Æ.

Thinking about what a good mixtape format would be today, assuming people mostly don't have actual tape decks.

One continuous audio file with all songs joined together?

Offline html page with an embedded audio player?

Other ideas? Should be independent of streaming services.

Mar 16 at 8:00pmWeb
Show threadNelsonMar 16

@aesthr Duxtape was a cool implementation of a decentralized/offline web page using the dat/hypercore network, back when Beaker Browser was a thing before the remaining founder quit to work on Bluesky instead. It worked more or less like Muxtape and its clones did back in the filesharing wars, but anyone could clone it and rehost it from their computer.

https://github.com/kickscondor/duxtape

Technically dat & hypercore still exist, but I feel momentum was lost when Beaker died.

Show threadEllie (please install drivers)Mar 16
@aesthr one mix file is best imo
Show threadTyrone SlothropMar 16
@roughling @aesthr Seconding the single file approach. It gets closest to the old pass-it-around experience.
Show threadFredrik BjöremanMar 16
@aesthr I'm very partial to the offline page idea, having recently built a web app easter egg where I can drag audio files onto a small tape deck (with appropriate sound effects when a tape is inserted and play is pressed) and then there's a visualizer as the song plays. Supporting a whole playlist should be trivial too.
Show threadLottaMar 16
@aesthr ich find die Idee mit html page und auio player am besten.
Show threadMarco HengstenbergMar 16
@aesthr a bunch of mp3 files with accompanying playlist file and a copy of Winamp altogether on a usb stick 🤔
Show threadAethonMar 16

@aesthr

The idea of a mixtape was your choice flowed from one to the next and the recipient / listener couldn’t really skip around so I’d say the continuous audio file would be closest, depending on files size limitations. An offline page would still allow you to hop around (I think, depending on application).

Show threadSlightlyCyberpunkMar 16
@aesthr One file but implement an instant 45 minute minus the played amount fast forward button to replicate flipping the tape over. Also at least a minute or two of dead air halfway through the track lol
Show threadPeter BindelsMar 16
@aesthr One continuous audio file with chapter marks, like Matroska audio supports (mka)
Show threadÆ.Mar 16
@dascandy I don't think most people's playback software (probably just the default media player on their phones) will support those chapter marks so that might be a wasted effort
Show threadPeter BindelsMar 16
@aesthr Not many people's playback software will start supporting it if nobody uses it. Given how Youtube marks its chapters, there's a definite use and demand for it.
Show threadsofakanteMar 16
@aesthr mixtape usb stick?
Show threadxeniaMar 16
@aesthr what about bin/cue files? VLC and foobar (and more) can play them, you can directly write to disk if you have the hardware and if the recipient really wants single files they can be split up automagically via the cue files.
Show threadÆ.Mar 16
@xenia that doesn’t seem like a solution that works for most people who would most likely receive this on their phones
Show threadFelixMar 16
@aesthr A friend did a single long Audacity project (with music and some extra stuff like funny quotes) which has been enjoyed in that format and also exported both to an audio file with some reasonable parameters and a truly terrible mp3 uploaded to the Signal group chat as a voice message
Show threadÆ.Mar 17
@felurx why the terrible quality for the signal version?
Show threadFelixMar 17
@aesthr I mostly did a terrible quality export from the Audacity project (which the friend shared) as a joke, then I thought "wait, this is probably more than small enough to be sent as a voice message" (and I think the idea of a 4h voice message was funny to me), so I tried and it worked and then some people actually listened to it :D
Show threadIke SeblonMar 17
@aesthr I've favored the single file, or two 45min files, but recipients don't seem to listen to them (friends who definitely listened to tapes and cdrs but no longer have decks). I've stopped making mixes except occasional tapes for confirmed tapeheads, but my theory is that it would have to be a stream for most people instead of a local file for entirely psychological reasons.
Show threadÆ.Mar 17
@ike_seblon what makes the difference there between a local file and a stream? Let’s say I send it via Signal? They can just press play right there.
Show threadIke SeblonMar 17
@aesthr i think that counts. Something about the loose file creates friction for people, or maybe the act of downloading feels like a completion and their interest moves on to another acquisition? Maybe the pool of mixtape appreciators is just smaller than it was in a lower-density media environment.
Show threadDan PatchMar 17

@aesthr when I set out in 2019 to do my first mixtape in ages, i thought that what i wanted was a folder full of audio files with a playlist file to determine the order. what I decided to do instead was a single mix file, for two important reasons:

1) I needed to normalize the volume across all the files
2) I found that being able to control the transitions between the songs, DJ style, added an entirely separate dimension to the work, unifying it and marking it as my own

Show threadSergio GilMar 17
@aesthr lately I did this, with a zip file with the mp3/ogg/opus files (there were all of them 🤷) and a m3u playlist. I used magic-wormhole to send the actual file, a usb stick would have been nicer I guess but there were 2000 km in between. The m3u file doesn't cover "fancy mixing" like crossfade or whatever, but I also never did that when I used tapes. I also still burn CDs, but of course not everybody has a CD player around (anymore, or ever had)
Show threadÆ.Mar 17

@porras yeah may work between nerds like us who know what an m3u (or even a zip) is.

But i have little confidence for everyone else

Show threadLaura ✨🎨Mar 17

@aesthr @porras what Sergio said, this is how I always made my mixtapes post-tape and post-cd era, usually on a usb stick, honestly most non-nerds never had a problem with it 🤷‍♀️

alternatively... have the files named with the numbers in the order you want them to be played, attach a text file with the final playlist, done 😅