General Music Chat

Definitely open with the strongest 2-3 songs, but mix up the songs so you don't have multiple songs all with the same overall 'feel' or sound.
With today's listener typically playing individual songs (on an MP3 player), the overall order for songs on CDs is not as important as it once was.

Thanks GuitarMike .

I'll have to decide now, which are strong and which arent... I'm guessing BPMs (faster) + Presence and Dynamic factor?

sounds like a terrific idea.
good luck.

Thanks : )

Good Luck Paper, I dont really have any advice on order of songs, its your art so make it like you want it.

Keep On Rockin!

roger that... Thanks JW!

Sine wave. Start @ %50 -75 work to peak back to base line and back to peak.

Unless of course you have some "storied" order to follow.

I see producing a CD no different than establishing a live set.

Hook em but don't hammer em. Built it up, let it cool, build it up and hit em hard at the close.

Interesting Idea... The consensus has been Open strong, End strong... But you're saying build up to strong... This raises a new question,,, I agree that the cd should grab and bitch-slap the listener up front... But I think maybe that also depends on Genre too... Since my work is folky dolky, "strong" really comes down to flipping a coin about which song of mine is NOTa poster child of folky dolky... LOL... SO maybe I start with a reasonably catchy one... , followed by a really catchy one,,,Rinse, repeat.. I have to really sit down with this and think about it....

It's tough doing it on your own. Ask others what they think are the strongest tracks. Put together a tentative list and get opinions again.
When I was putting together my first CD, I let the mastering engineer put his producer hat on, and ended up cutting 3 songs (he wanted to cut a 4th, but because my wife contributed 1 verse of lyrics on that song, I wanted to keep it!), then took his advice about the leading song and closing one.
I originally wanted to start with Smart Angel (which is more or less the title track) and finish with Demons/Rise Up - get it? - Angel to Demons but ended up with the tracks as they are, trying to mix the acoustic and electric stuff in the middle.

The order could be like a set list but think of it like a concert, not some pub jam.
But it really depends on the songs i guess... are they linked or just random?
The order could be like a story... intro- body- conclusion.
Or just.... best song first, then 2nd best, 3rd etc...

You have some good stuff to work with i'm sure you guys will figure out the flow.

I think this project is really more a random bunch of songs ...Scrambled eggs with shells kinda thing. When I embark on the next project, I intend to keep more thematic...

Very seriously, I would ask YOD.
He has more experience at that than you realize.

I am sure he would be more than helpful if he has the time.

I would ask Yod.....

SPeak of the devil...where is he?

We categorize our music in four divisions.

1) Covers ( of course this is not really our music )
2) Heavy
3) Medium
4) Light

Based as much on intensity as tempo often our "heavy" stuff is too "hard" for a lot of our listeners / fans so we would not open with such.

We like to grab our audience right our of the box, but I also gently increase volume as a show / set progresses.

And yes, we all need to consider our audience. Our is usually very diverse from little kids to the elderly.

P.S. Turn those hearing aids down for the encore ...

Very seriously, I would ask YOD.
He has more experience at that than you realize.

I am sure he would be more than helpful if he has the time.

I would ask Yod.....

SPeak of the devil...where is he?

oh thanks for noticing.


I got 5 days at home for the first time since the first week of the year. Bought a new house during a 2-day visit home in April and have been moving in.


I don't necessarily agree, but record labels choose the order of songs based on what they think are radio hits. Then they would go by what makes the most interesting listen; mixing fast and slow songs from best to less, with maybe one strong song at the very end if there are enough strong songs to do that.

If you have 3 very strong songs that have any chance for radio (in their opinion) they would ordinarily put them all in a row at the beginning from the fastest one to the slowest. For a new artist, they would never start with a ballad, but something uptempo.

Believe it or not, take it or leave it.

Very seriously, I would ask YOD.
He has more experience at that than you realize.

I am sure he would be more than helpful if he has the time.

I would ask Yod.....

SPeak of the devil...where is he?

oh thanks for noticing.


I got 5 days at home for the first time since the first week of the year. Bought a new house during a 2-day visit home in April and have been moving in.


I don't necessarily agree, but record labels choose the order of songs based on what they think are radio hits. Then they would go by what makes the most interesting listen; mixing fast and slow songs from best to less, with maybe one strong song at the very end if there are enough strong songs to do that.

If you have 3 very strong songs that have any chance for radio (in their opinion) they would ordinarily put them all in a row at the beginning from the fastest one to the slowest. For a new artist, they would never start with a ballad, but something uptempo.

Believe it or not, take it or leave it.

Thanks YOD.. Excellent advice...


BTW , I believe everything... Sometimes, I believe stuff that's not even there ... hee hee! ...

1) strong song to open - get interest piqued
2) weaker songs sandwiched by stronger
3) strong song to finish - leave a good impression

Pretty good philosophy. I'd stay away from the "concert format" unless you're cutting a live cd. We open strong, go mellow, put the weak stuff around 6 and 7 then close with a something that says "fini"!

Good luck

Very seriously, I would ask YOD.
He has more experience at that than you realize.

I am sure he would be more than helpful if he has the time.

I would ask Yod.....

SPeak of the devil...where is he?

oh thanks for noticing.


I got 5 days at home for the first time since the first week of the year. Bought a new house during a 2-day visit home in April and have been moving in.


I don't necessarily agree, but record labels choose the order of songs based on what they think are radio hits. Then they would go by what makes the most interesting listen; mixing fast and slow songs from best to less, with maybe one strong song at the very end if there are enough strong songs to do that.

If you have 3 very strong songs that have any chance for radio (in their opinion) they would ordinarily put them all in a row at the beginning from the fastest one to the slowest. For a new artist, they would never start with a ballad, but something uptempo.

Believe it or not, take it or leave it.

Thanks YOD.. Excellent advice...


BTW , I believe everything... Sometimes, I believe stuff that's not even there ... hee hee! ...

( I would even pay him just to listen and advise). He has a great ear and tremendous sense of order. Forget Yods lyrics, they are excellent,,,,
But his melodies are over the TOP!!!!

It took me quite a few hours to sort out the order of tracks on my album, this is how I did it...
I played the last few seconds of a track and then played the first few seconds of the other tracks and picked the ones that sounded to me to 'flow' together better.
Once you've got the first few tracks ordered then the process speeds up as the number of tracks decreases.

I also 'lived with it' for a few days by listening to the album all the way through to make sure I was happy with the overall 'feel'.

I also 'lived with it' for a few days by listening to the album all the way through to make sure I was happy with the overall 'feel'.

That's key. Burn a disc, and listen to it repeatedly. Listen for transisitions, listen for songs that are too loud or soft compared to the others, listen for songs that just don't fit in with the others.

It took me quite a few hours to sort out the order of tracks on my album, this is how I did it...
I played the last few seconds of a track and then played the first few seconds of the other tracks and picked the ones that sounded to me to 'flow' together better.
Once you've got the first few tracks ordered then the process speeds up as the number of tracks decreases.

I also 'lived with it' for a few days by listening to the album all the way through to make sure I was happy with the overall 'feel'.

Thanks cm. That makes sense... I'll give that a try