snowflake challenge day 8

[green]

In your own space, talk about setting yourself a fannish goal. Big or small, it doesn't matter.

Big Goal: I'm going for a blackout on trope bingo.
What you can do: cheer me on!

Little Goal: I'm going to make a fanmix. Maybe for a fic, maybe for a character or ship. I'm not sure. But I'm gonna do it!
What you can do: rec songs with meaningful lyrics!

(haha, see how I rope you in to helping me with my goals? I'm devious like that)

Comments

[analise010]

I've never done a fanmix before! I wouldn't know where to start.

Good luck with trope bingo! I'm going to try out podfic bingo the next time it comes around. They just look so fun.

[green]

I think you have to listen to a LOT of music first. lol

I wish I could record podfic, but I stammer too much. I read too fast in my head and end up tripping over my words, and that doesn't sound good. I'm in awe of people who can do it. :)

[teaotter]

If you're interested in fanmixes, you should join fanmix here on DW. Lots and lots of mixes from all kinds of fandoms, with lots of good music.

There's also Waywardmixes at LJ -- which is a monthly fanmix challenge community and loads of fun.

[green]

Ooh, cool! I've never made a mix before so I don't really know what I'm doing. lol

(I've got a Sterek playlist on spotify, but that's about it)

[majoline]

The only fanmix I've been able to do was for my own fic and that's only because those songs are near and dear to me, so that's such an awesome goal to me.

Also, totally cheers you on!

[green]

:D YOU are an awesome cheerer-oner! :D

[majoline]

*blushes* Thank you for the lovely compliment :*

[johngreen]

I can rec you alllll kinds of songs. Do you spotify at all?

[green]

YES. I'm greenie-green on spotify.

[johngreen]

Yay! I added you and shall make a playlist, but omg you've starred Ellie Goulding songs. We are kindred spirits. <3

[green]

<33

[arsenicjade]

Trope bingo looks awesome! I only have enough time/energy in my life for one bingo, and I am devoted, but if not I would so be glomming onto that. Best of luck with that goal, I think it'll be a blast!

[green]

Thank you! It looks like lots of fun. :D

[ardyforshort]

I fanmix all the time so I'm all in favour of your little goal!

[green]

Oh, awesome! Do you have any pointers?

[ardyforshort]

Well, I have a few, based on my own experience.

- Hit up fanmix and have a nose-around. Download and listen to a couple mixes that appeal to you.

- It helps to have an idea in mind as to what kind of mix it should be. What's the topic/topics? Are you going to use only certain types of music? Do you want to tell a story by arranging the songs in a certain order? What's the base mood or the driver? Are the lyrics in the foreground or is the music? Where's the focus?

- Spotify (or in my case, Deezer) is a really handy tool for finding music with certain characteristics. I often find myself using one or two songs as a starting point and then looking through the "Related Artists" feature and clicking on songs whose titles sound like they could fit with what I'm trying to do.

- It's got to flow. There's one fanmix, among the first I downloaded I think, called Tales of the Observers, for Sherlock, that I still go back to on occasion after over two years because it's just got such an organic flow, like the songs are meant to be played after one another. It's the most difficult thing to achieve in a mix and I'm not always sure I get it right. Sometimes, for example when you're goign for a narrative arrangement rather than a musical one, it's less important, but I still think it's one of the things that make a good mix, one that I want to listen to more than twice.

- Quality over quantity. This is a personal thing so ymmv, but my mixes tend to be smallish, I usually try to get around ten songs.

- Don't use the same band/artist twice in a mix. Again, this is a personal peeve of mine. If I want to listen to a Mumford album I'll listen to a Mumford album, I don't go downloading a mix that has four Mumford songs on it.

- Use the "search" on Spotify.

Example of how a mix came about: When I made Trouble is a Friend, what inspired me was the incredibly strong sense of New York that I got from the Hawkeye comic. So I wanted songs that were about New York, but also songs that fit with the character and the general mood of the comic—it's kind of downbeat but it has heart and humour and ultimately it's uplifting. As a starting point, I asked some people I knew for music about New York, but I also looked for "New York" on Spotify Search and clicked through tracks, and I ended up putting in songs that I'd found ages ago that suddenly fit the bill, like, actually, "Trouble is a Friend of Mine", which I'd loved in a non-fandom context for a long time. I have a playlist on Spotify that's called "Collecting for mixes" because when I search, usually I find stuff that doesn't really fit with what I'm doing at a certain moment, but that fits with something else that I've had on my mind, so I shove it in that playlist for future use. (Usually my mixes happen when that playlist reaches critical mass.) I had about twice as many songs in the first instance than ended up going in the mix.

- I also make playlists that don't see the light of day in mix form for a long time, usually themed around a character or ship. Playlists are easy, mixes do require work/time/thought.

This probably tells you more about my mixing process than you ever needed to know; I hope it helps at least a little bit!

[green]

Wow, this helps a LOT. You should post this somewhere for other people to read!

<333

[ardyforshort]

Oh excellent, I'm glad you found it useful!
Hm, yeah. Maybe I'll repost it to my journal some time when I'm not in an airport at two in the morning. Thanks!