I found some 40 year old music "mix" tapes.......

[Doug-Morgan]

Dora and I have been attacking the garage [[I think the garage is winning), and in the process of cleaing up, I found a box of reel and cassette "mix" tapes, some that date back to late 60's, and since the discovery, have been listening to them one by one. They're, er, um, strange, especially the reel to reel ones. You can sure tell what mood I was in when I cut each one of them.

The question: Do you ever go back and listen to old mix tapes? 1) What's your oldest one and 2) in hindsight, what do you think of tapes you made way back when?

[timmyfunk]

I don't have any of my old mix tapes, but I still have my old P-Funk live tapes from as far back as 1983.

[soulster]

I hate the term "mix-tape" or "mix-CD. A mix is the combination of two or more mono tracks. Sorry, don't mean to sound snobbish, but I have a mind of an engineer. I always think of and hear the audio.

Now, back to the topic: Every couple of years, I dig out an old cassette tape comp and play it. The first thing that strikes me is how good a job I did of getting the sound right, you know, proper bias, levels, ect. The second thing is the randomness with which I assembled each song sequence. The third thing I think of is that it used to take me hours to make a tape. Now it takes me weeks to make a CD-R! Compiling and researching the tracks is the first step. Gathering all the files is the next step. The mastering isn't that hard, and that takes a few days. But the sequencing is what takes me literally weeks to get right, and I have to be in the right mood to sequence tracks. With tapes, it took me much less time. My only mastering tool was an equalizer back then. Now I have a DAW.

Oh, the music: I still listen to the exact same stuff I have listened to since I was the age of two. So, no surprises there.

[nomis]

I make tapes of all my dj sets for the following reasons -

To record my vibe at that moment in time
to re listen and evaluate what DIDNT work in the set - things are suppossed to work,thats what Im paid for so its looking for the mistakes.
You cant possibly remember every song - re listening to a recorded set from the past you go "wow forgot about that song- its a goodie must play it again"
To look for those annoying skips that occasionally affect the cds Im working with,Recording the set in advance warns me of hiss,clicks and pops that can be cleaned up..
People steal things -by having a back up copy,or several you save yourself replacment purchase fees.
If there is someone special you want to give a recording of your work you have something that you know they liked.

[arrr&bee]

dora and i have been attacking the garage [[i think the garage is winning), and in the process of cleaing up, i found a box of reel and cassette "mix" tapes, some that date back to late 60's, and since the discovery, have been listening to them one by one. They're, er, um, strange, especially the reel to reel ones. You can sure tell what mood i was in when i cut each one of them.

The question: Do you ever go back and listen to old mix tapes? 1) what's your oldest one and 2) in hindsight, what do you think of tapes you made way back when?

hey doug,being and old cassette lover myself i can dig where you're coming from,i still record on cassette[my kids call me low tech]haaaa i take it as a compliment but my oldest tape is from the late seventies and it's a collection of the marvelettes greatest hits,i use a system such as-oldies-various artist-slow jams-jazz...works for me!!

[paladin]

Doug I have my tapes in boxes and usually pull out a few that are labeled Best of, Best tape I ever made, Motown madness etc..

I am pleasantly surprised at the more or less obscure or one hit wonder tunes that were really popping back in the day. I have tapes ranging from around 1972 til now. Some old radio shows which I have no idea where they are and different tapes made from "toy mixers" to the old Gemini mixers. I still play cassettes and have several tape decks including the direct to computer type which is ok in and of itself but it has a Itunes feature and the cataloging is labor intensive.


As some others have mentioned one of the best things about the tapes is that I can remember what type of mood I was in, as well as noting when I got the perfect sequence down. Like vinyl, there was something very personal about tapes that does not transcend to the CD type compilations. But thats just me....lol.....

[splanky]

I don't understand the problem with the current use of the term "mixtape" or mix cd.
Who said any word or phrase could have only one meaning or that meanings never change? I have hundreds of what I don't mind calling mixtapes, some more than 20 years old. I still make them for my own pleasure too. Generally they may be a mix of different songs from different periods of a single artist's career or different artist on a single label but I do a variety of themes for mine. All blues, all reggae, all jazz, all African
singers or even my scatter shot mixes for what I know are going to be trying days where
I just might have Fleetwood Mac followed by Lauryn Hill followed by Funkadelic. Plus I've always taped from the radio a lot. The coming [[so I'm told) elimination of casette players
and recording devices are going to put a serious damper on that. I also don't care about
sonic perfection anymore. If I could hear a live Louie Armstrong recording from 1928 I wouldn't care if the microphone was assembled with a styrofoam cup!...

[soulster]

I have the mind of an engineer, and many of we who do say the the term "mix tape" or "mix CD" is inaccurate, for reasons I stated above.

We technical types are anal.

[splanky]

Well, at least you admit it!!!!!....

[tomato tom]

Hi..I still have some old vinyl to blank cassette tapes I made years ago. I dug them out after seeing this post, as I forgot I had them. Not been played in years. WELL, They are TRULY awful. Apart from the awful sound quality, my musical choices were..strange? Imagine Abba / The Supremes / Barbara Cook / The Fatback Band / The Village People / The Bee Gees / Millie Jackson / Limmie & Family Cookin / Elton John / Supertramp / James Brown etc etc..all missmatched together. I was NOT ever gonna be a Superstar DJ thats for sure. What was I thinking aged 17??? Im just amazed found them after all these years, and they still play. WHY????..Paulo XXXX

[soulster]

Paulo, what's so strange about mixing various artists and musical styles? That's how I do almost all of my various artist comps. See, that's how radio used to be back in the day, so I want to keep a mixture.

