Music Mixing

October 25, 2005 5:35 AM

Do you mix your own? Welcome to the website dedicated to making mixed tapes and cds. i like to use this site along with AMG (as a reference tool) to come up with much needed new ideas , and share them with people of similar tastes. just copy the names you find in AOTM (the ones you have no idea who they are) paste in the search engine at AMG and then listen to a sample of music from said group , to see if its your thing or not. here is a group i was introduced to a few years ago . found them ( you guessed it) on AOTM . when you find a mix you like offer to trade one of your own for it and use this site or some thing like it to share with your new friend.
posted by nola (22 comments total)

Ah.... a hit from May 2001.

(But still good. Glad to see they're still going.)
posted by grabbingsand at 5:46 AM on October 25, 2005

I don't believe in mix tapes/CD's. I like albums; especially concept albums (a la Abbey Road or The Unauthorized Biography of Rheinold Messner).

Mix tapes are the equivalent of listening to Top 40 radio.

IMNSHO

=)
posted by swinginjohn at 5:50 AM on October 25, 2005

I think it depends who's making the mix tape. Most of mine are more like silly college radio.

The key to my mixes? Throw in something weird to liven things up every two songs. And big changes - go from Lawrence Welk to black metal. Keeps it interesting.
posted by fungible at 5:59 AM on October 25, 2005

swinginjohn: I disagree wholeheartedly. A good mixtape (like a good album) represents a value that is greater than the value of the individual songs.

One could simply consider a mixtape an album of songs by different artists. It is just as possible to make a concept mixtape as it is to make a concept album.
posted by sveskemus at 5:59 AM on October 25, 2005

Colonel Jeffrey Pumpernickel: A Concept Album (with various artists).
posted by ashbury at 6:06 AM on October 25, 2005

sveskemus

I guess I see your point. I mess around with playlists every now and then in Winamp and get some interesting listens.

One of my favorite things to do is take all of the same number of a track from all of the albums I have.

So grab all of the track 3's from every album you have and see what happens. =)
posted by swinginjohn at 6:17 AM on October 25, 2005

Bad mix tape = Top 40 radio
Good mix (tape/album) = Live DJ set from a great DJ
posted by rxrfrx at 6:17 AM on October 25, 2005

I tend to make theme-related mix-tapes/CDs. The lastest one was "Mothra vs. Rock Lobster" anchored by Those Darn Accordions at one end, the B-52s at the other end, and science-fiction related music in the middle: Forbidden Zone soundtrack, some Anime soundtrack stuff, some local music no one would recognize, and of course, Frank Zappa.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 7:07 AM on October 25, 2005

Say what you will about this Web site, but they've been around a long time: their archive still contains a cassette mix I posted on their site when I first got the Internet in 1998!
posted by Lord Kinbote at 7:09 AM on October 25, 2005

swinginjohn: So grab all of the track 3's from every album you have and see what happens. =)

I just made a Smart Playlist in iTunes with every track 3 in my library. If I start listening now, I'll be done in about 23 hours.

Can't, though. Gotta go to school and work. :-(
posted by sveskemus at 7:15 AM on October 25, 2005

I DJ (with actual turntables). Mixtapes are what little girls make for their friends. Todd Lokken.
posted by wakko at 7:17 AM on October 25, 2005

Makes me want to read High Fidelity all over again. Mix tapes/CDs are an art form unto themselves.
posted by Ber at 7:49 AM on October 25, 2005

I'm tempted to take this to MeTa; what ever happened to the quarterly Metafilter mix swap? five copies of a mix got you five different mixes. I learned about a lot of great music that way. it would be super sweet if it started again. or is it still going? paging dreama?
posted by carsonb at 8:00 AM on October 25, 2005

carsonb: MeTa.
posted by sveskemus at 8:04 AM on October 25, 2005

I'm tempted to take this to MeTa; what ever happened to the quarterly Metafilter mix swap?

There was a thread already, and you can sign up at mefiswap.ciphermonkeys.org.
posted by cmonkey at 8:04 AM on October 25, 2005

where can i download mix cds?
posted by mingusmingus at 9:01 AM on October 25, 2005

I downloaded the Acoustica MP3 mixer (shareware) the other day and although the manual is a bit cryptic, once I figured things out, it's a dream for adjusting levels, fading, splicing, and adjusting tempos. It lacks a bpm analyzer but a little searching turns up a bunch.

Warning: This is addictive! I have spent well over 24 hours fretting over the songs and their order of my first mp3 mix.
posted by mischief at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2005

Swingin' John: Maybe your mix tapes would be better if your favorite bands didn't suck.

(I make MEAN mix tapes, mostly for driving. I also have a monthly free mix cd swap, which kicks some ass...)
posted by klangklangston at 9:43 AM on October 25, 2005

Here's an mp3 blog for downloading lots and lots (and lots) of mixes. Its a bit more oriented towards electronic music, but you'll find yourself with a few days worth of listening time pretty quickly. Cover art, too.
posted by solipse at 2:01 PM on October 25, 2005

thank you, friends.
posted by carsonb at 2:19 PM on October 25, 2005

I used to make mixtapes until I started downloading mashup mixes from excellent DJs. Another case of stifled creativity.

Listening to my old tapes, I realize that isn't always such a bad thing.
posted by anthill at 2:45 PM on October 25, 2005

last.fm

download plug-ins for players

add friends
posted by s.disney at 10:54 AM on October 26, 2005