3 way House Battle - Spife vs Buddy McKarthur vs Pr0Ducer

[JonAvalon]

Mix 1 (http://www.djfbattles.com/battles/prODucer-vs-buddymckarthur-vs-spife-1.mp3)

Mix 2 (http://www.djfbattles.com/battles/prODucer-vs-buddymckarthur-vs-spife-2.mp3)

Mix 3 (http://www.djfbattles.com/battles/prODucer-vs-buddymckarthur-vs-spife-3.mp3)

Rules:
-must be 15-25 minutes of length
-must be any kind of house music
-must be at a beginner-intermediate level

[Gnozis]

About to listen to all three. Will edit this as I go so I don't forget any details. Looking forward to hearing your mixes!

Mix 1:
Make sure to pay attention to your levels, just listened to the first transition and the second track came in very low.

This isn't my style of House, but I am actually somewhat enjoying the track selection.

Seems to be a lot of effects on this first track with vocals. Not sure if that's you or the original track, but don't think I am feeling them.

Just finished the mix. The transitions seem pretty basic, but that isn't a bad thing at all. Seems to be a lot of effects. Loved a lot of them, but they were overbearing at times.

Overall great effort. I enjoyed it.

Mix 2:

Solid selection on your starting track, gradually builds up energy

I would suggest working on your EQ'ing to blend your tracks more smoothly and not lose the energy between transitions.

Again, not my style exactly, but very good track selection

Second transition was nice

Finished the mix and enjoyed it. Good job.

Mix 3:

Sick Intro.

I hate Flanger, but you pull it off quite well. Just make sure you don't start overdoing it.

Way too much Flanger for my taste around the 3:50 mark

Very sudden transition at the 6 minute mark, killed the flow of the mix for me

Enjoyed the transition around the 12 minute mark

The overuse of Flanger and the filter is starting to kill what otherwise would have been a very enjoyable mix for me. I could be wrong, but I am guessing you probably feel like you should constantly be doing something while a track is playing and that is why you use so many effects.


Overall, I really enjoyed all three mixes. You all seem to have a lot of potential and I look forward to hearing more mixes from you. However, no mix really stood out above the rest for me and I feel if I voted it would be on which mix catered most to my taste in music, so I don't want to do that and will not be voting. Great job to all three of you <3

[Kingbob182]

Listening now. will vote soon :)

[NPC]

I feel if I voted it would be on which mix catered most to my taste in music, so I don't want to do that and will not be voting.

Is this a DJ battle or a mix contest? 90% of DJing is selection and I think you absolutely have to factor that into your judgement of a DJ.


Anyway...

Mix 1
Filter house shit is really cool, i love it. I think you really went overboard though. There wasn't much of a lead-in to the harder stuff and the tracks with side chain got really annoying after awhile. Mixing was ok, but with the style of music you really have to blend it creatively to get the effect.


Mix 2
Ground buzz in the beginning... Also, you left your name on the ID3 tag. I pretty much know who everyone is now...
Mixing wasn't bad! But the selection was bland.


Mix 3
Awesome intro, you got me, I know the lyrics all too well. Waaaay too much flanger violation. Seriously man, less is more. Selection was not bad, lots of big room shit, some of which I knew. Mixing and the levels could use wor- GODDAMMIT STOP IT WITH THE FLANGER ALREADY....work, but at least you took some risks while doing it.

...Flanger almost killed it, but I'm voting mix 3.

[prODucer]

Thanks for voting guys! Keep em coming!

[Gnozis]

Is this a DJ battle or a mix contest? 90% of DJing is selection and I think you absolutely have to factor that into your judgement of a DJ.


Touche' sir. Mix 3 for me.

[Ness]

Mix 1 had already set the bar for me, as I have a weakspot for Disco House; mix 2 was somewhat techier, and I really enjoyed this as equally as Mix 1. Mix 3: DAT FLANGER! To be honest, even without the flanger, I preferred the track selection of 1 and 2 more; and although someone said earlier that Mix 1's transitioning was basic, in terms of technicality, Mix 1 was the best one, and Mix 3 had sections that were all over the place =/. Really wanted to vote for the tech house one, but my vote goes to Mix 1. As NPC pointed out, harmonic mixing is your friend when it comes to melody focused house music! A lot of effort is required to select tracks that sound good together, but it pays off! The last 2 tracks sounded really off together because of a keyclash...

[DJArmani]

Mix 1: played tracks too long for such a short mix imo. Pretty chill track selection perfect for a lounge. Can't say much about you mixing, it's clean and basic. Not too much of a creative set here.

Mix 2: Liking this mix even though this is not my taste. Also no intro it just goes right into what it seems halfway through a track. As Gnozis said, work on eq'uing. Clean transitions and you don't overplay tracks.

Mix 3: I like that intro with the flanger. But honestly, WAY TOO MUCH FLANGER. Like overload, it's kind of annoying. You need to level out your transitions, lower the levels of the song your blending in. For example, your third transition. Definetly you have a good track selection though.

My vote goes to mix 2 . Mix 3, would've won my vote if it wasn't for that flanger :banghead:

[Spife]

lawl at my mix
thanks for waiting for me guys, and good luck!

