Mix tapes

[Burnside]

Those of a certain age (or age range) might remember mix tapes. Somehow sending someone a Spotify playlist doesn’t have the same allure…

‘I threw it in the bin with everything else he gave me’: the mix tapes that defined our lives

In heart-tugging drama Mix Tape, two ex-lovers are thrown back together with the music they wooed each other with 20 years earlier. Here, writers dig out their most treasured tapes and CDs full of meaning, mishaps and mega-tunes

www.theguardian.com

 

[QuarryHunslet]

I never had any mix tapes, my tapes were either recordings of albums, or live concert recordings.
The only possible 'mix' aspect was the filler up material, added to fill up the sides of the tape, after measuring the time remaining with a mechanical stop watch, and then finding suitable tracks to fill this space.

 

[EddNog]

Did my mix CDs count? Both, regular RedBook and also eventually digital collections (MP3/FLAC/Monkey Audio).

My memory of tapes mostly harkens back to seeing unraveled ones polluting the streets of the Bronx (where I grew up).

-Ed

 

[merifon]

More than mixes I would say Playlists on tape, alongside with LP recorded, one on C45 or two on C90 (and some spares to fill). When Dolby C arrived, it was a giant step to "quality". I still have all my all old tapes and the same recorder, perfectly operational and sometimes, I play some cassette, "just to remember when I used to jump over ditches for the long run"...
I have to say that cheap Maxell UL, survived much better than expensive XLII.

 

[d6jg]

I think I still have a few C90 mixtapes in a box somewhere. No cassette player as such but I do have a USB cassette gizmo for digital archiving of “proper” cassettes.

 

[Burnside]

My recollection is that you made mix tapes for someone else, and compilations for yourself

 

[slartibartfast]

My recollection is that you made mix tapes for someone else, and compilations for yourself

I can't remember even hearing the term "mix tape" in the 70s and 80s. I used to make compilations for the car, sometimes with a theme but that was rare.

 

[Zap Rekowski]

I have created many mix MCs and distributed them among my friends and received just as many. It was always a great pleasure to create them and receive/hear them. I agree that dolby-c was a big improvement. My favorite MCs were the 90s in the 5-pack from TDK

Oh, ha...for my (later) wife, I had to digitize a bunch of Mix-MCs in the 90s by using my new Windows95-PC... Out of the tape into the ISA Soundblaster AWE32 and onto CD via a TAO-Mitsumi 2x burner... I was the king.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

More than mixes I would say Playlists on tape, alongside with LP recorded, one on C45 or two on C90 (and some spares to fill). When Dolby C arrived, it was a giant step to "quality". I still have all my all old tapes and the same recorder, perfectly operational and sometimes, I play some cassette, "just to remember when I used to jump over ditches for the long run"...
I have to say that cheap Maxell UL, survived much better than expensive XLII.

I wasn't a fan of Dolby B or C, and preferred to use the Super ANRS system from JVC, and recorded mainly on Maxell UD XLII, and XLII-S, and TDK SA-X cassettes.

I still have quite a few New sealed cassettes, including Maxell UD XLII, Memorex CDX II, and TDK SA-X, and apparently these seem to be still quite desirable, if online prices for used and new examples are anything to go by.

 

[slartibartfast]

I wasn't a fan of Dolby B or C, and preferred to use the Super ANRS system from JVC, and recorded mainly on Maxell UD XLII, and XLII-S, and TDK SA-X cassettes.

I still have quite a few New sealed cassettes, including Maxell UD XLII, Memorex CDX II, and TDK SA-X, and apparently these seem to be still quite desirable, if online prices for used and new examples are anything to go by.

Dolby S was probably better than B or C but arrived too late when cassette was on the way out.

 

[Zap Rekowski]

I never had any mix tapes, my tapes were either recordings of albums, or live concert recordings.
The only possible 'mix' aspect was the filler up material, added to fill up the sides of the tape, after measuring the time remaining with a mechanical stop watch, and then finding suitable tracks to fill this space.

I did it in such a way that I recorded the songs that I particularly liked from the album, again at the end and then slowly faded them out towards the end...

 

[QuarryHunslet]

Dolby S was probably better than B or C but arrived too late when cassette was on the way out.

I think I even used to record things without any noise reduction occasionally when using a decent cassette, as you could set the recording levels much higher, around +5 in the red without any distortion.

 

[QuarryHunslet]

I did it in such a way that I recorded the songs that I particularly liked from the album, again at the end and then slowly faded them out towards the end...

Fading out was a definite no for me, and sometimes a cassette would reach the end a few seconds from the end of a tune, so an alternative had to be found.

 

[Zap Rekowski]

Fading out was a definite no for me, and sometimes a cassette would reach the end a few seconds from the end of a tune, so an alternative had to be found.

...since the song was already on the tape in its entirety, it was allowed to fade out the second time, when it was only used as filler. I could just about reconcile that with my conscience

 

[r5yk5]

I still make mix tapes.

 

[Zap Rekowski]

At some point back then, I started cutting the MC inlets myself and typing the artists/titles on a typewriter.
My wife always created artistic MC inlets, with drawings and colorful.

Every MC used in the car was just a copy. I don't know how many cassettes were rendered unusable by the sun in summer...

It's all so easy today...

 

[Zap Rekowski]

I still make mix tapes.

I wouldn't think of that today... Even my last burned CD was at least 10 years ago

But why not? If you enjoy it

 

[slartibartfast]

At some point back then, I started cutting the MC inlets myself and typing the artists/titles on a typewriter.
My wife always created artistic MC inlets, with drawings and colorful.

Every MC used in the car was just a copy. I don't know how many cassettes were rendered unusable by the sun in summer...

It's all so easy today...

I used to use Rotring pens and stencils on a glossy green paper my father brought home from work for the inlays

 

[JimBob]

I always use to copy all my vinyl to cassette back in the day, and then leave the vinyl on the shelf. Made a few mix tapes and had a few given to me. Sadly all my vinyl , early cd’s and cassettes melted in a severe 1989 house fire that ruined them and the stereo system. I may have some of those old cassettes somewhere stored away from being in the car at the time. Big loss.

 

[Zap Rekowski]

I always use to copy all my vinyl to cassette back in the day, and then leave the vinyl on the shelf. Made a few mix tapes and had a few given to me. Sadly all my vinyl , early cd’s and cassettes melted in a severe 1989 house fire that ruined them and the stereo system. I may have some of those old cassettes somewhere stored away from being in the car at the time. Big loss.

...sad, no one need something like that.