Recently I have been going through a kind of music overload. After getting a bunch of new music from my friends I was inspired to create several different mixes of wide thematic variety. Examples of the insanity are "Dance Mix SUPERFREAK," "A Little Bit Country" and a semi-depressing "Breakup Mix." I just couldn't stop. I sent some to a couple of friends and am anticipating excellent mixes from them in return.
The best part of this music explosion was discovering a bunch of old mix CD's from my sister. My favorite is one from October 2003 - which is around the time this photo was taken of her. She was 21 and in her Datsuns/Dandy Warhols phase. That was a good phase. She used to introduce me to all sorts of new bands and her mixes are always really fun. She does take liberties that I would not; in one mix she put three Neutral Milk Hotel songs IN A ROW. Now, I don't have a problem with putting multiple songs from the same artist, but never too close together. To each his own mixing methods. I respect my friends personal mixing styles but I adhere to my self-imposed rules. They are as follows:
1. Total length should never exceed one hour
2. The maximum number of songs from the same artist is 3 (different bands with the same singer count as different artists)
3. Songs from the same artist should be separated by at least two other songs
4. Theme mixes are allowed one non-theme related song to be placed at the end as a "Bonus Track"
5. Songs longer than 7 minutes should be placed near the end so as not to bore the listener
6. Always include a track list
7. Male and female vocalists should be spread evenly throughout the mix
8. Transitions should be as smooth as possible
Now, these are not set in stone, they are merely guidelines. What are your mixing rules? Post them in the comments or email me. Happy mixing, y'all!
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