I missed sign ups as I was away on holiday, sent Carson an email and he kindly let me join up and I got into two swapsets again.

I was thinking of doing a DJ mix this time, what software do you use to clean it up?

I use Traktor for all the basic DJ-related functions, then do EQ, edits, and tracking in Cubase.

I took part in one of those and didn't get much music from the other people in my group. It was a real disappointment. I would love to take part again but I'm pretty hesitant, as I would like to keep my kill list to a manageable three pages.

I am still bitter about the postcards I sent out and the half of the group I did not get back. . .so I'll pass. . .

If you enter an online swap expecting to be fully reciprocated, you're bound for disappointment. Most of the time, you'll get less back than you put into the exchange. Literally MOST of the time. It's best to enter these kind of things because you want to share, and not because you expect others to hold up their end of the deal, because most of them won't.

Not saying that to criticize anyone, but the internet has been around long enough that we can see a pattern in these kinds of things, so it's not really a surprise any more.

Yeah, I have to be honest, I've had swaps where I never even got the chance to listen to other people's CDs. I just like making them; it forces me to stay on top of things musically and continue to explore and seek out new tunes on a quarterly basis. Even as a music-obsessive, I still fall into the "all the music I listened to in high school/college is the best music ever" trap and get complacent with my tastes from time to time.

I have been part of many Mefiswaps and can count on one hand the number of non-senders. The new regime under Carson encourages reporting of non-senders so I can only assume the ratio is going to get better.