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  • Mix Club - The Remedial Class

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.

                                  Mad_Cyril
                                  Don’t know if you really liked that mix I sent you but it was done on a Numark mix track pro which very a basic controller so you I wouldn’t spend more money on something more expensive just yet.
                                  The echoing does sound a bit strange mind.

                                      Amps
                                      There are more limitations with with operator than the equipment 👍

                                        i’ll qualify this with i haven’t actually listed to the mix so maybe this is way off, but is it possible that the eq’s have really steep curves? using a 48db/octave cutoff, as an example, can cause phasing issues, but i can’t say i’ve ever noticed it out of any dj mixer.

                                        Dubman Don’t know if you really liked that mix I sent you but it was done on a Numark mix track pro which very a basic controller so you I wouldn’t spend more money on something more expensive just yet.

                                        I did mate, think I posted at the time that it opened my eyes to the importance of phrasing to maintain energy / flow. Great learning listening.

                                        I’m not spending anything for a long time, just beginning to think I prefer dials to sliders.

                                        Enjoying finding my way and an hour I did tonight sounded smoother

                                          303abuser you sacrifice the ability to properly gain stage

                                          I don’t even know what this means, so doubt I’m sacrificing anything just yet 🤣

                                              Mad_Cyril it’s probably more a thing with vinyl as volumes were all over the place with different pressings, but i’m sure the idea still applies.

                                              basically, track 1 is playing at whatever volume at it’s peak, we’ll call it 8/10. when track 2 is at it’s peak, it also needs to be at an 8, but the file is mastered quieter and it’s a 6 when the faders and gain knobs are at the same positions. you need to gain match track 2 to track 1 before bringing it in by increasing the gain knob. that way when the fader is at the top, the tracks are volume matched.

                                              if you’re leaving the faders up and using the gains to bring the new track in, you have to have really well trained ears to make sure the volume stays level from one mix to the next. otherwise you’ll get volume swings that become really noticeable, especially on a recorded mix.