Recipe for a Mix Tape

Hyelloski,

In my time lived as an audiophile, I have burned a lot of mixes in a lot of genres for a lot of people.  Have been through many phases (do not judge me based on the following): emo, punk rock, alt rock, techno, metal, hardcore, ska, folk, indie, whatever.  Have made mixes for people all over the place.  I’ve been around the block, in whatever way that relates to burning mixes for people (and not nasty business).  Since I’ve been asked to, I’d like to impart a little of the knowledge and wisdom that I have gained over the past decade.

Note: All of these things are for a basic 25 track introduce-you-to-so-much-good-shit mix.  Specific types of mixes can follow the basic recipe, but there is a bit of a different structure.

Step One: Make your record label. This is not totally necessary, but it’s something that I’ve found helps.  Once I established my mixes as being by Of the Moment Records, I committed myself to a certain level of quality and a certain way about them.  The man who truly makes the greatest mixes ever and has taught me everything I know (by virtue of giving me dozens of mixes) has been Wait and See (or Wait and Sea) Records since I met him.  Quinn Callahan, you are a god of music and have changed the course of my life with all the jams you gave me.  Eternally grateful, yadda yadda.

Step Two: Establish a theme for your mix. It doesn’t need to be a strict theme, but generally there is a certain feel to some mixes.  Rebellious, sexy, lonely, hateful, happy, resentful, mourning, whatever.  Not every song needs to be right in there, but generally about 15-18 of my songs are pretty well on-theme.  The most recent mix I made was full of lonely, lusty, and fun songs when I started it and I ended up having to cut all the lonely out (time constraints and too much going on with the multiple themes).  A lot of times when I make a mix I will load it up with music I want the person to hear and then have to whittle it down to fit into 80 minutes and to be perfect.  It’s better when you have to cut a bunch of songs, because you are making sure that only the best stuff gets on there.  And yes, it is heartbreaking to have to cut some songs, but your audience will never know what they’re missing so don’t stress too much about it.

Step Three: Take some time to figure out what is going on the mix. When I know I am going to make a mix for someone it generally takes me about two weeks.  I will keep the audience in mind and shuffle my iPod or seek out new music and listen for the perfect stuff and makes notes on my iPhone or loose paper in my car or whatever I have here for what to put on there.  So don’t feel rushed when you are making a mix, make sure you get the right stuff.  Baby.

The two most important songs on a mix are the opener and the closer.  Now don’t get me wrong, every song is important.  And you need to know this going into a mix.  If you don’t have n number of tracks that you WANT on a mix for someone, do not make it.  I cannot stress this enough.  Filler is unacceptable in a mix. Ok, in a real pinch, you can have as many as two filler songs.  But space them out and make them damned good filler songs.  Dammit.

The opener should grab your listener and set the tone for the mix.  Think about the opening scene of a movie and the way it brings you into the film…if you don’t grab their attention and make them want to listen, they won’t.  Or they will go into the mix with a less-than-ideal mindset.  Sometimes I like to use songs that open with a quote or a little something unique; you want your audience to be smiling or dancing a little when the mix opens.  Whatever you do, make sure you really grab them.

The next few songs should keep the same theme.  I like to keep tracks 1-5 pretty upbeat so my audience is engaged enough to be excited for the rest of the mix.  I know that when someone makes me a mix, if the first few songs are really great and exciting I am just amped about the rest.  If you put on some sucky shit between 6 and 18, they’ll probably still be excited because of a good opening.  And that’s where you can start to change it up.

Not all of your songs need to be crazy upbeat, dancy, peppy, whatever.  Around 6-10 you can start to incorporate things that are a little stranger.  You can slow it down, put on some weirdness, whatever.  Don’t be too crazy, and don’t make them all weird, but one or two can be a little off-theme.  Just know that you should keep the first five a certain way but then you have a little more freedom.  Do not abuse.

