I have begun work on a project which requires mixtapes--not too use in art or anything, but rather to actually listen to. My problem is that I am having trouble finding some. My generation was, at best, on the very tail end of the cassette era. I've checked out some local thrift stores to no avail, and also stopped by a flea market but again had difficulty finding any. I was wondering if anybody here could offer any advice that would be great. I was figuring yard sales too. I made it to a few with no luck and figure with fall setting in, they will be few and far between for the next few months.
New Here...Cassette Question
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Northerner
Boomus Fidelis
I get all mine from charity shops and have loads, tho in the uk at least you can buy them from Amazon 
Northerner
Boomus Fidelis
Northerner said:...or are you talking of already recorded ones? I do my own on a blank
We are looking for ones that are already recorded. That is what is proving so tricky right now. I work at a record store so getting blank ones is fairly easy, but we are looking for the ones that somebody recorded for another person.
Northerner
Boomus Fidelis
I kinda twigged that as soon as I did my first reply, hence the second one 
Think most are likely chucked out so think it might be tricky...nice idea tho
Think most are likely chucked out so think it might be tricky...nice idea tho 
jaetee
Member (SA)
RYS said:Northerner said:...or are you talking of already recorded ones? I do my own on a blank
We are looking for ones that are already recorded. That is what is proving so tricky right now. I work at a record store so getting blank ones is fairly easy, but we are looking for the ones that somebody recorded for another person.
In a solid decade of hitting trift stores and flea markets where I specifically look for cassettes, reel to reel tapes, albums, vintage electronics and such.... I've only ever found a small handful of tapes clearly labeled as being from one person "to" a special someone else. Like maybe three or four tapes out of several hundred used tapes I've purchased. It is much more common to find tapes where people recorded full albums, or radio shows. I have found some mixtapes that were not not labeled as being "to" someone else, but not so many of those, either.
I think most people tend not to give those up easily, even after they give up on cassette as a format. A meaningful mixtape gift is one of those things that can end up in a box of high school memorabelia or lost in the back of a drawer for years and years. And even a mixtape someone made for themselves is a somwhat rare find. I think thats because making a mixtape is a labor of love that is carefully compiled and recorded in real time (ie. you can't press a button on the PC and burn it at 52x). As such, they are the last tapes that people will purge.
Ironic to your request, a large chunk of those used tapes I mentioned buying at thrift stores ended up as mixtapes, traded to some members of this forum and at tapehead.net.
So, I think the best way to get a mix tape, is to offer one for trade.
jaetee said:RYS said:Northerner said:...or are you talking of already recorded ones? I do my own on a blank
We are looking for ones that are already recorded. That is what is proving so tricky right now. I work at a record store so getting blank ones is fairly easy, but we are looking for the ones that somebody recorded for another person.
In a solid decade of hitting trift stores and flea markets where I specifically look for cassettes, reel to reel tapes, albums, vintage electronics and such.... I've only ever found a small handful of tapes clearly labeled as being from one person "to" a special someone else. Like maybe three or four tapes out of several hundred used tapes I've purchased. It is much more common to find tapes where people recorded full albums, or radio shows. I have found some mixtapes that were not not labeled as being "to" someone else, but not so many of those, either.
I think most people tend not to give those up easily, even after they give up on cassette as a format. A meaningful mixtape gift is one of those things that can end up in a box of high school memorabelia or lost in the back of a drawer for years and years. And even a mixtape someone made for themselves is a somwhat rare find. I think thats because making a mixtape is a labor of love that is carefully compiled and recorded in real time (ie. you can't press a button on the PC and burn it at 52x). As such, they are the last tapes that people will purge.
Ironic to your request, a large chunk of those used tapes I mentioned buying at thrift stores ended up as mixtapes, traded to some members of this forum and at tapehead.net.
So, I think the best way to get a mix tape, is to offer one for trade.
That is the pickle I've been in. I have been going to those stores for vinyl for quite some time, but now the mixtapes are getting me. I figured most wouldn't want to give them up to easily, but have withheld hope that somebody didn't want to take them in a move, or something along those lines.
But yes, I'll take whatever I can get. It doesn't specifically have to be a mix "to" somebody, but even just the random collection of songs will do just fine for my purposes. I've figured I will have to pony up and pay somehow (which I don't mind), but even that is proving somewhat tricky.
Alas, I am thinking trade or something like that will be the best bet. I appreciate the help. I really haven't ventured much into cassettes until recently. I picked up an old tape deck at a thrift store and did some work on it and now it works like a charm.
Mark GF-575
Member (SA)
If you have plenty of music why don't you make your own. It's more fun. What music are you looking for by the way?
Mark GF-575 said:
Well, that is the problem. It is not that I want to have these for my own purposes, it is a project we are working on where we kind of look at the impact of the mixtape. I guess we are observing history and that is why it would be better to find these remnants rather than make our own.
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