"To me, making a tape is like writing a letter..."
November 6, 2002 1:04 PM   Subscribe

"To me, making a tape is like writing a letter..." Subject of books, movies and songs, mix tapes are a part of our culture. Some people lament the end of the tape and the rise of the CD. Some offer tips on making the perfect mix. Still not inspired? Pick a theme and have someone else do it for you. Really inspired? Join the Art of the Mix, a community dedicated to the mix tape (previously discussed here). A little fun for folks in the MefiSwap, or anyone who loves music.
posted by jewishbuddha (12 comments total)
 
I love making mixed Cd's and Mixed tapes. (warning, self-links)

I think swapping mixed CD's is a great way to find out about new music. There are a ton of great resources on the net to swap music. I get so much music in the mail it's almost impossible to keep track of it all.
posted by quibx at 1:26 PM on November 6, 2002


Is this live, or is it MetaFilter?
posted by LeLiLo at 1:33 PM on November 6, 2002


lilo, quit spillin that haterade yo.

good links.
posted by luckyclone at 2:13 PM on November 6, 2002


I like making mixes...first it was tapes, of late it's been CDs. I've got a few of mine listed on Art of the Mix...you can see them here. (yeah yeah, shameless self-promotion. ; ))
posted by SisterHavana at 3:20 PM on November 6, 2002


Is this live, or is it MetaFilter?

Ouch. You're right. I did a search on "tape", but not on "cassette" and I missed that thread. No wonder the WaPo article looked familiar.

Sorry. I'll just go back to my homework now.
posted by jewishbuddha at 3:55 PM on November 6, 2002


jewishb: I hope you didn't think I was "spillin that haterade yo." I just wanted to point out that I'd read the same article on MeFi only a few days ago.

Plus, as luckyclone said (in the only thing I understood up there), you did add a lot of other useful links.
posted by LeLiLo at 7:54 PM on November 6, 2002


Word on that, jb - bonus points for sheer volume of info. Thanks!
posted by deliriouscool at 8:07 PM on November 6, 2002


My philosophy for making mixes has been to find melodic, harmonic and rhythmic connections between songs. I see it as kind of a musical rather than a poetic challenge. As a result my mixes can come out kind of funny thematically, but oh the satisfaction of having a song end in one key and the next start in its relative minor, or having instrumentation gradually morph through a series of songs from one set of instruments to another, or having a melody from one song pop up again in the next. Does anyone else do it this way?

my two favorites are probably here and here
posted by boltman at 8:24 PM on November 6, 2002


Along those lines, Boltman, I've been playing around of late with GJay, a nifty little Linux tool that lets you organize your MP3s (Oggs, .wavs, whatever) by a variety of attributes, and then generates playlists for you that should flow smoothly from song to song.

I don't think you'd want to generate a mix CD directly from it, but it's been interesting to see what sort of interesting juxtapositions it comes up with -- there are some pairings I've found that'll definitely go on mix CDs/tapes at some point.

(Pseudo-self-link warning: the author is a good friend of mine. But I think it's nifty, independent of that.)
posted by Trombone Borges at 9:05 PM on November 6, 2002


boltman: nice job covering a wide stretch of ground in your Deep River Blues mix. Ray Charles, Cannonball Adderly, Doc Watson, Bill Frisell, Van Morrison, and Bob Dylan; different styles, different eras, six true classics.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:37 PM on November 6, 2002


yet another self link, but i think its appropriate.. all these mix cds and tapes are a collections of songs, but with dance music you really have to mix the songs together into ~76 minutes of continuous music

ive made a bunch using vegas video (the only way to go for this kind of cd) and you can really go way beyond what you can do with turntables.. custom intros/outros, thematic, repeating fx throughout the cd and more

check the layout picture for priority number one

discography
posted by cmicali at 12:22 AM on November 7, 2002


"Mixed tapes are secret plots to steal hearts." - Jack Saturn
posted by yonderboy at 12:33 AM on November 7, 2002


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