[Buddy McKarthur]

Thanks for voting guys!! Keep it up :)

--post edited--

You're not supposed to give away whose mix is whose until the voting is done. -- Andrew

[Tito Lopez]

Mix 1 got my vote.

[Finnish_Fox]

Mix #1:

Liked the sample the first track used. Good intro track even though I prefer more funky and less filter disco house. The first mix was pretty good in terms of syncing - I liked the idea of it but felt that the EQs were too low on the incoming track. Slow down dropping the EQs of the outgoing track and keep your EQs a bit higher to start on the incoming track. Second mix was ok - you've got them sync'd but I'd work on my EQ transitioning a bit, particularly the lows. It did sound a bit like you were mixing tracks in at breakdowns but that could be just that you keep your EQs really low on the incoming track.

Simple and clean. Wasn't in love with the tracks, but I'm sure people who really like filter disco house would be stoked on it. Good job!

Mix #2

First off, this is a lot closer to my preferred style of house - deep and funky. Nice track selection, first mix was really sweet... smooth, EQ'd properly and the melodies really worked with it. The second mix was also good - not sure if it was you dropping the bass EQ or the track was produced that way, but if you have control over it I'd drop the bass out a bit later so there is less time without the bassline... but I liked the intent. Drop the bass and smack 'em in the face when the bassline drops after the breakdown. The 3rd & 4th mixes were clean, not much to them though (which is perfectly ok!).

The mix with the male rapping vocal fading out... I would've kept the volume at 90-100% with crossfader in the middle, drop the lows, raise the mids higher than you normally would and slightly drop the highs, let it ride for a bit more and then fade out slowly. The effect is that the vocal grows "thinner" before losing presence (volume) in the mix.

The sixth mix was sweet. Nice bass cut. 7th mix was smooth.

I'm going out on a limb and guessing this one is Spife's... really enjoyed his winning mix when I battled him. Nice work putting in a good number of tracks. You are easily an intermediate buddy - if not advanced intermediate! :lol:

As a head's up, I may ask you for some track IDs!

Mix #3

I'll be honest, 3 seconds into it I thought I had accidentally click on a dubstep mix. :lol:

Not really my style of house... and I can see what the other critiques were talking about with regard to the use of the flanger. The first track is good, I like it.

Flanger killed it for me...

[Andrew B]

Alright, pretend I'm a promoter.

Mix 1: You lost me at the first mix. Incoming was way too low. Major lull between tracks. Next.

Mix 2: Dug it. Kept me interested for most of the mix. Probably the most technically proficient of the three, although you could still use some work.

Mix 3: Flanger at 4 seconds. Normally I would turn this off, but I'll give it a chance. Flanger at 43 seconds. I'm out.

[prODucer]

Appreciating the voting and the detailed feedback!! Thank you. Keep it coming.

[Spife]

finally got a chance to listen to everything last night. Mix 2 should win, just sayin'. I can't really go into detail, I just think it's better then the other two.

[prODucer]

keep those votes coming...reps handed out

[Dharmaboy]

Mix 1 was best for me. I haven never heard anyone use loop beats like that in house and throw the heavy drop. The other mixes were very bland music choices. When I think of house, I wanna hear a sexy black chick singing with some funky tunes like I was in Nu-70's club. Much of the Track selection in 3 and 2 was boring. Just me but I love house and Pick only tracks which I think I would dance to. I can dance to anything.

Still good job by all.

[DMG]

Mix 3 was the best with track selection and techniques, but the flanger swooped in and killed it so hard it died from it. Sorry but I couldn't stand it any longer. So runner up gets my vote. Mix 2. Sorry Dj Flang

[Linguist]

Mix 1: what's already been said about the levels.
Also, the method you use to 'stutter' the track or beatloop it, or whatever it's called... Was a bit annoying to me... maybe it's just the track sometimes... Sometimes it just felt like they went on a bit too long or too often. I like disco house though, and was in the mood for it today! But somehow this mix didn't do it for me. Sorry.

Mix 2: cool mix but watch your keys... key clashing makes my brain hurt. happened in the first and second mix... It almost kinda worked as a 'good' clash in the second mix, but not really. Sorry. Really smooth transitions though otherwise, though. Great tracks. energy gets good midway through... kinda drops though, at the last third? The song has got some kinda airy guy's voice going 'Oohhh Ooohhh' lol... anyway, still a good mix. me likey.

Mix 3: Really different kind of tracks than what I usually listen to and mix, so that keeps it pretty fresh and fun to listen to. I agree though, the flanger is a bit heavy so far. Okay seirously... the flanger is a bit much now. I'm not even a quarter of the way through your mix. It sounds like a digeridoo or one of those plastic neon tubes that have the little thing inside that goes WAAAOooommp. wooooAAAAMP. aka the flanger.

[Spife]

yo cg to producer, earned it man.
I'm sad no one called me out on my bullshit though, that mix was comprised ENTIRELY of tracks by The Phantom's Revenge (which is why there's no change in energy, and some other things). It was a project i've been wanting to do, still need to work on it/get better though I guess haha