Version 4.1 (modified 2002/09/13)
Chapter 0: Prologue
[0-1] Welcome to the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ
[0-2] Copyrights
[0-3] Do's and Don'ts
[0-4] Credits [Updated]
[0-5] History [Updated]
[0-6] Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
[0-7] What if something is wrong on this FAQ?
Chapter 1: Legal and General
[1-1] What is bootlegging?
[1-2] What is alt.music.bootlegs? [Updated]
[1-3] Which laws apply to bootlegging?
[1-4] Where can I find out more about legal issues?
[1-5] Which bands allow taping?
Chapter 2: Trading, Buying and Selling
2.1: Trading
[2-1] Where can I find traders that have such-and-such-band? [Updated]
[2-2] I've never traded with anyone before. How should I phrase an email to someone I want to trade with?
[2-3] I'm new to this. How do I get started? [Updated]
[2-4] What's a B+P?
[2-5] What's a 2 to 1 trade?
2.2: Buying and Selling
[2-6] Why will some people not sell bootlegs?
[2-7] Where is a good bootleg store in XXXXXXXX?
[2-8] Where is a good online bootleg store?
[2-9] What is a fair price to pay?
2.3: Bad Traders
[2-10] What is a Bad Trader? [New]
[2-11] How can I avoid Bad Traders? [Updated]
[2-12] How long should I wait before posting someone as a bad trader?
[2-13] What information should I include when posting someone as a bad trader?
[2-14] What information should I not include when posting someone as a bad trader?
Chapter 3: CD-Recordable
[3-1] What is Disc-At-Once (DAO)? Track-At-Once (TAO)?
[3-2] I've heard that burning at high speeds can cause errors. Why is this?
[3-3] Which CDRs are the best? [Updated]
[3-4] How long will CDRs last?
3.1: Standalone CD-Recorders
[3-5] What is the difference between PC CD-recorders and standalones?
[3-6] What is the best model of standalone CD-recorder?
[3-7] What are the best kind of discs to use? [Updated]
[3-8] What is SCMS? [New]
3.2: PC CD-Recorders
[3-9] What is "on the fly"/"off the fly" recording? Which should I use? [Updated]
[3-10] What is the best model of CD-recorder?
[3-11] How do I extract perfect WAV files from a CD? [New]
[3-12] How do I perfectly copy a CDR? [Updated]
[3-13] How do I avoid adding SCMS protection to CDs? [New]
Chapter 4: Other Formats
4.1: DAT
[4-1] Does anyone trade DAT?
[4-2] Where can I find DAT traders?
4.2: MiniDisc
[4-3] Does anyone trade MiniDiscs? [New]
[4-4] Is MiniDisc lossy?
[4-5] How does ATRAC work? Is it the same as MP3? [Updated]
[4-6] Which brand of MiniDiscs has the best sound quality? [New]
[4-7] What is MDLP? [New]
4.3: Cassette
[4-8] Does anyone still trade cassettes?
[4-9] Where can I find cassette traders?
[4-10] What is the best way to dub tapes?
4.4: MP3 Files
[4-11] What are MP3 Files? [New]
[4-12] What are the advantages and disadvantages of trading MP3 files? [New]
[4-13] How can I listen to MP3 files? [New]
[4-14] How do I convert MP3 files into another format? [New]
[4-15] How do I make MP3 files? [New]
[4-16] Where can I find MP3 traders? [New]
[4-17] Is there anything else I should know about MP3 files? [New]
[4-18] How can I tell if a CD is MP3 sourced? [Updated]
4.5: SHN Files
[4-19] What are SHN files? [Updated]
[4-20] What are the advantages and disadvantages of trading SHN files? [New]
[4-21] How can I listen to SHN files? [Updated]
[4-22] How do I convert SHN files into another format? [Updated]
[4-23] How do I make SHN files? [New]
[4-24] Where can I find SHN traders?
[4-25] What are MD5 files?
4.6: Video Tape
[4-26] What is NTSC? What is PAL? What is SECAM? [New]
[4-27] How can I convert between PAL, NTSC and SECAM? [New]
[4-28] How do I copy a video? [New]
[4-29] How do I copy a video without using SCART? [New]
4.7: VCD
[4-30] What is a VCD? [Updated]
[4-31] How do I copy a VCD? [New]
[4-32] How do I create a VCD? [New]
4.8: Rarely Used Formats
[4-33] What are OGG files? [New]
[4-34] What are RM/RA/RAM files? [New]
[4-35] What are ASF/WMA/WMV files? [New]
[4-36] What are FLAC files? [New]
[4-37] Does anyone trade DVDs? [New]
Chapter 5: Packaging
5.1: Artwork
[5-1] Should I send artwork with my bootlegs?
[5-2] How do I make artwork? [Updated]
[5-3] Where can I find artwork for XXXX? [Updated]
[5-4] How many pixels by how many pixels for CD artwork? [New]
[5-5] What image format should I use when making artwork? [New]
5.2: Mailing
[5-6] What is the postage rate from XXXX to YYYY?
[5-7] What's the best way to wrap CDs securely? [Updated]
[5-8] Why do people tell me not to use fibre-mailers?
[5-9] Should I send by priority mail? First class mail? etc?
[5-10] Are there any special considerations when sending things internationally?
[5-11] What is an International Reply Coupon? [New]
[5-12] I sent some CDs weeks ago, but the other guy is claiming not to have received them. What should I do? [New]
Chapter 6: Basic Bootleg Management
[6-1] Why should I keep track of which bootlegs I have?
[6-2] How should I keep track of which bootlegs I have? [Updated]
[6-3] What information should I include? [Updated]
[6-4] How should I grade quality?
[6-5] What do those letters under Source such as SB, AUD, FM, etc, mean?
[6-6] Should I include my "rules"?
[6-7] Should I include a list of people I've traded with?
[6-8] What should I do with my list?
[6-9] How often should I post my list?
[6-10] Crossposting?
Chapter 7: Taping
[7-1] What equipment should I use?
[7-2] What are the advantages and disadvantages of DAT and MD?
[7-3] Where are the best venues to tape?
[7-4] How should I sneak it in? [Updated]
[7-5] Where should I put the microphones while recording? [Updated]
[7-6] Any other taping tips?
[7-7] Can I get a soundboard patch?
[7-8] What happens if I get caught?
[7-9] Should I tape in Mono or Stereo? [New]
[7-10] What else should I know? [New]
Chapter 8: Audio Editing
[8-1] What audio editing tools should I use? [Updated]
[8-2] How can I get rid of the gaps from CDs burnt in TAO mode? [Updated]
[8-3] Why is that such a complicated process?
[8-4] How to I transfer a recording from another format (DAT, MD, Cassette, Vinyl, etc) to CDR?
[8-5] There's a lot of hiss on my recording. How do I fix that?
[8-6] How can I remove small pops and clicks from the recording?
[8-7] What are some general tips and tricks?
[8-8] What does "Clipping" mean?
Chapter 9: The alt.music.bootlegs Newsgroup
[9-1] What is a newsgroup?
[9-2] How do I access newsgroups? [Updated]
[9-3] Are there any special considerations when posting messages to newsgroups?
[9-4] Are there any special considerations when posting messages to alt.music.bootlegs in particular? [Updated]
[9-5] How long has alt.music.bootlegs existed? How long do you think it will last?
[9-6] What other newsgroups might be of interest to me?
Chapter 10: Miscellaneous Questions
[10-1] Isn't that piracy? [Updated]
[10-2] What is the difference between an Outtake and a Demo?
[10-3] Where do soundboard shows come from? [New]
[10-4] What's a filler?
[10-5] What is a "generation"?
[10-6] What is Mono? What is Stereo? What is Joint Stereo? [New]
[10-7] What is FTP? [New]
[10-8] Further Reading [Updated]
Welcome to the FAQ for alt.music.bootlegs. This newsgroup has existed since mid-August of 1994. 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 amongst 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. :)
The first FAQ for the newsgroup was created by , it was read by Jeff Kuhn who liked the idea, and with the agreement of Chewtoy2 developed a new FAQ for the newsgroup which he maintained from 1995 until 1998.
From 1998 until 2001 the FAQ went unmaintained until I posted about the idea of starting a new one. A few people said they'd help out and Jeff kindly allowed me to use parts of his original FAQ in this one. You can find a full list of the parts that are based on Jeff's original FAQ later on in this topic.
