Back in the nineties, when I started to DJ, making a mixtape meant recording straight onto cassette tape. It was recorded straight from vinyl with just two turntables, a mixer, and a tape deck. Cassette tapes were usually 30 or 45 minutes per side (C60, C90). I never used the C120 that had 60 minutes per side. I’m not sure why, looking back. I think the audio quality wasn’t as good. I might be wrong about this, it is 30 years ago. Although you could record both sides of a tape, there was a gap in the middle. This occurred when the tape changed sides, either automatically or manually. So you really only had 30 or 45 minutes to craft a compelling mix. I recently fell back in love with that idea: getting a story across in just 30 to 45 minutes. I am planning to record some home “taped” mixes regularly (aiming for one a week), the first one is online already on my Mixcloud: