“Why?” I hear you ask. Why would an early teen, tech-savvy teen born at the start of the streaming era create a mixtape… on a cassette tape? Why would you spend a day neglecting your blog because you had to record it all over again? Why would you want to listen to something with numerous technical imperfections such as the fact that the classical music that I recorded over can be heard faintly in the background, numerous skips on the CD songs? Why would you put in that effort?
My answer is because I can. No but seriously, there’s a couple reasons:
1. IT’S PHYSICAL
I own this mixtape. I own it and it is a physical thing. The same cannot be said of a Spotify or Youtube playlist, can it? Having a tape feels so much better.
2. I ACTUALLY PUT WORK INTO IT
The fact that I actually put work into it makes it so much better, because while it may not sound perfect, I had to work on it and it feels like it wasn’t just a quick thought that I can finish in a couple minutes
3. THE SOUND QUALITY IS MUCH BETTER
A lot of people say Tape sounds terrible. People are ignorant. If you use metal tapes with a good stereo system, it sounds just as good as vinyl. Regarding dynamic compression and lossless sound, the audio quality may seem like a minimal change that only an audiophile could notice, but that’s not true. To sum it up, it just feels more free, rich and warm, where digital files feel claustrophobic, sterile and bland.
Here’s some pictures (Because my parents are paranoid they made me censor my name):
Tracklisting:
A1: Was He Slow? – Kid Koala
A2: I’m Not In Love – 10CC
A3: Love Is The Sweetest Thing – Jim James
A4: So I’m Growing Old On Magic Mountain – Father John Misty
A5: Earl Grey (Stuck In A Groove) – Girl Ray
A6: BOOGIE – Brockhampton
A7: LMK – Kelela
A8: Spirit In The Sky – Norman Greenbum
B1: Bedward The Flying Preacher – Singers and Players
B2: I can’t Give Everything Away – David Bowie
B3: Mina Lisa – Nat King Cole
B4: So What – Miles Davis
B5: Is It Too Late? Duke Edwards and The Young Ones
B6: Melting – King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
B7: Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
Everything was recorded directly from vinyl to tape deck except for tracks B4 and B5, which were recorded on CD, and A6, which was recorded off YouTube.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The culture club 
Making your first mix tape is a rite of passage, no doubt.
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Yep
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Awesomeness. I love everything about this!
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I’m happy you liked the post!
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I used to love making mixtapes! And it’s cool to see you included a couple of songs from my youth – Spirit in the Sky & I’m Not in Love.
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Cool 🙂 Good old traditional mixtape 🙂 Best regards
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Love the fact you took the time to put Soong’s that mesh well together, an excellent tape indeed
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Thanks!
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I have a box of those in the attic. It was when trying to play one I discovered my tape deck was broken https://thirtythreeandathird.blog/2016/01/02/a-real-mix-tape-on-real-tape/ I’m going to get a new tape deck I think, well, an old one, they are quite cheap. So much better than a digital playlist.
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Yeah. They really are better. You don’t need to spend too much money on a tape deck though, I got mine from cash converters for £30 and so far it’s worked fine.
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