Number of songs to get started on a playlist/mix

[g_uava]

Do you need to group together a certain number of songs first before getting started on compiling a playlist/mix? Or do you start with a certain prompt, then think up 8/10/however many songs you'd like to put on your playlist/mix?

I've been on a roll with creating mixes and realise I tend to begin with grouping 3 songs together of a similar vibe or style. Then after deciding what I'd title my list, I could quite easily think up the remaining 6 or 7 songs to complete a full mix. Quite different from a decade ago when I first think up the prompt, then think hard on which songs would fit and even go out of way to find new songs just to populate the tracklist for posting on 8tracks 😂

Looking forward to hearing about everyone's mix-creating process!

Comments

[senmut]

I almost never create a playlist without knowing what theme I am aiming for BUT! Like you, I tend to have 1 or 2 songs I already know need to be there. Then I flesh it out from there.

[g_uava]

Creating a playlist without knowing a theme is like knowing certain songs go together for some reason, and that reason only becomes clear as more songs are collected. If I start below 3 songs, somehow I need to take extra effort populating the tracklist, so 3's the magic number for me 😬

[lumiosecity]

I’ll hear a song on shuffle and go “oh, this would be sick on a character mix,” then go shuffling through my music library like a cat on a mission to find the best, most shiny toys to rip to shreds. XD

So I guess I start with a root song and a theme, and I stack more songs on top in accordance with a theme. Sometimes I like to challenge myself with “only songs from x year” or “only songs from x artist”— little things to make me rack my brain.

[g_uava]

That's a cute and unexpected image for shuffling through songs >:3

Those little challenges and constraints really help to pull a satisfying playlist together!

[impala_chick]

Most of the time I start with a theme or ship or character that I want to make a mix about, so then I'm not searching blindly. But sometimes I hear a song I really want to build a mix around and then I have to come up with a theme that I think will work.

[g_uava]

That's unusual to start with one song, then coming up with the theme!

[impala_chick]

Maybe that's why it takes me so long to finish a mix! :P

[g_uava]

Oh how long usually? Do you work on a few on and off or really sit down and focus on finishing one?

[impala_chick]

I usually have one that is incomplete for awhile, and then add to it as I have time to listen to more music. But when there's an event deadline, that really motivates me so I have just listened to a bunch of music and finished a mix in like 2-3 hours before. Making mixes = a good excuse to listen to random new-to-me songs!

[g_uava]

Haven't come across in a while events that let participants submit mixes. Sounds amazing to put one together with newish songs in just a couple of hours and have the end result sound great! These days I take that long to finish a mix even with songs I'm familiar with, through putting in a bit extra thought in the arrangement and cover design.

[impala_chick]

I recommend ficinabox - it's open for noms right now but a lot of participants do make fanmixes for it :D

Oh that's a good point though. I rarely make covers these days, and those take considerable time. More and more I'm just making mixes for Tumblr fandom-specific events or lands_of_magic challenges, and just linking to the mix itself or just doing a front cover only.

[g_uava]

Thanks for bringing up the challenges that welcome fanmixes! Technically I also only do front covers with the back just being a minimalist list of tracks included 😂

[goldgust]

I only start making a mix after I already have 2-3 songs which I've idly decided would be on it (usually because I was listening and a lyric jumped out at me). They decide the sound of the mix and I can start looking up songs from there.

[g_uava]

Sound/vibes are easier to base mixes on than lyrics!

[linky]

What I like to do is first having a ship/character/etc and at least a few (2-3) songs I already have in mind before starting to put the mix together. Having those songs I already have in mind helps with a sense of direction and/or overall vibe for me as I look for more!

[g_uava]

Same with me! Also apt that a wild Hayakawa Ken appears on a music-related post ;)

[impala_chick]

I can so agree with this! Definitely easier than trying to find 8 or so songs when I have some already in mind.

[jadinerhine]

I just joined this community, so apologies for the comment that comes (checks calendar) uh three months later--but I think of playlists and mixes separately?

For me, a playlist is just "dump any song I immediately see as perfect for [topic]." So like on spotify, for example lol.

Mixes are planned as if I were making an actual CD. So that means, on average, 8-15 tracks with an appropriate storytelling flow. I make a list of all the songs I think are good for the topic at hand and then cull down to the ones that I think fit best for the topic. Sometimes I'll have a situation where I don't need to make a list, I just know the songs and bam, put them there. In that case, if I end up short of a "proper" CD format, I try to add more or find others.

(I partly also plan it like CDs because so many of my old mixed CDs were planned like that. Someday I'll have time to burn my fanmixes lol)

The topic always comes first though, for mixes--if the topic can have a mix in the first place, then I go ahead. I have a bunch of fave series or characters where I haven't been able to make a fanmix because something just isn't connecting enough to justify the mix.

[g_uava]

Welcome! The way you separate 'playlist' and 'mix' also matches with how I think about them and the different ways of collecting songs, with mixes having more of a purpose and storytelling element.

Mixed CDs are awesome! Hope to see yours here if you plan to share any you've put together 😃

Sometimes 'songs that remind me of [fav character]' seems enough of a justification to create a mix. The challenge might come in populating the tracklist and finalising the song arrangement. Perfecting the transitions in a mix is kind of a lost art.

[jadinerhine]

Sorry for the VERY late reply, but yeah, exactly! Mixes have more of a storytelling element for me.

And man, I'll see. Almost all of them were just made in the 2000s for myself to play in the CD player in my room XD They have an order the way my mixes do, but just more "if I listen to this CD, it should send me these crescendo and lulls in this order." No storytelling involved (I mean, one's just random TV size versions of anime songs lmao because I wanted to save them. A lot of my mixes are just that.)

I have shared one mix I've done that's not on CD. Actually, a lot of my mixes from this past decade aren't on CDs...I should fix that. But I'll be posting a lot more soon.

And fair point! I like my mixes to be more telling the story of the characters than reminding of the characters, but hey, different strokes for different folks, right? But yes, agreed with the "lost art" of transitions. Then again, even lately, some of my favorite bands have lost that touch with their recent albums (I'm looking at you, Yesterwynde from Nightwish LOL).