How To Make A Mixtape (And Use The Gear)

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Tape decks and receivers can be found at thrift stores everywhere! If you're wondering how to make a mixtape in the 2020s, this video should tell you everything you need to know. I show the easiest way to do it (setting up a playlist in your favorite music app and hitting play) and the hardest way (recording tracks off of individual vinyl records).

[@UncleDonut66]

Ah....the lost art of the mix tape.

[@terrym1065]

My vintage Pioneer system still works like a charm, most people freak out when they see and hear it. I recorded every album I had so I could play them in my car( 70's/80's), great times and the music was good too. Nice to see this format making a come back of sorts, it had lots of benefits. Thanks for the video, well done.

[@dansashows]

That’s awesome! Out of curiosity, what model is your Pioneer player? Thanks!

[@terrym1065]

@@dansashows CTF-1250

[@dansashows]

@@terrym1065 thank you!

[@dashriprock9014]

Been doin' this for 38 years, but it's cute to see you young-uns trying it.

[@ohmbug10]

Roger that! I remember trying to figure out what songs to put on which track so there wasn't a track change in the middle of a song on 8-Track tapes. Then when I screwed up I had to wait until it came around again...no rewind.

[@rich_edwards79]

Same. No Spotify back in the day, it was a case of waiting until the track you wanted was played on the radio, then hitting the pause key at the right time to avoid getting the presenter talking all over the beginning or end of the song. The Sunday night Top 40 was best for this. Later on I hooked up an audio lead between my TV's SCART socket and the AUX input on my old music centre, so that I could record music from TV shows like TOTP and the Chart Show - worked quite well!

[@hippydippy]

As a 67 year old, I started making mix-tapes in the 60's on a portable reel. Later it became an obsession. I have boxes & boxes & boxes of mix-tapes. In 1996 I actually made my "now" wife of 27 years a mix-tape that got me my first date. 3 months later we were married. My holy grail of mixes were done with a Realistic SSM-2200. I use to do cool fade in's & out's as well as radio shows with friends with the mic input. I still have 2. Good Times!

[@michellevey9608]

I have that same Panasonic cassette deck. It still works fine. I bought it new in college for exactly what you're doing.

[@Badger1949]

I did that in 1987! Records on to cassettes. I still have the cassettes collecting dust.

[@johndrx165]

I made so many from 1976 through 1997. Some good mixes that I like to listen to in the car when taking trips. About to move my cassette deck to my listening room in my basement after buying a vintage receiver and CD player. Rock on!

[@Kane26510]

I made a boat-load as well. They went to my then-girlfriend (my now-wife) and we still have them. Once iPods came out, I made playlists with hundreds of songs that we loved, and run them on shuffle. That was one of the downsides of mix tapes - they become boring because you always knew what was coming next.

[@mikecampbell5856]

Thanks for the memories. I bought my first cassette deck in 1977. I used to record every album I bought the first time I played it. I got rid of most of my vinyl in 1985 when I got a CD player but I still have some albums left that have only been played once.

[@johnvender]

Brings back memories. When you said 45 minutes a side that's on a C90. There are also C60 and C120 commonly used, in all of these the number being the capacity in minutes of recording both sides combined. C120s were generally not advisable because the tape in them is generally very thin making them more fragile and prone to print-through where when spooled on the reel the recorded signal on the tape affects the recording on the adjacent layers of tape on the reel.

[@TorontoJon]

LIKE 45 and that's no jive. I have fond memories of making mix tapes back in the late 1980's and into the 90's. :)

[@drakefallentine8351]

Recording the needle drop...(smile) That was frowned upon back in the day. Now it's quaint. You're on the right path...have a great time!

[@janicehopkins4432]

Hope the wife appreciates the mix tape. I made some for some old boyfriends in the '80s (I managed to steal most of those tapes back, however). The making of a mix tape from vinyl can be quite the act of love (but I also used them to indoctrinate them with my preferred music) as it is quite time, thought, and labor intensive, especially when you have tons of vinyl to choose from.

