-=> Nick Andre wrote to All <=-

 NA> The subject of audio came up in this single-parent household with
 NA> my teenage daughter... "If you didn't have Internet, how did you
 NA> put together playlists of music you liked?"

 NA> Okay... Grab a Maxell, TDK or Denon chrome-dioxide cassette. The
 NA> quality of cassette makes a huge difference. Avoid Basf and some
 NA> other brands. In this household, Maxell XL-II is king. Metal
 NA> tapes are good but expensive.

 NA> The tape deck must first be calibrated for proper Bias and EQ,
 NA> luckily I already did this and my deck has the ability to set
 NA> this for future use. The azimuth of the heads is also critical
 NA> but in most cases this is set right.

 NA> Grab your music from vinyl or CD or perhaps you have a slave-deck
 NA> and you want to use music from other tapes. Begin by cueing up
 NA> whatever the song is on the turntable or CD player, while the
 NA> tape deck is set on Record/Pause.

 NA> Fast-forward the tape a bit so a test snippet can be recorded
 NA> which will be recorded over afterward. Allow the song to play
 NA> while you hit Record. It is important to use a 3-head tape deck
 NA> to allow monitoring of the recording, so you literally scan
 NA> through the song or set the needle on what you know is the
 NA> loudest part of the track. The recording level is then set to
 NA> that maximum.

 NA> Rewind the tape a few turns if necessary to play back that
 NA> loudest part because its important when using Dolby HX or B
 NA> reduction that there is no distortion. When that peak level is
 NA> met (paying attention to the VU meters), rewind the tape back to
 NA> where the recording must start and record the song.

 NA> This to me is a fine art because it requires careful listening
 NA> and knowledge of that song's loudest part while carefully
 NA> adjusting the recording level. Distortion in the recording is a
 NA> no-no.

 NA> I do not believe in wasted space on mixtapes, so its important to
 NA> let the song play all the way through to where there is silence,
 NA> then repeat the process by rewinding the tape to that exact
 NA> moment where silence begins and the new recording starts.

 NA> Also it is necessary to make sure the time of the songs does not
 NA> "cut off" towards the end of the tape. Vinyl records must be
 NA> cleaned and CD's inspected for fingerprints or scratches because
 NA> nothing worse than a skip during a recording; when working with
 NA> tapes where you do not want silence, this becomes a challenge to
 NA> "correct" unless you have a very good 3-head deck with a solid
 NA> stop-mechanism. As in, when you rewind and hit stop, the tape
 NA> stops dead-on.

 NA> The flow of songs is important - This is the heart of a mixtape
 NA> of music is songs that contexually flow from one to the next.
 NA> Never make a tape of sad-bastard ballads (unless you love
 NA> depression), there should be a good mix where the entire side of
 NA> that tape has sortof a musical theme or direction.

 NA> "Dad... you're insane... I just go on Spotify".

Hahaha, great stuff!  A fine art which has been largely lost to the 
wheels of time.  I did similar things, perhaps not quite as in-depth as 
you described though.  Agreed on the "theme" thing for sure.

Did you also explain to her the importance of having a yellow #2 pencil 
in the car at all times?  :-)

Next up: The difficulties of trying to talk to your BF/GF on the 
(corded) wall phone in the kitchen (the only phone in the house), with 
most of the family within earshot at all times.  LOL



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