Hm, okay, you pose some good questions and I'm honoured to be considered a professional.. I would love it if I could dj or make mixes for a living though :P
As for how I go about making mixes for individual friends and especially for a special occasion, I consider stuff they like then find stuff I like that is similar in sound.. say, one friend of mine likes a lot of jazz, but mostly sticks to contemporary jazz, I'd go find all the underground/indie jazz I could and mix it together with some stuff I find meaningful as well. I've done this many a time. most friends have appreciated the effort in trying to find things they'd like while hearing some of the stuff I usually listen to as well.
Hmm... this second question sort've corresponds with my first answer... give a mix of both, so that way they feel comfortable within the confines of their taste as well as your own mixed inbetween. one friend gave me a purely jazz mix; nothing else within it, and I'm sad to say, but I lost interest since jazz was never really my favourite genre.. I did appreciate the effort that friend made, but I only listened once. a mix is meant to be treasured, so I always feel bad thinking about how I couldn't get into that particular one.
In the past, I used to add more than one song by a particular artist, but now I get about a dozen+ albums a month in some form or another, so I feel there's not enough room for more than one. if you feel the need to though, never stick them one after the other.. mix it up.. maybe do this trick I've seen done before.. a palindromic mix by using the same artist at the top as the bottom and continue this trend till you reach the center solo artist.
Hm... I think I get what you're saying in terms of an album being a cohesive whole. I feel I can't use explosions in the sky on a mix very well since each track was meant to continue into the next. I did once make a post rock mix, but it was my least favourite one since it felt like I just took fragments and tried to make a new whole which didn't work as well. I have found a good way to make it feel whole is to try crossfading your tracks. I just learned how to imitate this trick since I never figured out the actual tool on my editing program. if you'd like to know the trick, let me know!
Is that you in the album cover or someone from a band? sorry, if that's a stupid question :P It looks good to me though.. really, covers should represent your personality in a way.
Sure, I'm always curious about other people's mixes!
I didn't seem to get an email beyond this... maybe I accidently deleted it? I get a lot of spam. I only noticed this one 'cause it was an alert from livejournal, so they always stick out. I don't mind the questions.. I like when people take interest in my entries/site. that's why I have it up ;P
Hopefully you get notice of this considering I don't think anons get alerts, but coincidentally, I'm making a new mix right at this moment, so mixing has been directly on my mind again; it was a good time to ask :D
Re: credence or cadence.
As for how I go about making mixes for individual friends and especially for a special occasion, I consider stuff they like then find stuff I like that is similar in sound.. say, one friend of mine likes a lot of jazz, but mostly sticks to contemporary jazz, I'd go find all the underground/indie jazz I could and mix it together with some stuff I find meaningful as well. I've done this many a time. most friends have appreciated the effort in trying to find things they'd like while hearing some of the stuff I usually listen to as well.
Hmm... this second question sort've corresponds with my first answer... give a mix of both, so that way they feel comfortable within the confines of their taste as well as your own mixed inbetween. one friend gave me a purely jazz mix; nothing else within it, and I'm sad to say, but I lost interest since jazz was never really my favourite genre.. I did appreciate the effort that friend made, but I only listened once. a mix is meant to be treasured, so I always feel bad thinking about how I couldn't get into that particular one.
In the past, I used to add more than one song by a particular artist, but now I get about a dozen+ albums a month in some form or another, so I feel there's not enough room for more than one. if you feel the need to though, never stick them one after the other.. mix it up.. maybe do this trick I've seen done before.. a palindromic mix by using the same artist at the top as the bottom and continue this trend till you reach the center solo artist.
Hm... I think I get what you're saying in terms of an album being a cohesive whole. I feel I can't use explosions in the sky on a mix very well since each track was meant to continue into the next. I did once make a post rock mix, but it was my least favourite one since it felt like I just took fragments and tried to make a new whole which didn't work as well. I have found a good way to make it feel whole is to try crossfading your tracks. I just learned how to imitate this trick since I never figured out the actual tool on my editing program. if you'd like to know the trick, let me know!
Is that you in the album cover or someone from a band? sorry, if that's a stupid question :P
It looks good to me though.. really, covers should represent your personality in a way.
Sure, I'm always curious about other people's mixes!
I didn't seem to get an email beyond this... maybe I accidently deleted it? I get a lot of spam. I only noticed this one 'cause it was an alert from livejournal, so they always stick out.
I don't mind the questions.. I like when people take interest in my entries/site. that's why I have it up ;P
Hopefully you get notice of this considering I don't think anons get alerts, but coincidentally, I'm making a new mix right at this moment, so mixing has been directly on my mind again; it was a good time to ask :D