04.18.2007
MAKING A MIX TAPE
HEIR TO HER DAD'S MAD MIX TAPING SKILLS, KRISTINE LIM GIVES US RULES FOR MAKING AWESOME MIXES
UPDATED 04.23.2007 WITH A SAMPLE POST-BREAKUP MIX
Making an awesome mix tape can get you laid. I'm proof-positive. I wouldn't be here today if it weren’t for my dad's mad mix taping skills.
In the 70s, the cassette tape made its debut and my dad jumped on the bandwagon of home recording. A lifelong music lover, he filled dozens of TDK tapes with his favorite bands. Then he met my mother. He wooed her through song. At the end of the day though, it wasn’t the mix tapes that won her over. It was champoy. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is mix tape skills are hereditary. If you have it, then you have it. If you don’t, then read on. There might be hope for you yet.
When I was younger I watched my dad as he hunched over his double deck stereo, with a notebook on his lap and a pen in his hand. He would list down the songs and song lengths. He made sure every song fit within the 60 minute mark (30 minutes on each side).
Twelve or so years later, I'm hunched over my dad's stereo system making my own mix tape. I don’t remember the first one I ever made but a few stand out in memory. Once I filled both sides with just one song, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys, just because I felt like listening to it over and over. I didn’t realize I could do this by pressing ‘repeat’ on the CD player.
Mistakes and bad judgment aside, it was harder back then to create a nicely flowing tape. You couldn’t preview mixes on your computer like you can now. It's difficult for many to remember life without cell phones, the Internet and iPods. (As I type, tape to tape recording is beginning to blur in the edges of my mind.) In the early 90s the best you could do was record CDs to cassettes and play those on a creaky Walkman. Now, thanks to the miracle of CD burners, mix tapes (or rather mix CDs) can be done in minutes.
Over the years I’ve exchanged mix tapes with some good friends, and the internet is a treasure trove of great mix tapes available for anyone to download. It’s a wonderful way to find good music. With each tape I make, I try to make sure that the person I give it to discovers their new favorite song on it. It’s a tall order but it’s happened to me more than once.
There’s no art to making mix tapes. Any yokel can do it, but here are some loose guidelines to making a good one.
1) Find a purpose – You have to think about the person you’re giving it to, or the reason for the tape. Is it for a good friend or is it for a long road trip to the beach? It’s not unlike dressing appropriately for an occasion. You wouldn’t wear denim cut-offs to the prom, would you? It’s the same with mix tapes. Including a 20-minute dirge in a barbeque party mix would be the wrong thing to do.
2) Know your audience – Exposing people to good new music is all well and good but if you know full well your friends can’t stand rap, don’t bother making them a Gangsta’s Paradise Mix. Aside from knowing your friends’ tastes, being familiar with their record collection is good too. Don’t give them something they already have. Which leads us to…
3) Do they have it already? – I admit I’m a little obsessive-compulsive when it comes to mix taping. I keep a database of all the mix tapes I’ve given to my friends. It makes it possible to keep track of the songs I’ve put on their mixes already. With Excel, it’s extremely easy to find songs by artist or track listings per album so there’s no embarrassing re-gifting.
4) Make it flow – People often forget that the flow of the mix is important as well. The next song on the mix has to complement the one before it. Going from a sweet ballad to a booty-shaking dance track is not recommended. Remember: jarring the listener is never a good thing.
5) Songs per artist – I usually keep it to a 3 song maximum. Any more than that and you should probably just give them the entire album.
6) Emoness – This doesn’t refer to overwrought boys with eyeliner. It means creating an atmosphere of attachment. You want the person who gets your mix tape to form an emotional attachment to it. You want them to listen to it over and over until their ears bleed. I can’t tell you how to do this, as I said before, it’s hereditary.
7) Can I dance to it? – If you can’t dance to it, it doesn’t belong there.
8) Cover art – Probably the most overlooked aspect of the mix tape. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or professionally done but it adds a certain panache that will make your mix tapes stand out from the rest. Photoshop is your new best friend.
