You’ve probably already done it, but making a good mix tape doesn’t take much practice. It’s not like learning to play an instrument. It’s as simple as moving songs into a playlist and hitting burn.
Gone are the days of holding an actual tape recorder to a stereo with a finger on the red button. Also extinct is the idea that top 40 bands have a place on a burned CD.
The ability to rip musicians off and give a cheap gift to a friend is way too easy to pass up.
Making one that a friend likes can, however, become stressful. For some strange reason, people don’t like to listen to Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” 16 times in a row. Side note: if you do that, after five plays you can sing along with Cudi at an epic level of accuracy.
So now, you’re making one for a friend. First, establish two base lines for the mix — favorite genre and most played band.
The genre should be the one that they mainly enjoy. A lot of people say that they like everything, but that is a lie. Someone might flirt with multiple types of music, but there is one that they are currently involved with. For this example, we are going with rock.
When establishing a genre, you have made a piece of the music pie just a little smaller. This base line is really good at elimination. For the example of rock, you can eliminate all things Justin Bieber.
You still have no songs written down, that’s when the most played band comes in. This should not be what people tell you their for favorite group is. People are liars, especially when they feel that their taste might be judged. For that reason, look at what song has the most plays on their media player.
If you can get that, you can create a sort of “paint by numbers” framework. This is where you start to think about the tempo of the songs that you are putting in.
A template and a thought as to what the friend likes makes filling out the list easy. Consider the songs that you know to be similar, and write them down.
After that, go to a website like lastfm.com or pandora.com to fill in the rest. iTunes Genius works well, but it really only uses your library to generate the list. Internet radio sites will show you a larger spectrum of what’s similar to their taste
Once you have the songs, try to keep the clashing of fast and slow tempo to a minimum. For that reason, R.E.M’s “End of the World” and Pink’s “Glitter In The Air” should never touch. If you have a big change in tempo in your mix, think about adding a novelty song. This can be a song that is important to you and that person. If, for some strange reason, the person has a deep attachment to “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, put it in as a transition. Another good move would be to add a funny song by Steve Lynch or Tenacious D.
When you’re done playing with the arrangement of the mix, give it a complete listen. Then, ask yourself the question, “Is this something that they would enjoy?” If yes, hit burn and you’re done. If the answer is no, I hear that socks are another cheap gift idea.
