that this FAQ only concerned AUDIO bootlegs, and not VIDEO bootlegs. He asked me why, and I told him simply I forgot. So, here is some general info on video bootlegs. Trading video bootlegs is quite similar to trading audio bootlegs. If you are trading video for video, then the trading works the same way as in audio boot trading. However, if you are exchanging video for audio, then the common practices are for every one VHS video tape, that equals two audio tapes. [9-02] Why collect video boots? I'm not a huge fan of video bootlegs, but a lot of people are. The advantage of collecting video boots is that you not only have the audio, but you also have video. And, if you are smart enough to hook your VCR through your stereo, you can grab the sound off the video tape and copy it onto an analog tape, for those people that just want the audio. [9-03] Generations and quality of recording. This is a very important aspect of video bootleg trading, perhaps the most important. When dubbing video tapes, you increase the generation by 1 each copy you make. However, unlike audio boots where you can't tell the differences in the quality of the tape until after a few generations, video tapes will lose quality a lot faster as the generations get higher. So, mainly use your judgement. I wouldn't go any lower than 3rd generation, personally. [9-04] What tapes to use This info supplied by Phil Satterley , maintainer of the ALT.MUSIC.TAPE-TRADING FAQ. Another well argued question. Again, each trader has their own preference. Whatever tape you decide to use be sure it is VHS certified. You can tell this if it has the [VHS] logo on cover (this is the same logo that's on your VCR.) That means this tape was approved by JVC (who invented VHS) some tapes just have VHS in regular letters (NOT in the proper logo font) AVIOD THEM! I have decided to review the different brands I have used and the results I have experienced. NORMAL GRADE TDK HS My personal favorite regular grade blank. The picture and sound quality are really good, even in SLP recording. Panasonic has just come out with the STD which in my experience is not as good as HS. MAXELL EX My same feelings as the TDK normal grade. In the past they started bulk loading cheap tape from Korea into their shells and charging the same price as they were before (when they were using the better quality tape) As I understand it now, they stopped doing it but check the "Made In..." label on the back of the package to be sure. SCOTCH HS With my experience, for audio and video scotch tape is ALRIGHT and nothing more. They have a few dropouts, but the biggest problem I have has is the leader snaps of the spool sometimes when I rewind the tape. As you can imagine a MAJOR pain in the ass! FUJI HQ A good tape, not as good as Maxell or Scotch but a good tape. KODAK HS For a tape coming from a leader in photography and picture quality I would expect more from them! I've never been happy with the picture quality of Kodak. POLAROID (regular grade) I think less of Polaroid than I do Kodak. They started using REALLY cheap tape stock recently. RCA (regular grade) Crap, I've never seen a good picture from RCA (like Kodak, I'd expect more from them) Dropout is horrible. An RCA almost trashed a deck of mine last year, so I don't think too highly of them. JVC (regular grade) To tell you the truth, I've never tried their normal grade. GEMINI (regular grade) To put it this way, I'D NEVER let anything like that go in my VCR. TARGET (regular grade) Target is owned by 3M who makes Scotch, but I don't think they use the same tape. HIGH GRADES TDK E-HG My personal fave of all brands and grades! To date I have had no problems with these, I'm VERY happy with the sound and picture quality. My only gripe is TDK likes changing their labels about every 6 months! MAXELL HGX-GOLD My second choice only because I get TDK cheaper. But their free stuff "Frequent Buyer" Max points are an extra incentive if they are the same price as TDK. SUPER VHS MAXELL XR-S I haven't been to happy with this one in the past. The picture quality is not great and I have experienced several dropouts. JVC XG I've been quite happy with this one! The picture quality is Excellent and I've experienced no dropouts. (price on this one is generally cheaper than the Maxell) [9-05] Common trading practices Basically, I described that