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[Blackie]

I've burned mixes of the best music I'm listening to at the time for my family for years, and they like most of them pretty well. I've hit a wall lately, though, and I don't really think I'm doing anything right with the mixes. I can't even come up with a conscious technique to making a good mix of music anymore.

Do any longtime mix makers have any tips or suggestions to making really good mix cds? Like how to select the music you want to use, the way you order it, and if a consistent theme is important, and how do you achieve that without songs seeming too repetitive in tone and message? Any advice would help.

 

[bishoptl]

This might sound cheesy, but I get an idea of the theme I want to use, then write it down on a Post-It or something to keep by the monitor when assembling the songs. It helps me stay on point.

 

[Blackie]

Not a bad idea, Bish. Sometimes I'm making a mix and I get distracted by the most random stuff, like my overcolorful desktop, and forget what I'm thinking.

 

[Dilbert]

Always be wary of accepting advice from someone until you've heard one of their mixes...but here goes:

1) The mix drives the songs, not the other way around. For any arbitrary bunch of songs, it may be damn near impossible to mix them together coherently. If you have a "vibe" in mind when you begin, then songs which fit that concept will start coming to mind. On the other hand, if you want to just throw a dozen new songs on a CD, that's fine too...but it isn't really a "mix."

2) Flow is critical. Try to match BPM, instrumentation, and style at the boundaries between songs. It's nice if you can literally mix the songs together, but it isn't required -- just do your best to avoid really jarring transitions...unless that is the effect you are trying to achieve.

3) Put the mix in "mix." Although it's easier to put together a bunch of music which sounds very similar (I'm looking at YOU, trance!), it is more rewarding when you manage to cover more musical ground. Try mixing in old and new songs, electronic and organic instrumentation, male and female vocals, ambient atmospherics and structured songs.

4) Bring the listener on a journey. Pay attention to dynamics (volume, intensity), and try to vary the "feel" of the mix. Do you want to leave them on a high note? Or wind it down? Build in a quieter section in the middle to set them up for the major finale? All things to think about...

5) A mix is more than the sum of its parts. When you hand them out, hide the track listing, and make the recipient listen to it "cold." The collection and sequence of songs makes the whole mix a new entity apart from listening to the songs individually. If they can't see what's coming next, then they can't have preconceived notions about "I like this song" or "____ sucks" to throw off the "new" experience of the song in the context of the mix.

 

[GG-Duo]

what i want to know is..... how the HELL do you equalize the volume across the mp3s without it sounding like shit?

 

[wandering goat]

Whenever I ever make a mix, I just pick a hell of a lot of good songs and then narrow them down, placing them in an order where one song leads well to another. It's good if the album's well balanced. Something like what -jinx- says is pretty much it, though I don't put any real deep thought into it.

 

[Blackie]

Always be wary of accepting advice from someone until you've heard one of their mixes...

I trust GA explicitly when it comes to music related matters, I get all my music and shit from you guys.

The advice about not choosing a bunch of arbitrary songs to try and fit together in a mix hits a nerve in me, because I've been trying to cram these 17 songs together for a final mix for my mom before I leave for college, and I CANNOT order them properly. They just don't fit.

 

[Dilbert]

I trust GA explicitly when it comes to music related matters, I get all my music and shit from you guys.

The advice about not choosing a bunch of arbitrary songs to try and fit together in a mix hits a nerve in me, because I've been trying to cram these 17 songs together for a final mix for my mom before I leave for college, and I CANNOT order them properly. They just don't fit.

In that case, try sequencing them in "story order." When I used to make mixes for girls I was dating full of mushy stuff (awwwww), the order was dictated by certain lyrics. Actually, on the "track listing," I wouldn't list songs by title or artist -- instead, I'd put a lyric excerpt from the line or verse of interest.

 

[DJ Sl4m]

I always start with slower BPM songs and increase the speed as I go.

This method lets the listener just relax at the begining, and sorta works them up with it's energy toward the end.

 

[djtiesto]

It depends on the type of music I want to make a mix for... if it's prog, I like to start off slow and ambient, move into some progressive breaks, then go into the 4x4 stuff, from there go constantly deeper and deeper, getting you more and more lost, until it's time to climax, then after the climax, end on a relaxing, softer note.. If it's trance, I start out a bit softer and more progressive, female vocals... then go into the more epic stuff, then finally ending with some harder edged stuff/tech trance... I like to have one or two vocal songs in my mix too, to give people something to "latch" onto... a lot of people I know complain that a lot of stuff I like is vocal-less.

Mixing is all about the peaks and valleys, and balancing them... Listen to Sasha if you want to hear how to make a good one

 

[sprsk]

i did my last mix based on tempo and mood.

 

[drohne]

i've always preferred mixtapes that are just a bunch of random-assed songs haphazardly tossed together. the juxtapositions and stylistic lurches that can create are way more interesting than some preposterous flirtation with a theme.

my favorite mixtape ever is a "GOTH MIX" i found in a rental car 5 or 6 years ago. it's fucking hilarious. and i have no idea what any of the songs are called.

 

[Cool]

If I dig a girl, I make a mix with a lot of love-themed songs and then to fill the rest any songs that I just really enjoy.

If it's for a friend or non love interest, I just try to make a full CD of great great songs.

One rule I do have is to not put more than one song by the same artist unless it is a band I really enjoy, and never put more than two by that band if you do do that and only do it for one band per mix. For instance, if I put two songs by Sloan on a mix, but only two songs from the same artist happening once on the mix CD.

Also, I try to include one Beatles song and one Beach Boys song on every mix I make.

 

[FnordChan]

-jinx- offers superior advince, particularly:

2) Flow is critical.
3) Put the mix in "mix."

I spend a lot of time trying to get a smooth flow between a wide variety of songs. I may or may not be successful at this, mind you, but I do work at it.

FnordChan

 

[human5892]

I focus on transitions first and foremost. I can spend an hour just listening to the ending of one song and the beginning of another, trying to see if they'd work well together.

Theme isn't as important to me; as long as I don't have a song about dancing with your girlfriend going straight into a song about taking down the government, I consider it okay. That might be something that's really important to other people, though -- both mixers and mix recipients.

Also, I really liked this part of jinx's advice:

Although it's easier to put together a bunch of music which sounds very similar (I'm looking at YOU, trance!), it is more rewarding when you manage to cover more musical ground. Try mixing in old and new songs, electronic and organic instrumentation, male and female vocals, ambient atmospherics and structured songs.