So here is the FAQ. We have done our best to ensure the accuracy of our answers, although it should be pointed out that this is a work in progress. If you have any additions or corrections, please contact the authors of the FAQ.
-Toby
This FAQ is the copyright of its respective authors. All rights reserved.
I. You have the following rights make copies of this in original form, so long as:
II. The following disclaimers are in effect:
Parts of this document are from the alt.music.bootlegs FAQ ver 3.1, reprinted with the author's permission. The copyrights and disclaimers of that document apply to the extracts contained within this.
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
Version 4.0 of the FAQ is by James Eades and Toby A Inkster, Esq. Version 4.1 has been updated by Toby.
Thanks to Chris Brightwell for information on MDLP.
The Prologue, Cassette Tape and Bootleg Management parts of the FAQ are strongly based on Jeff Kuhn's older FAQ. Other parts of the FAQ also borrow from Jeff's FAQ in part.
Jeff himself gives credits to the following people for making his FAQ possible: 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, Chris Trumbore, Dave, Tomi Kause, Michael Burstin and Adam Stanley.
The latest version of this FAQ should always be available from: http://www.ambfaq.cjb.net/
It should also be posted to alt.music.bootlegs, alt.answers and news.answers on a regular basis.
Please contact one of the authors with corrections or additions. Our email addresses are: and
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.
Version 3.1 of this FAQ said this:
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 bootleg recordings for personal use only, not for a profit. Many people cringe at the name alt.music.bootlegs because it implies profiteering.
More recently though, it has become accepted that some people do sell bootlegs on the group for profit. Generally, their profit margin is only small and they don't aim to make a career out of it.
Different laws apply to you depending on where you live. In the USA, US Code, Title 18, Section 2319A applies to you:
Offense. — Whoever, without the consent of the performer or performers involved, knowingly and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain —
(1) fixes the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord, or reproduces copies or phonorecords of such a performance from an unauthorized fixation;
(2) transmits or otherwise communicates to the public the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance; or
(3) distributes or offers to distribute, sells or offers to sell, rents or offers to rent, or traffics in any copy or phonorecord fixed as described in paragraph (1), regardless of whether the fixations occurred in the United States;
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, or if the offense is a second or subsequent offense, shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/2319A.html
As does US Code, Title 17, Sections 1001-1010, which deals with any non-profit duplication of copyrighted material:
No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital audio recording device, a digital audio recording medium, an analog recording device, or an analog recording medium, or based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of such a device or medium for making digital musical recordings or analog musical recordings.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/ch10.html
People living in the USA should also be aware that various state laws may also apply.
In the UK, there is a legal precedent that may be of interest. To summarise, someone was accused of pirating (not bootlegging) a Bob Dylan CD. He claimed that Dylan himself had given him permission. As Bob Dylan did not have time to go to fly to the UK to appear in court in Swansea, the defendent was found not guilty. The case is mentioned in this House of Lords debate:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/vo000317/text/00317-09.htm
As a general guide, authorities tend to turn a blind eye to bootlegging as a hobby, usually only targeting those who do it as a business.
It should also be noted that most countries' laws treat non-profit trading of bootlegs differently from selling.
Consult a lawyer in your area.
A lot of bands (too many to list here) allow you to tape their shows (often with certain restrictions). These bands include The Grateful Dead, Phish, Pearl Jam, U2 and Dave Matthews Band. A constantly updated list can be found at the Bands That Allow Taping website. http://btat.wagnerone.com/
There are also quite a few bands that are taper-friendly, but don't have an official taping policy. This is sometimes because they don't have much of a say over what their record company does, so if their record company has a no-taping policy, they can't officially do anything about it.
Your first place to look should be alt.music.bootlegs itself. People there trade just about every band under the sun. Post a brief message with a subject line reading something like this:
"WTD" is short for "Wanted" and "ISO" is short for "In Search Of". It is probably a good idea to indicate what you have to trade in return — particularly recordings by the same and/or similar artists.
Remember to include the band name in the subject — most people reading alt.music.bootlegs only read the subjects most of the time, so if you don't catch their attention with the subject, your message is likely to get ignored.
Also remember with dates different parts of the world use different formats. "1-2-00" means the 1st of February, 2000 to most people, but it means January 2nd, 2000 to Americans.
If you get no responses, try a World Wide Web search on . The following links might also be of use: http://www.tapetrader.com/, http://www.etree.org/, http://www.pauserecord.com/.
I'm assuming you've already read their list so know what you want from them — otherwise you wouldn't be sure if you wanted to trade with them, right?
My advice is to keep it brief, but friendly. Here is a sample email:
Hi Joe,
I was looking at your list and saw a couple of shows that I'm really interested
in:
Counting Crows — 23-Feb-1992 — San Fransisco, CA, USA
Travis — 23-Jun-2000 — Glastonbury Festival, UK
[My list is at http://somesite.com/list | I've attached my list to this email*]
I'm looking forward to trading,
John.
(*delete as appropriate)
First, read the FAQ to find out what a 2:1 and a B+P are.
Once you know this, look around for traders who have CDs by the bands you are interested in. If there's a lot, maybe ask around to see which CDs are the best — usually demos and TV/radio broadcasts are pretty cool.
Contact a few traders and ask for B+Ps and 2:1s. Ask politely. Don't be disappointed if they turn you down. Maybe if they're too busy they might be able to point you in the direction of someone who isn't. If you've looked around a bit and haven't had many offers, you may have to resort to buying a few bootlegs to start off.
Now (hopefully) you'll have a few bootlegs of your own. Listen to them, enjoy them. See which shows you like the best. You might want to try to find some more like that. Again, ask for recommendations — now you have a better idea of what you like so you'll be able to get more out of the recommendations.
You'll probably want to start keeping a list of your bootlegs now.
Look for traders who have medium-sized lists (around 40 bootlegs). Find some traders who have some shows that you want and want some shows that you have! Write to them, asking for a trade. You'll probably want to read this FAQ for information on how to trade.
A B+P is a type of trade which is usually to help newbies. The newbie will send a trader enough blank media to record what they want onto, plus enough money or stamps for return postage. The B stands for "blanks" and the P stands for "postage", hence B+P.
For a description of the B+P in gruesome detail, see: http://www.mcnichol.com/bnp/
A 2 to 1 is similar to a B+P, but the newbie sends twice as many blanks as would be needed to record what they want onto. The trader keeps the spare blanks as "payment". This kind of deal is often discouraged by fans of taper-friendly bands, in preference for B+Ps.
Some people regard the music as not their property, and so do not feel comfortable with selling copies of their bootlegs — they are just simply morally against the whole idea of selling. Others with make a small charge to cover the cost of the materials and postage.
Other reasons include that the trader does not want to risk being caught by the authorities for selling music that he/she does not own the rights to, or the trader has no need to sell — they may be interested more in building their collection and so prefer to conduct trades only.
It would be impossible to list all the stores worldwide that sell bootlegs in the FAQ. However, the newsgroup is the best place to ask. Post a message asking if there are any good bootleg stores in XXXXXXXXX, and hopefully someone who reads the group will being able to provide the information you require.
It would be unfair and biassed of this FAQ to recommend particular places to purchase bootlegs online. Not only that, but stores are appearing and disappearing so regularly that it would not be feasible to maintain a list of the best places to purchase online, although eBay can be a good source.
The best place to ask is on the newsgroup itself — post a message asking for opinions on where to look.
This is another question that has sparked a lot of debate in the past. Typically, a 'fair' price would be simply what it costs to make and post the bootleg the blank cd, the jewel case, the printing of artwork and postage and packaging (maybe a tiny bit of profit on top depending on the seller). As a guide, never pay the price for a CD-R copy as you would for an original CD.
Simply a trader (or seller) who does not deliver what he or she promises. Maybe their bootlegs are considerably worse that they had promised, or maybe they didn't deliver anything at all.
You should avoid calling someone a bad trader merely because of receiving a lower product than expected, because sound quality is a matter of opinion.
Two months is what I recommend. If they send you a nasty email as soon as they've got your package and tell you not to expect anything in return, then by all means, post them straight away. But if they offer you some sort of excuse, please give them the benifit of the doubt and wait for at least two months for their stuff to arrive before posting them as a bad trader.
You should include enough information for anyone else trading with them to be able to identify the bad trader with. A name and email address is generally not enough — services such as Yahoo and Hotmail offer free, easy email addresses, so a bad trader can easily change email address.
