# Mixed CD/Tape Question... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999 "2003-07-21T20:36:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/1 "2003-07-21T20:36:44Z")
Quick question, when you make a mixed tape or CD do you put more than one song by the same artist on it? I hate it when someone makes a mixed CD or tape and they have 2 or more songs by the same artist on it. I can understand if you’re making a greatist hits CD of a band, the whole CD or tape will be full of songs by the same artist. Does anyone else feel this way? MtM ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/2 "2003-07-21T20:51:29Z")
There’s nothing wrong with it. Just because it’s mixed doesn’t mean there’s a **compulsion** for the CD to be _completely_ mixed. ---
**Author:** ![evilhomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@evilhomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhomer)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/3 "2003-07-21T20:55:35Z")
Alot of the time, my whole reason for making a mixed tape or CD is because I don’t like all the songs on a CD I have, just some of them. So I’ll put the songs I do like in my mix. Of course, now that I have an MP3 player, this is less of an issue, since I can mix and match with much less effort. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/4 "2003-07-21T23:42:04Z")
I’m okay with as much as 2-3 songs by the same artist as long as all of the songs fit into the mood of the cd. I do not, however, put them consecutively, takes away from the “compilation” atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/5 "2003-07-22T01:29:55Z")
I’ll do 2 or 3 sometimes. Like I was giving someone a mix of some of my favorite all-time tunes. There were three Catherine Wheel tunes on it. Thus, it’s ok, but only in some circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/6 "2003-07-22T01:30:22Z")
I’m with you, **McDeath**. If I make a mix tape or cd, every song is by a different artist. Since no one else makes them for me, I’m usually happy with them 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/7 "2003-07-22T04:17:50Z")
Try making a trip-hop mix and NOT putting at least 2 Massive Attack songs, or at least remixes by them, on it… can’t be done, and if it can, I’ll happily burn whatever (9+ track) concoction you lot can come up with 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/8 "2003-07-22T06:55:23Z")
??? Perplexed as to why what OTHER people put on their CDs would bring you to “hate it”. But to answer your question. Sure, I’m making the CD because I want to hear what I like. Sometimes an artist has two songs that are what I want for that particular type of CD. Oh, yeah, I’m a dance and fitness instructor, so I make all kinds of different CDs all the time. Sometimes they’re themed for my aerobics classes, and for my dance classes. They’re songs that those particular dances were choreorgraphed for. My CDs tend to be really interesting mixes, one can contain such “opposites” as Metallica, and then Quad City DJs. Lots of GnR songs make GREAT 2step tunes btw, so you’ll find CDs of mine that have Brooks and Dunn, AND GnR, and then some Janet Jackson. The ones I make for the Gym, to work out to are selected for their “BPM” and their motivational factor, or which ones will make me want to MOVE!!! ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/9 "2003-07-22T06:59:58Z")
Ooops, forgot to add this in. When I DO put more than one song for an artist, I tend to put it in a different number in the “lineup” than just right after the other song by that same artist. I have also DJ’d at a club for dancing, so I tend to mix, even for my own CDs based on the mood, BPM, type etc of song. For instance, when DJing for dances, you don’t go from Brooks and Dunn DIRECTLY into Guns n Roses, you gotta have some “in between” type stuff, to seque into it. Same with a CD, you don’t want to be rocking and (and hitting the treadmill hard) and suddenly go from a 180 BPM Garth Brooks into a slow, 125 newage “complaint rock”. (those are for COOL DOWNS!! :D) ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/10 "2003-07-22T07:29:08Z")
It’s kind of hard to make a mixed CD and include only one song from, say, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, etc. in my case. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![todd33rpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@todd33rpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd33rpm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/11 "2003-07-22T11:52:56Z")
Depends. As a general rule, I keep it to one song by each artist, but I will let “guest shots” go through (for example, I have no problem following a Beatles cut with David Bowie’s “Fame,” even though John Lennon plays guitar on it, or if there’s an Elvis Costello song followed by a song with Costello as a backgroud vocalist). The exceptions: If I’m recording to MiniDisc at MDLP4 speed, I’ll have five HOURS or more of space to fill, so I wait for what would be 75-80 minutes after the first appearance to include another song by the same artist. That is, I’ll wait for the length of one compact disc’s worth of audio to go by before I return to the artist. If I’m recording to cassette, I’ll repeat an artist IF it’s not on the same side of the tape. If I’m assembling a collection of things that have recently caught my ear - new artists, or revisiting some old friends I haven’t heard in a while - I’ll block-program all the cuts by an artist together, rather than scattering them. When I title those discs, I generally just give them a date, like “January 2003,” to remind myself that it’s not a true mix CD, but a review of a particular time frame. I limit myself to three or four cuts from an album/artist, however. If there’s a song that sets a “theme” for a disc, I’ll put a relevant excerpt at the beginning, and then the full song at the end. Slightly off-topic question: when you title a mix CD/tape, do you name it after a song, after a lyric, or do you pick your own? ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/12 "2003-07-22T13:40:37Z")
Nope. It’s not allowed. Putting the same artist twice on the one comp is just not acceptable. Diversity, man! > [@](#): > > _originally posted by todd33rpm_ > As a general rule, I keep it to one song by each artist, but I will let “guest shots” go through (for example, I have no problem following a Beatles cut with David Bowie’s “Fame,” even though John Lennon plays guitar on it, or if there’s an Elvis Costello song followed by a song with Costello as a backgroud vocalist). This is an accepted loophole. Bootlegs count too; for instance, I have a mix that follwed D12’s _Purple Pills_ with Eminem vs Britney Spears - _Oops, The Real Slim Shady Did It Again_. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/13 "2003-07-22T15:25:58Z")
Yep, sometimes I do it, for a number of reasons. The Massive Attack trip-hop problem **Dutchboy** mentions is one. My own trip-hop CDs also contain a lot of Portishead. Another is that sometimes one band’s songs can sound very very different - someone unfamiliar with the band wouldn’t even realize it was the same band unless told. Finally, I have great respect for the sanctity of the “album” and some songs just sound right in the order the artists originally intended - Neil Young’s “Needle and the Damage Done” just doesn’t sound right unless it’s followed by “Words (Between the Lines of Age).” Also I couldn’t split up Abbey Road - many of the tracks just belong together. ---
**Author:** ![SeGate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SeGate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeGate)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mixed-cd-tape-question/189999/14 "2003-07-22T19:50:00Z")
I generally stick with one song per artist per mix CD, but I don’t see this as a “rule.” I just made a mix CD for my daughter of lullabyes, and I had some repeat artists. But as the CD reflects the songs I sing to her, I don’t think she’ll mind (and as she’s only 2, she probably won’t even notice). To me it’s all about the mood of the mix, not the artists involved.