[I think I fell in love with my blog again...] High Fidelity is one of my favorite movies. In the movie, John Cusacks character tells the audience how he makes the perfect mixtape. And ya'll know how much I love mixtapes and how I secretly wanna be a mix tape DJ lol... Anyway I think mix CDs are great gifts because for one thing, it's inexpensive, but at the same time... you take the time to make a decent mix for people, they notice that. I've given and recieved mixes and I always think it's a thoughtful gift. It's like making something, without being crafty. Plus I love to share my love for music with other people. It's a great feeling! Well, I was talking to Jay earlier at work, and I told him the process behind the mix CDs I usually send him. NOTE: I am the producer of the CDs in Mark Jay's car so if you want a copy just ask hehe... but yea... so here it goes. nicola's guide to making the "perfect" mixed CD (I'm not saying I'm right... I'm just tellin' you how I do it) 1. DON'T MIX GENRE'S! That's an ultimate no no... although it's okay for you if you just want to listen to CDs for people you are passing off to, don't put a rap song and throw in a rock song in the same CD. Although R&B and Hip Hop can go in the same CD, other genre's of music cannot. Unless you group the genre's together on the same CD then sometimes that's okay, but for the most part... you don't mix genre's 2. Make sure each mix has an good "skip through flow" meaning, if someone were just "skipping through" to see what songs are on the CD, ultimately after the skip through they'd dub your CD a good one. For a reaction like this, you usually have to follow rule #1 3. Don't scatter the tempo of the CD. Different types of songs (as far as fast and slow, jiggy and neo souly) can go on the CD, but as long as you group all the songs together that sound the same, you're okay. But make sure that the song that breaks the type of music or themed chunk, eludes to the next type of music. I usually group chunk on a CD by region (all the east coast together, same record label, same crew, etc) Again, this usually works for me. 4. Always start a mix with a banger! For Christmas last year I made "03 hits for the streets" CDs for my co-workers and I started out with the "right thurr" remix with Chingy and all them lol... You want the first song to get the crowd bobbin their head right away. 5. Make the last song a hit... same with the first song, end the last song with something they'll remember. I like to end with slow songs just cuz the end is a good place for slow songs. For that same 03 mix last year, I ended with "You don't know my name" 6. Think of cool titles to carry on. I take this note from all the mixtape DJs. They all have the series of their mixtapes. It's fun... and make them that way too. If you don't have a title. Dating them is always good. For some of my mixes I date them by seasons. This is good (in addition to a catchy title) to remember what was cool back them. I ran across CDs I made from 02... haha bananas! I didn't even remember those songs anymore. *I think this rule is in high fidelity too* 7. If giving these things as a gift play to your crowd. For my co-workers this year... I know that they probably wouldn't like a lot of the hard hip hop I listen to, so I lighted up my yearly mix this time (new set of co workers then from last year) Of course you're giving your opinion out when you make a mixed CD but at the same time... you wanna make sure they like something on the CD. 8. Think of an overall theme for the mix. Like a yearly theme or with my co-workers in addition to the yearly theme... I'm making them hip hop 101... which is all my favorite songs that they can handle and isn't too gangster. This takes time to think out but again, it's cool. Another one I made was "Teach Dennis How To Dance" mix Dennis is a friend of mine and Jay's that they were teaching how to dance, when Jay told me this story, I made a mix of songs that they could teach him how to dance to. 9. Don't forget to tell them the name of the songs. I forget this one too. I always forget to write down the songs. Because you're sharing stuff they've never heard (if you are) remind them of what they are listening to. I always forget to do this for some of the people I give mixes to, but when I got a mix without the names of the song, I was all discouraged. I guess this is a new rule for me =) 10. Finally, remember that it's an introduction to your world of music, so ease into the transition. Be creative, and if it's the first try out, don't be too gully about it. For example, I LOOOVE Gangstarr, but for my co-workers to ease into gangstarr, I'd probably do like "Dicipline" because there's Total singing the hook and the beat isn't as hard... as if I were going to put "mass appeal" on it. This rule again, if the mixes are gifts, but if they are for friends... go crazy! Always hook them up with new shit! I love putting non radio songs from the albums of these artist on CDs for my friends. I love discovering new good songs that are not on the radio. So that's how to make a mix ala Nicola. Again, I'm not saying my way is right... but I'm just tellin' you how I do it =) ------- In other news... my insomnia is back. WTF? I can't sleep anymore! LOL I think because around this time I would be on winter vacation mode. SUCH A DORK! Til tomorrow...