Most people include the bad trader's address, as that is one piece of information that the bad trader can't easily change. If you feel uneasy posting someone's address to a public forum, then try obscuring parts of it. For example:
XXXX Main Street, Smalltown, IL YYYYY USA.
You should also include details of why you think this person is a bad trader. A tiny click might be enough for one person to think of a trader as bad, but another person might not think of this as a problem at all!
Do NOT include death threats, suggestions for people to find them and lynch them or anything else of that sort. If the trader did get hurt, the police would be knocking on your door straight away! Try to keep things in perspective — while the bad trader may have betrayed your trust, they probably didn't break your bank.
CD Recorders usually give you two methods of recording a disc — DAO and TAO. Consult your manual/help system to find out how to switch between them. Each mode has its advantages and disadvantages.
TAO writes one track at a time. Between each track, the laser in your CD recorder is switched off briefly. This causes there to be 2 second gaps between each track. On a live recording, these gaps are undesireable, so DAO is usually preferred.
With DAO the laser is left switched on for the entire disc. This means you can control how long the gaps are between tracks — you can have 10 second gaps, 2 second gaps, 0.5 second gaps... even no gaps! I have not yet found a person that would prefer you to use gaps than a gapless recording. Consult your manual. Find out how to make gapless recordings.
A lot of newbies seem to think that if you record something in DAO mode, a CD player will not be able "seek" tracks. This is plain wrong.
Whether it makes any difference depends on the recorder, the media and the player.
Put simply, a CD recorder contains a laser that "burns" tiny parts of the disc to make them darker — this is how information is stored. If disc is spinning round faster, the laser has less time to burn each bit of the disc, so the dark bits aren't quite as dark.
This might mean that the player has trouble telling the difference between the dark bits and the light bits.
Most CD recorders take this into account and turn up the laser power when burning at high-speed, but how well yours copes is a matter for you to decide.
Generally speaking, burning at speeds of up to 4x should not cause any problems.
While on the subject of burning speeds, it is not true that a CD burnt at 2x can only be read at 2x — burning speed does not effect reading speed like this. However, if you burn so fast that it causes errors, this may slow down reading the CD back.
It is widely held that brand-name CDs are the best. Exactly which brand is best will depend on your exact setup.
Taiyo Yuden are usually touted as the best of the pack. Their factory is in Japan and they make CDRs for (among others) TDK and Sony. They also manufacture discs with their own brand on them and ones with no logo at all.
In general, it seems most of the Japanese factories put more care into their CDs than the Taiwanese ones.
It is really too early to say — CDRs have not been around for very long. Experts predict that a well-made CDR if handled correctly could last for up to 200 years. However long they last, it should be longer than DATs or Cassette Tapes.
Standalone recorders are designed to operate as part of a stereo system rather than a computer. There are several differences between them and their PC counterparts. Here are some advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Recommendations will follow in a later revision of this FAQ.
Standalones require special discs that support a technique called Serial Copy Management System (SCMS). SCMS discs are usually marketed under phrases such as "For Audio Use Only" or "For Consumer".
As with PC recorders, it is best to use brand-name blanks like TDK.
Short answer: your enemy!
Long answer: SCMS, often pronounced as "scums", is short for Serial Copy Management System. It is a copy-prevention system embedded in most consumer grade digital audio recording equipment, including DAT recorders, MiniDiscs and stand-alone CD burners.
Under SCMS, you are allowed to make a copy of any original recording, but not a copy of a copy. Any piece of digital media has one of three types:
There is no easy way to work around these restrictions without a computer-based CD burner, so when you trade for discs, ask for them to be unprotected if possible. However, most people who use PC-based burners won't know what this is and won't know how to set their software up to do this — to make matters worse, the default setting is often to record the CDs as protected or duplicates.
See also http://www.mitsuicdrstore.com/SCMS_nh.html
There are two common ways of defining the difference between these two methods. The first is more technically correct, but the second is a more useful definition, and it's what people in alt.music.bootlegs mean when referring to "on the fly" and "off the fly".
It is usually best to burn "off the fly" — in other words, make a copy of the original CD as WAV files on your hard disc and then record them to CD. Burning directly from CD to CD can result in glitches. Here's why...
Your hard drives and CD drives are normally attached to things called IDE controllers (unless you have a SCSI system — most people don't). Systems have 2 IDE controllers. Each IDE controller can have 2 devices attached. Your setup will probably be something like:
PC ----- Primary IDE -------- Hard Drive
| |
| |
| --- (empty)
|
|
--- Secondary IDE ------ CD-ROM
|
|
--- CD Recorder
Now, an IDE controller is what allows the drives to communicate with the rest of the PC. However, an IDE controller can only do one thing at a time. When you burn on the fly from an audio CD, you are asking your secondary IDE to read from your CD-ROM and write to your CD recorder at the same time. It does this by reading a little bit of data and then quickly switching modes and writing a little bit of data.
This requires a lot of work on the part of your PC, operating system, IDE controller, CD-ROM, CD Recorder and even the discs themselves. Often, something will go wrong. Maybe there's a fingerprint on the CD-ROM and the IDE controller takes just a little bit too long reading it. Then the CD Recorder will run out of data to burn, so you'll end up with a shiny new coaster.
It really is too easy for things to go wrong when burning on the fly from an audio CD. Even if the CD appears to have burnt correctly, the sound quality may not be as good as you'd get with burning from WAV files on your hard disc.
See also: http://pages.cthome.net/homepage/eac/cdtocd.htm
Generally, Plextor's get the best reviews, but if you're careful, it really shouldn't make much difference. See also:
http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq05.html#S5-1
Your CD is spinning at thousands of revolutions per minute, there are lasers shooting — it's all quite exciting really. Extracting a perfect copy of a song in extreme conditions like this seems less like an exercise of precise science and more like a black art. However, there are some software writers who do study such witchcraft, and here is what they've created:
If you want a perfect copy of a CD, then these are your tools. To set up EAC, refer to http://pages.cthome.net/homepage/eac/setup.htm. CD Paranoia is a fairly complicated command-line program, but there is a nice graphical front-end for it called Grip http://www.nostatic.org/grip.
Download this software and use it whenever you need to create WAV files from a CD.
Firstly, you will need to extract the perfect WAV files from the source disk. How to do that is answered in the previous question. Open up your CD burning software. Select all the WAV files you've just created and put them into a new audio CD. Make sure you set the gaps between each track at 0 seconds (you may need to put 2 seconds gap before the first track). Put your software into Disk-At-Once (DAO) mode. Consult your manual for details of how to do this. Now record your CD! (To be a complete perfectionist, you may want to specify a speed of 4x or below when asked what speed to burn the CD at.)
SCMS is a very irritating feature of standalone burners, and if you're planning on trading with the owner of one of these devices, it is polite to avoid adding SCMS protection to their CDs. Exactly how this is done depends on your software.
In Nero [Win], once you have selected which tracks to record, highlight them all and choose properties from the right-click menu. In the properties section, find the "Protected" check-box and make sure it is empty.
In cdrecord [Linux], use the "-copy" parameter.
There are a small number of very active DAT tapers and traders about. A lot of people feel that DAT traders are a very "exclusive" group who don't often "lower themselves" to trade with the rest of us.
Of course, DAT is a higher quality medium than CDR, so it is quite reasonable for them to refuse to accept CDR recordings.
Try joining the DAT-Heads mailing list. On this discussion list, people with DAT equipment swap hints on how to get the best possible recordings out of their DATs and set up trades with each other. To find out more, visit the DAT-Heads website at:
http://www.solorb.com/dat-heads
Yes, alt.music.bootlegs does have a small number of MiniDisc traders, although most people trade CDR or Videos. MiniDiscs seem to be mainly used by tapers though.
Yes, MiniDisc uses a lossy compression system called Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC) to achieve a compression ratio of roughly 1:5. If no compression was used, a MiniDisc could hold only 15 minutes of audio.
There have been a number of different versions of ATRAC used in MiniDiscs over the years — several by Sony and several by Sharp — and the audio loss with recent versions can only be noticed by die-hard audiophiles, although of course, loss increases with generations.
