Friday, 22 May 2009
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The Golden Age Of The Mixtape Is Over...
Recently my wife asked me to recreate the first mixtape I had made her in an iTunes playlist for her iPod. Could I recreate a mixtape I had made nearly six years ago for her? Yeah, I could do that. Had she asked me to take out the trash, or to get my clothes off the floor and into the hamper, I probably would have said "in a minute," then forgotten about it.
But creating a playlist for her was something I was willing to do immediately. (Now I know six years ago the digital revolution was well under way, but I was a romantic of sorts and made her a mixtape on a cassette she could play in her old Nissan's tapedeck.)
It didn't take me very long to put the playlist together, seeing as how I had most of the tracks on my own iPod. I simply exported the tracks from my iTunes library and imported them to hers. Viola! A perfect digital replica of an analog cassette mixtape. But there was something unsatisfying about this. It was too easy. I thought about the time it took to create the original and all the thought that went into it. I couldn't just drag and drop then reorder and be done with it.
There was an art to making a mixtape... the specific order of the tracks was crucial to the delivery of the message of the mixtape as a whole. Choosing the right bands and even the tempo of the tracks was a skill learned over time. Back in the day making mixtapes for a road trip, that one month "going together" anniversary, for a buddy that moved out to the west coast to let him know what music was jumping on the east coast.... and of course for the house parties, all required a great deal of thought. There was no "instant" skipping of tracks like on an iPod. There was something cool and romantic about the idea of a mixtape. Now making a mix was hard, it required a good read of the person for whom you made the mix for. And sure having all your music at your fingertips on your iPod is great but listening to a mixtape that was made personally for you was a special experience.
That first song was crucial in trying to convince them to listen to the rest of your masterpiece. After that the trick was to ensure good flow from one song to another. Over the next 60 or 90 minutes (depending on your tape choice) you were telling a story of sorts. When you felt the pop of the play button realigning itself with the others, you knew your journey had come to an end.
Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but I liked the idea that when you gave a friend or your crush a mixtape it would, over the next few weeks and months, become the soundtrack to their lives.
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Comments (20)
I put quite a lot of similar thought into Mix CD's... it's just a lot easier.
Also, she had a mixtape 6 years ago? Who was still using tapes in 2003?
types ....
I love making mix CDs.
If you haven't already done so, read High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. The movie's good, too. The book, mostly, deals a lot about mixtapes and the "etiquette" it takes to make one correctly, but there's a lot more to it. Basically, if you love music and have had your fair share of problems in past relationships, read it.
I made my SO a mixtape for Christmas this year and she went nuts for it. I had forgotten the rush it gave me to make one; getting the right songs in the right order and whatnot. It probably took me a week to get it just right.
I was digging through some old Mix CD's I had from years past before I got an MP3 player, and I could remember making them, and exactly what was going on with my life when I was listening to that music. It was incredibly nostalgic.
Excellent post. +rec
i make a lot of mixed cds.
I would love a mixed tape though because my car has a tape player and commercials are lame. and nothing say's your special more than a thought out mixed tape
Me and my boy still make mix CDs for each other. :)
I think mixtapes are out of style since the tape player isn't as common as it once was. Sure there's lot of cars with tape decks. I have one in my Corolla. Occasionally I'll play my mother's Rick Astley tape when I feel like Rickrolling somebody. While the technology is outdated, the concept isn't. I'm constantly making mixtapes. I usually spend a couple days mulling over what songs to use in my head. I go through my iTunes, pick and choose and edit songs off the playlist. I arrange the tracks and listen to it to see if it works.
You're comparing two completely different things.
What you're describing as too easy is not the creation of a mix tape. When you re-created that mixtape for your significant other, you weren't creating a new one. What you're describing as too easy is putting back together one you already made. That should be easy. If that was difficult it would simply be tedious rather than any act of romance.
I make lots and lots of mixtape, playlists whatever you want to call them. I think it is actually harder to make a mixtape today. While the act of actually creating it is easier, this has simply made all the thought being put into it harder. You now have every song ever created at your finger tips, how do you decide what to put in it.
Consideration in terms of the message the songs send and how they flow into one another is still there. That's not something that changes with technology. All that changes is how you put those songs together and what you are capable of putting together. I had a friend who once made an 11 cd series for his girlfirend. Think about the care and thought you put into that mixtape. Now think about that 11 times over. Or think about having 11 mixtapes worth of songs you want to put on a mixtape and having to narrow it down to one.
Being able to make a mixtape with ease has created more options which in turn require more thought be put into it. You can make a mix cd in seconds now and yet thery often take me days or weeks to make because i have to toil over every single song choice. Every single song I choose is being chosen over millions of other songs.
haha i dont know why when i hear mixtape first thing that comes to my mind is janice's mixtape for chandler :P
Never had much experience with mixed tapes. My brothers old truck still has a cassette player in it and he has lots of tapes. I've had some mixed CD's made for me and one guy went all out, got his band together and did a studio recorded song on CD for me... but usually I just get playlists from my friends now.
I actually still make mixtapes..for myself though. My car has no CD player. People usually think it's pretty rad that I have a mixtape. It's not something you see often.
Oh wow, I so remember 'mixtapes' but mostly I had 'mixCDS'. I miss the old days. Everything is now so technological.
My girl made me a mixtape. :D
She also likes to include some sort of theme to go with either side; for example "Kiss Me/Diss Me" or "Cooldown/Throwdown".
i mixxa cd evry week forra frend who livez far far away i love doinit too also i have BOXIZ of mix taypes that frendz hav mayde me over the yearz evin tho i no longer hava taype player i cant get ridda them cuz therz so much history/emo ther sumtymez i taykka taype out just to reed the playlist & remember
i also hava small kollekshun of mix taypes that ive just found over the yearz on bussiz or trainz etc wun i pikd up off the floor of the ruinz offan 80s disko in south florida salvayshunz WOW it wuz all operatik musik wenni lissind to it i cried & cried so no i callit my super emo taype sumtymez i maykka mix cd & just leevit in the library witha playlist & title it "just for you"
i used to make mix cd's...no more though. i make art instead :D
I completely understand and agree. Making mixtapes (and cd's) is definitely an art. Making "mix playlists" is a little easier with that "genius" tool they have now.
That said, yes, I made a mixtape for an ex once. I still make mix cd's for my guy now and occasionally playlists on his ipod.
Memories! In the sixties I lived where it was difficult to buy "records" so I bought a reel-to -reel tape recorder and would tape eight hours of rock and roll radio every few weeks. Then I could re-record the music, in the form of playlists, onto cassette tapes (I think I got my first player in 1967 ) for friends. File-sharing in the Hippie era! It was more a labour of love then.
Also, possessing a song in its original, store-bought, state seemed to have a certain cachet that is missing now. If everyone has a Hope Diamond then why cross the street to see one.
Damn modern technology.
But you can still make mixtapes. In fact, making them now will be harder more than ever, which is all part of the challenge in making one, right?