“Mix Tapes” or “The Death of Mixes [Both CD and Tape(in my eyes, at least)]”

I remember making mix tapes. I loved doing them. Setting to paper first what artists and what songs, then drawing arrows to designate which song would go first and how the rest would fall into line. I would test how each song would “feel” coming after the other, and when it was all said and done, I’d have a masterpiece. Things were difficult before mp3, but they only became worse when CD-Rs became mainstream. Sit back and kick with me for a moment, this is how mix tapes and CDs died, for me anyway.

Before the age of MP3, making tape mixes off of CDs was an involved process. I consider myself lucky though. I had a 5 disk CD player that I could program to play songs in certain order. That was hard enough making sure I inputted the right songs, but I also had to make sure that I did the math on the songs I wanted to put on the tape right. Otherwise something would get cut off half way. That way of making Mix Tapes became obsolete soon enough.

I was probably around 16 when mp3s were becoming popular. My room was in the basement and for a desk I had a huge twelve-foot by four-foot plank of wood resting atop two three-foot speakers. On top of the desk I had a tape deck, a 5-CD disk changer, an amp, and an equalizer all hooked up to a total of 2… 4… 6… speakers. I also had my computer. I remember when I first realized how I could make it so that I could play mp3s off my computer through my dad’s old school hi-fi equipment. It was all about the “audio out, y-splitter”. It was around the time that I’d just gotten my license when I made my first mp3 mix. I made because I wanted to celebrate the rite of passage.

While I chatted with my online friends I queued songs into my winamp. I deleted, rearranged, revised, and when it was finally a masterpiece, I recorded it. I loved that tape so much and that summer my friends came to love it too. They knew what song was coming up next, and even though it was predictable, it was the best train of music I had ever heard or made. I regret the day that I tried to make a better one. I copied over it and didn’t make a play list or copy of the original. I still think about the Mix Tape and would pay dearly for something to remember how it went.

When CD-Rs and the Writer Drives dropped in price, everything changed. Now I made CDs just to have the music in the car. I hardly ever put any thought into the compilations (they’re not mixes, just ingredients thrown together and not properly stirred) and some times *gasp* I don’t even fill the entire CD. I’ve even once only put 4 songs on a CD, just to show some one some songs that turned out they weren’t interested in *double gasp!*. It’s just become so easy. You load your blank into the drive, fire up Nero, slap-dash a playlist of songs, at more or remember, then click “BURN”. There is no more checking and rechecking, watching for flow or discord. Usually my compilations are of junk, a deep, dark, possibly lovely cacophony.
To redeem myself though I have two points.

I do not own an ipod. I cannot justify the price tag, nor do I have a want for a glut of music to hang around my neck. I am not a trucker, no do I walk from my home to York. I just don’t need that much music.

The last CD Mix that I made was for my girlfriend. It came with a collection of poetry, the song lyrics, and why I included the particular songs on the CD.
It was the shit.