above. It's a lot easier to trade video for video, than video for audio because then adding up the equivalents of everything can get complicated. [9-06] Tape recording speed; SP, LP, EP. Always use SP. Since the quality of video tape copies increases pretty fast, use SP all the time, which is the best quality. It will hold 2 hours (120 mins) worth of material on the standard tapes, and on the 160min tapes, it will hold 2 hours and 40 minutes. TOPIC X. TAPING CONCERTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *NOTE*: Some of this info may well be incorrect. Please feel free to e-mail me and correct or suggest. [10-01] General information It is illegal to tape most bands. Only a handfull of bands actually let you tape. So, a word to the wise - be careful. :) [10-02] Easiest places to tape at It would make sense that the easiest place to record things is at a big concert, where there are a lot of people. However, they can pat you down there for equipment. However, at most small clubs or bars, they don't check for that stuff, so it might be easier there. [10-03] How to sneak equipment in: The following are the common places to hide your equipment. o Taped under your hat o Big jackets o Down your pants (seriously, no joke) o Shoes Also, this is going to sound funny, but someone told me once that one of their friends went to a concert and he somehow put on a fake cast on his leg, and he hid all of his shit in there. No one even patted the guy down since he looked like he was in enough pain and discomfort as it was, so they just let him in. Well, to make a long story short, he went into the bathroom and took the cast off and put everything he needed exactly where he wanted it. There is another story I read on alt.music.bootlegs where a person described how at a concert once, he saw someone video taping a concert with the video camera hidden in his pants, and taping through his open zipper. That's some wild whacky stuff. Once you've got everything set and you've started taping, don't think you're home free. Keep an eye out for security. Try to ditch them if you can. [10-04] "Where do I put the mic?" From what I've been told, when you are making an audience recording, you tape the mic to the inside-top of your hat, and then let it stick out a little. If you are going to use binaural mics, you can clip them to ear parts of your glasses. It fits well, and it's well-hidden. For a better explanation, see the MIC FAQ: For even more information about mics, contact: Len Moskowitz (moskowit@panix.com) Core Sound 574 Wyndham Road Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA (201) 801-0812 [10-05] "Where should I stand for best quality?" for this info.) Some people like going high into the "nose bleed" seats. However this can draw attention to yourself. Security in many places don't like people sitting alone far away, although this depends on the arena. If you are too close to the roof of the arena you are in, you will get a massive echo. Too close to the crowd and you get too much of the crowd noise. Don't ever get too close to the speakers. Sometimes, that can be too overpowering to the analog tape or DAT you are using. Also, don't stand next to people that talk during the whole show. This can be annoying during the show, as well as annoying when you listen to the tape later on at home, and find that for all your efforts in trying to tape the show, all you hear is "hey man can I get a copy of that", "isn't that illegal?...cool", "want a hit?", etc... Ideally, the taper wants to be like a third party, sort of like an impartial observer. Enjoy the concert and the crowd, but don't get too involved. Clubs, unline big forums, are different. The echo won't be as bad as in an arena. However, there are some places you should try and stay away from. Stay away from high traffic areas, walkways, bathrooms, etc. Sit alone or with people (friends) who know what you are doing and know the proper way to act, which is not screaming and basically just not drowning out the sound. If it is a club you go to a lot, make it a routine to sit in one spot normally. By doing this, you don't look out of the ordinary or suspicious. Lots of people cli mics to their shirts and collars. That's fine, but don't wear any noisy clothes. No buckles on the jackets as well, and no rough fabrics. All of that can be picked