[@johncox1488]

I’ve really enjoyed your videos. You’ve given me the confidence to attempt restoration on a Pioneer 434 I picked up at an estate sale. This particular video cracked me up, as I’ve been making mix tapes since I was 9 years old (I’m 65) starting on my parents’ Ampex 860 reel-to-reel. Keep it up. Love the Volvo, too. I had a friend in college (early 80’s) who had converted a Chevy Corvair into a mid-engine beast. Anyway, peace. You have great cats and an obviously patient wife.

[@fjones1914]

I remember the days of recording off of the radio! Good times and good memories!

[@TorontoJon]

I have a Marantz 2270 receiver too (as well as three other vintage Marantz receivers) and I've got to say that every time I use it to listen to records, tapes, 8-track tapes, reels, CD's, or when using a Bluetooth receiver connected to it, the Marantz unit always brings a smile to my face. :)

[@srtamplification]

You should advance the tape in the machine and then hit record. Pre-advancing the tape is going to cause all of your time stamps to be off. Most mixed tapes in the 80's were made from recording the radio. You would record a whole side of a tape (30 or 45 mins), straight from the radio, commercials and all. Then you would playback the tape while recording to another tape (usually a dual cassette recorder, but maybe another single deck), pause and FF through commercials, until you had just the music on the second tape. Then repeat for the other side. That is what is most commonly referred to as a "Mix tape".

[@rich_edwards79]

Exactly. (Though I used to record straight from the radio, because I was lazy and generally only made the tapes for personal use, I.e. listening in my Walkman on the way to school or on long car journeys with my parents, so i could live with having a second or two of the presenter at the end of the song.) By the time I was making mixes for my GF (later wife) Mp3s and CD burning had superseded tape.

[@pdxtomct]

I made hundreds of mix tapes from the late 70s through the 90s. I still have quite a few of them, though they only get played in an old truck we bought that has a cassette player.

[@Kane26510]

Traditionally, mixtapes were made to impress a special someone. Making good mix tapes takes A LOT of practice. The good thing is that you can record a tape over and over again.

[@firaonoyus2112]

I made a lot of prog rock mixtape from 97.1 FM in my city circa 1996-1998 using Sony Mini Hifi MHC-E80X. The tapes still exist but never played since 2005 since my tape player broke. What a good moments in my life.

[@jimcabezola3051]

AH-Nostalgia-Fix! As everybody has written here, I also have fond memories of making mix tapes from the 1970s until whenever the recordable CD came out. Now…it’s all playlists for my iPhone, LOL! It was…and is…fun to arrange pieces of music JUST so to set a mood or enhance a feeling. I NEVER once thought of the “novelty” of a needle drop 😂😅! That’s brilliant! Loved playing mix tapes in my cars, but I haven’t owned or driven a car in 10 years. I make do with my bicycle, though. As I’ve said before, driving a car in Hawai’i is soul-sucking and futile😂😅!

[@MichaelYates]

Ah the good old days recording the top 40 of the radio. Finding a decent woking 2nd deck these days is the hardest part

[@rich_edwards79]

Yes the price of used separates decks, even those in need of TLC, has gone crazy. There are still good deals to be had on all-in-one units ('music centres' as we called them in the UK) however. You get a turntable, tuner, tape deck, sometimes an 8-track deck, and usually a pair of AUX jacks for a CD player or BT / casting adapter, all in one unit.

[@reinkansman1081]

Wow, that brought back memories. I made at least 60 mixed tapes from my LPs on a similar system in the 70's. Thorough explanation of the process. I hope your wife liked the mixed tape, mine did back then

[@Dave1982_7_]

This is pretty neat!!! I'm gonna try this on my vintage Pioneer cassettedeck CT 606! Thank you man!