At this point I should mention transitions.  The real key to a good mix is the transitions. The way I make sure my shit is flowing is to listen to the last 10-30 seconds of a song and the following 5-20 of the next.  This method will ensure that your songs flow well together and you keep the mix as one entity.  Several songs will stand out and whatnot, but overall you are making one mix.  Sure, you are introducing someone to songs, but you are also giving them a whole experience.  They won’t listen to those 4 songs you want them to hear if the rest of the mix is shit.  This is a full experience and you want them to enjoy it as such, for as long as they can.  Pay attention to your transitions.

10-20 is the real meat of the mix and should really nail down the theme you have set.  You’ve opened it up with some exciting and great stuff, now keep it going and stick to the theme.

21-24 is a gamble.  I really can’t tell you what to put there.  You need to see what the rest of the mix looks like and what your closing song is, and hopefully at this point you should be able to fill in those four songs to fit.  I trust you.

The Closer.  The closer is the last bite of a perfect dinner.  It is the resolution to your film.  It is the goodnight kiss. You have just given someone a wonderful mix, through and through, and you need to seal it.  Things to keep in mind with a closing track: remember that it will be directly followed by the opening track (hopefully your mix is good enough that people will just leave it in and loop it), so don’t use the same artist and don’t make it too completely different.  Closing with something slow and sad and long by The Get Up Kids and then opening with Kesta Ston – Slägsmilsklybbän?  Not so much.  Be careful.  Make sure that, like a movie, it wraps up everything you have already laid out.  Stick with the theme, tie it back in, make it…just pick the right track.  The closer is important.  Make the audience feel complete with it.  Don’t leave them wanting more and don’t make it something awful.  It needs to be the resolution, the conclusion, of your mix.

The Outliers:

Live songs: Only use one live song per mix.  A live song can really throw a mix off, but sometimes something is so damned good you just need to share it.  This item should go somewhere between tracks 16 and 23.  Some of my favorite live songs to put on mixes are:

The Beatles – Baby’s in Black

Hot Rod Circuit – Hi-Tech Lip Gloss

Social Distortion – Prison Bound

Jason Mraz – 0% Interest*

Long Songs:  Ok, there are a lot of really great songs that are really stinkin long.  This comes up a lot with older songs, classic rock and such, so you really need to be careful when you are making a mix that includes a lot of that kind of music.  My rule for long songs is a maximum of 3 songs exceeding 5:20.  MAXIMUM I SAY.  That is a hard cap, kiddies.  And those songs should be damned close to 5:20, not three seven minutes songs.  God, don’t be a dick.  You can put one song as long as 8:20, but dammit it had better be worth it.  The tricky part here is that the songs that are both amazing and 8:20ish are generally “the perfect closing song.”  Now.  This may be true.  But you need to find out if your audience’s car cd player can skip from the end of the mix to the first track easily; otherwise, you are a dick.  These long songs can be scattered throughout; try to keep them apart.  Do not put one in the first 5 songs; you’re still warming your audience up.  Don’t scare them off with some songs that draaaag.  (Note: maybe I’m kind of a dick, cause I just opened a mix with Arcade Fire – No Cars Go [5:44]…but it’s a pretty good opening song and I know my audience so there.  When you’re a pro, you can do this too.  Patience, grasshoppers.)  The only two songs around the 8:20 range that I have ever put on mixes:

Jason Mraz – 0% Interest*

OAR – Crazy Game of Poker

Same Band Songs: This is a tough one.  If you must repeat a band, try to only put two songs by them on the mix.  It’s bad form to repeat a band, but how could I ever choose which Arcade Fire or MGMT song to put on a mix?  Come on.  Point is, choose carefully.  And really think about it.  If you had too many songs on a mix and you had to cut some, would you cut one of those?  You can probably cut it to one (or two) if you try, so try.  It’s worth it.  And don’t ever exceed three.  Or the music fairy will come take one of your eyeballs and a handful of pubes.  I’ve seen it; it’s super run away.

In summation: keep it on theme, know your audience, monitor transitions, make it open and close in a way that will make them sigh deeply, and don’t fill space for the sake of making a mix longer. Also, know thyself or something.

I hope this has been informative and helpful.  Happy music sharing.

xo,

Cat

Post-script: If you want to make me a mix?  Anything with clapping will make me squeal like a little girl.

*yeah, this song is both live and incredibly long.  But so stinkin good.