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

[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).