Standing in my basement, my finger poised over the record button, I wait patiently for a good song to come on my radio. There it is: "The Sign" by Ace of Base. Record. Deodorant commercial. Pause. "I Swear" by All-4-One. Record! At 11-years-old, I decided to claim a musical identity and create my first mix tape, purging myself forever of my mother's old Neil Diamond tapes.

That was the first of many mixes I would make. A classic rock compilation CD for my mom; a mix of new music for my sister who was desperately lost in a "Nickelback" phase. But each time I set out to create one of these masterpieces, I selected songs that I thought would fit the bill and haphazardly threw them together.

As it turns out, there is science behind creating a great mix.

Daniel J. Levitin, an associate professor of psychology, neuroscience and music at McGill University, has been researching how music affects the brain for 16 years. In his recent book "This Is Your Brain on Music," he pinpoints where our musical tastes originate and some of the reasons why we gravitate to certain types of music.

"Research has shown we're all musical experts in the same way we speak our native language," Levitin says. "We can hear in a piece of music if a note is out of tune, even if we can't necessarily say what the note is."

Using his findings and drawing on his experience as a musician and former record producer, Levitin provides some tips on how to craft a truly great mix tape.

Levitin says that you have to start with the right ingredients...

MIX TAPE DO'S:

• MAKE SEAMLESS TRANSITIONS by finding the commonalities and linking songs with similar themes, musical styles and characteristics.

• DIVERSIFY your selections by adding a new band or genre, while considering the listener's taste.

• BE YOURSELF by including some music that speaks to who you are.

MEET YOUR LISTENER HALFWAY by including music they like even if it is not your taste.

PLAN FOR MORE songs than you'll be including in the mix in case some don't work out.

___

MIX TAPE DON'TS:

OVERSTATE THE MESSAGE with a compilation of songs saturated with one idea.

OVER OBSCURE. A lack of familiarity will have your listener tuning out. Include at least two songs they've heard before.

LEAVE OUT personality and thought.

INLUDE SONGS WITH YOUR FRIEND'S NAMES. This is never original and clever no matter how obscure the song.

ADD INSULTING OR VULGAR SONGS unless you know your listener well.

AND NOW THE SCIENCE...

So why do certain types of music make you belt out a few lines in your shower, while others make you reach for the "off" button? As it turns out, the keys to our musical taste lie in our awkward youth.

In his book, Levitin points to our teens as the years when our musical tastes solidify. During the years of self-discovery around the age of 14, our brains become hardwired for adulthood. Levitin emphasizes that although we continue to have an interest in new music as we age, our tastes tend to solidify by the age of 18-20.

At this age we are also particularly influenced by our peers in musical taste, and listen to similar music as a way of "externalizing the bond," Levitin says in the book. "New music becomes assimilated within the framework of the music we were listening to during this critical period."

If you have a mysterious and unexplainable affinity with Neil Diamond (uh, is that just me?) you could blame it on your mother. Research by Alexandra Lamont at Keele University in England found that our musical preferences are also influenced by outside environments, even in the womb.

"Music we like has something in common with something we liked before," Levitin says.

Equipped with Levitin's tips, I set out to create a "perfect" mix CD for my mom as a gift. She was the primary architect of my early music education and we have a storied musical past to prove it. Whether it was belting out ELO's "Evil Woman" in a Wal-Mart parking lot, or standing in the rain together to see the band Boston, we shared a deep love of the classics. As I grew older I discovered my own bands, and began making her mixes to try to stem her slide into a permanent state of rock revelry. But with Levitin's counsel, and her favorite band The Who leading the way, I was finally able to make her the "perfect" mix.

Lindsay Holmwood is an editorial assistant with the AP in New York.

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