ATRAC is similar to MP3, but most people agree that it sounds better — probably because ATRAC stores sounds in 292kbps, whereas normally MP3s are no more than 192kbps. A full technical article can be found at minidisc.org's website. http://www.minidisc.org/aes_atrac.html
Because ATRAC is heavily patented, there are currently no computer ATRAC players/recorders like there are with MP3. There are ATRAC3 players though:
Despite some MiniDisc manufacturers' claims, all MiniDiscs really do sound the same! Data is stored on MiniDiscs digitally, so disk quality does not affect the sound quality.
Disk quality is important though — not to sound quality, but to reliability. A good quality MiniDisc will last longer than a low quality disk, which may wear out after a few years.
MDLP stands for MiniDisc Long Play. It is a way of fitting more sound on a standard MiniDisc, similar to the Long Play mode of some VCRs. There are two MDLP modes: LP2 which gets 160mins of sound onto a standard disc; and LP4 which gets 320mins onto a disc. This is a feature of some newer MiniDisc players.
MDLP uses a different way of storing sound called ATRAC3 (there was no ATRAC2 — probably a marketing decision given the popularity of MP3) so will not play on older MiniDisc players. ATRAC3 uses only 132kbps for LP2 and 66kbps Joint Stereo for LP4 resulting in a lower recording.
That said, LP2 recordings are reportedly almost as good as ATRAC recordings. LP4 recordings have noticeable artifacts so should probably not be traded.
Not really! Most people are stopping trading tapes and moving onto CDR. A lot of CDR traders will be willing to dub their CDs onto tapes for you, but very few people will accept tapes in return, unless it's something ultra rare!
That said, it does depend on which band or artist you are trading — some are still heavily centred on cassettes — for example, Jewel, whose taping policy forbids CDR trading, but not tape trading.
You can try asking in alt.music.bootlegs and you might get one or two replies, but I doubt you will.
The previous edition of this FAQ (version 3.1, from 1998) was almost all concerned with trading cassette tapes. For a detailed explanation, find a copy of that FAQ. What follows is a short summary.
Most people prefer you to dub without using Dolby Noise Reduction. While Dolby NR suppresses a lot of the hiss generally associated with cassettes, it also cuts back on some of the "ambience".
Nearly everyone will tell you not to use high-speed dubbing. High- speed dubbing can damage sound quality considerably.
Use "virgin" tapes — in other words, do not record the bootleg over the top of something else — use a brand new, unused tape to record the bootleg onto.
Maxell and TDK are generally considered to be the best tapes. You should always use "Type II" tapes.
MP3 is short for Motion Picture Experts Group, Layer 3. It is a way of compressing sound data, invented for MPEG video files, but commonly used in plain audio files (without any pictures).
The compression is "lossy", meaning that the sound of the MP3 file will be of a slightly lower quality than the original source. The quality difference is generally rather small though.
MP3 files are small enough to send over the Internet, so unlike trading CDs or other physical media, you don't have to pay any postage.
Also, as you are not sending anything physical, there is less of a problem with bad traders.
However, MP3 files lower quality than the original CD source. Also, you probably can't play MP3 files in your car stereo.
While MP3 files are smaller than a lot of other audio files, they are still big (a typical song will usually be at least 4 megabytes). Downloading could take a long time on a slow Internet connection.
There are a wide range of software players for MP3 files. Here are just some:
There are also a few portable MP3 players available.
There are several pieces of software that can convert MP3s to WAV files.
Probably the best tool to use is LAME. Like many of the tools I recommend, it is a command-line program, but has several user-friendly interfaces, such as winLAME. The LAME site also has a list of other programs that feature the LAME decoding engine. WinAmp and mpg123 mentioned above also have the ability to convert MP3s to WAV files.
Although the International Standards Organisation (ISO) definition for the MPEG format rigidly specifies the method for decoding MP3s so that all software should give the same results, as always, some software has bugs that result in lower quality output. In particular, versions of WinAmp before 2.7 may contain a bug that causes static when decoding certain files. For details of this bug and deficiencies in other decoders, please see http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~djmrob/mp3decoders/
Unlike decoding MP3s, the ISO MPEG specification allows programmers to invent their own ways to encode MP3s. This means that different MP3 encoders will give you MP3s with different sound qualities. It is generally accepted that LAME (mentioned above) is the best of the bunch.
There are some CD rippers that include the ability to make MP3s of your CDs. Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and Grip are two of these and they can both use the LAME engine to do the conversion. Other CD rippers, like AudioCatalyst use faster but lower quality MP3 encoders so should be avoided where possible.
When encoding an MP3, you can choose its "bitrate". MP3s with higher bitrates have better sound quality, but are bigger files. MP3s with lower bitrates are lower quality, but have smaller file sizes. 128kbps is typically used as a good compromise between file size and sound quality. 192kbps is used when quality is very important.
alt.music.bootlegs has a lot of MP3 traders reading it, who will often trade by sending files from computer to computer by a method called FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
People also often tade files using "file sharing" services like Morpheus or Napster.
God, yes!!! Most serious traders do not want to receive a recording which is sourced from MP3 files because of the lower sound quality. This does not just mean that they don't want the MP3 files, but that they don't want a CD made out of the files either. Or a CD made out of a CD made out of MP3 files, etc, etc...
Please respect this wish and if you are planning on trading an MP3-sourced recording, warn your trading partner in advance! If you do not, you are likely to be posted as a bad trader, and it could repesent the end of your new hobby! For this reason, it is strongly advisable to keep a careful record of where all your CDs come from and if they have an MP3 "generation" in their history.
First of all, listen to it. If you can't tell the difference, does it matter? Well, if you still think it matters, here's a way of checking.
Rip a random track from the CD into a WAV file using EAC. Open it in a good audio editor. Run a "frequency analysis" on the WAV file and take a look at the treble frequencies. Most MP3 encoders savage frequencies above about 16KHz or 18KHz, so if there's little to no sound in that region, the CD is probably MP3-sourced.
However, newer better MP3 encoders are always being developed. LAME at bitrates of above 192Kbps is virtually indistinguisable from the original WAV file.
Also, there can be other reasons for the loss of high frequencies — older MiniDiscs for example have a similar effect, as can a cassette tape generation followed by hiss reduction.
Small clicks between tracks can also be a sign of an MP3-sourced recording, but it is possible to convert MP3s to CDR without adding clicks, and there are also other reasons why the clicks could be there (a bad TAO to DAO conversion for example)
So in short, there's no way to be 100% sure.
SHN is an abbreviation for "Shorten".
Unlike MP3, SHN files are non-lossy, so the sound contained in a SHN file is exactly the same as the WAV file it was created from.
SHN does have some disadvantages though — SHN encoders and decoders are slower than the equivalent MP3 tools. Also, SHN files are much bigger than MP3 files. Here is an example. These are all the same song (an acoustic version of REM's "Losing My Religion" if you must know!):
MP3 (128kbps, Joint Stereo) ... ... ... 4,209 KB MP3 (192kbps, True Stereo) ... ... ... 6,314 KB SHN ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 27,870 KB ZIP (Maximum Compression) ... ... ... 43,400 KB WAV ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 46,397 KB
It should be noted, that SHN compresses Mono recordings very badly — use FLAC instead.
Like MP3 files, they can be sent over the Internet, so you have no postage to pay and less trouble with bad traders.
Unlike MP3 though, once you've downloaded an SHN file, you have a nice CD-quality recording which you can freely trade.
However, SHN files are much bigger than MP3 files, so you will have to spend a long time downloading them! Usually only people with broadband (very fast) Internet connections trade them.
MP3 files are a lot more popular than SHN files, so while there are 100s of MP3 players around, there are very few SHN players. That said, a few do exist.
Firstly, it is wise to check that the files haven't been corrupted during downloading them. This step is not neccessary, but it's a very good idea. There is usually an MD5 file that comes with the SHN files. This file allows you to check the SHN files are OK. To use the MD5 file, you will need some MD5 software:
Note: Linux users probably already have md5sum installed. On Red Hat based systems, it is in the "textutils" package, which is generally installed by default. On Debian based systems, it is part of the "dpkg" package, which is always installed. See the md5sum man page for detailed usage instructions.
In general, to perform the check, type the following at the command prompt:
md5sum -c [FILENAME].md5
If any of the files have been damaged while downloading, then you should re-download them. If after a second download they are still corrupted, contact the person you are downloading them from and have him check that the files aren't corrupted at his end. If they check out OK, then continue...
