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  • Mix Club - The Remedial Class

Mad_Cyril I have a fuck load of different carts on Beatport. I have main ‘all’ cart, which anything I like goes in, if in that mad jumble some bits stick out or sound like they could be the focus for a mix, they get split out into another cart, I then trawl for tracks that might work with them. That break out cart might have upward of a hundred tracks in it that will get whittled down to ten or twelve or more tracks for the mix. Sometimes have five or six of those break out carts on the go.

If none of that makes sense, let me know.

      Oh yeah, follow artists and labels too. Use the charts a lot for the trawling, they’re defo a help for finding stuff that works together. My tastes are pretty eclectic so a scatter gun approach for me would make a proper dog shit of a mix.

      Along_the_Wire No need to inflict them on anyone other than the poor souls who stumble across them on the internet.

        Amps
        Makes perfect sense, as does your following post.

        I’m kind of between the two, a few carts but never get enough for a coherent mix as always end up pulling the trigger.

        Result, loads of disparate purchases and a rapidly filling hard drive!

        All a learning curve, good to hear how others approach

          buy music you like and mix it in an order you like. if you’re good, you’ll have a style and people will enjoy it. if you’re not, at least you’re having fun.

          No crates, just thrown them all in a playlist and see what works. Mixed in key is a bonus if your head scratching half way through or can’t get it to progress nicely. I’m fucking lucky I’m on some decent mail outs and my mate runs a promo company…so I hardly spend anything….prob about £5 a month. Rule of thumb is if you really want a track buy a WAV….that way you definitely need it and will use it rather than it being used once and then clogging up your HD.

          I follow hundreds of labels and artists on BP, and just check new stuff from those on there. New artists and labels get added all the time. Otherwise I check “curated” places like Muting the Noise, Clone and staff tips on Whatpeopleplay. DJ mixes are a big source too. One reason I’ve bought so much music during lockdown has been the ridiculous amount of mixes to Shazam every week. I buy anything I like with no consideration if I’ll ever put it in a mix.

          23 days later

          Still fucking about…

          Something @Unbroken1 said about mixing with the filters on a rotary has stuck in my head.

          Spent last weekend fuxking around with the filters on my Fisher Price, found easier but getting pissed off with the echoey effect they produce. No way around it but was a lot easier than using sliders.

          Swapped the filters for the gain controls this week, miles better (relatively speaking). Have more control and time.

          Think the future might be rotary if i get better / less rubbish

            Mad_CyrilNo matter how good/bad you are. If you are enjoying the fucking about on your Fisher Price and think its something you are going to stick at, It may be worth upgrading your gear.

            I’ve always found getting better at anything is easier when you are using decent equipment.

                Matt
                Haha. Nice one Matt. Might print that out and show it the Mrs 😎

                Let’s see if I can pull off a semi coherent hour of tunes first!!!

                    Mad_Cyril Swapped the filters for the gain controls this week, miles better (relatively speaking). Have more control and time.

                    Having spent a fair bit of time on both I would urge you to stick at it and get good on your faders. In my highly unprofessional but time served opinion, once you get stuck in, there really isn’t any difference.

                    What mixer are you using at the moment?

                      Amps
                      I’m not great at describing so echoey might be there wrong word. If you flick through most if the transitions on the first ½ hour here you can hear the same.

                      Ref the channels, there’s no really difference to using the gain than the faders is there?

                      I still eq, but using gain knobs, as opposed to sliders, just feels easier to make adjustments amd establish the tune in the mix to me.

                          Mad_Cyril I still eq, but using gain knobs, as opposed to sliders, just feels easier to make adjustments amd establish the tune in the mix to me.

                          you sacrifice the ability to properly gain stage if you use the gains pots to mix instead of faders, but that’s up to you to decide if it’s a problem or not. not saying one is right or wrong, just something to consider.

                              Mad_Cyril Not sure I can hear what you’re hearing… you don’t have the phaser or the flanger stuck on do you? 😆

                                  Amps
                                  Haha no. But is what it sounds like, I’ll post something in the next few days.

                                  And probably read the manual again!

                                  Forget to add I’m not using a proper mixer, just a ddj400 controller (Fisher Price)

                                      Mad_Cyril just a ddj400 controller

                                      I would assume Pioneer haven’t spat out a completely useless item here, so yeah, learn the thing inside out, know what every dial or button does and then you can start to get an idea of it’s limitations.

                                      As regards the bigger picture of your next purchase and dials vs faders, do you know anyone you can borrow a proper mixer off? Even if it’s only for an evening? That would be my move.