#7: Soundtracks

I have recently fallen in love with fanmixes and started making my own. What is a fanmix? It is a soundtrack; based around the universe, a character, a relationship, or a fanfic. You group the songs you have chosen for it, make cover art for it, and present it for other people to enjoy. There are two methods to the presenting. Method A is to list the titles and performers of the songs with lyrics and/or commentary about why you chose it. This method won’t get you in trouble with the record companies and some fandom sites insist on it so they won’t get in trouble. Method B is to make the songs available for download with or without the commentary. Not surprisingly, this is the more popular method of fanmixing.

So far I have made nine fanmixes and collected about a dozen. Here’s my few tidbits to share if you’d like to start making some.

Make sure the whole collection is in one format.

This is my newest pet peeve. I have your collection and I’m bopping along to it, only to discover a song was skipped. My mp3 player or the default program on my desktop computer didn’t recognize the format of that one song and skipped over it. If the entire collection is in a format that only RealPlayer recognizes usually the computer is smart enough to open RealPlayer for it. I have four or five fanmixes I have to figure out how to convert just a few files to a standard mp3 file.

Use “rename this file” and numbers to put the files in the order you want them played.

I have noticed that most copying to digital version programs will make the track number part of the file name automatically. This is fine for the folder that holds the entire album, but when copy track number four to become your fanmix’s track number one, the song will play in fourth in line. Or if you strip out all numbers, the players arrange the folder in alphabetical order, which is probably not the song order that you were inspired to make with your fanmix.

Zip the fanmix and make that available for download too.

Some people prefer to download one song at a time; I guess they know exactly what they have in their personal music collections and know what to skip. My memory isn’t that good and my time is limited. Put all the music files and graphic files in a folder named after your fanmix and follow the instructions of your preferred zipping program. Then you can offer both ways for people to download.

Always make cover art that names the songs and artists.

CITE THE SOURCE! CITE THE SOURCE! Yes, I do agree that the music industry is full of money grubbing parasites who do more harm than good. However, unless you are the musician responsible for the song, it is someone else’s hard work and should be acknowledged. I have bought albums because I liked one song by the artist in a fanmix and wanted more. Don’t cut your favorite artist’s revenue stream by not naming them. I’ve seen 470x470 pixels and 300x300 pixels touted as good sizes for cover art, especially if you’re trying to make it look like a CD. Play around with it until the sources fit, and then make pretty.

I take an extra step with my fanmixes because I had started doing it that way first before finding out about fanmixes and I pay for my website and don’t have to worry about the whims of my host. If the song is quoted in my fanfic, I code in an embedded flash player so the reader can hit play and hear the song during the scene. See Biker Mice From Mars: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Reunions for an example of this with “Sweet Child O’Mine” by Guns ‘n Roses. I only provide what is quoted, so if I only use one verse, I’ll trim the version available to hear. “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas in Biker Mice From Mars: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Let Us Give Thanks is a good example of that. I also provide the series theme song at the beginning of each story in the series. If the reader wants the other theme music, they’ll have to download the fanmix it is on.

Length is another variable that doesn’t matter. However many songs it takes you to finish the fanmix is what you should go with. But if you use a site to distribute your downloads like MediaFire or MegaUpLoad, they probably have limits on how bytes you can send out. Check with them, because I host my own site I have never used them other than downloading.

Aside from a size issue, my minimum limit is ten songs to make a fanmix. Since I have been creating them based off fanfics that are technically songfics, it has meant that I have had to add character theme songs to round up the number. Picking those out is fun. Another bonus is having music to put you in the mood while composing. Since I picked out the songs for Biker Mice From Mars: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Turbo before I started National Novel Writing Month with that story, I put the song of the scene on repeat while I wrote to help drown out everything else. It worked, but there are some songs I am still sick of hearing and skip over them when I’m listening to that fanmix.

Let me know about your favorite fanmixes or any compositing tips you have.