Now you are sure the files are alright, you can decompress them. To do this, we need some more software:
Once again, we go to the command prompt to decompress the files:
shortn32 -x [FILENAME].shn [FILENAME].wav
If you are a Windows user and thus terribly afraid of using the command line, then I can heartily recommend a piece of software called mkwACT that does all the MD5 checking and decompressing for you using a nice drag-and-drop interface.
There are some nice instructions on how to install and use it here http://www.etree.org/mkw.html
Anyway, you should now have your SHN files in the flexible WAV file format. As WAV files, they can be recorded onto CDs or converted into other file formats.
Firstly, you will need the same software specified in the answer above. To create an SHN from a WAV file (to create WAV files from CDs, check out the CDR section above) you can either use mkwACT or go the command line way. mkwACT is so easy to use that I won't bother explaining it. Here's the command line way. For each WAV file do:
shortn32 [FILENAME].wav [FILENAME].shn
At the end of converting all the files, it is a good idea to create an MD5 file:
md5sum *.shn > [FILENAME].md5
Currently, the biggest group of SHN traders can be found at etree.org. You can also try searching the Web for other SHN traders.
The MD5 algorithm is described in RFC1321 by R. Rivest. Using the MD5 algorithm, it is possible to calculate a "signature" for a file. For example:
5c63cea472906212bffa149299be0e59
This signature is essentially unique to that file. Any changes to the file (even tiny ones!) will result in a completely different signature.
An MD5 file contains a list of all the signatures of all the SHN files of a bootleg. You can check the signatures in the MD5 file against the signatures for each SHN file. If some of them don't match, it means that those files were damaged during downloading them, so you should try downloading again.
For MD5 software that automates the checking process, see etree.org. Also, mkwACT has MD5 checking built in.
For more details about how MD5 works, please see the original RFC at:
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1321.html
NTSC, PAL and SECAM are different ways of broadcasting audio/video information. PAL and SECAM offer slightly better resolution than NTSC, but on the other hand, NTSC has less flicker.
NTSC is short for National Television System Committee. It was developed in the USA and is used in most of North and South America and most of Asia, including Japan.
PAL is short for Phase Alternating Line. It is used in most of Europe and in Australia and Brazil. There are 5 variants of PAL, but once the signals have been put onto video, the differences between them are eliminated.
SECAM is short for Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire. It is used in France, some of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It has two variants, which are similarly compatable once they have been recorded onto tape.
The bad news is thata PAL video won't play on an NTSC VCR. A SECAM VCR can't play an NTSC recording. Et cetera.
The exception to this is that most modern European VCRs can now play NTSC videos as well as PAL, but only record in PAL.
For more information, I recommend http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/WorldTV/
The short answer is that you can't! It requires specialist equipment. Of course some people have this equipment and will offer to do the conversion for you for a small fee — expect to pay between $5 and $15 (US dollars) per hour. There will usually be a big reduction in picture quality caused by the conversion.
You need two VCRs. We will call the VCR that plays the original video "VCR P" and the VCR that records onto the blank tape "VCR R"
If your VCRs are relatively new, they will have SCART (Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs) sockets at the back. These are big rectangular sockets, similar in appearence to the parallel port socket on your computer, typically used for printers. If you don't have a SCART socket on both videos, go to the next question.
Connect a SCART lead between the two VCRs. Put a blank tape into VCR R and make sure it is rewound. Switch VCR R onto the "AV" channel.
Put the original tape into VCR P and fast-forward/rewind to the beginning of what you want to copy.
Press "record" on VCR R and wait 5 seconds. Press "play" on VCR P. Wait until the program you are copying is finished. Press "stop" on VCR P. Press "stop" on VCR R. Rewind the tape in VCR R.
(Note: using SCART you will get a better quality copy and it will be easier. Use SCART if it is possible.)
You need two VCRs. We will call the VCR that plays the original video "VCR P" and the VCR that records onto the blank tape "VCR R"
Get a regular TV aerial lead (the kind you normally use to connect a video to a TV. Connect it from the TV-out of VCR P to the aerial-in of VCR R.
Put the original tape into VCR P and fast-forward/rewind to the beginning of what you want to copy.
Press "record" on VCR R and wait 5 seconds. Press "play" on VCR P. Wait until the program you are copying is finished. Press "stop" on VCR P. Press "stop" on VCR R. Rewind the tape in VCR R.
VCD stands for "Video Compact Disc". It is a CD that contains video as well as audio. These CDs can be played on some DVD players and some CD-ROM drives as well as VCD players (these came out years ago, but never sold very well, except in Asia). They can also be played in PlayStations, Dreamcasts and Sega Saturns if you purchase the appropriate add-on.
A 74min CDR can hold 74min of film when used as a VCD. This is thanks to MPEG1 compression. Like DVDs, they can have menus and chapters.
Just copy the VCD like a data CD-ROM.
The details of VCD creation are way beyond the scope of this FAQ. A basic summary is:
Further information at http://www.vcdhelp.com/
Ogg Vorbis is a lossy compression similar to MP3, but it gives you slightly better sound quality and slightly smaller files. It also has much less restrictive licensing conditions. Other than these differences, you may treat OGG files almost the same as MP3 files. For more information, see http://www.xiph.org/
These files are for Real Networks' media player called Real Player. It is very difficult to convert these files to any other format, although there is a piece of Windows software called Streambox Ripper than can do it. Streambox no longer makes this product, but copies can be found in the online underground.
The official Real Player can be downloaded from http://www.real.com/.
The format is lossy.
These files are for Microsoft's Windows Media Player. It is even harder to convert these files to any other format.
The official player (only for Windows and Macintosh) can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/. An unofficial player for most other operating systems is Xine, which can be found at http://xine.sourceforge.net/.
The format is lossy.
This is a new non-lossy format designed to replace SHN. It creates smaller files than SHN (by about 15%), especially when dealing with a Mono recording (sometimes about 40% difference from SHN!). The files have built in integrity checks (so MD5 files aren't needed), built in seek tables (so you can fast-forward and rewind them in media players) and tagging support (so you can store information about the files, such as Title and Artist). The format also has less restrictive licensing conditions.
The FLAC home page is http://flac.sourceforge.net/.
There are recordable DVDs now, and people do trade them, but not many people have the equipment.
This is entirely up to you as a trader, and something that you need to discuss with the other party during trades. However, most traders prefer to have artwork with their shows if possible, so it is good practice to always include artwork, if only by email, if possible.
There are many programs that can be used for making artwork, from MS Word to specialist labelling programs.
One of the most popular is Neato's MediaFace II, which can be downloaded for free from http://www.neato.com/. This has ready-made templates for Casettes, CDs, DVDs, Videos and much more. Of course, any decent graphics package can be used.
What you put on the artwork is entirely up to you — some people simply put a tracklist on the back cover, some prefer making full colour photo-quality artwork for the front and back.
A good starting point is Jamaka's artwork page, that has literally hundreds of links to various artwork pages, sorted by artist. http://home-1.tiscali.nl/~jamaka/artwork.html
If that fails you then ask on the newsgroup or search on Google.
This depends on what resolution you want to use. 150 pixels per inch is a fairly common resolution. The front cover should be 12cm by 12cm (12cm is 4.75 inches) which works out to be a 712 pixel square. If you would prefer a booklet style front cover, then double the width. The back cover should be 15cm (5.92 inches) wide and 11.85cm (4.67 inches) high, which is 886 by 700 pixels. This includes the left and right "lips" which are 6mm/0.25 inches/36 pixels.
I recommend using PNG format. This format gives you great compression (better strength than GIF) and is supported by all major browsers.
JPEG is also often used, although it should be noted that JPEG pictures are lower quality than their PNG equivalents because the JPEG compression scheme is lossy.
Postage rates vary from country to country, state to state, and are dependant on the destination combined with the package's weight. The best way to find the postage rate for an item is to visit your local post office, or the post office's website, which should be able to give you an indication of prices.
The best way to ensure that cds arrive at their destination in the same condition as they left you is to use bubble-wrapped padded bags (usually known as jifffy bags). These protect the cd on all sides and are much better than the fibre-filled bags — those tend to make a mess if they get torn.
In addition to this, pieces of cardboard can help to ensure that a package is not bent. It is especially important to ensure that a package is not bend if you are sending without the cds in a jewel case.