[@MikeDS49]

Great tutorial! Just some thoughts. For newbie tape-heads, it should be noted that only 3 head decks with separate erase, play and record heads will allow monitoring while recording. 2 head decks will have the playback function disabled while recording as it's the same as the record head. 3 head, non-auto reverse decks are highly coveted because of this. Another way to advance past the leader is to press record immediately at the beginning of the tape, listen to the tape monitor output, and when the hiss changes, it's hit the magnetic tape and you can start playing the music. If the decks are not automatic, the type of tape should be selected. The Maxell URs are type I (normal). Sony DC 90 tapes are *way* better than the Maxell URs, with lower hiss, better mid and high frequency response, and they're quite cheap. They can be purchased in bulk, and they are also leaderless. Excellent tunes to level set (and bias set, for more advanced users and decks) is Silent Lucidity by Queensrÿche for the over the top sibilance at 2:43, that can easily distort. Honey by Robyn has very low throbbing bass (~3:20 is a good point) that can trash the high frequencies when the level and bias aren't adjusted right. Of course Billie Jean is a great clean track with silences between the crisp kick drum and snare to hear how B and C noise reduction affects the sound. Once the distortion disappears, note the _peaks the LED meters are hitting_ and set the record level accordingly. Even with volume normalization, the record level can change with each song. Headphones are a great thing to listen through for the best output. Another note is about level meters. They are not calibrated the same across decks, but the double D Dolby point *is*. I believe it's the peak point to be used when using Dolby NR. It will give you some tape headroom -- the Dolby system will need it as it increases the volume of certain frequencies of music at some volumes to "drown out the noise". I wonder if there is a track on spotify for the quality control frequency sweep that you hear at the beginning of many tapes?

[@ohmbug10]

Good points. Thanks.

[@rich_edwards79]

Also there is no standardisation between tape counters (even from the same manufacturer) so writing down the counter numbers for the start of each track is only useful when playing the cassette back on the same deck on which it was recorded. (I found this out as a kid back in the 80s; I think VWestlife recently made a video about it.)

[@collinwood60]

I just got to thinking I haven't used a cassette deck in like 40 years! Once I got my first Technics CD player it was the death kneel for tapes. But I used to go all through this as well. Kind of miss it but mixes, or now called playlists, are so much easier. I have a Plex server set up on a Synology NAS and all 20,000 something songs are there. Can create as many playlists as you want in minutes then play back in car, home or on the trail via Plex app on phone.

[@rewalton46]

Pure nostalgia!! Especially when using the vinyl.

[@insolentstickleback3266]

Great video thanks! I recently scored an early-mid 90,s Kenwood system with amp, pre-amp, receiver, cassette, and CD player. My plan is to make mix tapes from my CD collection.

[@EinsamPibroch278]

My Friend indirectly confessed her feelings to me, so now I want to give her a gift of music for her.

[@dona635]

Hey, this is really nice sir. Every vid I watch of yours, which goes back and forth from cars (my fav) and vintage equipment (my fav, oops) you get better and better. Good job 👍

[@Pepunkt]

Thanks for the great tutorial also explaining what the different buttons and volume knobs do.

[@chanslorvalorum6905]

We taped everything off the radio. Couldn’t afford albums. Instant mix tapes. WMSE Milwaukee metal 1980s

[@THOMMGB]

Great tutorial. I have made mixtapes for many years, originally from LP’s and 45’s, later from CD’s. I still have those tapes and, I must say, they’ve held up amazingly well. Eventually, I made mix CD’s which I still listen to regularly today.

[@MrSpeedysChannel]

Its alot easier to make a mix tape than it was back in the day when you had to use an album or off the radio, I use Tidal or Spotify now and you just set up your list and record and it comes out awesome!! I use to have that tape deck but the Technics M205 version, it always worked great. Keep up the great work!!!

[@roodenberg]

Record from an analogue source like vinyl onto analogue tape and enjoy the stereo image the tape maintains. Whilst tape has issues like hiss it still requires premium digital equipment to achieve the same imaging.

[@misterbool7349]

Nice video ! Always a pleasure. Could you make videos about the adjustment of a repaired tape deck (motor speed, heads), power amplifier (resting current, ...), tuner (alignment), cd player, turntable ?

[@quad1000]

Mix tape 😂 our '80s past comes clawing back. I cannot believe cassettes have come back. Albums, I can understand. But...tapes?

[@Sledge_Vinyl]

Nice Marantz 2270 !!! Got a 2225 and a 2226, is there a big difference in the sound between them and the 2270 ?

[@MrSquekersUPSB]

Thank you for playing the DankPods National anthem.

