How to make a cassette tape (mixtape) with your favorite music!!! [Tutorial]

Do YOU want to make your own CUSTOM CASSETTE TAPES?!?!

Do YOU have a walkman or a working tape deck?!?!

Are you TIRED of having to buy tapes of old stuff cuz all your current fav bands don't make cassettes?!?!

Do you WANT to be able to hold your Spotify/Apple Music playlists in the PALM OF YOUR HAND?!??!

Do you CRAVE the nostalgia of the shitty Lo-Fi sound that a cassette tape plays?!?!

THEN I HAVE GOT THE BLOGPOST FOR YOU!

I'm Mack, and I collect audio equipment! I've got a turntable, a tape deck, and amp/tuner, a CD player, a walkman, THE WORKS! All to play my favorite music on these big ol' speakers I got in my room.

But sometimes I go "Huh, I am just CRAVING the shitty sound of a cassette tape, but I wanna listen to my playlists on Spotify! WHAT GIVES!?"

Let me introduce you to my Denon DRW-650 Dual Tape Deck!

(This photo was posted by someone on eBay, I really didn't feel like snapping my own photo. If you wanna see mine, check my profile!)

This bad boy is 60 bucks on eBay and is capable of not just playback, but recording and a host of other fun features. You can plug speakers into its output and then (this is the fun part) an RCA to AUX adapter cable into the input!! That being said, any dual cassette tape deck with an RCA input will work. PRACTICE GOOD PURCHASING BEHAVIOR!!!! ALWAYS CONFIRM THAT A VINTAGE ELECTRONIC IS IN WORKING CONDITION! REMEMBER, IF A DEAL IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS!!!!

Now what the hell does that mean? It means you can plug your phone, iPod, Radio, Laptop, or ANYTHING ELSE WITH AN AUX PORT into this thing!!!! You can even buy a cheapo bluetooth dongle on Amazon or something and listen to tapes from wherever you want with wireless headphones!!

So how do you record that onto a tape?? Well, you can still buy cheap blank tapes!!! on Amazon, you can get a box of 10 generic type 1 tapes for ~25 dollars at this link HERE. These tapes are 60 minutes long, but you can find 90-minute tapes easily. 

So let's say you have all the materials. You have the tape deck, the speakers and their RCA cables, the RCA to AUX adapter, and the blank tapes. Nice! overall, it's cost you probably less than 100 dollars. Now what?

The first step is making a playlist. Choose a few songs and create a playlist in your preferred music app, just make sure that the playlist duration is under the recording time on the tapes. Remember, a 60-minute tape is 30 minutes a side, so divide your songs well.

Next up is loading in the tape! This specific tape deck only records in Deck B, so the right one. Don't worry, all the functions are easily labeled on the tape deck. You can choose how loud the tape is with a single dial and even add sound suppression to try and get rid of the light hiss you sometimes hear on tapes, though I personally leave this setting by the wayside.

Finally is recording! If you've got your device of choice plugged into the tape deck, Hit the record button. You should see a red light come on. Keep the tape paused though, and hit play on your phone just to check. If the speakers you plugged into the tapedeck start to play the music, everything works!!! Now restart your playlist and keep it paused, but hit play on your tape deck. give it ~5-8 seconds to spool out the tape in the cassette, then hit play on your device to start up your playlist.

And with that, you are done! enjoy your playlist while it records onto the tape! You can set a timer, or just wait for the tape to stop playing. Then, pop it out, flip it to the b Side, and start the playlist where it left off!!! 

Once everything is played through, disconnect your phone and play the tape without recording to see if everything is how it should be. If it is, CONGRATS!!!! YOU HAVE RECORDED YOUR PLAYLIST ONTO A CASSETTE TAPE!!!

These kinds of playlists are great for being on the go and wanting to listen to your favorite music retro style or as a cheesy gift to a lover. The first tape I made (after a little trial and error) was a 90-minute tape of a Spotify playlist I share with my boyfriend. That was my gift to him for our first Christmas together, and I gotta say, I can't think of anything I could ever give that would top it.

Below is a photo of my custom tape materials.

On the left are blank tapes I'll use for making custom cassette tapes, whereas the ones on the right are ones I've recorded onto. The one marked DAMAGED is a tape I ruined on my first attempt. Remember, practice makes perfect!

So yeah! go forth and record to your heart's content! If you have questions, please ask! I'd be happy to answer.

Like this Blogpost? Feel free to share, comment, and give kudos! I make blogs mostly about military surplus, but I'm going to be talking about a lot more music stuff soon!!