If you use staples to seal a package, please cover the staples with plastic tape, because metal staples can be sharp and the post office may refuse to deliver your package if it feels that it could endanger their staff. (Stabs with pieces of metal can cause tetanus amongst other infections)
Not only are fibre mailers harder to reuse, but if they are not opened carefully they can shower you and your room with dust. Some traders are also afraid that the fibres will get into their system and cause havoc with the workings, and while we haven't ever heard of this happening, it is certainly a possibility.
This is up to you as a trader to discuss with the other party. Priority costs more, but ensures that the package is delivered much faster. With inland mailing, you can usually also pay for recorded and next-day delivery. It is usually good practice to send by first class mail, and avoid second class, though this is another thing for you to discuss with the other party.
International shipping takes much longer than inland posting, and can take over 4 weeks when sheeping to certain parts of the world.
There are usually two options when sending packages internationally — air mail and surface mail. Air Mail is by far the quickest method, and is preferred by almost all traders. Surface mail is marginally cheaper, but usually takes 5 to 6 weeks, and so should be avoided at all costs.
When shipping abroad you will sometimes also need to fill out a customs form. These are usually small green stickers that are attached to the front of your packages with the weight, description of the contents and a signature. When filling out a customs slip, it is usually best to mark the item as a 'gift' rather than 'merchandise', and make the description 'used cds', with a low monetary value. This will help to ensure that the recipient does not have to pay tax upon receiving the item.
When sending a package to someone, if you want a reply, you'll often enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope for them to use. However, if you are sending a package internationally, your stamps are unlikely to be worth anything. This is where International Reply Coupons (IRCs) come in.
An IRC can usually be bought from your local post office. Prices vary from country to country — for example, at the time of writing an IRC cost $1.75 in the USA, but $3.50 in Canada. Part of this price difference is due to the lower value of the Canadian dollar, but that only accounts for a small difference in price — the simple fact is that IRCs cost different amounts in different countries.
Then you can send the IRCs off. The recipient can exchange the IRCs for a local stamp. This is usually a stamp of the values of the cheapest airmail to the country the IRC came from. Because you are probably sending a heavier package (containing CDs or whatever) you may need more than one IRC to cover the postage — typically one IRC for each CD you send and then one more.
The IRC system is run by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) which was formed in 1874 and is the oldest International Organisation in existance. However, the UPU does not cover the entire world, so some countries may not accept IRCs.
Firstly, e-mail them and tell them to wait a little while longer. Some packages take longer to arrive than others.
If after a month or so has gone by then you can safely assume that they've got lost in the mail. It happens. It is now your responsibility to replace them.
Make new copies of the discs. Double check his address — maybe you had it wrong and that's why they disappeared. Take them to your post office and send them. Obtain proof of postage — this is usually free.
If he still doesn't get your package, then you can assume that he's probably lying and just trying to get lots of spare copies from you. You have proof that you've sent it and it is unlikely that the post office would lose both packages.
Anyone who is serious about trading will need to keep a list. Otherwise people will not know what you have, so will not be able to set up a trade with you!
Create a new file on your computer and simply list every bootleg you have. The two most common formats for bootleg lists are plain text and HTML. These are good, because they can be read by pretty much anyone on the Internet. Probably in the near future some people will be using XML too.
If you use a more exotic file format (such as MS Word files, Excel files, Databases, etc), be sure to keep an up-to-date text file or HTML file as well, because not everyone will have the right software to view your list in its native format.
At a minimum, record the name of the band, the date (if known) and location (if known). It is also a good idea to include the source of the recording (see later on!) and a quality grade (also see later!).
Other things you might want to consider including are the length of the recording — for example, 57 minutes; a setlist; a detailed desciption of the source — type of microphone used, etc; the generation of your recording (see later).
In my experience, if you are making your list as plain text, it is best to keep information minimal, so that each bootleg only requires one line of text. Including setlists will detract from the readability of the list.
If you are using HTML, you can use different font sizes and other techniques to make the headings (bands, dates, locations) stand out so that you can include extra information such as setlists without making your list unreadable.
If you are using HTML, you might also want to consider keeping setlists on separate pages and hyperlinking to them from your main list.
Firstly, you should bear in mind that quality is an indication of the sound quality of the recording. In other words, a high quality show is very clear, has very little audience noise, etc.
Quality is NOT based on "what good songs were played".
The usual way of grading quality nowadays is by using school grades — A+ is an exceptionally good recording, E- is terrible! This method of grading is used as it is pretty easy for people to understand. Here are some other ways of grading that you may come across:
Older Standard:
EX+ — Perfect recording. EX — Excellent recording. EX- — Mainly excellent recording, maybe with some minor flaws. VG+ — Very, very good recording. VG — Very good recording. Very listenable. VG- — Not quite as good as very good. G — Good recording. Listenable. P — Poor recording. Only for true collectors! VP — Very poor. Difficult to tell what's going on at the show!
Number Grading (mainly used by DAT traders):
10 — Perfect recording. : : 1 — Awful recording.
Fractions are occasionally used, for example 9.5
Older Number Grading (never used today!):
1 — Excellent 2 — Good 3 — Fair 4 — Poor 5 — True collector only
Whichever system you choose to use, try to be consistant. You may want to explain your grading system somewhere on your list.
These abbreviations stand for the source of the live recording.
ALD = Taped from an assisted listening device (some venues have
this system for people with hearing problems to listen to)
AUD = Audience (These can be real good, or real bad)
FM = A show broadcast on FM radio
#PRO = Where # represents the number of cameras used in a pro-shot,
but unreleased video
PRO = Pro-shot video (unspecified number of cameras)
SB = Soundboard (Generally, the best type of live recording)
SBD = Soundboard
SDBD = Soundboard
STU = Studio tracks (Demos, Out-takes, B-sides, etc)
ST = Studio tracks
TRI = TRIpod shot (video)
TV = A show broadcast on television
VHS = Audio was taken off a VHS video-cassette
WEB = Webcast
The term "soundboard" should not be used lightly. For a recording to be truly soundboard-sourced, it must come directly from the venue's mixing deck. TV/FM broadcasts (and webcasts!) to not count as soundboard.
You may also see these abbreviations (particularly AUD and SBD) prefixed with a D — i.e. DAUD or DSBD. This just means that they are digitally sourced — no MP3 generation, no cassette generation.
It is useful to include a list of rules/guidelines for trading with you. If you put them at the top of your list, try to keep them as concise as possible, as no-one wants to read through pages of rules before trading with you! If you put them at the bottom of the list, or on a seperate page (on a website), then feel free to write on and on and on and on and...
It might be a good idea to add such a list to the end of your main bootleg list. Not only will it give people a nice list of traders that they can trust (because they didn't rip you off!), but it will also act as a set of references for you.
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 bootlegs. That's how trades start.
Make sure you only post a text version to the newsgroup. People don't like HTML posts to newsgroups. If your list is in HTML, put it on a website somewhere and post a link to it on the newsgroup.
This depends on how busy you like to be! Every two weeks would be sensible. Every two days would not.
Crossposting is posting your article to several newsgroups at once. This is commonly done, 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 if you don't like them.
What equipment you use to record live concerts will greatly determine the quality of your recordings. Nowadays, the most commonly used equipment is either a DAT or MiniDisc recorder hooked up to some good microphones, although some people still record to analogue cassette tapes.
Cassettes are by far the cheapest option, but of course do not offer the same sound quality that DATs or MDs do.
MiniDisc is an ideal setup for beginners. A good MiniDisc recorder should be reasonably priced, and they are very small. MiniDiscs can hold up to 80 minutes of stereo music (or 160 minutes of mono) with very little quality loss.
DATs are the preferred taping medium, although they are much more expensive than MiniDiscs. They record at 48000 samples per second (better than CD quality) and can last for up to 3 hours non-stop.
Possibly more important is your choice of microphone. There are two main types of microphone — unidirectional and omnidirectional.
Unidirectional microphones are "focussed". If you aim them at the sound source, they should pick that sound source up very well without picking up much surrounding audience noise. They also can help filter out echos, if they acoustics of the venue aren't that great. A popular type of unidirectional microphone is the Cardioid.
Omnidirectional microphones on the other hand pick up sound from all directions and are thus preferred for stereo recordings. These are best used in concerts where there is only a little audience noise.
It is a good idea to have a good set of both type of microphone for different occasions, but if you have to settle on one, unidirectional microphones are more flexible.
Either way, you should check your microphone's sound pressure levels (SPL). If you are going to be recording loud concerts, make sure you get microphones with a SPL of at least 120 decibels.
