How to make a good mix cd (…and let’s organize a trade!)
I have a thing for making mix cds. I make myself mixes all the time. I make other people mixes all the time. I trade mixes with people all the time. It’s almost like an illness.
But between all the mixes I’ve made, and all the mixes I’ve heard that other people have given me, I’ve learned a lot about making a good mix cd.
- It’s funner if you have some sort of theme to follow. Mood themes are probably the easiest. Examples: melancholy songs, get-up-and-dance songs, songs that make you want to scratch someone’s eyes out. One of the most successful mood-themed mixes ideas I’ve had was a four seasons mix: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Other theme ideas: amazing vocalists, instrumentals, a “best of” (you choose the criteria), songs about murder…
- Flow. It’s gotta flow. This is something I sometimes have trouble with—I like so many different kinds of music that I can jump from weirdness to some completely other type of weirdness from song to song and it doesn’t bother me a bit. In fact, sometimes I like to make mixes that are purposely jarring (just for myself–like say, from doom metal to the Carpenters in one swing). In mixes I make for other people, I sometimes include what I think of as a “sore thumb” track—one song that doesn’t fit in. It’s more a personal weakness than anything else. I have a friend who makes perfectly flowing mix cds. He’s really a genius at it. It can be fun to take two very different songs and then see if you can start the mix with one and end it with the other, without any jarring transitions.
- Little details can make a good mix into a great one. Once I made a mix that started with a song that began with a beeping noise. And then the last song on the mix ended with a beeping noise. (I actually did this unintentionally, but the mix recipient was really impressed.) Touches like that can make a mix really shine. Or make you incredibly geeky, depends on who you ask.
So, is anyone interested in doing a group mix cd trade? Just in time for the holidays! I’ll match people up for partners to trade a mix with, and give us all a few weeks to get them in the mail. Then we’ll start a thread where we can all post comments or reviews of each other’s mixes.
Email me if you’re interested, and I’ll get it organized:
And feel free to post your own tips/notes/preferences on making mix cds here.
November 09, 2006 in Music | Comments (25)
practical tips: include track info when you send the mix. Don’t make the listener guess as to its content. And burn it as an audio CD so that people can listen in their cars, or whereever.
Comment by Supergenius — November 9, 2006 @ 7:12 pm
We’ve done three rounds of this at BTD (and I’ve done it in other forums as well) and it’s lots of fun.
(Here’s the cover from my last BTD mix:
The mix was surprisingly upbeat.)
Count me in.
Comment by BTD Greg — November 9, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
Flow is definitely important. And I agree on the theme thing. Even if I don’t have a pre-planned theme, I usually end up following some sort of unconscious theme that I’ve decided upon without verbalizing it.
Anyway, I’d be up for it. I enjoy mix-making, and I think I’m pretty good at it.
Comment by Brian V — November 9, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
Oops, here’s the link
http://static.flickr.com/91/244853117_472b57a244_o.jpg
Comment by BTD Greg — November 9, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
That’s awesome, Greg.
Brian I was hoping you’d be up for it.
Brian’s been trading mixes with me for years, and he’s a master.
Comment by Susan M — November 9, 2006 @ 7:38 pm
Mixes are much easier to make for iPods. Just put together a playlist for the recipient.
Snippets of non-songs at moments between songs also make the mix seem more coherent and designed. Also useful are especially interesting moments of really old songs (folk, classical, whatever) as a sort of audio palette cleanser.
Comment by RoastedTomatoes — November 10, 2006 @ 8:34 am
I think surprise is a key element. Juxtaposing two songs that flow well but would seem to be unnatural partners is one of the great joys of making mix tapes.
Comment by HP — November 10, 2006 @ 10:54 am
I like to use mixes I’m making for someone else to find new music for myself. One of the last mixes I did I decided to have a “magician” theme so I went out and found and bought songs like Grand Illusion by Joan Osbourne and Lou Reed’s version of This Magic Moment. I don’t give people mixes I don’t like myself, not because I’m such a great guy but because I listen to them all the time, too!
Comment by Matt — November 10, 2006 @ 11:26 am
Making a mix as a playlist for an iPod feels like heresy to a traditionalist like me. I finally gave up the idea a couple of years ago that mix tapes are better than mix CDs. I’m not prepared to make the leap to DAPs. Audio CDs at least retain something of the structure of an album.
Comment by BTD Greg — November 10, 2006 @ 11:28 am
“I think surprise is a key element”
Surprise and Fear. and ruthless efficiency. and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…
Comment by Supergenius — November 10, 2006 @ 11:40 am
HA!
Comment by HP — November 10, 2006 @ 1:16 pm
I was wondering if anyone was going to get that….
Comment by Supergenius — November 10, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
Hey Supergenius. No one expects the … nevermind.
I would love to do a trade. Whats the deadline? Does it matter if it’s a little weird?
Comment by meems — November 12, 2006 @ 6:56 am
I am still insisting that SG provide at least mp3s of all Thunderdome winners…
Comment by a random John — November 13, 2006 @ 10:03 am
No deadline yet, meems, I’m waiting to see how many are going to participate.
And no, it doesn’t matter if it’s a little weird.
Comment by Susan M — November 13, 2006 @ 10:11 am
random John, T-dome cannot be simply given — it must be EARNED.
Comment by Supergenius — November 13, 2006 @ 11:43 am
I’m interested. Just a little curious as to how many cds we’d be mailing out here.
Comment by danithew — November 13, 2006 @ 2:28 pm
I’ll match people up one-on-one. So you’ll only be mailing one disc.
Comment by Susan M — November 13, 2006 @ 2:57 pm
SG,
Remind me to stop sending you DVDs full of goodness.
Comment by a random John — November 13, 2006 @ 3:13 pm
OK, to recap, here are the people who’ve responded so far:
meems
Amri
Matt Barr
Ned Flanders
Tom
Greg Call
Supergenius
BTD Greg
Brian V
HP
Anyone else who wants in, let me know ASAP. (Also if I’ve left anyone out.)
Comment by Susan M — November 13, 2006 @ 5:09 pm
Oops, forgot Danithew.
Random John do you want in?
Comment by Susan M — November 13, 2006 @ 5:12 pm
Me ! Me!
I ran a mix of the month club for about a year… I’ve been missing it.
Has anyone discovered Art of the Mix?
(major timewaster)
Art of the Mix
My favorite started was Good Morning (Singing in the Rain) followed by Institutionalized (Suicidial Tendancies).
For the Mix Club – people could opt in or out on a month by month basis, themes were “assigned” and I rotated the participants (so mailed & received from different people as often as possible) Then after the mailout deadline, people posted their mixlists to the club thread so we could all admire & compare & make arrangements to trade for additional discs privately.
Themes:
songs about cars
songs about the body/ body parts
music you listened to in high school
halloween/ scary music
New Year’s (music you discovered the previous year)
We also occasionally did scavenger hunt mixes
example:
1. A song off the first album you bought.
2. A song with blue in the title.
3. A song that makes your ears bleed
etc., etc,
Comment by Jennifer — November 15, 2006 @ 1:19 pm
It’s like you’re my long lost twin, Jennifer. I did the exact same thing with a mix trading ring. It recently fizzled out because none of us have much time for it. (We’d post detailed reviews of everyone’s mixes, too.)
Comment by Susan M — November 15, 2006 @ 1:33 pm
And Jennifer, I need your email address. I’m gonna send out an email to everyone who wants to participate. You can email me at susan at kulturblog.com.
Comment by Susan M — November 15, 2006 @ 1:50 pm
Everything I know about sequencing I learned from the White Album.
Comment by Steven B — November 25, 2006 @ 3:10 am