9) Feedback, I hear feedback – Being the OC mix taper that I am, I always ask my friends for feedback on the mix. I want to know which songs they liked and which songs they didn’t. It’s a great help for future mix tapes. I have a thing for alternative-country but most of my friends don’t, so I’ve learned over multiple mix tapes that my friends can only stand banjo strumming in small amounts.
So that’s it. I’ve done all I can do. Like a puppy under a rainbow, getting a lovingly made mix tape will be the bright spot in someone’s day.
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UPDATED 04.23.2007 WITH A SAMPLE POST-BREAKUP MIX
Here's a mix tape I sent a friend to help her get over a very recent breakup.
1. Nada Surf > "All You Need Is Love"—This is a charming version of the Beatles' song intended to give my friend a little hope. It backfired though. She thought Nada Surf was mocking her pain.
2. Jon Brion > “Here We Go”—From the Punch-Drunk Love soundtrack. Jon Brion also composed music for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He's a master of the sad-yet-redemptive love song.
3. Califone > “The Orchids”—Califone is an experimental folk-rock-electronic band from Chicago. Odd as that combination sounds, "The Orchids" is a lovely song.
4. Feist > “Now At Last”—Leslie Feist should be a superstar. She's bi-lingual, she's super sexy and she's a great singer.
5. Jesse Harris > “Rockaway” —Jesse Harris knows how to write wistful songs. He penned Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why.” "Rockaway" is just as nice.
6. Mike Doughty > “Your Misfortune” —Soul Coughing was one of my favorite bands. I almost cried when they broke up in 2000. Lead singer Mike Doughty got up, cleaned up, and went solo. "Your Misfortune" is about hope and redemption. I'm sensing a trend.
7. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltisin > “I Am Warm and Powerful” —Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (or SSLYBY to friends) sings poppy ditties with sad boy vocals. My friend loved this one as I knew she would.
8. The Changes > “In The Dark”—I found the Changes on a music blog. I just randomly (and legally) downloaded a few of their songs and after one listen I was hooked. The Changes sound like they're from the 80's and they're consistently catchy.
9. Voxtrot > “The Start of Something”—Another internet find. Voxtrot are American, with a Indian-y lead singer that sounds British. Bouncy, dreamy pop.
10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah > “Underwater”—Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (or CYHSY to lazy people) has a really nasally voiced singer. You either love it or you hate it. I hate it but I love this song.
11. Scissor Sisters > “Might Tell You Tonight”—I thought my sad little friend might need a really gay song. Good for dancing.
12. The Twilight Singers > “Sublime”—I love Greg Dulli's voice. It's growl-y, sinister, and sexy. I'd let him whisper sweet nothings to me all day long.
13. Pete Yorn > “Go With It”—"Tell me what's become of us/ even if it's going nowhere/ go with it for now." It's a typical Pete Yorn song and it's about a break-up.
14. Sloan > “Can't You Figure It Out”—Canadian band Sloan sound like the Beatles. Sometimes they sound like the Hollies. Sometimes they sound like the Beach Boys too.
15. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin > “Oregon Girl”—Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (or SSLYBY to people on their MySpace) write feel-good songs about girls. "Oregon Girl" is about stalking a girl from Oregon.
16. Oh No! Oh My! > “Walk in the Park”—This was a good song to follow the one before it. Light, breezy and I think it might be about suicide.
17. XTC > “Then She Appeared”—My friend and I have no idea what the singer is saying. But it's a really cute song.
18. The Decemberists > “Summer Song”—There's a similarly titled Chad and Jeremy song, but this isn't it. I wish it was though because I love Chad and Jeremy. I saw them in concert a few years ago. I think I was the only one under 30 there.
19. Broken Social Scene > “Fire Eye'd Boy”—You should see the video. It's hilarious. Grown men in gym shorts and sweat bands. With Rush's Geddy Lee! Comedy gold. The song is great too.
20. Ryan Adams > “Firecracker”—Although the song is about self-destruction, it's ultimately cathartic. Sure it's kinda country, but it's also really rock n' roll.