up on the tape. Sometimes, clipping the mic to your belt is the best place due to the fact that there, movement is minimized. If your taping equipment has any lights on it, cover those lights up. Keep a mini flashlight on your keychain or go into the bathroom to change tapes. Also, don't talk to much to the people around you that you're taping. They will start to tell everyone, especially in a small club. Also, every once in a while the guy standing next to you may be someone from the band, so that would not be too good. In a large arena, if the guy next to you is being real noisy, ask him if he could quiet down, and you'll give him a copy of the show. It seems to work pretty well. If he starts to tell other people, leave that area for another location. Before you know it, you'll be mailing 15 people a copy of the show, which would mean a lot of money on your part. Some last reminders: o Always fast-forward the tapes when done. o Do a crowd noise check before you start taping so you know that everything is working properly. o DAT tapes have higher error rates at the beginning of the tape. [10-06] "Can I plug into the soundboard?" If you are at a band that allows taping, they usually have entire taping sections set up. Or, try and make your way to the soundboard guy. You might have a shot. There could be someone taping there and exchange addresses or something. [10-07] "What happens if I get caught?" From what I've heard, they either: a) take your equipment, let you stay for the rest of the concert, and then give you back your stuff on the way out. b) kick you and your equipment out. There have been instances where they have taken peoples' equipment and when the people got their stuff back, the decks or DAT's were ruined. So, the moral of the story is this: Be polite and calm, and always offer to leave rather than give up your equipment. You have a better shot of sneaking back in, or buying another ticket than getting your equipment back in working order. [10-08] What are bands that allow some form of taping? Here is a list of some bands that allow one form or another of taping: (This was taken from the DAT homepage): From: Kurt Kemp Subject: Updated list of bands that allow taping Date: Mon, 07 Aug 95 15:14:51 PDT Note that (a) = audio taping allowed, (v) means video taping allowed and BA = (sound)board access allowed. <> represents the location of a local band. BTW, if you see after a band, please help me locate their hometown. Also, if you don't see "BA" after the band, you can assume that their official policy is to not allow it, even if they occasionally do. Enough pre- amble, let's get down to the business at hand. ====================================================================== *BANDS THAT ALLOW TAPING* Acoustic Junction (a), BA but you need to talk to the soundman before the concert if you want DAT BA Allgood (a), BA but no DAT BA Allman Brothers Band (a) Aquarium Rescue Unit (a), BA Note: if you write to their manager and ask him if they allow it, he'll tell you "no", but in practice they often let folks tape and even have BA. Bela Fleck & The Flecktones "no see, no enforce" policy Better Than Ever (a), BA Better Than Ezra (a) Big Head Todd & The Monsters (a) no see, no enforce policy Black Crowes (a) Blindman's Holiday (a) Blues Traveler (a), no BA at present due to upcoming live album. Next BA will be New Years Eve '95. Rick Vink is the soundman. Bob Mould (& Sugar) (a) Bo Diddley (a)? Note: Someone emailed me that they let him tape, but it doesn't seem to be an official policy. Box Set (a), BA? Brown (a), BA if soundman is in a good mood Bruce Hornsby (a) Catfish Jenkins (a), encourages BA Colobo (a), BA and DAT BA too! Dave Matthews Band--DAT (a) with stand OK, but no BA, no taping section. Note: their shows tend to run about 2:20:00 with no break. David Grisman Band (a), BA is soundman is in a good mood Deloris Telescope (a) Dream Theater (a) but no see, no enforce policy. Duke Rollibard (a) Echolyn (a) if you ask before the show Edwin McCain (a) BA but should ask permission at soundcheck Ekoostic Hookah (a), BA if and only if Sean Murray, the the soundman, is in the right mood Electric Woodshed (a), DAT BA FFudd (a), BA encouraged Everything (a), BA Fighting Gravity (a) Freddy Jones Band (a), BA? From Good Homes (a) Fugazi (a) Fungus (a,v) G. Love and Special Sauce (a), BA? God Street Wine (a), BA but no DAT BA Grateful Dead (a), taping section Groove Thang (a) Headstone Circus (a), DAT BA H.O.R.D.E. tours (a) Hot Tuna, no official taping, but sometimes allowed Jack O'Pierce (a), BA varies, ask at soundcheck Jambay (a), BA Jawbox (a) Jesus Lizard (a), BA They allow full board access but ask you to call the venue during the day of the show to get permission. They want you to send a copy to their record company, "Touch & Go Records" P.O. Box 25520, Chicago, IL 60625 (312) 463-4446 Kai Kln (a), BA encouraged Call (916) 326-8341 ahead of time to get permission. They also want you to send a copy to their record Co. c/o Kai Kln Homegrown Records, P.O. Box 566, Carmichael, CA 95609 Kilmo & The Killers (a) Leftover Salmon (a), BA Max Creek (a) Meat Puppets (a), BA if Dave, the soundman is in the right mood Merle Saunders & The Rainforest Band (a), but no DATs Metallica (a,v) Michael Hedges (a), no see, no enforce Moe (a), DAT BA encouraged Mother Hips (a) Ominous Seapods (a), BA Oteil (a), BA if soundman is in the right mood Other Half (a), BA Ozric Tentacles (a), taping encouraged Page/Plant (a) Phish (a), taping section Plato's Cave (a), DAT BA encouraged, be there before show. Email to for more info. Queensryche (a) w/taping section, BA Radiators (a), encourage DAT BA and have patch bay for you Reverend Billy C. Wurtz (a), BA but you must talk with the soundman before the show. Richard Kirks Band (a) Robert Earl Keen Jr. (a) but ask soundman ahead of time Robyn Hitchcock (a), as long as it's discreet. No BA Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings (a), but ask 1st. Expect them to ask you for a copy. Rusted Root (a), but no DAT (a), no BA Sandoz (a,v) Shack Daddys (a) Shannon Worrell (a), BA? Sheryl Crow (a) but it depends a lot on the venue Shudder To Think (a) Solar Circus (a) Soulhat (a) Spin Doctors (a) The Freddy Jones Band (a) The Grapes (a) The Hatters (a), BA taping strongly encouraged The Samples (a), BA, but no more DAT BA b/c of a CD pressing Tiny Lights (a), BA if soundman is in the right mood Toad The Wet Sprocket (a) Urban Blight (a) Vertical Horizon (a), BA Verve Pipe no longer allow taping of any kind Widespread Panic (a), No BA Xanax 25 (a), BA Zero (a) *end of list on 8/07/95* ==================================================================== I have made so many additions/changes from last time that it's time prohibitive to try to list them all here, but if you have any questions or suggestions to improve this list, please let me know. As always, if you know of any other groups allowing taping that I haven't listed here, please let me know so I can share it with all the others out there who might benefit from it. As I mentioned above, I'm currently trying to complete the info on where each band is from, i.e., where they play the most concerts, thus where one is most likely to be able to catch them and tape them. Please help if you can. Finally, you are encouraged to share this list with any and all forums/newsgroups/lists that stand to benefit from it. In music there is peace, Kurt TOPIC XI. INTERNET RESOURCES / OTHER / THANKS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [11-01] Where can I find this FAQ? Right now, as of October 1995, you can find this FAQ posted to alt.music.bootlegs once per month or so. You will also be able to get the FAQ automatically sent to you. To do this, send a blank message to: . (Without the "< >" marks.) Shortly after, you should get the current version of the FAQ in your mailbox. Many thanks to Adam Stanley for this setup. You can also find this FAQ at the following WWW pages: (My pages are not working now. Check in 1 mo.) Razor's Edge BBS (301) 498-8729 (Music orientated BBS in Maryland) NOTE: I can only guarantee that the latest version of the FAQ will be at my homepage, www.liii.com/~jek , on the ftp site, and at ambfaq@echoes.com. As for the other WWW pages and that BBS, I don't contact the author/maintainer/sysop of those systems to let him/her know that there is a new version of the FAQ out. Therefore, the most current version of the FAQ may or may not be there. It's up to them to put it up themselves. [11-02] What are some other "tape related" FTP and WWW sites? (Sorry about the long WWW addresses - they run off the side of the screen which is 80 columns so that's why it