12/31/2011

Mixtapes: A Great Way To Compile Your Favorite Music

By John Shields


Mixtapes are also known as mixed tapes. Whatever name you choose to call them by, they refer to compiled songs that have a specific order and are recorded on an audio cassette tape. A mixed tape is generally also created with the objective of creating a collection of songs that reflect the creators style and musical preferences.

This means that you can compile the songs to include your favorite tunes or you can create something that has a certain concept and it could even be to reflect a certain theme or even a particular mood.

The essayist Geoffrey Obrien says that mixtapes are an American art form that is widely practiced in that country. Others that are very enthusiastic about such tapes also believe that these represent an artistic representation of songs put together in a definite manner. When these tapes are mixed together in the right manner, they can become wonderful musical experiences in which the sum of all the parts will be greater than the individual songs.

Once the era of Beatles passed, the era of the pop music albums started in which each album was created in the same manner and with different songs sung by different artists being included in the album.

However, this era too passed by as digital audio which was more affordable offered a more exciting mix of music that was stored on compact discs as well as in MP3 formats. Even despite these later inventions, the term mixed tape continues to refer to audio cassettes. That is not to say that this term excludes the CD, MP3 and the minidisc; it is just that the concept is very closely related to the audio tape and so most people continue to associate it with the audio cassette.

The earliest versions of these tapes came out during the latter part of the sixties and continued till the eighties and these were readily available in flea markets and also in truck stores and the earliest versions were eight track bootleg tapes.




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