Six Tips for Making a Good Mix CD

Six Tips for Making a Good Mix CD for Friends
by William McRand Sr

In this age of CDRW drives and digital music, it's easier
than ever to create a CD of various songs for your
friends. This is a lot of fun, because not only can you
bring a smile to your friends' faces with a thoughtful
gift, but you also expose each other to bands and songs
the other may have never heard before.

However, there is a certain "art" to creating a good mix
CD, and here are some tips to help you:

MAKE A PLAYLIST FIRST
You may find you didn't choose your song list or order as
well as you could have. If you've built a playlist before
burning the CD, you can listen to it a few times to make
sure the flow is what you were aiming for. You'll also
save money and the environment by not having to throw away
a bunch of CDs if you change your mind.

DON'T REPEAT THE SAME BANDS
Unless you're making a "best of" compilation for a
specific group, it's best to only have one song per unique
band per CD. Unless all of your chosen songs are
particularly short, you'll only get 15-20 songs per CD
anyway, so there's really no need for repeats.

VARY THE TEMPO
Think of a movie soundtrack. It usually starts out with
either a fast-paced or upbeat song, slows down, and then
picks back up again. Your mix should do the same. This
allows the listener to ride the "wave" of emotions and
will increase its chances of being listened to repeatedly.

NORMALIZE THE VOLUME
If you've ever made a mix CD before, you may have noticed
that newer songs always seem louder than older songs, even
if you extracted them from their CDs with the same
program, computer, and settings. It can be somewhat
annoying to the listener if he or she has to keep
adjusting the volume while the CD is playing. Various CD
burning and MP3 extraction software have a setting to keep
the volume the same between different tracks. You can also
use a separate utility, such as MP3 Gain to adjust the
music files themselves.

START THE CD WITH A MOVIE OR TV SAMPLE
Using a recorded piece of dialog from a movie or
television show can really set the mood for the entire
disc. For added effect, you can add samples throughout the
CD or as the final track.

MAKE SURE YOUR SONGS LEAD INTO EACH OTHER
Don't shift genres or pacing too quickly between songs.
You can almost disorient your listener by going from a
slow country ballad, to a fast-paced speed metal song,
then following that with a classical piano piece. With
some well-chosen songs in between, you can pull off having
all three of these types of songs on the same CD, but it
takes a lot of thought in order to do this successfully.

You'll find that making mix CDs gets easier each time you
do it, so don't fret if you think you're spending too much
time getting it together. If your friends love and
appreciate it, it'll be worth every minute you spent.

William McRand Sr is a professional Affiliate residing in
Mobile AL. His web site at
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