The following is a list of terms and explanations that are very important to the NIRVANA bootleg trading world.
AIM: AOL Instant Messenger. You do NOT have to be subscribed to AOL to use this. This is preferred by some people over other chat and instant messenger services because it seems to have the easiest to use, user-user interface.
ALT.MUSIC.NIRVANA: Newsgroup for the discussion of the band NIRVANA. This is unmoderated so people usually post anything they want.
ALT.MUSIC.NIRVANA.BOOTLEGS: Newsgroup for discussion of NIRVANA bootleg trading. A great place to post lists and find traders.
ANALOG: Audio cassette tapes.
AUDIENCE: The show was recorded on an audio format by an audience member. Most audience recorded NIRVANA shows were recorded on Analog or DAT formats, although Microcassette is known to have been used.
BOOTOGRAPHY: Digital NIRVANA's Bootography. Reviews commercially released discs in a very thorough manner and provides information about them. The #1 source for information on commercially released bootleg CDs.
CUT: This term means that part of the show or a song is missing from the recording. Some people cut songs because they do not fit on the tape... This is very poor trading practice and should not be done under any circumstances. Some shows were cut by the taper. Many early shows were cut to 30 or 45 minutes because the taper forgot to turn the cassette over (10/08/89). DO NOT even cut crowd noise (especially not the band talking between songs).
DAO (Disc-At-Once): Refers to the preferred method of copying CD-Rs. Copying CD-Rs DAO eliminates 2 second gaps between the songs.
DAT: Digital Audio Tape. This is a very high quality way of trading material. If used correctly (and with a good microphone) this is also the best way to record shows from the audience (ie. 02/25/94).
DVD: Digital Video Disc. Undoubtedly the video trading medium of the future, but yet to be used to any extent in trading circles.
FM: This term is used to mean that the show is sourced from an FM radio broadcast (ie. 04/17/87, 02/01/92, 08/30/92), so the resulting recording should be excellent.
FORUM: A place for public discussion about the band NIRVANA. The most popular (non-news based) forums are found at The Internet Nirvana Fan Club, Digital Nirvana,and Cobain.com. Each Forum has it's own particular atmosphere, so if you are interested in meeting other fans this method is highly recommended.
GENERATION: How many times a show has been copied before it gets to you. A direct copy of the master is 1st Gen, a copy of that is a 2nd gen, etc... CD-R and DAT generations experience no quality loss, but analog cassettes do.
HOARDING: Withholding a show from circulation. In the NIRVANA trading community this is usually done to gain more items that are equally rare.
ICQ: Stands for I-Seek-You. Another chatting/instant messenger service. This service tends to be more popular than AIM or Yahoo!'s service. Although the user-user interface isn't as good, it has many more features than the competition.
LIVE GUIDE: A great resource that every trade should read start to finish at some point during their trading "career." Can be found at http://www.nirvanaguide.com.
MASTER: For the purposes of trading the master recording would refer to the original recording (on any format) as recorded by the shows taper. The term "master" can also refer to a digital clone of the original. Short of remastering, this is the best quality recording available.
OUTCESTICIDE: A collection of rare tracks released by Blue Moon Records. At this point there are 5 official Outcesticides and countless clones. For further reading check out the Digital Nirvana Outcesticide FAQ.
PRIVATELY SHOT VIDEO: The video was filmed (usually) by an audience member or friend of the band (on stage) using a home video camera. (Abbreviated PRIV)
PROFESSIONALLY SHOT VIDEO: Video filmed professionally using several camera angles (usually but not always. 11/25/91 1 cam complete pro) and accompanied by soundboard audio. (Abbreviated PRO)
RATIO: The number of shows that are given in return for another (ie. 3:1, 2:1, 17:1, etc...) While blank trades are usually 2:1 and 3:1 is tolerated, it is considered immoral to ask for more than 1:1 ratio when trading tapes, videos or CDRs.
REFERENCES: A list of people that one has traded successfully with.
REMASTERING: Many traders choose to clean up the recording by remastering. While many have mastered this fragile science, others degrade the quality of the recording. Traders should always make note of whether or not a recording has been remastered at some point, and if possible by whom.
SEMI-PROFESSIONAL VIDEO: Semi-Pro Videos are either 2 or more privately shot video cassettes spliced together (ie. 02/14/90, 02/24/94), or a single camera angle from a professionally shot video (11/25/91).
SOUNDBOARD: Recorded professionally using different mics and a mixer. Usually the very best quality (Abbreviated SBD).
SOURCE: What format the show was originally on, what format it is on now, and how it got there (ie. a show originally recorded on video may be transfered to audio at some point, 09/16/91)
TRADE: When 2 people agree to exchange NIRVANA Videos, CD-Rs, or Cassettes.
TRADING CIRCLE: Colloquial term for the group of people who often trade Nirvana recordings with each other. This is a very prefered method of trading.
UNCIRCULATED: One or more traders have attained this recording but it is not in wide circulation for one reason or another. Recordings that are being hoarded fit into this category (ie. 02/01/92).
UNSURFACED: Traders have not yet got a hold of this recording (ie. 01/16/93 is known to exist in geffen's vaults but has yet to fall into the hands of NIRVANA traders)
VCD: Video CD. These are simply discs which contain MPEGs (a very common form of computer video file) but are not a very common trading medium. No quality loss on duplication.
VIDEO: Currently the format used for trading moving pictures, but suffer from rapid quality loss when copying and also decay very rapidly (in a matter of five years or so). Will be superseded by DVD.