Self-Proclaimed Queen of the Mix CD

Gentle Reader: sorry I’ve been MIA. I’ve been making a mix CD for some friends (who technically I’ve never met. Looong story.)

Only they used to be mix tapes and there was an art to it. How many minutes go on side 1? How many songs fit on side 2. Is this an “A” side song? What does it mean if “You’re Still The One” comes before “I Touch Myself”? Wait a minute, this was supposed to be a friendship tape – how did all of these stalker songs get on there? (“Every Breath You Take”, anyone??)

There’s’ still an art to it, don’t get me wrong. You have to figure out whether you want the songs clustered by message (stalker-friend-lover-breakup) or by tempo (fast-slow-faster) or alphabetically (good luck fitting 26 songs on an 80 minute CD!). You still have to pick the songs and edit them down to a realistic amount of time.

To sum up:
College Mix Tape, 1998
1. Write out song list on paper, scratch out, draw arrows, and make sure you remember which album a song is on.
2. Load CD with first song on it. Cue song.
3. Load blank tape.
4. Hit record on tape player while simultaneously hitting play on CD player.
5. Listen to whole song all the way through as it plays/records and stress about whether he’ll “get” what you’re trying to tell him with this one.
6. Hit stop on both CD player and tape recorder at the same time.
7. Hit record again for about 2 seconds so you have a buffer between songs.
8. Repeat.

30-something Mix CD, 2008
1. Open iTunes.
2. Pick a bunch of songs you like, add to new playlist cleverly titled “CD Mix”.
3. Edit list down to 1.2 hours. Trust me iTunes will not let you use the buffer space we all know exists on that blank CD!
4. Listen to first 10 seconds and last 10 seconds of each song to make sure the segues rock!
5. Load CD.
6. Hit “Burn CD” button.

Of course, there’s no need to even burn the CDs anymore. Unless you’re giving them out as a favor at your wedding. Or maybe you just need to show someone you really care. That’s why we make mix tapes – I mean, CDs – in the first place.