Musing on the Mix
Fun article in the Sunday Trib, musing on the easy-to-burn mix CD versus the compile-in-real-time mix tape:
“You used to feel there was a real act of devotion in creating it that just isn’t there anymore.”
—Author and music nut Nick Hornby on mix tapes being taken over by mix CDs.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hornby’s love of mix tapes resonates with me, but I never for one moment though that their greatness was tied to the medium of the cassette.
Anyone who’s ever gotten a mix CD from me can be pretty sure that I’ve spent at least 4 times as long as the disc working with it. Usually more. I dither with content, positioning, contemplate any potential unwanted messages, make sure the message I want is about waiting to be uncovered. I listen to bits over and over again to make sure all as smooth as can be, then then whole disc once or twice.
I don’t make them all that often, because they are hard. Not (usually) technically hard, but intellectually and emotionally difficult.
Sure, music tech lets people be lazier than ever before. Just making a mix (why a CD? Lately I just zip up some mp3s and e-mail it to the recipient) doesn’t mean much. But you search for “Love” on iTunes and burn the first 60 minutes onto a disc for your super duper Love Mix, you’re going to get a crummy mix most of the time. But, like any new medium, it does hold creative advantages for the dedicated.
I love the work of listening and thinking about the order of the tunes. I would think there is no reason why you could not do the same in digital that one once did in tape — except without some of those messy bits as you desperately grab the record before it goes into the next cut… I agree with Jeffrey that what is needed is the care and thought — and the medium does not necessarily change this.
Since I wrote this, the playlist a la iTunes has become ubiquitous. Mixing easier yet again.
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