GUIDE
How to make a mixtape
A mixtape is not a playlist you rename. It is a sequence of songs recorded for one person, in an order that says something. Here is how to make one that actually means something — the way people did it in 1987, minus the doubled-headed deck and the pencil.
Record it, don't assemble it
The ritual is the point. On Record a Tape you pick a song, press REC, and it records onto the cassette in real time — 30 seconds per song, reels turning while you listen. That slowness is not a bug. It is the part that makes you decide whether a song really belongs.
Record the whole Side A this way: one song, then the next, then the one after. When the label is full, you are done.
Five rules of a good mixtape
OPEN WITH A REASON
The first track tells them why this tape exists. Pick the song that started it — the one you heard the week you met, or the one they sent you at 2 a.m.
DON'T SHUFFLE IT
Song order is part of the message. A mixtape is a sentence, not a word cloud: what opens it, what carries the middle, what closes it.
LET THE MOOD MOVE
A good tape does not need every song to sound alike. It needs the transitions to feel right — one song handing you gently to the next.
SAVE SOMETHING FOR THE END
The last song is the one they are left with. Choose it like a final line, not like a leftover.
KEEP IT PERSONAL
The best choice is not always the best song. It is the song that means something to the two of you — even if it is embarrassing. Especially if it is embarrassing.
Then give it away
When Side A is full, press EJECT. The deck dims, the cassette comes out, and the label — with your handwriting on it — becomes the gift. A mixtape is not a collection you keep. It is a letter you can hear.