He nailed it towards the end! The key to a awesome mix tape is not how good/legendary the songs are It's about knowing the person you are making it for and where you want to take them too.
Won a playlist-making competition on one of my favorite websites. Followed this advice, and got $500. High Fidelity may be fiction, but this shit works.
When I make a mix for someone, those are rules I live by. The first song HAS to catch your attention (so usually something exciting) and the second song has to be nearly as exciting, but not quite. That's a good segue for song 3, which is a bit more slow and chill. The middle builds up to a pre-finale, and then cools down again. The song before the last song is the MOST exciting song, and then the final song is essentially the icing on the cake, having a sweet finish for the mix.
That’s similar to how I do my classic rock playlists. With a few other rules such as 10 song limit and no repeat artists. You want to take the listener on a journey.
When he said he was making her a mix with stuff she likes. Having that validation in making a playlist based off someones likes makes me feel good. It's the best way to tell someone you are truly paying attention to who they are. It goes deeper than words and gifts.
“The making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. First of all, you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.” ...“You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.”
Kinda sad looking back now as this movie came out when music everywhere started to devolve into more of a passive commodity rather than an extension of ourselves with the rise of digital compression and broadband Internet. I knew a "Rob" who owned an Indie record store back in the 90s and use to hang out at his shop from time to time. He even had his own "Barry" tending the store being annoying but still a master archivist of music. DJing is still around of course, and you still do have some big LP shops around but the small ones are all but gone and not part of the landscape so to speak. I wonder if Nick Hornby wrote a followup to this story?
I think if you look around real hard, the good music and the people to share your enjoyment and thoughts about it are out there. IMHO the blame for the commoditization resides with the least talented in the equation, not on the technologies that now put the music in our ears: those who are only focused on $$$ and don't care about the music, the artistry, the fans or the artists. They adapted and are still doing their best to stamp what matters for the sake of $$$. But like weeds in sidewalk cracks, the good stuff keeps popping up and reaching for the sun.
i like making mixtapes. i have my own rules and whatnot but what i learned from this movie is that mixtapes are personal. every track is your choice and a reflection of you even if you're making it for someone else. if there's a line or a melody that you don't quite want to be perceived about you by a listener, remove that song. stick to one genre. there should be a time limit (mine is 80mins cause that's the CD-R limit) so that you're not just dumping songs into one giant collection. make every track count. track 1 is important and it has to set the stage. grouping tracks into moods and tempos helps make a smooth flow. transitions matter and should make sense. do the 1+1=3 rule; meaning don't just rely on 1 favorite song to be the star of the playlist, but transition one good track to another good track that matches so that you'll create more moments throughout the playlist that are bigger than individual songs. the most important rule though is that you have to be happy with the finished product.
100 percent Truth....I have made "Mix Tapes" back in the 90's....but now I use the new fangled "CD".....made a double for a friend... I'm happy with it after wrestling with it for the last 2 days....I think they will dig. Cheers!
I usually try to make my mixes educational since you can fit 100+ songs on them. I do old to new of related music, it both shows the evolution of the idea and mixtures of songs centered around time evokes memories.
Beware the pitfalls of the iPod children! This is in and if itself a good exercise of the mind! When you are limited to a tape, or even a cd now, you are forced to make something work in that limited space! It truly is an art and one that is being lost because of limitless playlist space. I find myself often times being lazy at making playlists and I have found that I hate them now that I have an iPod and love the cds I made in the past. There are many things to consider when embarking on making a mixtape, but what he says is true. You are using someone else’s poetry to express yourself. More than that, there is a possibility the person already knows the music, and so will have their own perception as to the meaning of the song. This is where order comes in to play. Not only because of mood, but to make sure that the person can follow your train of emotions and understand what you meant for each song.
When I was in college I had a professor for music composition that talked about how important limitations are for learning. With no limitations you're drowned in choices and few will get anything worthwhile done, but adding limitations is like giving someone a picture to color in instead of a blank page. You learn the simple bits and then keep expanding until the blank page isn't going to drown you in choice because you've already been making those choices to give yourself the limitations you'll use for creating what you want to create.
These are good rules. I find it helpful to think of a mix in the terms of a record as well, where you have two distinct, 25(ish)-minute "sides" that compliment each other. This way, you give each side it's own opener and closer and your middle section doesn't end up blurring all together by the end of it. I find a lighter acoustic/piano piece is a good way to open a side 2 as a sort of pallet cleanser and you can build the energy back up from there.
John Cusack needs some kinda lifetime coolness award , or something... Some type of reward, or award, he's just been a part of so many little things, like this, movies, lines in Films, roles hes played, things hes done & said off camera, that have made me happy, or laugh, or an agreeable opinion, its just astounding to me, .... Thanks John, Big Up , Sir 🙏🏼👍🏼😎🆒☮️
when I put lambchop on a mix, I like to use them as a cool-down track after something loud or fast, then take the intensity up a little with something that's also orchestrated but a little more nervous like Tindersticks or Auktyon. I think the tracks I've used most are "Suzieju" and "Up with people".
Using analog tape made these choices so much harder. Re-recording something created pops and noise. Which, kind of ruined the vibe. Before, you want to go back to the 80s, just remember that. 😂
I was surprised by how much I liked this film, despite the change of location (I mean to say that the novel is set in London). Would anyone like to take a guess at the gender balance of the audience for this film? I´m gonna say 70% male, but that might conservative. Anyway, a really good film.
- One track per artist per tape - At least one b-side/oddity/remix - Chuck in something hilariously mainstream for a laugh - ALL mixtapes should have a theme - e.g. I did one called "Late at Night", which was specifically for late night listening - Oh, and on that subject, the title of the mixtape (it should not just be 'mixtape 27' or whatever) should be a line or title from a song or one of the tracks; e.g. I worked in Harlow for a while, and gave my successor a tape (well, CD) of tracks called 'Hatful of Harlow' Props if you spot the music refs in the above
