The Art of the Mix
I used to make mix tapes. A lot. The “Monday Mixtape” topic is a tribute to that era in my life. I would make them for myself and for others. I’d give them away as a sign I’d been thinking of someone¹. Long after I moved to CDs–still calling them mixtapes, because “mix discs” or “mix cds” just never had the same ring to it–I still gave them away. One memorable dinner with Jeff Knight in Austin was based on each of the 3 families invited (okay, the men) creating mixtapes which we would play during the course of the dinner. (by the way, when your loved one stops listening to your mixes, you know your relationship is in trouble.)
If you’re looking for some good mixes, The Art of the Mix has ’em by a bunch of different people to appeal to any taste.
While I was cleaning out old boxes over the weekend, I found a grocery bag of old tapes, none of them with a track listing. Just titles splashed across their faces, and only occasionally a date. I am thankful I have a set up which has a very basic tape player–one side at a time, no auto-flip, no fast forward or rewind, and to start or stop it, I have to turn the power on or off. But still, it plays.
I slid in a tape and the warbly sounds of a well-loved (and well-stretched) tape came over the speakers². Heaven. And now I am cataloging the tapes, song by song, to recreate them in my song player³. These media won’t last forever, and they’ve already outlasted the moods that inspired them.
These days, we have perfect, lossless iTunes mixes that can go on for hours or days. But the limited time–90-100 minutes on a tape (divided into 45-50 minute sides, and you never really knew where it might cut off), or 74 minutes on a continuous CD–helped shape the format. I think we all had rules and ideas for mixtapes. Here are mine:
- No more than 2 songs by a given performer/band.
- If 2 songs by a given performer/band were on a single side, at least 2 songs had to divide them.
- Each side must tell a story.
- Break up the story into 3-4 song blocks that hang together thematically.
- Lyricless songs are fine, and add to the degree of difficulty.
- It’s okay if you do not overtly state the theme of each block; you must know it as the mixer.
- Call-backs are encouraged. If you can put in any little surprise, go for it.
- Have a mix of moods and rhythms on each side. The listener should never feel bogged down by a mood.
- First track can either state the overall theme OR start the first block, but by the second song, you must have started your first block.
- No Eric Clapton, ever. The only song you’d want is “Layla” which is about him wanting to fuck George Harrison’s wife, so fuck that guy.
- And lastly, the killer rule: Never repeat songs from one tape to another. If you use a song for one mix, it belongs to that mix forever.
All of this was designed to make you take your time with the mix, and have each mix have its own identity.
And now….
As I write this, “Dirty World” by the Traveling Wilburys comes on, from a tape I made for an ex. (She gave back the tapes when we broke up; all songs to her, btw, became free range once more. It was that kind of break up.) So, here is the story of how that song came to be made, from the gentlemen themselves :
¹ Perhaps to an object of my affection, maybe not entirely unlike in Avenue Q.
² “Sweet Jane” by the Velvet Underground.
³ I am thoroughly thankful to Shazam for this. A lyric will come spontaneously to mind, but to get the actual titles of some songs would take a lot longer than what I have patience for. (For instance, Laurie Anderson’s “Example #22”, as a title, does not spring readily to mind when I hear, “Honey you’re my one and only so pay me what you owe me.”) These tapes are over 20 years old, so I’m amazed I remember anything about them.