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  • Mix Club - The Remedial Class

Mad_Cyril i think the other thing might be just to practice mixing tracks that you know are exactly in the same key and practice the transition in various places - it all depends on the tracks but start with track A say just after the last drop so maybe 32 or 64 phrases from the end and Track B from the beginning - so a long boring mix but in the same key and see how it sounds - then try at places with more complexity and build from there. there is no right answer - we all have different ways of hearing things - what sounds harmonious to me might not to you - for all i know i might be tone deaf!
To check the key of a track i run it through MiK and sometimes use the little keyboard feature so i can hear the key in the abstract just to convince myself it is the right one. but the other thing is this: WTF is wrong with the odd key clash of the tracks are good and it keeps the energy up? i reckon when i was going to the Gallery of a Friday night that the guys playing there were not massively programming by key all the time - just slamming in Madagascar to get the energy up !!!

    I’m with you on the mixing, wasn’t really a massive focus for DJs when I was going out all the time compared to now.

    This is more things like the highs, mids clashing badly and sounding a right old racket compared to what I thought it sounded like than the key.

    Mad_Cyril for years i mixed in the new track on the EQ in the order of bass - mid- treble i got much better when someone pointed out to me that i was doing it in the wrong order!

      Mixing in the cans is a dead end by the way. Ultimately you are trying to teach your ears to work independently and then make sense of what they are both hearing, in can mixing just makes this harder and will ultimately hinder your progress. It’s really hard to get over this fact, as in can mixing is something of a comfort when you start out, but it’s not the way to progress. Learnt this the hard way myself.

      Plus, if you ever play anywhere other than outside your four walls, the mixer might not do ‘in can’ and you will look like Judge Jules rather than Sashweed.

      Getting the volume just right between the headphones & your speakers/monitors is also important. To loud on the headphones and it’ll be much harder to beat match the monitor tune

        Dubman this is a good bit of advice. set your monitor volume bottom up so it’s not too loud, then match the volume of your headphones accordingly. this will help your mixing and save your ears.

          Dubman Once worked with Sander just as the draconian sound laws came into effect at festivals in the UK, maybe mid to late 2000s. He was irked by the low volume of the sound system, so he just cranked the monitors up and aimed them at the crowd… fuck knows how loud his cans must have been. Also, apropos to nothing, he did the set with a miners lamp on his head.

            Had a quick 40 minutes last night, results much better than previously so thanks for all the advice 👍

            Been mixing for hours today with the ‘new’ XZ - beat matching is getting quicker and tighter, but since losing the crossfader and using channelfaders and EQs it sounds like I’m losing energy through the mix. Don’t get that with the crossfader, so I know I’m got the phrasing right. Any further tips?

              Along_the_Wire I’ve experienced this kind of thing before aswell. In my case I think it might be down to a combination of having the EQ’s dialled quite far back and the volume fader too low as the outgoing track begins to drop out. I’d imagine there are quite a few things that can cause it.

                Along_the_Wire that’s a really open question, we’d probably need to hear an example. could be the way you’re bringing in new sounds, phrasing, or even the key change from one record to the next.

                  Along_the_Wire Crossfaders will regularly have a ‘sharp’ or ‘quick’ volume transition, so even if you are super slow / careful with it, it will still bring in a fair bit of volume from the new track, that might be where your mix is getting it’s ‘energy’. Just be a bit more boisterous with your channel faders and you should get the same effect. As mentioned, I could be barking up the wrong tree though.

                      I put my hand across the channel then wack it up so as to not bring it in to loud,

                      Along_the_Wire that’s possibly your problem, try it the opposite way. keep the highs up, mids low, bass cut and slam the fader up after the break. slowly swap the mids and bring the bass in quickly or slowly, depending on how well they mesh together.

                          303abuser That’s what I’m doing. I meant both channel faders are up when I start farting around with the EQs. I’m beatmatching, then turn the mid and bass down, bring up the channel fader and then start the fiddle.

                              Along_the_Wire ah ok, i thought you meant you were using the eqs to bring the levels up. it’s a smooth way to mix, but won’t necessarily create energy. if your mixing techniques doesn’t seem to be the issue, really look at phrasing. mixing in earlier could help and look at key jumps (if you use the camelot system, moving up in numbers translates to increasing energy iirc).

                                  303abuser I spent a lot of time today working on two loops - pretty sure the phrasing was bang on - crossfader mixing didn’t lose any energy. I’ll work it out - was fun today - the actual beatmatching improved a lot. The jog wheels are so, so good compared to what they were originally.