wraps around.) WWW --- (My WWW Page) (WWW Page) (Nice WWW page for bootlegs) (R.E.M. Discography) (Deep Purple Discog.) (Eric Clapton Discography) (Neil Young Discography) http://www.uta.fi/~trkisa/ny/rustdata.html#Bootlegs (Neil Young Discography) (Frank Zappa Discography) gopher://wiretap.spies.com/00/Library/Music/Disc/nirvana.dis (Nirvana Discography) (Pearl Jam Discography) boots.html (Beatles Discography - German Site) (Beatles - England Site) p/art2/faq.html (Rolling Stones Discography) (Music site; good jump point) (Search stores around the nation by city) (DAT Heads Homepage) (Mic FAQ) (Deep Purple Discog) [11-03] What are some books, magazines, or other publications relating to bootlegs? o 'Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry' By: Clinton Heylin o 'Hot Wacks Vol. 15 & Suppliments 1-3" avaiable from Hot Wacjs Press. o 'Live Music Review' o 'Ice Magazine' o 'Tapers Quarterly' o 'Goldmine' [11-04] What are some online sources or mail order companies for buying bootlegs? ** This is is no way endorsing the sale, manufacture, or purchase of ** bootleg recordings. This is merely information compiled from ** various ads in national publications. I am also not affiliated ** with any of these companies. As stated earlier, only those who have requested to be listed in the FAQ will remain here. All others will be removed. If you wish to be added or removed from this list, just e-mail me. ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE CD CELLAR: P.O. Box 340324 Dayton, Ohio 45434 USA All live CD's $19 Specializing in alternative and rock (There is a second catalog available at the same address specializing in Death Metal, US and International Heavy Metal, and Black Metal.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ E-mail: PARKENING@mbian.utmb.edu He can get some rare titles if needed. E-mail for info - he can help you with a particular artist. ------------------------------------------------------------------ [11-05] What is the DAT-HEADS list, and how do I subscribe? The DAT-HEADS list is a mailing list for the disucssion of DATs and DAT related items and a like. To subscribe, send e-mail to: DAT-heads-request@fedney.near.net type "subscribe" in the body (without the quotes) type "unsubscribe" in the body (w/o the quotes) to unsubscribe. To POST: DAT-heads@fedney.near.net or DAT-heads@virginia.edu This is the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ. I'm not going to cover much about DAT taping and DAT machines in general, since I won't do it justice. You are much better off getting all of the DAT-related information files, such as the DAT FAQ, the DAT Microphone FAQ, etc. The information below should get you well on your way. DAT important info: o DAT Homepage: o To get the DAT FAQ, ftp to: ftp.atd.ucar.edu:pub/dat-heads o To get the DAT FAQ, also try: ftp.funet.fi pub/culture/music/DAT [11-06] Is there a bootleg mailing list? Good question. Yes, sort of. It's not your "traditional" mailing list that you subscribe to to read posts from people in digest or message form. It's a set of files that gets mailed out to those that want them. In those files contain many peoples boot lists as well as their wants. This is a decent way to send your list around to a large volume of people. So, here is the necessary info you need to join and recieve the messages from the mailing list: THE TRADE Here is some information regarding the THE TRADE NEWSLETTER and THE TRADE WEBSITE for 1996. Please note the instructions included with each section. They are pretty simple to follow; helping THE TRADE run more effectively and smoothly. And hopefully this information will answer some of the questions you may have. *******************THE TRADE NEWSLETTER******************* **NEW BOOTLISTS** If you haven't submitted your bootlist yet, and would like to for an upcoming issue, please list your bands in ALPHABETICAL order (solo artist by last name) This will make it much easier and less time consuming for us when we send out the BAND BOOTLISTS for the REQUEST section. However, you may include whatever information you would like others to know about each boot/rarities. (*except for setlists. Setlists will be deleted due to space limitations in our newsletter.) TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS: WE NEED YOUR BOOTLIST! SEND BOOTLISTS TO: JEN (JKKY79B@PRODIGY.COM) **UPDATES** If you already submitted your bootlist to us, but have new additions you'd like to submit as an UPDATED LIST, please PUT AN ASTERICK by the new additions. This is to help us in the BAND BOOTLISTS for the REQUEST section. It gets a little bit confusing at times trying to figure out the new additions to your list. (esp. if your bootlist is extensive!) It would be greatly appreciated if you could take the time to do this for us! THANK YOU! SEND UPDATES TO: SEAN (YFJM97B@PRODIGY.COM) **REQUESTS** Here is your opportunity to let other people know what specific boots or bands you are looking for. The "want ads" section of THE TRADE. All you need to do is write a note to Gia and she will include your REQUEST in our next issue and get the BAND BOOTLISTS out to you as soon as possible. Please understand that working on this part of THE TRADE is a very time consuming task. Each bootlist has to be dissected into separate BAND BOOTLISTS; and then we combine all the appropriate BAND BOOTLISTS together to send out for each request. SEND REQUESTS TO: GIA (LFHA91B@PRODIGY.COM) **SUBSCRIPTIONS/CANCELLATIONS** Subscriptions to THE TRADE may be canceled at any time. Write me a quick email saying you want off our mailing list. And just like any other publication; if you have a change of email address and still wish to be a SUBSCRIBER, let me know. **TOUR DATES/MISC INFORMATION** Have information on upcoming tour dates? Send them in! This will be one of our new features included in future issues of THE TRADE. **URL ADDRESSES OR PERSONAL WEB PAGE** If you have your own personal music web page, send the url address in and we will advertise it for you in our newsletter. Include some info you want others to know about it if you want. ************************************************************ ANY SUGGESTIONS/COMMENTS/IDEAS FOR THE TRADE NEWSLETTER? WRITE US! JEN: JKKY79B@PRODIGY.COM GIA: LFHA91B@PRODIGY.COM SEAN: YFJM97B@PRODIGY.COM ************************************************************ *****************THE TRADE WEBSITE************************** THE TRADE Web Site can be accessed at If you want your name on the Web page please contact me at: Peter Whipple EUJX29A@PRODIGY.COM When you write please include the names of the bands and/or artists **ONLY**, please do not send any bootlists. Due to space limitations I can not put any bootlists on the page. Also please put them in alphabetical order as well. If you're already on the Web page and would like to add a few new band names then send **ONLY** the bands you want updated, please do not send the whole list again. If you have a Web URL that you would prefer your name to be linked too, let me know. I'll put that in instead of a mail link. If you have any questions and/or comments please email me and let me know. All of the above requests are to ensure that your name will be put on very quickly will little room for mistakes. Thanks, Peter Whipple EUJX29A@PRODIGY.COM [11-07] Thanks goes out to those that contributed information for this FAQ. Andy Strote David Lynch David J. Carlstrom Michael Burstin Jerry Shugars Ben Kierulff John R. Harper Rob Gronotte Scott Hannon Phil Satterley M. Cheng John Swenson Len Moskowitz [11-08] Special thanks to... Chewtoy2@aol.com who had made a FAQ for alt.music.bootlegs and agreed to let me use some of his information to make my own FAQ for the newsgroup. Without seeing his FAQ, I surely wouldn't have done this FAQ. It was only until I saw his, that I decided that this newsgroup really needed a FAQ, and I proposed to him the whole spiel, and the rest his history. So, what I'm trying to say is, without Chewtoy2, (geez, I've gotta get your real name :)), you wouldn't be reading this right now. Andy Strote , who was in the process of making his own FAQ for alt.music.bootlegs when I had finished mine. He then showed me his FAQ that wasn't completed, and told me I could use whatever I want. So, I'm giving him where credit is due. He provided (and continues to provide), WWW sites and other info related to tape trading that improved this FAQ greatly since it's first release. Everyone should appreciate what he's done. Michael Burstin for helping me with several parts of the FAQ for additions and corrections. Also, for incorporating some of the information on his WWW pages into this FAQ. Adam Stanley for