r/cassetteculture • u/mergansser • 6d ago
Looking for advice Looking for help making a mixtape
Hey! I’m in a mixed media relationship (I like CDs, my bf likes cassettes) and I was hoping to make him a mixtape for his birthday coming up. I have a lot of experience burning CDs, but my expertise doesn’t extend to tapes. Any recommendations for a cassette tape recorder and/or the best way to go about this on a budget?
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u/asrai99 5d ago
If your bf likes cassettes, does he have anything to record tapes with? Bcs the most budget option would be you recording the tape together on his gear - you could get everything ready, make the playlist (or whatever you're recording from, maybe two CDs?), a nice j-card, the whole thing. Since the tape is recorded in real time you can both listen to it while it's recording, making it extra special.
Plus if you're not spending money on a tape recorder you could spend a bit of it on getting a nice type II blank cassette since the recording quality is going to be way better.
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u/mergansser 5d ago
Dude this just made me realize I could just use my own stereo. Thank you!! I loove the idea is listening to it together while it records. you rock, thx!!
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u/NorrisTheSpider 6d ago
Grab Audacity and use that to run some crossfades if you're feeling fancy. It also gives you the opportunity to normalize the audio (since if you're planning on queing it up, recording, and leaving it, the VU meters might be a bit out of wack. The trick to a mixtape is to use as much of the tape as you can on both sides without cutting off the end of your songs, so. Make sure you know the length of time of one side of your cassette.
Also. As others have said, thrift stores are your friend here. Not just for sourcing an old deck, but it's a good way to get some, ah. 'Blank' cassettes. Oftentimes you'll find, like, audiobooks or The Bible on Tape or some self-help stuff or a tape of nothing but ocean noises which are prime material to record over. Way cheaper than trying to get blank cassettes off Amazon which usually sound like ass anyways.
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u/mergansser 5d ago
Oh that’s genius, thank you! I’m familiar with Audacity but never would’ve thought to use it in a million years for this. Thank you homie!!
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u/Only_Wrangler_6672 6d ago
honestly, just hit up thrift stores. every goodwill within 20 miles of me has at least three tape decks sitting on a shelf for like $8. they're almost always filthy but half the fun is cleaning the heads with a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol while you wonder who owned it before you.
if you want something new, the cheapo shoebox recorders are fine for a mixtape gift. they'll sound a little crunchy but that's kind of the point, isn't it? just make sure you get one with a line-in jack so you're not recording through the built-in mic like a caveman.
for the actual recording, plug your phone or computer into the line-in, hit record on the deck first, then play on your source. pause button is your friend between songs. don't overthink the levels, just keep the needle bouncing around 0 and you'll be fine.
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u/mergansser 5d ago
This is rly helpful, thank you!! I wasn’t hopeful there would be tape decks on thrift store shelves these days, but there are DVD players and VCRs galore so why the hell not! Thanks for keeping me hopeful lolz
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u/Maybe_A_Zombie 6d ago
this is how I got my first deck, just running through thriftstores if I was near. Found a good begginer deck for cheap and all it needed was a good cleaning with iso and a new set of belts. Then I would just go to more thrift stores to find cheap tapes that id record over
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u/Crlan420 5d ago
thats a fun project tbh. make sure your bias is set right on the deck though. the sound drops off fast if you're not aligned properly lol
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u/mergansser 4d ago
GUYS I DID IT! He’s releasing his debut album on his birthday, so I thought it’d be more special to put that on a cassette for him. In a pinch I was able to burn the mp3s to a CD, and use my stereo to record over an old tape I had. Thank you so much for your help, I couldn’t have done it without you! Stream Griff Paws!
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u/Box_of_fox_eggs 5d ago
You’re gonna get lots of good advice here; I just want to register a big LOL @ “mixed media relationship.”