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-- DJ's working "in key" ?

Posted by xstalkrx on Apr-10-2005 03:05:

DJ's working "in key" ?

Was just reading one of van Buurens interviews and he says that he works with vinyl but he plays a lot of the time "in key". What does this mean? He also said that in the future, he will probably be playing completely digital. So does this mean no vinyl? What the hell is a DJ without vinyl? What kind of skill does it take to DJ on a computer?

Posted by j�c� on Apr-10-2005 03:17:

I think he's refering to the use of CDs

Posted by george_hales on Apr-10-2005 03:21:

Re: DJ's working "in key" ?

quote:
Originally posted by xstalkrx
Was just reading one of van Buurens interviews and he says that he works with vinyl but he plays a lot of the time "in key". What does this mean? He also said that in the future, he will probably be playing completely digital. So does this mean no vinyl? What the hell is a DJ without vinyl? What kind of skill does it take to DJ on a computer?

When armin said in key, he means that the tracks being mixed together are playing at exactly the same note. Alot of djs have started to use this and most mixed compilations will already be mixed in this way.

As for the digital way of doing things, its sorry to see that vinyl won't be around for much longer, but thats the way things are going. Cheaper to distribute, buy and cuts out costs for pressing and other such things.

I dont think that this will really matter to most clubbers or music lovers in general. The better djs aren't always the better at mixing, its the music selection that counts!

George

Posted by xstalkrx on Apr-10-2005 03:24:

so if its in key he isnt doing any mixing at all? equipment is doing the mixing for him? He just chooses the tracks?

Posted by Ygrene on Apr-10-2005 03:34:

quote:
Originally posted by xstalkrx
so if its in key he isnt doing any mixing at all? equipment is doing the mixing for him? He just chooses the tracks?

No, mixing in 'key' refers to mixing tracks together that are in 'key' with each other musical-note wise.

Songs that are in key with each other mix together much better as there is very little or no sound clash at all. It's all about harmony.

He is still physically beatmatching and phrasematching the songs though.

Posted by george_hales on Apr-10-2005 03:53:

quote:
Originally posted by xstalkrx
so if its in key he isnt doing any mixing at all? equipment is doing the mixing for him? He just chooses the tracks?

Well, no...

He still has to get the beats matched as well as he can and get the mix right.

Djing isn't all about mixing though... Tiesto's known for his trainwrecks yet hes still voted the top Dj for the past 3 years.

Posted by Brizzo on Apr-10-2005 03:59:

i've been mixing for like 2 weeks, can someone explain 'trainwrecks', or is that just when the songs aren't matched well beatwise and it clashes and sounds like shit.

Posted by Ygrene on Apr-10-2005 04:02:

quote:
Originally posted by Brizzo
i've been mixing for like 2 weeks, can someone explain 'trainwrecks', or is that just when the songs aren't matched well beatwise and it clashes and sounds like shit.

BINGO!

Posted by Brizzo on Apr-10-2005 04:04:

they seem easy to avoid for the most part, if the songs flow well and the bpm are equal.

Posted by auranaut on Apr-10-2005 04:45:

lol @ Americans.

lol @ British person answering American person's question.

lol @ this thread.

Posted by miamitranceman on Apr-10-2005 04:56:

Please, enlighten us!

Posted by Tayfoon on Apr-10-2005 04:59:

Paavo From A&B is a master of This

Armin does it most of the time, but I noticed that sometimes he strays away for a track or 2

Posted by AMP on Apr-10-2005 05:14:

Re: Re: DJ's working "in key" ?

quote:
Originally posted by george_hales
When armin said in key, he means that the tracks being mixed together are playing at exactly the same note. Alot of djs have started to use this and most mixed compilations will already be mixed in this way.

As for the digital way of doing things, its sorry to see that vinyl won't be around for much longer, but thats the way things are going. Cheaper to distribute, buy and cuts out costs for pressing and other such things.

I dont think that this will really matter to most clubbers or music lovers in general. The better djs aren't always the better at mixing, its the music selection that counts!

George

I pretty much agree with what George says here, except mixing is SURELY very important. What is the point of good tracks with shit mixing?

peace
-Andrew
Real Music Recordings
www.djandrewparsons.com

Posted by waXology on Apr-10-2005 06:17:

its not rocket science its just basic music theory.

some ppl dsont want to learn to key mix or otherwise known as "harmonic mixing" as they think its cheating, but playing music harmoniclly is in all forms from rock, to classical....

perfect example is when you hear a band play live and the guitarist plays the wrong chord and quickly fixes it up, you ear notices that it sounds off, same with mixing, mix 2 tracks together that are totally out of key and it sounds gash! you can get away with it if you tend to mix just beats to beats (right at the end of the track)

anyway checkout www.djprince.no

some good stuff there.

Posted by george_hales on Apr-10-2005 06:26:

Re: Re: Re: DJ's working "in key" ?

quote:
Originally posted by AMP
I pretty much agree with what George says here, except mixing is SURELY very important. What is the point of good tracks with shit mixing?

peace
-Andrew
Real Music Recordings
www.djandrewparsons.com

Well, obviously it is important, but track selection is THE most important part of any good night out.

Posted by nennon on Apr-10-2005 06:39:

Check out www.djyakov.com and download the March 2005 House music promo. Mixed 100% in key.

Posted by nennon on Apr-10-2005 06:39:

Check out www.djyakov.com and download the March 2005 House music promo. Mixed 100% in key.

Posted by xstalkrx on Apr-10-2005 06:52:

Still a little confused at the whole "in key" thing. So basically he just chooses when the records are mixed together. The "in key" feature just ensures that the two are matched in terms of BPM?

Posted by flavdave on Apr-10-2005 06:59:

quote:
Originally posted by xstalkrx
Still a little confused at the whole "in key" thing. So basically he just chooses when the records are mixed together. The "in key" feature just ensures that the two are matched in terms of BPM?

No. When two tracks are matched in terms of BPM, they are said to be "beatmatched." When two tracks are mixed in key (I think it's also called "harmonic mixing"), they are matched according to the key in which the track was written in, as in which notes are being played. When you mix in key you still have to have the beats matched. And if you are beatmatching and the keys of the tracks don't correspond, then the notes will clash and it will sound pretty bad.

Posted by xstalkrx on Apr-10-2005 07:18:

damn. sounds hard to do both of those things. When DJ's have a scheduled show to play...lets just say...Dance Valley, do they have their tracklist in their head? I mean, if you had to beatmatch and all this stuff on the fly with no preperation, it could be almost impossible depending on which vinyls you have with you.

Posted by Nell on Apr-10-2005 09:02:

omg lol.

Posted by montana on Apr-10-2005 09:04:

xstalkerx, the most obvious answer would be something like, "a good dj knows his records", so if the dj has a bag with like 80 records, the dj would know what key it is and what bpm also on almost all records

Posted by Fresh Prince on Apr-10-2005 10:07:

Yea obviously a DJ tries to do both things at once so it sounds great.
But sometimes crowd has an offbeat request, then he must improvise and use skills, so knowing the records is important, it's his job after all.

Posted by kixalot on Apr-10-2005 10:41:

Mixing in key is important, but it gets painfully boring if something different isn't thrown in once in a while.