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Underground > Radio & Music >

How do you structure your compilations/playlists?

  
 
Ganesh
11:05 / 22.11.05
I used to adore making compilations, and now get some of the same buzz assembling playlists. I'll admit I'm often a bit one-note and 'obvious', though - I often find myself structuring a compilation with up/happy stuff gently melting into bittersweet/reflective - and am looking for different ways to theme or structure my favourite music.

How do you do it?
 
 
Benny the Ball
11:19 / 22.11.05
I tend to come up with a story, then try to make a soundlist to fit that story - so it takes a bit of time. I love the whole putting together of mixes, and then listening back to make sure it works while I imagine the story unfolding.
 
 
Char Aina
11:53 / 22.11.05
i go through all the songs on my computer on random, hopping about from track to track as i think of them, and adding them to a playlist.

once i have enough(or more often too many.i like more than enough to playwith.) i then figure outthe best order, ditching the excess as i go.

this eway i getto add all the songs i havebeen thinking of passing on, and i get to listen to music the whole time.

my method was different when i used tapes.
there was a more 'what could follow that?' vibe.
 
 
electric monk
12:31 / 22.11.05
I usually spend a few days jotting down names of songs I want in the mix. Starts with songs I'm digging at the moment, but over the course of days I tend to think of songs I haven't listened to in a while that may fit, and plug those into the mix. A theme tends to develop from my choices. Not a story so much as a slice of my life, or maybe a story I'm trying to tell myself. I try to have more songs on my list than will fit on a disc so that I can use pretty much all 74 mins on the CD and get the stuff on there that fits best. Also try to represent as many genres as my collection will allow, as I like putting songs next to each other that one might not expect but that create a nice friction. (My latest mix, fer example, has 'O Green World' by Gorillaz next to 'Cities' by the Talking Heads next to 'Straight Outta Compton' by NWA, and the Velvet Underground's 'I'm Set Free' followed by Lauryn Hill's 'Lost Ones'. It works for me.)

At Mix-Time, I gather all the pre-chosen CDs and a few extras that strike my fancy (esp. spoken word stuff, as they make for great breaks in the action and I like a bit of poetry now and again). I start thinking about the order the songs should go in when I sit down at the 'puter. Finding the opener is key for me, as are the middle- and end-songs. I don't know why, but if I just let myself play with the structure of the mix instead of trying to willfully bend and shape it, I'm much happier with the final result.

I was shit-hot at mixes back in the day. Once did a mix built around a Marx Brothers routine. It was friggin' brilliant, and its recipient was blown away. Wish I'd kept a copy of that.

On the tape thang: I used to have a double tape deck boom box that was PERFECT for mixing tapes. I discovered that cueing up the last second of song A and depressing the Record button about halfway down for a second while starting song B gave this wonderful fade between the two songs. (There may be a way to do this with my disc-burning software, but I've not discovered it yet). This discovery led me to create the Best Stoney Mix EVAR, which I cannot describe here as it is like unto gossamer, and one does not dissect gossamer maaaaan.
 
 
Mike Modular
01:04 / 23.11.05
I'd like to think I don't have any set rules for structuring a mix, but I do tend to follow similar patterns and these days the process generally goes something like this:

1) Inspiration - Either I get an idea for a mix (like, "hey! Those songs would sound great together") and/or I've got someone in mind and try to tailor for them (either with or against their tastes...). Themed CDs are usually seasonal (I do annual Christmas mixes, a 'Best of the year' and sometimes a Summer one) or 'practical' (music for sleeping to, for instance)

2) Selection - Most of the time I tend to just look through my iTunes library, which is limiting, but just so quick and easy (especially for auditioning potential mix candidates). Otherwise I'll sift through the CDs and vinyl and rip/record in as necessary. By now I'll probably have a fair idea of what direction I'm taking and what sort of things I'm looking for.

3) Track Ordering - Occasionally I'll make a playlist in iTunes, but mostly I'll just drag songs straight over from iTunes to Jam and sort them out there. I don't always have a full disc's worth when I start (some mixes I take ages to finish...) but I just like to get things going. I suppose I do like to have 'movements' (eg. start 'up' finish 'down', or vice versa, or peaks and troughs, or just stay on one level - which I find hard) but it all depends on the songs really and how you can make them best flow together... I'm all for replacing tracks that just don't sit right, but you've got to limit yourself at some point and just make it work or you'll be forever tweaking to get that elusive 'perfect' mix.

4) Cross Fading - When I made mix tapes, I always tried to have as little gap between tracks as possible. Now that I can crossfade digitally (and change the fades as many times as I want until it's just right) there's been no going back for me. I'm no beat-mixer, but I love making a smooth transition between songs. Droney/ambient/electronic stuff works nicely, so that's become a bit of a feature in my mixes. But, conversely, I like breaking the flow now and then, with something that starts more abrasively, so it all adds to the structural, er, flavour. Type thing. Eclecticism, that's the word...

Basically, I guess, I just want to make something that's a pleasing listen to me and playing around with the structure gives me a buzz. It's all about the flow (man). I used to DJ quite a lot, so for me mix CDs are like doing mini-sets, with the added bonus of refining your set list and erasing your mistakes (but minus the adrenalin rush of pulling it off live...)
 
 
grant
15:13 / 23.11.05
I like making mixes where the end of one song sounds something like the beginning of the next song.

I also have a playlist on iTunes called "end credits" which is full of songs that sound great as end pieces. Randy Newman's "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" is in there, as is Darren Hanlon's "The Last Night of Not Knowing You." Things I would like to hear as the credits roll. They tend to make good end songs on mixes, too.

For a while, I insisted on making CDs with a "side one" and "side two" with some kind of break in the middle, but I can't be bothered any more -- I think iTunes makes it too easy to sort mp3s and burn, so I don't have the time grabbing things off shelves and thinking while the songs play.
 
  
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