I usually use TV themes or commercials. Sometimes I fit in short SNL bits or bits of dialogue from favorite movies or TV shows.
In my last mix tape for example, I put in a few lines of Dan Ackroyd “Jane you ignorant slut”/“We’re on a mission from God”, and a few others. Then Cartman (South Park) saying “Screw you guys, I’m going home” and “No, kitty that’s my pot pie” and (the bit from the movie after Kenny dies) “I bet him he couldn’t do it, I bet him $100 …”. Then the Misfits of Science Theme. It filled out the tape quite nicely.
Some suggestions for short (<60 second) songs to fill the end of a mixed tape:
They Might Be Giants “Dig My Grave” from Apollo 18: Its the closest TMBG ever got to being a true punk band, this song is 59 seconds of intense, hard rockin’ good vibes.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones “Lights Out” from Ska Core, The Devil and More [EP]. I’m fairly certain it’s a cover of another punk song (I think it was a Murphy’s Law song originally.). The song ROCKS and is about 48 seconds long. Perfect for the end of the tape.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstone “Little Bit Ugly” from Devils Night Out. There’s a few versions of “Little Bit Ugly” out there, and it MAY be a bit long for your tape, though it still clocks in at under 2 minutes.
The Dead Milkmen “Bitchin Camaro” from Big Lizard in My Backyard Just skip the 2 minute intro (the “hey, Jack, what’s happ’nin’” part) though that’s perhaps the best part. I would say that just about everything from Big Lizard would fit, of the 21 tracks on the album, only 5 clock in at over 2 minutes. Another good one from this disc is “Takin’ Retards to the Zoo.”
In general, most good speed-punk and punk-ska bands clock in a single at around 1:45 or so, so you have a plethora of short, catchy songs if you look in that genre.
OK. A thread full of fans of High Fidelity and They Might Be Giants. This is why I stay on the SDMB.
Anyway, my favorite way to end a mix is with the 38th and final track off of Apollo 18, “Spacesuit.” 1:34.
I also have used the last 25 seconds of track 10 on R.E.M.'s first full album Murmur, Track 10 is “Shaking Through”, but those last seconds are separate from the song - kind of a weird interlude between songs. Monster has something similar at the end of “Bang and Blame.”
As I understand it, the end of Sgt. Pepper’s is a bunch of snippets from the editing room floor pasted together and pressed onto the LP so that it would loop indefinitely. Most albums end with a groove that lets the stylus fall towards the center of the record, which triggers a mechanism to move the arm up and away from the record - ending the playback. But this album doesn’t let the stylus get that far to the center, and so that snippet plays over, and over, and over, until you get up and turn off the record yourself. Try THAT with a CD!
Just before this happens, you may also be able to hear a very high pitched tone, almost above the range of human hearing. Story has it John Lennon put it in there specifically to annoy your dog.
I have Sgt. Pepper on CD, and I am here to tell you that stuff at the end sure as hell disturbes my cat. So maybe as the technology increases, the size of the animal angered will be smaller.
I’m thinking some South Park will go on the end. I’ll keep you kids informed.
You need to get the album “Commercial Album” by “The Residents”. It has 50 songs on it, all lasting one minute. The idea (as I read in an interview) was that since most pop hits are three verses repeating the same melody, the band thought they could eliminate the repetition and make one-minute songs. I believe they also recommended playing three songs at random from the album to make your own three-minute pop hit.
I usually use the “I’ll Turn This Damn Bus Around!” snippet by Chris Farley, but I’m known to use the Knight Rider or Axel Foley themes, too.
Always make sure that your songs flow, rhythmically and emotionally, from one song to the next. Make sure the end flows back into the beginning, in case you want to listen to it a few times in a row. But don’t keep the CD flat. Give it a few curves and rolls, just make sure they are a smooth transition. You can’t go from Alt Rock to Rap, but you can go from Alt Rock to Agg Rock to Rap. You can’t do Country to Rap, but you can do Country to R&B to Rap. And so on and back and forth. It does vary by the song, though. YMMV.
To close it, though, I usually just slow it down a bit. Lately, “Maybe” by the InkSpots has been a good closer.
I reshuffled the tape, worked my mastery with the pause/play/record button sequence and was able to buy myself more time on the first side of the tape for a total of 3m:20s, put another song in that fit, and the tape now has less than 10 seconds of dead air on side one! I’m doing the second side tonight.
Tim, as is written in the Bible of Mix Tapes, aka The Book of * High Fidelity, * you must open a mix tape big. It’s got to be loud and rockin’. The second song must also be rockin’, but you bring it down a notch. Then a quiet song, then RIGHT back up to the level of the first song. This pattern should repeat. For this reason, The Dandy Warhol’s “Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” starts off the Kickass Swiddle Tape. I feel it’s a solid opening. I then have a ditty by a group called Superdrag, song title: “Do the Vampire.” Next is Nirvana covering “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunshine.” The opening trio of songs is terribly important.
And, because I get all wiggity-whack without a project, I designed a tape cover/insert on Paintshop. This tape is going to be my standard birthday present for friends for a while. That’a my rationalization.
I almost can’t wait for school to start. At least then I won’t have time to obsess over a mix tape. Sheesh.