making a special e-mail address that you could send a blank message to and get the a.m.b FAQ. I had been trying to do that with my account (via filter) for a long time, and now he has setup something really good. As well as supplying me with the information on CD rot for this FAQ. Much appreciated. [11-09] How to contact me Contact me at: E-Mail: If you want my list of tapes, just e-mail me. [11-10] History of alt.music.bootlegs FAQ June 23 1995 - 1st Release (áeta test release) July 07 1995 - 2nd Release (major additions and changes) July 21 1995 - 3rd Release (changes, additions, and spelling corrections) Aug. 04 1995 - 4th Release (changes regarding store addresses, dolby...) Aug. 18 1995 - 5th Release (last of big changes, including boot dist.) Sept 01 1995 - 6th Release (*FTP info*, minor revisions) Oct. 10 1995 - 7th Release (DAT info, taping bands, minor revisions.) Jan. 15 1996 - 8th Release (DOLBY, mailing list, structure revisions, more) TOPIC XII. THE ALT.MUSIC.BOOTLEGS FTP SITE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [12-01] What is it? To all alt.music.bootlegs readers: Hello everybody. The a.m.b. FAQ maintainer here. If you have read the FAQ in the last month or so, you may have noticed a section in the FAQ dealing with the alt.music.bootlegs FTP site that I was going to start in early September. Well, the time has come. The FTP site is here. My site, running on an IBM compatable PC via an Ethernet network card, will be open 24hrs/7days with a few exceptions. The FTP site is not solely devoted to alt.music.bootlegs and live tape trading, but that is the prime usage. (See the bottom of this messageon how to log in). Well, the site is - but my computer is used for other things, is what I really mean. When visiting my site for the first time, please read all of the files that will be in the directory that you will be in when you login. It's important to read those because they explain everything that I would have had to say here. To sum up a little what I've stated in those files, feel free to upload your rare/live tape lists, j-card or other programs related to tapes and taping, etc. Please, NO COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. When you read the files, everything should be self-explanatory. If not, feel free to e-mail me. Login info can now also be found in the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ. Login's are limited to 8 logins at any one time, but this may change depending upon what my computer can handle. So, if you get a message that you can't connect, it's almost definatly because there are 8 people logged in, and that is the limit at any one time. Any questions or comments about the site are welcome either via e-mail or on the alt.music.bootlegs newsgroup. More specifically, if anyone has any ideas for other types of files to include on this site, I'd be open to any suggestions anyone might have. LOGIN INFO: ~~~~~~~~~~ IP Address: 128.175.68.8 Login : anonymous Password : Also, please don't abuse my site. I record everything that you do, including what you download and what you upload, as well as the IP address of the computer you are using to ftp to me. If this bothers you, then don't ftp to my site. Enjoy. [12-02] Who runs it? I run the site. I run the site of my computer at college. I don't sit here all day and watch it. I don't even check on it too often; perhaps every few days. I just have the time or patience to sit here and watch everything that happens. I say all that, but just don't go uploading virii to me or copyrighted or illegal material. There are plenty of other sites you can see to trade those kinds of things. [12-03] How do I connect to it? FTP to 128.175.68.8 Login: anonymous Password: . -Please, no @anon.penet.fi addresses. If I see that kind of crap, I'll kick that person off. (I don't have to shut the whole site down to kick one user off which would result in kicking everyone off.) I just don't have time to waste with people giving me fake e-mail addresses, one of the more popular ones I've seen, . Wonderful. Well, that's about it. Hope this FAQ was helpful. I would appreciate any comments, questions or ideas for this FAQ. Send them to me at my e-mail address above. If you don't want your name and e-mail address listed in this FAQ for helping, let me know. Otherwise, it will be there. Peace. --- EOF