[@BeatsUniversalOfficial]

01:10 Great stuff! Respect

[@drewbjorke9839]

Mixed tapes. Great way to win the hearts of your girlfriends.

[@shin4265]

I have a Marantz-2240. When connecting CD Players to AUX Do I need to do nothing for pre out and main in jacks?

[@chanslorvalorum6905]

I would adjust my 3 head deck until people couldn’t tell which was CD or tape while recording.

[@groovechampion1462]

Made a mixtape for my wife 2 weeks ago,. Yes her car has a cassetteplayer

[@toneyisaiah3556]

I have a bunch of mixed tapes in my collection.

[@delta3garcia]

What EQ is that below your receiver?

[@MarvinWyche-vf2pw]

The easiest way to make a mixtapes is to plug your cellphone to your tape recorder with a audio cable mic input play music on your cellphone record off your tape recorder and when you finish playing the music on your cellphone stop recording on your tape recorder, simple process. Make sure your tape recorder and cellphone is on a fully charged when playing music and recording.

[@sa8die]

i hope there was some Burt Bacharach on the tape-present,.

[@monopython8487]

Nioce!!!!

[@TheTstewart777]

Thanks, brought back lots of memories. Those are the budget Marcelo tapes. Back in the day if I had enough cash I bought the UDXLII high end Maxell tapes. The ones from the famous ad where the guys hair is blowing!

[@SLFALCO]

Why would you leave Dolby NR off ? You end up with "noise" ;-)

[@dashriprock9014]

Record with Dolby C, playback without. That's how I roll.

[@MikeDS49]

It does subtly change the sound at playback. Some notice, some don't. Some find it's worse than the hiss, some don't :) With some low hiss type I tapes, a good deck can record a loud enough signal that the hiss becomes nearly inaudible.

[@MikeDS49]

@@dashriprock9014 Dolby has an odd effect on the original sound that goes beyond high frequency emphasis. It may be better to just boost the high frequencies yourself at the source during the recording.

[@Dave__f]

Dolby doesn't transfer to the recording on most decks unless you have a Nak or some other high quality tape deck. You have to add it after on playback, but Dolby actually decodes the tape thus reducing "air" otherwise if the tape wasn't recorded in Dolby you can use the high filter on your amp and it will work right and not change the decoding. C generally was used for chrome tapes

[@janicehopkins4432]

Decades ago, when I used to record many cassettes on a relatively cheap nakamichi, I recorded with Dolby c. But playback was better and more "real" without the dolby (unless the source vinyl was in horrible condition).

[@nbenning25]

RL Pressing of LZ II … Now you are talking!

[@lenbeedle]

A tutorial on making mix tapes? LOL. I'm getting old.

[@partylee007]

Hold on what year is this 1982? And another thing, did you run those components through the car wash first?😂

[@Robjohnnetwork]

I miss cassettes ! It’s a richer sound!

[@ballardtech827]

This isn't how you make a mixtape. you did not use your phone.... you waited patiently for the radio DJ to play your damned song yelling at him to shut up and to quit talking over the intro. only to realize you had one of the switches or knobs wrong. however the rest seems right. Good job

[@monopython8487]

Bro , can i send you my playlist from spotify and ill pay you for the services shipping etc!! 😢😢 i have my 93 corvette that has Cassette and a Ca02 option too for the cassette. I hate using 3rd party bluetooth i loose sooo much audio quality and noisebackround . Pleaaase let me know ❤🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@AHFixIt]

Find my email in the about section of the channel.

[@monopython8487]

I cant find your email 😭

[@dorian-gray]

Honestly? This really has to be explained... like to a stupid child? Ah yeah; This must be for the "Generation Smartphone".

[@MTXSHO9732vV8SHO]

LMAO!!! I literally made this same video in 1982 in A/V class!!! These Days I have an entire MIDI Music Studio with a Firestudio Project Interface, Cubase, Propellorhead Reason, Ableton, MPD Drum Controller, MPK 88 MIDI Controller, AXIOM61 Controller etc etc. but I walk right past all that and go to Audacity in my Office and DO THIS!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZ25gaOGq6x5oqc