It is also important to have a "battery box". This will amplify the signal from the microphone, allowing you to plug directly into your recording unit's line in. The line in is preferable to the microphone socket, because most taping units have fairly poor preamps in their microphone sockets.
A bass roll-off is also useful for concerts with a lot of bass, because bass tends to cause distortion on a lot of recordings.
DAT:
MiniDisc:
It is often good to start taping in smaller venues as you will be able to get closer to the source of the sound (speaker stacks, stage, etc). You may also be able to build a friendship with the sound guy this way. (See the question on getting a soundboard patch)
Another advantage of taping in smaller venues is that you will be able to speak to the band before and ask them if they would like you to record them, which brings me to my next point...
A good place to tape is anywhere a taper-friendly band is playing! When getting started it is useful to be able to openly tape without worrying about your shiny new equipment being confiscated, so taper-friendly bands are ideal practice. (See the question on taper-friendly bands)
Assuming the band does not allow taping (otherwise you wouldn't be sneaking your gear in, right?), you may need to be a little cunning.
Various methods include "crotching" (wearing two pairs of under-wear and putting your equipment between them) to creating a false bottom in a girlfriend's handbag. And of course, BIG jackets!
Ask fellow tapers for ideas but be creative, because security guards have often learned about the older tricks.
A usual technique is clipping them to your collar or the rim of your hat. Hats are especially good if you're fairly tall and using Cardioids, because it will get the microphones above the level of the audience and hopefully you'll pick up less audience noise. More importantly... where should you stand?
In every venue, there is a so called "sweet spot" — the point with the best sound in the whole building (other than the stage, that is!). This is often just in front of the soundboard. Another consideration is audience noise. If there's a balcony, a spot right at the front of that (combined with unidirectional microphones) will give you very little audience noise.
If the guy next to you is being noisy, it might be useful to offer him a copy of the tape if he shuts up.
Use the support band to test how good your sound is. Set up your gear how you think will be best, then tape the full set of the support band. Between sets (often over half an hour!), listen to your recording and make the necessary adjustments to your gear to get an even better recording of the evening's main event! It's cool to keep the support band's recording too. One day they may make it big, and you'll have a very rare early recording of them.
DATs have higher error rates at the beginning of the tape.
Don't bring along blank MiniDiscs — bring along discs with about 3 seconds already recorded onto them. This means there is already a table of contents (TOC) on the disc, so when you need to eject the disc to put in a new one, your recorder will be much faster when writing the new TOC.
If a band is taper-friendly, they may allow you to plug directly into the soundboard ("betty board"). If they do:
If the band is not taper-friendly, the sound guy will not let you connect to the soundboard — it's more that his job is worth (unless maybe you're a friend ;)
This depends on the venue. Check the small print on the back of your ticket. They will probably just send you back to your car and tell you to put the gear away and come back in when you've dumped it. In most juristictions, staff should not be able to keep your gear (at least not once the show is over) if they find it, although they may have the right to confiscate any media found on you indefinately.
A good question. The truth of the matter is that your microphones are not likely to be far enough apart to get a good stereo effect.
According to the professionals, to get a good stereo recording, you have to have your microphones three times as far apart as they are back from the sound source. So for example, if you are standing 50 feet back from the stage, your microphones should be 150 foot apart from each other! As you are unlikely to be able to do this, it doesn't really matter if you record in Mono or Stereo — but remember, often your media will allow you to record for longer if you use Mono!
The way to get a truly good stereo recording it to find a taping partner — one of you can stand at the left of the venue and one can stand at the right. Use similar rigs and after the show, mix your tapes together. This is also a useful arrangement if your recorder dies half-way through the gig — at least your partner will probably be getting a recording.
This section has been written by a non-taper! OK, so I've taped one or two shows, but my experience of taping is very limited. I have tried to gather information from a range of experts, but take all this information with a pinch of salt.
Links to all the software mentioned follow at the end of this answer.
First, you will need a good audio editor. The best free one I have found is Audacity — it works on Windows, Mac (Classic or OS X), Linux, BSD and probably other systems too. Goldwave comes in at about $50 and is great. CoolEdit costs a little more — about $80. CoolEdit Pro weighs in at about $300 and Soundforge, the mother of all audio editors will set you back about $500!
Luckily, trial versions are available for CoolEdit and Goldwave. I have been informed that there are various cracks and patches to unlock the trial versions, but use these at your own risk. I will not give you any advice on how to find such things.
General Audio Editing:
Professional-quality digital audio extraction (CD ripping):
Other useful tools:
Firstly, extract all the tracks to WAV files using EAC, CD Paranoia or another good digital audio extractor.
Now open the first track in your audio editor. Zoom in to the beginning of the file and delete any silence you find there. Zoom into the end of the file and do the same. Repeat this process for every WAV file. You may be able to use WAVtrim to do all this for you, but I find it unreliable.
The easy method is now to burn the WAV files in Disc At Once mode and you're done. This will sometimes result in a flawless copy, although there are often tiny clicks between tracks. If you want to do the conversion perfectly, continue reading!
Now use your audio editor to join all the edited WAV files up into one long WAV file. CoolEdit Pro has an "Open Append" item on the "File" menu, which is very handy for doing this. I have also been told there is a utility called "WavMerge" that can do this, but I haven't been able to find a copy to test it.
In Linux or Mac OS X, you can use "sox" to convert the WAV files to RAW audio files (headerless WAV files), then join them all using the "cat" command and then use "sox" to convert the resulting file back into WAV format.
Listen to the transitions between tracks. Do they sound good? Do they need a bit of editing? If so, do it. Now is also the time to do any other editing you might need to do — normalising, equalisation, cleaning up hisses and pops, etc...
Save the long WAV file and delete the short WAV files you made it from — you'll probably be running out of disc space by now :)
Use CD Wave to break the WAV file up into tracks again. Burn these tracks in Disc At Once mode with 0 second gaps.
You probably mean, "why join all the tracks together into one WAV file and then split them up again", don't you?
Well, the answer is fairly complicated. Tracks on a CD must be an exact multiple of 588 samples (1/75 second) long. If they're not, then you'll end up with a click between tracks.
After editing the WAV files (removing silence from the beginning and ends), the lengths of the files will be fairly random and certainly won't all be multiples of 588 samples.
CD Wave splits files at exactly 588 sample boundaries, so if you join all your WAVs up and resplit them, you will get a flawless CD.
Assuming you are using a PC to record CDRs (it's trivially easy with a standalone, although your results will not usually be as good!), first you'll need to connect a device (DAT/MD/Cassette/Vinyl deck, etc...) to your computer's soundcard.
Most DAT and MD decks have a digital output. If your soundcard has a digital input, you're sorted! Follow the instructions in your manuals and you should have a decent recording in no time.
Assuming a digital connection is not an option, you will need an audio cable to connect your device to your soundcard. You should be able to find such a thing at your local electrical retailer. Check what types of output sockets your device has (often a "headphone" socket and maybe another socket as well) and what input sockets your soundcard has (usually the "headphone" type).
Once you have the cable, attach one end to the output of your device and the other to either the line in (recommended) or the microphone socket of your soundcard.
Now, play around with the volume control in your audio editor and also on the device you are recording from to get the right volume levels. You want the signal to be as loud as possible without the risk of clipping. (See the question on this)
Once you have this level, reduce the volume a little bit more just in case — reducing by about 15% should do.
Now, rewind to the beginning. Set up your audio editor to record in 16-bit stereo at 44.1KHz. Press "record" on your audio editor and press play on your device. This first step gets easier with practice!
You should now have a long WAV file of what you want to record to CDR. Use your audio editor to edit out problems such as when you flipped the tape.
If you were recording from a tape, vinyl or some other analog medium, there is probably a small amount of "hiss" in your WAV file. Most audio editors have an anti-hiss tool that you can use to reduce this.
Also, listen to your recording. Does it sound to bassy? Lower the bass in your editor's EQ. Too tinny? Then lower the treble.
Once you have the recording just how you like it, find the "normalise" function of your audio editor. Normalise the WAV to 99%. This will raise the volume to the highest level possible without the dreaded clipping.
Now save your WAV file and close your audio editor. Open up your WAV file in CD Wave and use that to add in track splits. It is generally best practice to put the split at the beginning of a song, rather than at the end of the previous song. A good rule is that if banter lasts for more than 30 seconds, it should be given its own track — otherwise leave it at the end of the song before it (not at the beginning of the song after it!)
