Summer Mix Swap?

edited June 2013 in Mixtapes
I've been binge mixing lately, something I haven't done in nearly a decade, and was curious is anyone here might be interested in swapping mixes. My ears are thirsty for some new sounds and flows and maybe yours are too?
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Comments

  • I saw your post on FB and was going to reply that I like the idea. Count me in.
  • I could be enticed to make a mix tape.

    Craig
  • Ditto on enticed...!
  • Likewise. I miss the summer fun burn that used to happen.
  • I could maybe be enticed but it could take a little while - lots of work travel coming up in my immediate future...
  • a5712045-181-fist-pump-baby-lets.png

    I haven't even gotten beyond the initial "this would be cool", anyone ever organize one of these things? What's the best way to facilitate the swap?
  • I did this once in a one-on-one exchange about 15 years ago, and it was great. Is there any "tape" in a mix tape in 2013? One could exchange CD-ROMs, flash drives, microSD cards? microSD cards are pretty cool because you can tape them to paper and mail them as regular paper mail. Also, I'm pretty sure there should be a found art component to the packaging.
  • Ha, love that photo.
  • I will execute 3 innocent people in cold blood for every mixtape containing compressed audio that ignores Dropbox (or equivalent) in favor of any physical media lacking an "art component".
  • OK - what are the 'rules' for a mixtape?
  • How is "mix" defined for this exercise? Just a collection of tracks, a compilation, or a continuous mix with segments of tracks - and what software do folk use for that?
  • I'd leave the definition up to the group, when I mix I try to make a collection of songs to tell a story or create a flow of mood.
  • Just swapping tunes is fun, but curating a collection of songs that go together in someway and attaching them to artwork? That's teh awesomez!
  • edited July 2013
    Sir Brighternow's Exclusive 4 track FMA Summer Mix

    Enjoy (or not) my first attempt to create a FMA mix.
  • @brighternow, enjoyed that, thanks!
  • I have a bunch of themed mixes I would be willing to swap with anyone who might be interested. I've never done a mix swap - how exactly would it work? I was wondering how to identify who wants to swap with who. Maybe post a tracklist of what people have and see who wants it and what they have to offer in return?
  • edited June 2013
    Some possible models:

    - what Kez said ^^ generating one-on-one swaps

    - simply pairing up people (randomly? non-randomly?) before the mixes are made and you get what you get (part of the appeal of this to me is actually that I could get sent stuff I would never have chosen to listen to and have a reason to pay attention to it)

    - each posts lists of tracks like kez said but as many people from the thread as whisper their address in response get sent a copy (so variable numbers of copies of mixes get sent out depending on demand)

    - figure out how many people are in on this and everyone makes that many copies of their mix, so everyone gets everyone's (there is something I really like about the idea of not knowing what is coming until it arrives; this option is more work but if we pulled it off it could be fun)

    - all the names of those involved go in a hat and someone sends three of those names back to each participant (checking that each name is sent out roughly the same number of times), so each person sends their mix to three randomly assigned other people and receives mixes from three people.

    - create a circular chain in which everyone sends one copy to the next person and receives one, gets a week to listen and then sends it on to the next in the chain, so one copy of each mix circulates

    - ?
  • Depending on how many people are involved, I like the idea of swapping with everyone.

    Craig
  • Good ideas! I would be happy with any of the options listed.
  • ^^what elwoodicious and thom said. Making something. Being surprised. I'd limit the number of copies folks are expected to send out due to international postage.
  • I agree with Dr.M in limiting the number of copies each person would need to send to keep total money spent on postage and international postage low.
  • edited July 2013
    Well, managed to spend an hour on messing with a mix this afternoon. Decided to have a go at a proper mix, with track extracts of varying lengths and cross fades and so on. Not very expert at that, but getting there. Constructed the first 12 minutes so far - doesn't sound too bad. It's going to be very mellow and warm and meditative, pulled from ambient/classical/acoustic/dubby sources. Relaxed summer evening music.

    Do we actually have a way of deciding a procedure and timeline based on the above discussion?

    Possible procedure given the above cautions (last few comments):

    Post here when you have a mix ready (maybe with a very broad description of genres/mood but my vote would be no tracklist, to preserve the surprise, though I think the actual mix sent should include a tracklist). Try to get it done by August so that it is still summer when we listen. Indicate how many copies you are willing to send out. Interested parties can whisper their address; those too late can plead their case the same way.

    Does that sound a useful way forward? Not really wanting to take charge (elwoodicious, you have the most right to step back in here and give us some rules), just looking to avoid us drifting indecisively around this for the rest of the sumnmer...
  • edited July 2013
    GP, I like the idea of people whispering the requests. That way nobody has to run the thing. When someone has all the requests they want to fill they can edit their post to say the offer's closed. i'd also like to request people not spread this around. We don't need a bunch of people joining just to get a mix. That was about 90% of the trouble with the Summer Burn, the people who just wanted a free CD. Also, as this is a CD swap, you shouldn't request more CDs than you've offered to send out. If I see any serious abuses of people's good will you'll be hearing from me.

    edit: Forgot to say that I don't think it's necessary to have your CD ready before you offer to send it as long as you're going to follow through. If you've never done this before and you want to make sure you can pull it off first, that's fine too. It's doesn't have to be rocket surgery. Mixed and crossfaded like GP is doing is more the exception based on the swaps I've been in. Most of the CDs I got in the Summer Burn play like albums.
    GP, I consider you to have a CD on offer for purposes of requesting mine.
  • edited July 2013
    I'll start the festivities with an offer to send my CD-to-be to 2 non-US and 4 US recipients.
    I won't be publishing theme or track list ahead of time.
    Please post an offer before whispering a request for my CD.

    As of 2013-07-09 23:25 GMT-4 there are
    2 non-US available
    2 US available
  • @Dr.M, those are good rules. One way to avoid unnecessary proliferation from the internet at large would be to stipulate that requesters must already have posted to emusers before this date.
  • edited July 2013
    I'll go ahead and formally state my offer. The CD will be warm and leisurely and meditative, though not esoteric - I am avoiding the kinds of experimental ambient that take commitment to appreciate, but I am going more for drift than for drive in terms of mood. Think mellow late evening with a glass of wine. I am also biasing the list towards things that are a bit harder to get hold of, so there will be a slight 'rarities' slant.

    Offer open to folk who have already posted on emusers as of July 8 2013. I am going to go with Dr.M's levels of 4 US copies and 2 non-US copies but if this should fill up I am also willing to make exceptions for regular posters, because I enjoy your company.

    Will not be ready to send this for a bit longer - still working on the mix and need to think about artwork.
  • Man, now I actually need to figure out what I'm doing. I have a few different ideas.

    Craig
  • Sounds great GP and Dr. M. I will need some time to create a mix as well.
  • Alright. The theme for my tape will be "funk". When it's hot and the sun is high over head, I don't think there's anything better than something funky. So, whether it's straight funk, soul, R&B, hip hop, dance, whatever, everything on the tape will have a groove.

    You can listen to mine during the day, and as the sun goes down, put GPs on.

    I'm not going to set a limit to how many I send out up front. If necessary I'll cut it off later.

    Craig
  • I'll be jumping in on this next week. My girl turns 5 this week and we've got a party to deal with after non-stop yard work/house work to prep us for the onslaught of little kids. Right now my time with music is limited to hiding the vinyl.
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