Trade a Zappa Noise Here!
Circulate The Music!
The obsessive in me is looking for every Zappa concert and video I can find.
Take a look at the choices on the left and see what kind of trade we can work out!
(Click here if the left frame with those choices are missing)
What's New?
August 22, 2004 - Alrighty kids! I have finally begun to (slowly) master a few of the FZ videos to DVD.
I currently have the following on disc (quality grade: video/audio):
 To see the rest of the FZ I have on VHS, look at the menu to the left.
Looking for the Big Cassette Sale?
Sorry - all tapes are sold out for now. Check back later, as I should have some more in the coming months. Meanwhile, keep an eye on my rapidly growing list of new shows!
What's the deal? (FAQ)

Q: Ok, I have Zappa you want - You have Zappa I want. How do we trade?

A: There are several ways we can trade:

  1. We do a straight 1-for-1 trade of audio or video. Example: You send me 3 cdrs and I send you 3 cdrs, or you send me 3 videos and I send you 3 videos, etc.
  2. We do a mixed audio/video trade, with 3 cdrs equal to 1 video tape: Examples: You send me 2 videos and I send you 6 cdrs, or you send me 4 cdrs and I send you 1 video and 1 cdr, or some equivalent combination.

(note that the cdr to video ratio is always 3:1)

Q: What if I don't have any Zappa you want? Can we still trade?

A: There are several ways we can trade if you don't have any Zappa I am looking for:

  1. You send me Zappa items not on my list that you buy elsewhere. For example, a ticket stub or stage pass that you saw at your local used record store. Likewise, you may order selected items for me from Barfko-Swill. Please, write me with your offer before you buy it for me!
    (To prevent SPAM, you need remove any spaces and replace AT with @ and DOT with . before you can send this mail)
  2. You send me one of the many non-Zappa items I am looking for, such as items from my Amazon.com wish-list, legal skulls, fossils, Marx Bros, Duckman, MST3K, etc. Write me
    (To prevent SPAM, you need remove any spaces and replace AT with @ and DOT with . before you can send this mail) or click here for some lists of those items.

Typically, people have found that my exchange rate works out to about $5.00 per 2 cdrs or $5.00 per video. This really only covers the cost of blanks, postage, wear and tear, and my time and effort. This is NOT a for-profit venture.

Q: Do you sell CDRs? How much are they?

A: No, I do NOT sell CDRs. I will, however, trade them for Other Items that interest me. Read the FAQ directly above this one.

Q: Do you trade anything that is sold commercially by Zappa Family Trust, Barfko-Swill, Rhino, Ryco, Warner Bros, etc...?

A: No. I will not trade copies of that material. To do otherwise is to steal money from the Zappa family. I fully respect their right to profit from the legacy of Frank's creativity and genius. So should you. Please buy all the commercially available compact discs (from www.zappa.com or here or anywhere else legit) to help demonstrate that allowing people to trade their shows will not impact their record sales.

Q: What speed are videos recorded in and what is the quality?

A: All my video tapes are from the best sources I can find and I'm always willing to consider upgrades. All videos are recorded in SP (2-hr) format. They will be traded to you as such, unless otherwise noted. I dub at normal speed between 4-head Hi-Fi VCRs and use name-brand premium quality tapes.

Q: What is your policy for conversion into CDRs and MP3s?

A: If I am burning a show that I haven't converted from tape before, it will take me longer to complete the trade. This is because of the time required to do quality editing in a tape-to-CD conversion. Here's my policy about what I do:

If I received my master on CD: If it's a clean copy with no "tape-gaps" that could be repaired, I do a mirror copy of the disc (using EAC) with no editing step.

If I received my master on tape: I perform no edits that are detectable. Mostly, they consist of digitally splicing segments that had been originally split by somebody to fit on the 90 minute tape. I take extreme care to match the sine wave at the highest resolution possible. Of course, for most shows I have to re-split the now-complete recording in a different spot to fit it into the 80 minute limitation of the CD. This one split is still better than the 3 or 4 splits required to accomodate the 45 minute limitation imposed by 90 min tapes! This division is always done between songs and wherever possible, during applause. Since FZ often segues from one song to another, this is often harder than you might think. Therefore, if a musical segue must be split, I include overlap time at both ends so that it can be rejoined in the future if necessary.

I also do not place track numbers between songs. I realize that this would be ideal, however here is my reason and justification for this: I simply don't have the time. Considering that they weren't split up on the original cassette either, nothing is actually lost from the original. I also consider live shows to be rather complete entities in their own right and that is backed up by the fact that most live FZ songs segue musically and run together thematically. Also, I rarely ever listen to a concert recording for just one song - I usually listen to the whole thing, or at least half, in the same session.

The bottom line: Any bad edits you hear come from the original I received and I am unable to fix them, usually because of an actual gap in the music. If I can't make a clean repair, I leave the problem alone; never do I make it worse. Additionally, I never "tweak" or modify the overall sound. Since that kind of editing is such a subjective procedure, I'll leave you to do that for yourself if you wish.

MP3s? I do have some shows in MP3 format that I have recorded in no other format. These can be quickly burned to CDR, of course, and are at the quality levels I received them in. I really avoid that format, except for use in portable devices, due to the compression losses. I will not convert into MP3 and rarely accept any MP3 sources because this just degrades the overall quality of material that is traded.

Q: How long will it take to record the shows?

If we have never traded before, I may wait to receive your trade before I ship your tapes. This is to protect myself from unscrupulous traders. As the host trader (if you are contacting me for the trade), it is my right to implement this policy. Sadly, I have been burned once (now I'm twice-shy). Otherwise, turnaround time is typically one week for CDR-to-CDR trades but if you pick shows that still need to be converted from cassette, it may take longer. See FAQ above.

Q: What about postage?

A: Generally, you cover it at your end and I cover it at mine. I almost always use US Postal Service Priority Mail, with delivery confirmation. I would expect you to use the same. International trades will be sent via surface, unless previously agreed to do otherwise. In either case, Jewel CD cases are not sent by either person, unless otherwise arranged (they are too frequently broken by the friendly neighborhood postal worker).

Q: So, you trade internationally?

A: Yes, but if we have never traded before, I will require that I receive your item(s) before sending mine. This is to protect myself from unscrupulous traders. As the host trader (if you are contacting me for the trade), it is my right to implement this policy. Sadly, I have been burned once (now I'm twice-shy).

Write me it's fun!
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