[nomis]

Mixing genres and styles is a good thing when your a dj..I never underesimate the audience - people are exposed to many different styles,Abd usually the risks pay off and someone will thank you for playing something out-of-the-box..I always finish my sets with Franks "NewYork,NewYork" I even get drunken 18 year olds kicking their heels to it !
radio used to be much free with genres..now everything is formatted and stations are afraid to take risks everything gets labelled which is a shame..I wish I had the mix tapes I used to make at school the biggest problem was catching the begining of songs from the radio....

[tomato tom]

I hear you, and agree, but sadly, mine are REALLY truly, truly AWFUL......lol..Paulo XXXX

[soulster]

I hear you, and agree, but sadly, mine are REALLY truly, truly AWFUL......lol..Paulo XXXX

How are they awful?

[paladin]

I understand what you mean Paulo, quite clearly at that. I have quite a few that although I dont think they are awful, some of them certainly are not desirable to listen too. There are some where I thought I was absolute genius and others that I say WTF was I thinking ? Either way it was a part of you, like it or not lol........


I agree that comp tapes let you hear a broad range of divergent sounds like radio in the old days and thats a dam good reason to make them that way...... I made plenty.......blues, r &B, Pop, jazz all on the same tape....lovin it !

Kdubya

[tomato tom]

When I say awful, maybe its the sound quality.Maybe its the sound of nothing between tracks as I scrambled to change records and forgot to stop the tape. Maybe its because my musical tase was, at times, a bit off. HA HA. Well, like you say, it was a part of me at that place and time, and Im secretly, sadisitictly pleased, I suppose, that they survived and I can hear them today. Im just learning now how to do this on CD, and I have to say the results do sound a whole lot better. I did a vinyl to cd comp, and I have to say, not bad! Got the crackles and the hisses, plus a minor jump ot two. Have to work on this. My choice was again eclectic. I was aiming for a 70s-80s vibe. So u get BRICK,THELMA HOUSTON, DR BUZZARDS ORGINAL SAVANNAH BAND, VICKIE SUE ROBINSON, THE TEMPTATIONS.UNDISPUTED TRUTH,OHIO PLAYERS,BT EXPRESS,FUNKADELIC,DIANA ROSS etc, Then it went a bit Pete Tong. I interspersed with latin, french, spanish, african artists, a bit of Supertramp rock, Mamas and Papas California cool, DUSTY, 60s MOTOWN, and a spoonful
of reggae. Threw in some Trance and hard House, a bit of Eurovision, a bit more Latin Jazz Funk ala WAR, early Grover Washington Jr to finish off with some quiet storm courtesy Smokey, Jean Carn, Syreeta, Leon Ware et al to bring it all down. Sounded brilliant on my ?th Vodka and coke! In the cold light of day..well..dont book me for parties, bar mitzvahs,weddings HA HA.. Well, Im new to this, so watch this space.Great fun though.Paulo XXX

[arrr&bee]

when i say awful, maybe its the sound quality.maybe its the sound of nothing between tracks as i scrambled to change records and forgot to stop the tape. Maybe its because my musical tase was, at times, a bit off. Ha ha. Well, like you say, it was a part of me at that place and time, and im secretly, sadisitictly pleased, i suppose, that they survived and i can hear them today. Im just learning now how to do this on cd, and i have to say the results do sound a whole lot better. I did a vinyl to cd comp, and i have to say, not bad! Got the crackles and the hisses, plus a minor jump ot two. Have to work on this. My choice was again eclectic. I was aiming for a 70s-80s vibe. So u get brick,thelma houston, dr buzzards orginal savannah band, vickie sue robinson, the temptations.undisputed truth,ohio players,bt express,funkadelic,diana ross etc, then it went a bit pete tong. I interspersed with latin, french, spanish, african artists, a bit of supertramp rock, mamas and papas california cool, dusty, 60s motown, and a spoonful
of reggae. Threw in some trance and hard house, a bit of eurovision, a bit more latin jazz funk ala war, early grover washington jr to finish off with some quiet storm courtesy smokey, jean carn, syreeta, leon ware et al to bring it all down. Sounded brilliant on my ?th vodka and coke! In the cold light of day..well..dont book me for parties, bar mitzvahs,weddings ha ha.. Well, im new to this, so watch this space.great fun though.paulo xxx

haaaaaaaaaa,hey paulo when you say forgot to stop the tape[priceless]lmao i sometimes forget to change direction from[a to b]and it drives me nuts i've cussed myselve out afew times over this and i was sober at the time,keep recording paulo and sip some hooch it might help,,haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[tomato tom]

I even forgot to change from 33 to 45 at times!!! Made for some very fuuny sounds. Have you ever heard The Supremes Stop In The Name Of Love album track played at 45? Sounds like the Chipmonks on Acid!! Suppose its fab if your drugf===d. Yes, I will work on this. Would love to make my own proper sets on CD. Have no idea how to do this new stuff via computer on i-tunes or whatver.Just getting my head around this. But I WILLl get there. Superstar DJs whatchout! hahahahah..Paulo XXXX

[arrr&bee]

i even forgot to change from 33 to 45 at times!!! Made for some very fuuny sounds. Have you ever heard the supremes stop in the name of love album track played at 45? Sounds like the chipmonks on acid!! Suppose its fab if your drugf===d. Yes, i will work on this. Would love to make my own proper sets on cd. Have no idea how to do this new stuff via computer on i-tunes or whatver.just getting my head around this. But i willl get there. Superstar djs whatchout! Hahahahah..paulo xxxx

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,s top it i'm on the floor..forgot to change from 33 to 45 haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa[priceless]!!!!

[Doug-Morgan]

I keep forgetting which tape is 3 1/4 or 7 1/2 i.p.s. Hit the wrong speed, Lou Christie sounds even more like a Chipmunk.....