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Thread: Mixing Out of Key

  1. #1
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    Mixing Out of Key

    I’ve been a bedroom DJ got around 3 months now and I’ve gotten the hang of everything up to now, with the exception of beatmatching by ear, I’ve fallen into the trap of visual beatmatching with the aid of Serato which I’m trying to break out of.

    So I have Mixed In Key as an assistant and while Harmonic Mixing has its benefits I find it limits the amount of songs you can use in a mix or a set. Songs that are mixed in key seem to blend together effortlessly without the need (or very little) EQing.

    One problem I seem to have is that when I mix out of key is I can’t seem to find a great technique to mix out Track A efficiently without the song coming to an abrupt end so the audio dips quite heavily when it comes to an abrupt stop, and the cross fader doesn’t help as this does shorten the abruptness but still isn’t ideal.

    Does anyone have any advice or techniques they do like to use when mixing out of key that still helps the mix flow smoothly without any abrupt cuts in the music at the end of Track A? Transitions have been my biggest downfall so far.

    Don’t know what good it is but I currently use a Pioneer DDJ-SX3

  2. #2
    First of all, you don't have to just stay in one key or mix up and down the circle of 5ths eg from 4A to 5A or whatever.. there are a LOT of key changes that sound good, some of them sound good at some times some of them sound good at other times.. you have to learn what sounds good and when it sounds good. That's DJing. For example a lot of the tracks I play now are in keys (camelot notation) 9A and 4A.. going by the numbers they seem radically different but musically they are very closely related, have a similar feeling and mix easily with each other. You should play around more and get a feel. MIK's Camelot numbers won't DJ for you, they just give you a little bit more information about the track that you can use to select tracks more quickly. Sometimes you'll want to play something and the key transition isn't the best but it's the right track to play so you play it. Bottom line is that if two tracks sound good together, they sound good together.. if they don't, they don't.. MIK doesn't change that fact it just helps you predict it.

    Second is that there are lots of ways to mix and how you mix a track that has a key clash with the next track is gonna be different than how you mix two tracks that blend really well, for one thing you don't want to overlap conflicting basslines. If I have a really tough mix in that way I will bring the bass out completely on the first track and let just the mids and highs ride for a little break before dropping in the new bass.

    Third is that basically when you are doing this kind of mixing (the blending style used by all house, techno, trance), you will generally be lowering the EQ and/or level on the old track for quite a while before it ends.. so by the time the old track ends it'll be either totally faded out or have just a little mids or a little highs riding over the new track (whatever sounds right) so you are not going to have that abrupt end. You slowly replace one track with another. It takes practice. And yea, EQ's are a big part of it, some people who are really old school (pretty much just some house DJs) are still gung ho on the rotary mixers with no EQ on each channel, and they are great at it. Track selection is super important if you want to do that. But most of us mix with EQ's now. Knowing how to mix with EQ's is not just some extra thing, it's crucial.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by light-o-matic View Post
    Knowing how to mix with EQ's is not just some extra thing, it's crucial.
    Agreed.

  4. #4
    Member b.ill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greenwood101 View Post
    So I have Mixed In Key as an assistant and while Harmonic Mixing has its benefits I find it limits the amount of songs you can use in a mix or a set. Songs that are mixed in key seem to blend together effortlessly without the need (or very little) EQing.
    You can greatly expand the number of tracks you can harmonically mix by using the key transpose up and down buttons on your controller. Don't worry about destroying the integrity of the track. Remixers do this ALL THE TIME, and if your aim is to be a club DJ you will be doing many of the things remixers do live.

    Generally taking a track down 1/2 step works better than transposing up, but this is all track dependent and something you need to work out at home (!) before trying it live.

    You can also meet the key of the next track by bumping the final hook of the outgoing track up 1/2 step - if that's the interval they're off. This technique used to be really common with pop songs to increase the intensity of the last chorus, and although it's hardly used in today's music it does the same thing. Once again... practice practice practice…

    I generally mix in clubs every weekend, but did not become an advocate of harmonic mixing until the last few years when I was startled to discover how well it works for holding a floor and generating crowd response. I encourage you to stick with it, because you are onto something.

    One problem I seem to have is that when I mix out of key is I can’t seem to find a great technique to mix out Track A efficiently without the song coming to an abrupt end so the audio dips quite heavily when it comes to an abrupt stop, and the cross fader doesn’t help as this does shorten the abruptness but still isn’t ideal.

    Does anyone have any advice or techniques they do like to use when mixing out of key that still helps the mix flow smoothly without any abrupt cuts in the music at the end of Track A? Transitions have been my biggest downfall so far.

    Club versions of today's tracks have ins and outs for mixing - which I think is the piece of the puzzle that you're missing. They're available in DJ pools. Some pools require a club reference, but I don't think all do.

  5. #5
    Most of the pools I have been subscribed to just ask and make sure you are a DJ. Not really any investigation going on I don't think.

    I embrace the key now. I have listened back to some mixes I made back in the day and some transitions just sound awful.

  6. #6
    Having a good awareness of harmonic mixing will make your mixes better - but that doesn't mean we can't bend or break the rules!

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