i don't know what happened to 2009. starting in february, i started making plans for a big life change. i began laying the ground work for moving to a new city, got my dream job, got a house in a new city -- with the help of great friends and family who put me up for a month. then came the special lady friend's graduation from college, moving trucks, a great summer, and then i lost my dream job. then a few dark months of no job, then a bad job which ended poorly thanks to the use of candy as a weapon.
and yet, i haven't been so happy to see a jolly rancher up close since i was a child crossing the desert in a convoy of moving trucks from my home state of oklahoma. somewhere near the painted desert race car that was sponsored by the jolly rancher company was parked on a blight of rock and dust, and a guy in a racing jumpsuit gave me a bag full of candy that would last me several years. or would have, had a third of them not melted on the drive to washington. these little sugar bricks would pop up in my life until i was about fifteen, and i was happy to be shut of them until one hit me in the glasses in a call center--which made me gamble on getting back into tattooing again. but that's another tale.
it is the end of the Aughts, and i want a new decade and a new year to be full of magic and wonder and grand adventure. also, i want some new music for the soundtrack for the afforementioned adventure. my first effort and organizing a mixtape exchange then, will be for the new year, no later than january 30, 2010. the theme shall be Songs For Birthing An Epic Decade.
if you are interested in participating, let me know no later than january 9 of 2010. i will collect the names and contact information of people who want to make a mix, and match up mix traders. finished music compilations should be in the mail no later than january 29, 2010. i've had a lot of initial interest, and i hope we have a great turnout fot the Dictionay Mixtape Society's maiden voyage for group-wide exchange. remember, there are no limits on genre or style. i only ask that you put some thought into the tracks, and make the CD and packaging look amazing. it's a gift to inspire a stranger in the new decade, so go wild.
after the initial group project, anyone who wants to trade with me or anyone else let me know, too. the good times need not stop rolling in february! i look forward to getting it all together.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A New Outreach For Introverts
so i got this idea that the internet wasn't going anywhere for a while, and i could take advantage of it to reach out to other like minded people who used the music compilation as a regular form of communication. i do not intend to supply the actual music as a download, but rather connect myself and others to the craft of music compiling.
when i was younger i made a few experimental mix tapes, and the magic of giving and receiving them was to marvel not only at the specially selected tracks, but at the knowledge of the time spent in physically recording from tapes and records onto one tape as a gift. it used to take a long time, and it involved doing math.
i don't mean to say that those days were better by any means. the tapes were short lived, got warped, and then lost, and i am still not any good at math. with personal computers and their music filing programs, you can make a compilation pretty quickly, and it most programs will do the math for you on how long the mix is so far, and how much time left you have to add to one disc. the program i use will examine songs you play often and with a click of the mouse, can arrange your favorite songs for you. you can create an instant mix by genre, by artist, by year, et cetera. so why are these still worth making?
i have collected and enjoyed many forms of music over the years, and hosted two radio shows, and spun music live in several venues in the pacific northwest. for me, my favorite thing about compiling music is that you get to be a dj for an audience of one, and that one will likely give a good portion of their attention at least once to what you have arranged. if they are a like minded mix enthusiast, they might dig a little to see if you have hidden a theme or message in there. if they are not, that one might just appreciate the gift and get exposed to some new music.
my favorite gift in the world, besides art supplies and home cooking, is a music compilation. i still call them mixtapes. but it's mostly CDs these days. even the compact disc is becoming less of a daily used media format for some, but it holds in there because you can put it in your computer and burn it to your hard drive. i hope that it hangs in there a while longer, because i enjoy making compilation CDs immensely, and making the packaging, artwork, and track lists quite a bit. for those who have traded mixes with me before, or known me for any length of time, the mixes i get from others are my primary source of discovery for music recorded after 1978. as i say, i don't want to live in the past, but i rely on others to help me enjoy the present.
so, here's this blog, and this facebook group. if you have facebook, you will likely get my attention sooner by sending me a message there, though i hope to give this bloggy thingy a fair shake. i start things a lot. i stick with fewer. but i have been making mixes for years, and i would like to widen my circle of friends who trade them. i will make a formal request soon for a participation deadline, and a theme recommendation. let the wild musical rumpus begin.
when i was younger i made a few experimental mix tapes, and the magic of giving and receiving them was to marvel not only at the specially selected tracks, but at the knowledge of the time spent in physically recording from tapes and records onto one tape as a gift. it used to take a long time, and it involved doing math.
i don't mean to say that those days were better by any means. the tapes were short lived, got warped, and then lost, and i am still not any good at math. with personal computers and their music filing programs, you can make a compilation pretty quickly, and it most programs will do the math for you on how long the mix is so far, and how much time left you have to add to one disc. the program i use will examine songs you play often and with a click of the mouse, can arrange your favorite songs for you. you can create an instant mix by genre, by artist, by year, et cetera. so why are these still worth making?
i have collected and enjoyed many forms of music over the years, and hosted two radio shows, and spun music live in several venues in the pacific northwest. for me, my favorite thing about compiling music is that you get to be a dj for an audience of one, and that one will likely give a good portion of their attention at least once to what you have arranged. if they are a like minded mix enthusiast, they might dig a little to see if you have hidden a theme or message in there. if they are not, that one might just appreciate the gift and get exposed to some new music.
my favorite gift in the world, besides art supplies and home cooking, is a music compilation. i still call them mixtapes. but it's mostly CDs these days. even the compact disc is becoming less of a daily used media format for some, but it holds in there because you can put it in your computer and burn it to your hard drive. i hope that it hangs in there a while longer, because i enjoy making compilation CDs immensely, and making the packaging, artwork, and track lists quite a bit. for those who have traded mixes with me before, or known me for any length of time, the mixes i get from others are my primary source of discovery for music recorded after 1978. as i say, i don't want to live in the past, but i rely on others to help me enjoy the present.
so, here's this blog, and this facebook group. if you have facebook, you will likely get my attention sooner by sending me a message there, though i hope to give this bloggy thingy a fair shake. i start things a lot. i stick with fewer. but i have been making mixes for years, and i would like to widen my circle of friends who trade them. i will make a formal request soon for a participation deadline, and a theme recommendation. let the wild musical rumpus begin.
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