June 27, 2004
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I was looking for a change of pace this Sunday afternoon, so I
decided to ressurrect a little app I made for myself about a year ago.One of my hobbies is putting together mix CDs/playlists. A really good mix is a work of art.
One of the most difficult skills of this art is to find the right
segues between songs. A mix that juggles your emotions lacks
focus; the songs need flow to a crescendo and then bring you down
gently again.At the same time, I’m always hearing songs that fit
just perfectly together. Often these songs have nothing in common
other than a beautiful rolling guitar hook. These are segues
without a mix to call home.So I decided to create a database of
these segues; think of it as a social network for building mixes.
Its not that big now, but the hope is that eventually a mix will be
organically born from the database. This seems more natural
than picking a mix theme and trying to make songs fit. You can browse the results
here:http://www22.brinkster.com/harrycaul/mix/default.asp
Just
click a song to find other songs that are related to it. The user
interface sucks, I know, but its just a quick hack to get the point
across. These selections reflect my
own personal biases; if you’d like to rant about how wrong I am, I’d
love to hear it!
Now I’ve
tried to stay away from simple connections, like “songs about love”,
and move more towards songs that share common aural and lyrical
characteristics. For example, the other day, Jay-Z’s The Theater
came on right after John McLaughlin’s Pasha’s Love, and the fit was so
seamless I thought they were the same song!So what do you think? What are your views
on the art of the mix? Are there certain songs you feel fit
perfectly together?
Comments (17)
Ahhh, Wilco. Which song is your favorite? I think “California Stars” is my favorite I’ve heard so far, although it sounds a lot better live. I need to get the new CD.
I used to make a lot of mix CD’s, but I have a pretty crappy download program right now, plus my new computer is lacking a CD burner…so I basically buy all my stuff. But when I did, I had different themes sometimes, like Tae Bo Mix, Writing Inspiration Mix, but the best were definitely the “Whatever Mix”‘es. You kind of just schlop everything together, from Alicia Keys to Bob Dylan to the Who to the Corrs, and it turns out pretty good.
)
~K
it is an art. i spend way too long on them, making sure each song transitions properly, that the feel is right, the length is right, that the overall mood is exactly what i want… i have so many freakin playlists of mixes that it’s just getting silly..
I completely believe in the Art of the Mix. I recently made one hell of a mix. It’s a 2-disc mix entitled “24 Hours Until…” I tried to put the songs together to tell the story of a person during a 24-hour period. Disc 1 is called “6am to 6pm,” and Disc 2 is, of course, “6pm to 6am.” If you’d like more info, let me know. I may also include it in a future Xanga.
hawt..
i was a dj for ten years.
retired 7 years ago.
i still hear it in my head everyday.
my mix cd’s rule.
Wow, can I marry you?
What I do is mix CDs about how I feel, like when I was going through a rough patch, I made a CD and titled it “Burning Bridges” and it was because I was getting rid of someone in my life. The songs weren’t anything about getting rid of people, it had a variety of genres and not all were the same type of songs (like love songs or gangster or dance) but they all reminded me of the person and their habits and my feelings for the person and some songs even reminded me to be strong and not forgive! [smiley face] I also had a song that reminded of the good times with this person. So yes, CD mixing is an art and it takes me a while to make them but if I’m feeling strongly when I’m making my CD then it doesn’t take too long to put a CD together, no matter if the strong feeling is bad/good/happy/sad/excited/nervous etc. Ok so I blabbed enough, but I’ve never actually known/met anyone who figured the same thing out about CDs as I had=)
i have noticed that you dont get as many props and comments as the other xanga staff. wuts up with that?
HEY..ARE YOU AFGHAN ?
hello, interesting picks there… my friend told me one of the xanga creators was bangali, i hadnt noticed till today that it was you. Nice to see your xanga, hes a friend of ur sister or sumthing. have a nice day.
Until recently I had a bar that was popular partly because the music was not Caribbean or BET. I spent all my time devising and burning new mixes. It was one of the better jobs I’ve had
I’ve checked your list – I don’t know a lot of the music, but it looked pretty good.
When I was a kid and shared a house, we were all music and film people and converted the garage into a recording studio. It had a little mixing desk which was my thing as I can’t sing or play anything. Later I was a dj in a nightclub and that was better still. Then, I would have taken your list as inspiration.
i like wilco…a lot. they taught me how to play guitar.
wow even your words fit together smoothly… must be the language of your life
Random propz. Yur site is purrty cool. Yu got taste in music.
***Get Choke e-propz!***
~Lina*Linx~
Saw that list man, some great choices, Van Morrison, and Warren Zevon are sweet, the only man missing from tha group is Jackson Browne.
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