Friend told me my mixtapes had 'no flow' and I finally got it

Honestly, I used to just slap random songs onto a 90-minute TDK tape with no thought. Last month my buddy Dan straight up said, 'Man, your transitions are jarring, you go from death metal to folk with zero warning.' He told me to think of it like building a set, not a playlist. I started grouping by BPM and key, even used a free app to check before dubbing. Now I spend like 3 hours planning a 60-minute mix, and the difference is wild. Has anyone else gotten hard feedback that actually improved their tape game?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade27127d ago

You ever notice how this applies to basically everything in life, not just music? I was terrible at cooking because I'd just throw random stuff in a pan without thinking about flavors or textures, then wondered why it tasted like garbage. It's like that whole "think of the journey, not just the destination" thing - you gotta pay attention to how things connect, whether it's songs, meals, or even just how you talk to people. Once you start looking at the spaces between stuff, everything just clicks better.

the_vera27d ago

Yeah my buddy Dan was exactly like that with his podcast. He'd just record two people talking and call it a day, no editing or thinking about the flow between segments. Then he actually started paying attention to the transitions, adding little sound cues and pauses, and suddenly people actually wanted to listen instead of clicking away after five minutes.