Now save the tracks and use your CD burning software to burn them in Disc-At-Once mode with no gaps.
Most audio editors have an anti-hiss function.
Zoom in on the pop and you'll see something like this:
x
xxxx xxxx
xx xx xx xx
x x x x x
-x----------x----------x----------x----------x-
x x x x x
xx xx x xx
xxxx xxxx
it is pretty obvious which part of the waveform is causing the pop. Use your best resources to put the rogue samples back where they are supoosed to go to get a smoother waveform. In this case, I'd reduce the rogue sample's volume to about 30% of its original level and then invert it, to get something like this:
xxxx xxxx
xx xx xx xx
x x x x x
-x----------x----------x----------x----------x-
x x xx x x
xx xx x xx
xxxx xxxx
If you have to do some work on a show, do it on the full show in one WAV file instead of each track individually — this will result in smoother transitions between tracks. This is particularly important in normalising. If you can spare the disc space and memory, you might want to do all your working in 32 bits (instead of the standard 16) and convert back to 16 at the end.
Always do track splits at 588 sample boundaries — CD Wave makes this easy!
A signal that results from an amplifier that is either overloaded or underpowered relative to the signal amplitude (volume) it being asked to generate.
A clipped waveform is one in which the gently rounded peaks and valleys of the AC audio wave are instead sliced off or clipped, to yield what looks a lot like a square or alternating DC wave.
A newsgroup is a forum for the discussion of a particular topic. Newsgroups belong to a vast network called Usenet (short for "User's Network") which grew up alongside the Internet and they are now inextricably linked.
At the time Usenet was developed, the World-Wide Web did not exist and very few people had an Internet presence. Usenet allowed people to establish such a presence, by posting articles to its groups.
Usenet is heirachically organised. For example, there is a comp.* heirachy that contains newsgroups about computers. This has a sub- heirachy called comp.os.* which contains newsgroups about computer operating systems. This contains a newsgroup called comp.os.research containing various articles about operating systems research.
There are two main ways — through a newsreader or through a website.
A newsreader is a program that allows you to communicate with a newsserver (usually provided by your ISP or University) and lets you read articles posted to newsgroups and post your own articles.
Here are some newsreaders that you may like to try.
As mentioned earlier, Usenet may also be accessed via the WWW (although most "hardcore" Usenet users would not recommend this, as it is slower and less flexible). A popular "Web-to-News gateway" can be found at
Definately! What follows is a short summary of Usenet Etiquette. For a fuller guide please refer to http://www.csam.montclair.edu/Docs/Users_guide/news.html
Definately! If someone posts asking for a Backstreet Boys bootleg, it may be tempting to reply with a "flame", telling them that BSB are crap and they should get a life and listen to some real music for a change. But don't. We are a mixed bunch in alt.music.bootlegs. We all have different tastes in music — chances are that someone feels exactly the same way about your favourite band.
Think about how to reply. You have two options — you can reply to the newsgroup, or reply by email to the original sender. Only reply to the newsgroup if you feel that other people there will be interested in your reply.
It is very important to choose an appropriate subject for your posts. Alt.music.bootlegs is a high-volume newsgroup which usually receives between 50 and 100 posts per day, so most people skim the subject lines, and only read the posts if the subject looks interesting. Good subject lines are:
"WTD" is short for "Wanted" and "ISO" is short for "In Search Of". They both mean the same thing. It is probably a good idea to indicate what you have to trade in return in the body of the message — particularly recordings by the same and/or similar artists. If you're just after any recording by a particular artist (not a specific show), leave out the venue and date.
"F/T" is short for "For Trade". "F/T" is short for "For Sale". Use these when you want to let people know you've just recieved a show and want to trade/sell it.
Post these messages to let people know that you've taped/filmed a particular show. It is a good idea to include information in the body of the message indicating when you'll be ready to trade it (MD —> CD transfers can take a while)
Alt.music.bootlegs was "newgrouped" (created) with this message:
From Sat Aug 13 00:08:33 1994 Control: newgroup alt.music.bootlegs Newsgroups: alt.music.bootlegs.ctl Path: uunet!meaddata!swiss.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com! newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!news.cic.net!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!csn! csus.edu!netcom.com!mach3 From: (Ben Kierulff) Subject: cmsg newgroup alt.music.bootlegs Message-ID: <> Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Sat, 13 Aug 1994 00:15:54 GMT Approved: Lines: 3 Xref: uunet control:1122418 -- -=-Mach3-=-
There then followed a lot of "rmgrouping" (deleting) and recreating of the group because people couldn't agree on whether it had been created properly (you are supposed to provide a tagline, description and optionally a charter when you create a group — none of this had been done), but eventually people gave up and it now exists and is widely propogated (it is carried on most news servers) and widely used.
Alt.music.bootlegs will exist in some shape or form for as long as Usenet continues to exist. Once a newsgroup exists, it's pretty hard to kill!
Alt.music.*, alt.fan.* and rec.music.* probably hold newsgroups about some of your favourite bands. These might also be of some interest:
If you want to look outside Usenet, there are a lot of mailing lists around that may be of interest. Yahoo Groups http://www.yahoogroups.com is a good starting place.
Bootlegging and piracy are different! As stated earlier, piracy is the unauthorised copying of legitimately-released material — for example, the albums and singles of a band. Bootlegging on the other hand is the (re-)production of other recordings by a band — demos, radio station sessions, live performances, studio out-takes, etc.
In my experience, most bootleggers are strongly anti-piracy, and an uninformed newbie coming to the group looking for a copy of an official release is likely to be disappointed (and severly repremanded!).
While some might claim that bootlegging and piracy are treated the same in the eyes of the law, this is not true — although certain organisations, such as the RIAA would like you to believe otherwise. Most nations' laws treat bootlegging and piracy differently and the vast majority of the readers of alt.music.bootlegs recognise the clear difference as well.
For example, band X is looking for a record contract, so they get their drummer's cousin (who has a MiniDisc) to help them record a few tracks. They master it onto CDR and maybe sell a few copies at shows. But the real reason they did it is to send copies to record companies.
Record Company Z listens to X's recording and thinks, "these guys are really good," so he gives them a contract.
They go off to record an album. While in the studio, they record 16 brilliant songs. The record company says that 3 of the songs don't really fit with the mood of the rest of the album, so those 3 songs are cut. Also, they don't like the way song Y has been recorded, and ask for it to be recorded in a more upbeat style.
The album is released and X are an instant worldwide hit.
Now, their original recording which they made on a MiniDisc is a demo. If the 3 songs which were cut from the album, and the original version of song Y somehow get leaked from the studio (maybe a recording technician is a bootlegger), those are out takes.
If a bootleg is for example 50 minutes long, you may want to add some extra tracks on at the end to fill up the disc. This is called a "filler".
In the days of tape trading, most people used fillers. Otherwise, you would have to sit through a lot of silence before getting back to the beginning of the tape again.
Now fillers are less common. Some people will put them on, some won't. If you get a filler, it's a nice bonus. It's also a good idea to pass that filler along to anyone who you make a copy of the bootleg for, because it doesn't take much extra effort.
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.
In the age of digital recording, generations have become less important as a copy is almost exactly the same as its source. Generations are still important in video trading though. A lot of MiniDisc and DAT traders also care a lot about generations.
A mono recording is a recording where the sound coming out of the left and right speakers is the same. In a stereo recording, the sound coming out of each speaker is different, which results in a more realistic and 3-dimensional sound.
Joint Stereo is a more efficient way of storing stereo sound. Most of the time, the left and right channels of a stereo recording are similar — not the same, but nearly. So instead of storing both channels, we just store the left channel and then store the differences between the channels. This type of storage forms the basis of a lot of audio compression.
FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol. It is the standard way of transferring files from one computer to another. To connect to another computer by FTP you will need 4 pieces of information:
Once you have these pieces of information, you enter them into your FTP client. If you need an FTP client, here are some:
It is also possible to do some basic FTP with some web browsers. Just construct an address like this:
ftp://[User name]:[Password]@[Host address]:[Port]/
For example, if I was connecting to the potato.curry.net server (no, this doesn't really exist!) with user name "toby" and password "secret" using port 21, this would be the address to type into my browser:
ftp://toby::21/
Maintained by Toby Inkster <>
Written by James Eades <> / Toby Inkster <> / Jeff Kuhn