Making a CD - Techniques Folks???

[BadCoverVersion]

Okay, I'm making a few niiiiiiiiiice Crimbo CD's for my bestest buddy's, but it's proving a bit bleedin' difficult and all.

I'm going for a 'Christmassy' feel...a few tearjerker's, a couple of alternative festive ditty's and a handful of romp-stomping filler's...but it's the ORDER that's doing me in.

Seriously, what to do?

Now...I've seen High Fidelity and I've had a look-see round the internet, but I'm still having trouble...so I'd like to hear from you funky schmoes.

How do YOU go about making a CD?

Method's would be nice...recommendations could be a bonus (but I'm pretty much set with most of my selections)....anything really?

C'mon folks...help a gal out.

[Psychocandy]

PM me the list of tracks and i'll tell you what I think is the best sequence. It's pretty tough to properly sequence any compilation but it's a bitch to effectively sequence a selection of music when you are restricted by the type of song. Once I know what your planning on throwing onto the CD i'll be in a better position to suggest replacement tracks where I feel your selection suffers a dip in quality. ;)

[BadCoverVersion]

Originally posted by Psychocandy
PM me the list of tracks and i'll tell you what I think is the best sequence. It's pretty tough to properly sequence any compilation but it's a bitch to effectively sequence a selection of music when you are restricted by the type of song. Once I know what your planning on throwing onto the CD i'll be in a better position to suggest replacement tracks where I feel your selection suffers a dip in quality. ;)

Sod it...I'll post them here, and you can be as BRUTAL as ya like Sir...;)

I'm not going STRICTLY Crimbo, but I'm after an all-round festive feel if you catch my drift...jingly bell's and stuff.

Okay, the picks thus far, and their order at the mo'...

Christmas Eve - Gorky's Zycotic Mynci
Into You - Richard X/Jarvis Cocker
Don't Give Up On Me - Soloman Burke
Modern Romance - Yeah Yeah Yeah's
Winter Night - Scott Walker
Hang Down Your Head - Tom Waits
Forever In My Dreams - Pulp
Darker With The Day - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Fade Into You - Mazzy Star

I keep rejecting stuff (Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah and various Kate Bush for example)...erm, so a paltry 9 tracks for now. I'm after about 12.

[quoth_the_raven]

Drop Gorky's Zycotic Mynci (horrible shit pile of a band-awful live when i saw them as well) and replace with something by the wonderful Kate Bush.

You'll be onto a winner that way ;)

[Psychocandy]

Ok...get a hold of The Little Drummer Boy by Low. You'd also be advised to track down a copy of It's A Cool, Cool Christmas. It's a Christmas compilation courtesy of Jeepster Records and features a pretty diverse selection of artists and bands doing either traditional Christmas songs or songs of their own devising. It's the best festive collection EVER!!! Here's the track listing...

1. Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland - Grandaddy
2. Little Drummer Boy - The Dandy Warhols
3. Every Day Is Christmas - The Webb Brothers
4. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - Eels
5. Feliz Navidad - El Vez
6. Christmas In Waikiki - Morgan
7. Maybe At Christmas Time - Drugstore
8. O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Belle & Sebastian
9. Thank You Dreaded Black Ice, Thank You - Giant Sand
10. White Christmas - The Flaming Lips (Demo for Tom Waits)
11. My Christmas Prayer - Saint Etienne
12. Christmas Downer - Departure Lounge
13. I Believe In Father Christmas - Six By Seven
14. When I Get Home For Christmas - Snow Patrol
15. Spiritual Guidance - Titan
16. Christmas Boogaloo - Big Boss Man
17. Christmas Eve - Teenage Fanclub
18. Gift X-Change - Calexico
19. Hwiangerdd Mair - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
20. Just Like Christmas - Low
21. In The Bleak Midwinter - Lauren Laverne

It's been discontinued and i've seen it fetch a pretty penny on Ebay. I can send you a copy if you want. PM me your address.

There are at least 15 stunning tracks on it and none of the remainder are particularly upsetting. Brilliant stuff.

[docholiday_13]

Just pack the beginning and end with awesome songs so that the CD begins and ends with gusto.

[Shakamaker]

"A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to hold the attention. Then you have to take it up a notch, but not blow your wad, so maybe cool it off a notch, and you can't put the same artist twice on the tape, except if some subtle point or lesson or theme involved, and even then not the two of them in a row, and you can't woo somebody with Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and then bash their head off with something like GBH's "City Baby Attacked by Rats," and... oh, there are a lot of rules."

- High Fidelity

****5***9
*2*******
***4*6*8*
1********
**3***7**

The above is how I generally go about a mix. From 5 to 15 songs, it's always got around 5 or 6 levels.

[areyoubeingserved]

I'm not an expert on Christmas tapes, nor perhaps any tapes - all mine sound over excited - but the best place on the net for the art of the mix tape is easily www.tinymixtapes.com

[notchreturns]

Holy hell, that's a brillant site, areyoubeingserved...

I especially love this mixtape:

Songs For Lying in Bed, Early in the Morning, Listening to Raindrops Hit the Pavement and Cars Splash Through Puddles.

01. Air - "La Femme d'Argent" (Moon Safar)
02. Mogwai - "Cody" (Come On Die Young)
03. Beck - "Lost Cause" (Sea Change)
04. My Bloody Valentine - "To Here Knows When" (Loveless)
05. Massive Attack - "Protection" (Protection)
06. Belle And Sebastian - "The Fox in The Snow" (If You're Feeling Sinister)
07. Portishead - "Wandering Star" (Dummy)
08. Radiohead - "Lucky" (OK Computer)
09. Cuff The Duke - "Ballad Of a Lonely Construction Worker" (Life Stories For Minimum Wage)
10. Eluvium - "There Wasn't Anything" (Lambent Material)

[BadCoverVersion]

Originally posted by Psychocandy
Ok...get a hold of The Little Drummer Boy by Low. You'd also be advised to track down a copy of It's A Cool, Cool Christmas. It's a Christmas compilation courtesy of Jeepster Records and features a pretty diverse selection of artists and bands doing either traditional Christmas songs or songs of their own devising. It's the best festive collection EVER!!! Here's the track listing...

It's been discontinued and i've seen it fetch a pretty penny on Ebay. I can send you a copy if you want. PM me your address.

There are at least 15 stunning tracks on it and none of the remainder are particularly upsetting. Brilliant stuff.

Hurrah! I've managed to track down a few...

The Eels, Dandy Warhol's, Belle & Sebastian and Flaming Lips...NO Low as yet, but I'm still on the lookout. I love O Come Emmanuel, gorge'.

I've found a pretty top Johnny Cash version of Little Drummer Boy though...kicks all kinds of arse.

I'll update ya as soon as.