How do you Assemble a Decent Mix?
My ex took off for France around a week ago and although I gave her an iPod just prior to her leaving she didn't have time to burn and copy her music across.
So I've just finished burning her CDs and was going to send them across to her but I wanted to assemble at least one CD as a mix for her. So here's the question how do you assemble your's? How do you decide what goes in and what to leave out?
So I've just finished burning her CDs and was going to send them across to her but I wanted to assemble at least one CD as a mix for her. So here's the question how do you assemble your's? How do you decide what goes in and what to leave out?
Comments
Originally posted by Telomar
My ex took off for France around a week ago and although I gave her an iPod just prior to her leaving she didn't have time to burn and copy her music across.
So I've just finished burning her CDs and was going to send them across to her but I wanted to assemble at least one CD as a mix for her. So here's the question how do you assemble your's? How do you decide what goes in and what to leave out?
i go through and pick out all of my songs, then pick a good opening song. from there, it depends on the kind of CD, but for an average mix i do 3 fairly upbeat songs, then put in a semi-slow song, then slow songs (2) then find a semi-slow, then fast sonog... you get the idea. making mixes is all about arranging the songs so that the transition from fast to slow songs is seemless. just use trial and error and listen to the transition between each song (crossfade in itunes helps) and keep tweaking until there's never an uncomfortable jump in tempo or style.
</my opinion>
"Theme" mixes (I have a whole playlist of "food music" topically tied together).
"Mood" mixes (blending B3 or filling a playlist with smoky club tunes)
"Balance" mixes (going from blues about evil men to some about evil women for fairness)
"Tempo" mixes, where connecting tunes seem seamless, but the overall pattern is a wave up and down.
"Instrumental" mixes (sometimes contrasting styles on the same keyboard)
On rare occasion, I'd throw in some "stream of consciousness" mixes...
making sure the final word of one song made perfect sense leading into the lyrics of the next song as if all musical composition were some massive Jungian shared-unconscious party game, but it's a lot more work to make that kind of mix seamless.
Various combinations of the above usually provide plenty of fodder for follow-up tracks.
I've got friends and former fellow jocks who keep strict rules: no more than 2 tracks from one artist per compilation; no more than two versions of the same song unless one is radically different and provides a foil for the other version...
Depends on your style and that of your audience.
If you're stumped, iTMS does have "celebrity playlists" to steal inspiration.
Or you could give us a few tracks from your list and let us suggest alternatives.
Given the likely range of tastes, that might be interesting...