It’s almost Valentine’s Day, you know. So what are
you gonna give her? Flowers, candy? A balloon shaped like a heart?
I know; how about a mix CD?
Not a bad idea. There’s a long history of guys using the
art of the mix to show a girl how he really feels. And really, what
better part of yourself to share with a romantic interest than the
music you love? “The Mix for a Girl” has been a staple
for me since my angsty early high school days.
But a few words of advice before you fire up your burner: this
is not an endeavor to be taken lightly. This is not just the tape
you throw together to broaden the horizons of the friend who
listens to nothing but Phish. This is not a few good songs you grab
off your computer to play at the party. You want to do this right.
“The Mix for a Girl” requires planning. It requires
commitment.
For weeks before you get to the actual mixing, a database of
potential songs is assembled almost unconsciously, through
day-to-day listening, shopping, and rummaging. Soon you should have
an idea of the kind of feel you’re going for on this mix. You
could even, at this point, begin to conceive a unifying concept:
one mix that I made was based on the idea of framing it with the
Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry” as the opener and
“Friday I’m in Love” closing it out. This sort of
unity of vision makes the rest of the job easy; the middle of the
mix basically filled itself in.
But now it’s time to put in the work. Get a pen and some
paper. No, more than that. You want her to understand this thing?
Then you’re going to have to go through pages of drafts,
revisions, arrangements, agony. This is the most important part of
the process. You have an idea of which songs to use, but this is
where you make the tough decisions: what stays, what goes, and,
most critically of all, in what order. I emphasize the last point.
The power of a mix lies more in its sequencing than in its song
selection.
Relax. I’ll show you how to do it. First let’s pick
an opener. This is, of course, the most important song on the mix.
You want something that grabs her right away, but then gets her
moving through the rest of the songs. The cardinal rules of mix
openers: they must be upbeat and catchy, and they must be under
four minutes long.
The bulk of the rest of the mix is just about sequencing. You
have to make sure that each song transitions into its successor in
a way that sounds seamless and continuous. I recommend that before
you commit to a song in a particular slot, listen to the last
fifteen seconds of the previous song followed immediately by the
beginning of the one you want to use. If they sound like they fit
together, you’ve got a keeper. Things to avoid: jarring
transitions, i.e. from very soft to very loud, or vice versa. Also,
radical shifts in style. You don’t want to go from something
solo and acoustic to hard, beat-driven hip-hop. Ignoring these
rules will ruin the continuity of your mix, and she will never love
you.
There are a few ways to approach the end of the mix. For now,
the most basic and effective is the slow down. You’ve been
high energy for the first two thirds of the mix, but now you want
to bring it down a little. Now’s the time to pull out those
angelic ballads. You let her know that it’s winding down to
the end and in the meantime show her your most sensitive side.
It’s foolproof. At this point there are two options for the
closer.
The first is to simply continue the decrescendo, and close out
with the softest sweetest song on your list. Proponents of this
method maintain this is the best way to show your feelings are
heartfelt and genuine. But you don’t want to be overly
earnest. You’ve shown her the tender you; best to finish with
something lighter. Remember, you can overdo it, so end with
something upbeat and fun.
So there you have it. In front of you is the sequential
distillation of every deep and complex emotion you have for her.
The transitions are flawless, the track selection impeccable. It
builds, soars, climaxes and smokes a cigarette before it dies.
Here’s hoping it says everything you can’t.
Dan has no one to make a mix for this Valentine’s Day.. It
could be you if you e-mail him at dcrossen@media.ucla.edu.