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Thread: Pre-recorded mix: how would you do it?

  1. #1
    New Member JosepZ's Avatar
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    Pre-recorded mix: how would you do it?

    Here goes a question from my extremely candid, totally NOOB perspective.

    Suppose you're asked by some client to provide a pre-recorded session/mix for an event; a wedding party, a bar mitzvah, a students' party, whatever... You're getting paid for it but not as much as if it were a live session.

    My question is: if you accepted, how would you do it? Would you just do a regular DJing session with your regular software/gear and record it, or would you just 'play it safe' and use a digital audio editor or DAW that gives you more freedom to edit the final mix and the advantage of not working in real time?

    I don't have real experience with actual DJing but I've done some mixes with a digital audio editor and they turned out pretty good, and I find this last option to be much, much easier.

    Thanks for your input, people.

    EDIT: To the moderators, feel free to move this thread to the Beginners section of the forum. I maybe should have posted it there, but I honestly couldn't decide.

  2. #2
    Moderator pete's Avatar
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    A legitimate question I guess.
    As long as you don't say the mix is anything that it is not
    i.e. "yes....I remix on 12 decks live with FX...while scratching"
    and explain it is a prepared showcase of stuff you play made by using machines, then no harm no foul.
    Last edited by pete; 04-18-2019 at 11:20 AM.
    bored, curious, deaf or just bad taste in music?
    finally a mix by me
    and what's this, another shoddy mix...another dull mix

  3. #3
    New Member JosepZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pete View Post
    A legitimate question I guess.
    As long as you don't say the mix is anything that it is not
    i.e. "yes....I remix on 12 decks live with FX...while scratching"
    and explain it is a prepared showcase of stuff you play made on using machines, then no harm no foul.
    Ok, thanks for your reply. But does the average Joe/Jane really care about that? Are they interested enough in how you made the mix so you feel you must at some time pretend to have done it the hard way, or they usually just want to enjoy the music?

    My question is just a practical one. Would you choose the editor over the DJing app if you only had the final result in mind?
    Last edited by JosepZ; 04-17-2019 at 03:00 PM.

  4. #4
    BanHammer™⚒️ Manu's Avatar
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    I would do some editing, it's quite common for instance in the cheerleader business. They very often ask for a specific mix with specific timing. Whatever suits the client I suppose

    And if you feel like it isn't within your skills or what you can provide, you either step up or turn it down.

    EDIT: To the moderators, feel free to move this thread to the Beginners section of the forum. I maybe should have posted it there, but I honestly couldn't decide.
    No please, by all means don't sweat it too much, this is a very valid question.
    Last edited by Manu; 04-17-2019 at 04:36 PM.

  5. #5
    Well... I'd do it 'live' because tho I have used software to do editing I've never used it to do mixing and could probably get the job done faster just mixing it myself. It would take as long for me to do it with software as to just do it live.. if not longer. Let's say your tracks average 5 minutes.. so you need to be proficient enough using the software to finish the job in less than 5 minutes per track....

    But this does not take into account having to start over if you mess up badly.

    One thing you can do is record it in sections because your customer is not likely to play through it continuous the whole event anyway. That makes it easier to fix things. Not to mention you could also do it live and then let's say you mess up a mix, back up and do it again then edit it later. One of my ex's who is also a DJ was a whiz with pro tools and did this for me for a mix I recorded that had to be perfect.

  6. #6
    Moderator DJ Bobcat's Avatar
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    Pre-recorded mix: how would you do it?

    There is another option. Ever hear of Mixmeister?

    https://www.mixmeister.com

    There are various levels of this application, and of course the price increases as you go up the product line, but you could probably do what you need with the Express version.

    I have played with the demo version, and it makes generating a mix pretty simple... put your tracks in order, mark where you want the tracks to start and end, then select the type and length of the transitions. Play and record... You’re done.😊

    Personally, I’d just create my playlist in Traktor, start recording (in Traktor), and mix it live.😊
    Last edited by DJ Bobcat; 04-17-2019 at 08:26 PM.

  7. #7
    New Member JosepZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by light-o-matic View Post
    Well... I'd do it 'live' because tho I have used software to do editing I've never used it to do mixing and could probably get the job done faster just mixing it myself. It would take as long for me to do it with software as to just do it live.. if not longer. Let's say your tracks average 5 minutes.. so you need to be proficient enough using the software to finish the job in less than 5 minutes per track....

    But this does not take into account having to start over if you mess up badly.

    One thing you can do is record it in sections because your customer is not likely to play through it continuous the whole event anyway. That makes it easier to fix things. Not to mention you could also do it live and then let's say you mess up a mix, back up and do it again then edit it later. One of my ex's who is also a DJ was a whiz with pro tools and did this for me for a mix I recorded that had to be perfect.
    Very interesting reply, thank you very much. It helps a lot seeing things from another perspective, as my case is right your opposite. I've been doing audio editing for quite some time (as a hobby, not professionally), but I have zero experience in DJing. So I would definitely do it faster in an audio editor (Audacity) than with DJ tools... unless I get stuck with a transition that I can't seem to pull off properly (that has happened to me a few times working with rock music).
    Generally, I get a track added to a mix in less time than the duration of that track, but not always. Some of them are fairly long rock/metal tracks of which I only use a fragment.

    Also, this way it's very difficult to mess up a mix. For 'destructive' editing (working with the waveform: cutting, changing tempo, adding filters, etc.) there's always the CTRL+Z option to undo, and and in 'non-destructive' editing (adding the waveforms to the project) you can always move the fragments around and play until you get the desired results.

    Again, thanks a lot for your reply.

  8. #8
    New Member JosepZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Bobcat View Post
    There is another option. Ever hear of Mixmeister?

    https://www.mixmeister.com

    There are various levels of this application, and of course the price increases as you go up the product line, but you could probably do what you need with the Express version.

    I have played with the demo version, and it makes generating a mix pretty simple... put your tracks in order, mark where you want the tracks to start and end, then select the type and length of the transitions. Play and record... You’re done.��
    Oh yeah, I've read about it. Very interesting option, but I'm more into learning and doing things myself than relying on automated algorithms and filters. As with image manipulation, I prefer working on digital images manually using GIMP than downloading and app from Google Play that might give a similar result applying an automated filter. Some are very interesting, but there's nothing to enjoy there.

    Personally, I’d just create my playlist in Traktor, start recording (in Traktor), and mix it live.��
    That's what I intend to do using Mixxx at some point.
    Thanks for your reply!

  9. #9
    New Member JosepZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pete View Post
    A legitimate question I guess.
    As long as you don't say the mix is anything that it is not
    i.e. "yes....I remix on 12 decks live with FX...while scratching"
    and explain it is a prepared showcase of stuff you play made on using machines, then no harm no foul.
    Pete, I'm halfway through your Russell Davies mix and I'm enjoying it quite a lot. Good job!
    I should get more into Deep House. This is good stuff.

  10. #10
    generating a mix pretty simple... put your tracks in order, mark where you want the tracks to start and end, then select the type and length of the transitions. Play and record... You’re done.��
    ahhh man..

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