The making of the mix tape is an art form. This fact has been covered, I know, but I don't think people realize it yet. People still think that a mix tape is just a tape of recorded songs that someone gives you and you can like it or hate it. That's just not it. And even though we are in a new age now, where mix tapes are obselete and mix CDs are where it's at, the fact remains that the gift of a hodgepodge of music for enjoyment and judgment, no matter the media, is very serious business. But for simplicity's sake, and in homage to our roots, we'll stick with the term "mix tape".
I think the idea of the mix tape has gotten a bad rap. It makes you picture an unkempt guy, maybe he looks like John Cusack, giving a beat-up tape to a girl, who immediately chucks it into the trash. Maybe it looks like a desperate and pathetic attempt to win a girl next to the wining and dining that so many men use for courting. In some cases, this is true. The mix tape is not going to impress everyone, because its only weakness is that to work, the receiver has to listen to it and be open to what he or she is hearing. And not everyone will. Not everyone will realize the importance of it, and put it in their stereos, even out of courtesy to the hard work you put into it. Those people are jerks, and really, did you want them all that much anyway?
But the rest of us, the non-jerks, we'll listen to it. And then the mix tape can do it's magic, but only if it's made properly.
Many a good relationship traces its roots back to the making of mix tapes. You meet a girl, you think she's cute, you want to see a lot more of her. A well-made mix tape will put you in this girl's house or car, with her at all times in ways that you could not do with that bulky human form you carry. It will make her think about you, when maybe otherwise she would have been thinking about someone else, probably someone more attractive and more intelligent than you are.
Now, mix tapes are not all about impressing new people, say people that you find intriguing and would like to find more of. I've made many a tape for people I've known for a good while, people I know already like me and think I'm cool. That does not mean that I do not give a lot of thought to the making of their tape. Being cool is about maintaining the aura of cool, and just because they've known you for forever doesn't mean that they won't judge you based on this little piece of music.
Regardless of your particular audience, you want the mix tape to say good things about you. The receiver will not only be judging the music on the tape, because that would be too simple. They will be judging you based on the tape. Maybe this song will say that you're sensitive, this other song will say that you're fun, this last song will say that you are versatile. You want to show a variety of feelings here to represent you as a multi-faceted, yet well-put-together person. Don't think for a moment that it's just about the music.
Because it's all about judgment. I met a guy once at his house. He was a friend of my friend and we stopped by to visit him. I had nothing really to add to the conversation, so I spent some time examining his movie collection. He asked me, "Are you one of those people who judges people based on what movies they have?" I said that I was, but then I tried to figure out who wasn't one of those people. The same goes for music. I look at CD collections, too, and I determine how tragically hip or how ridiculously uncool you are, and how good your tastes are. I can decide that you're probably a pretty cool person, but your tastes are rotten, like if you have a lot of little-known bands that aren't very good. Of course, I know them, and I know that they suck. Or I can decide that you haven't a clue at all. Or maybe, just maybe, I'll decide that you too are cool, and that you probably already know the importance of mix tapes.
So this mix tape, it's a sampler of your music collection, a sampler of your personality, of your coolness, of your tastes. How will you measure up?
You want songs they probably do not know. If you recorded a song from the radio, at least from popular radio, it does not go on the tape. Period. If you recorded from public radio or some underground radio show, then that is acceptable. But that song had better not seen the light of a Billboard list, unless it was a good fifteen or twenty years ago. Sometimes you may want bands they don't even know, though that is a tricky thing. Just think, the receiver of your mix tape may hear a song from a new band, fall in love with it, go buy ten of the band's CDs, and develop a new favorite band, all because of you. That's what we're going for, people. Then, the band is associated with you. Every great song they wrote, you get credit for. Of course, with new bands, the person may hate them all. And that's very very bad. It's a thin line right here, because knowing bands that other people do not know about is a sign of coolness, particularly if the bands are good bands. And you want a certain amount of coolness, so that the person almost envies your cool and wants to become as cool as you are, perhaps by being around you. If you are not cool, then perhaps you should go more with the wining and dining rituals.
So you've got your track list, you have your twenty or so songs that you feel present the best image of you. You are so not done. The ordering of your music matters, too. The tape has got to flow, which is hard since this music is probably a hodgepodge of styles and feelings. I personally like to start out with a good upbeat song that has a strong opening. It's the first thing they hear when they pop this bad boy in, it better make them turn their heads to look at the player and go, "Hmmm, I'd like to get married and grow old with the person who compiled this," or whatever reaction you're going for. And I like to finish the tape with a long song, maybe with some jamming or guitar solos, something that will linger. Whether the tape ends with a good feeling for the listener will help determine whether or not it stays in the player.
But in between those songs, there is a lot of room to play with. You want to make it seem like these songs were written one after the other, that they were meant to follow each other in this order. Some songs are more difficult to place then others, like if you have kind of a goofy song on your tape. If it won't fit anywhere, do the best you can and hope for the best. Of course, you should try to choose songs that go together at least somewhat as much as possible. Not that they sound the same, but just not that they are on opposite ends of the musical spectrum. There will be many great songs that should be shared, but not necessarily with certain other great songs. Just cut them from your list and hope that you get the opportunity to make another tape where they can be included.
I feel like I should continue to elaborate on all the nuances of mix tape creation. I should illustrate with examples of good and bad track lists, excellent and poor song order choices. But if I have not convinced you already, then there is nothing else I can do. I have to console myself that mix tapes are not for everyone, that not everyone even wants to appreciate mix tapes for the effort of love that they are. Some people have enough money and enough lack of a personality to impress people with gifts that are not homemade.
Jerks.
No comments:
Post a Comment