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-- New Mixing Technique - Harmonic Mixing
Does anyone actually know how to do this? If you have never heard of this its basically taking the key note of a song and using that scale to mix in the next song. The problem is that every 3% pitch changes the keynote by a half step. Can anyone give me a little help understanding this more?
Thanks!
deavatar
umm i think u need a maths degree for it heheh.. its not so bad if ur using songs with keys that are in harmony anyway.. or am i talkin shit here..
peace
There is more information about this technique at http://www.djprince.com, it has some good turtorials to get yall started. The problem that I have is actually finding the keys of the song and then figureing out wether its major or minor. Agh! So far the only dj's that i think mix like this consistently are Tiesto and Oakenfold.
deaavatar
Whoops!
Here's the right link, http://www.djprince.net/tips.htm
good luck!
Labeling records with keys & bpm can be taxing....
With long-term experience, I believe harmonic-mixing can be acquired by your own ears. It is individual's way of doing anyways.
A rough guide to keys:
Happy = major. (Think Steps and S Club 7 happy clappy bullshit.)
Sad = minor. eg Dreaming - BT.
The thing is, the majority of dance music is halfway in between.
You'll be lucky to find tracks which beatmatch and keymatch perfectly, but you don't necessarily have to get the right key. If you get a relative key it should sound OK.
eg Track one is in C Major/Minor. It's closest keys are the 3rd Major, 4th and 5th Major/Minor and the 6th Minor so you could have F or G Maj/Min or A Min.
Basically, just listen and see what sounds right. Unless you've got perfect pitch you won't be able to do it without practice.
dont mean to come off as a dick, but just mix what sounds good...dont worry about harmonic mixing. if it clashes, find a new record.
Lexi
i disagree lexicon avenue, harmonic mixing can be excellent.. look at some of oakie's classic essential mix work, like the goa mix silver. its mindboggling... joel nailed it on the head with that "happy = major, sad = minor"
however, its not ALWAYS the case. for example, system f - out of the blue is in the key of G minor.. but then it changes for the (breakdown? i still dont know that word)... interlude or whatever, into G major.
you get songs with switches in keys and such
if there's any specific stuff you're not sure about, just post em up here, i'll try to help
(being one of those blessed/cursed with perfect pitch, hehe)
If your talking about the root key its the original pitch that a sample was played at . Dose that help
| quote: |
| Originally posted by patticus i disagree lexicon avenue, harmonic mixing can be excellent.. look at some of oakie's classic essential mix work, like the goa mix silver. its mindboggling... joel nailed it on the head with that "happy = major, sad = minor" however, its not ALWAYS the case. for example, system f - out of the blue is in the key of G minor.. but then it changes for the (breakdown? i still dont know that word)... interlude or whatever, into G major. you get songs with switches in keys and such if there's any specific stuff you're not sure about, just post em up here, i'll try to help (being one of those blessed/cursed with perfect pitch, hehe) |
^^^^^^^^^
Exactly...Lexi...
What's your name again?
well not djs are blessed w/ musical ear, might not know if the keys dont match... as one guy said to me, "being a dj has nothing to do w/ music. you just have to have a feel for the beat"
yeah maybe if you're spinning hard house
but if you want a deeper, more polished set... well like i said before
harmonic mixing? sounds interesting.. but viability.. i don't think its very nice..
i'll stick with ma own...
Deavatar don`t start at the top then work your way down , start at the bottom the work your way up . Just beat mix first .
WTF???
Well i been DJing for 2 years, dont know what the fuck Key mixing is, havent try'd to understand, all the explentaions and stuff dont mean shit to me, =P Minor's Major's i mean WTF, if someone could tell me 2 tracks that Key mix together perfectly so i could try and see what the fuck the fuss is about!
The following is from http://www.djprince.net/howto.htm
When you are trying to find the root key, play one note at the time. The note that blends in with the song, almost disappears in the sound picture is probably the root key. After you have found your first root key suspect try to play the sub dominant(5 halvsteps +/-) and dominant key(7 halvsteps +/-). If you are 100% certain that you have found the root key try now to play a chord, major chord is root key+ 4+3 halvsteps and minor chord is root key +3+4 halvsteps. Try to listen to the mood of the song, is it major or minor? If you can`t get the hang of this, ask a musician for help.
Does anyone understand this??????????????????????????
nope.
i'm happy when my mixing its making grins widen across peoples faces and everything goes kinder mentle. i have heard of key mixing and have been told that i can do it, although i dont seem to realise when i am. im sure u all know the feeling when IT just works. some times im sure a clash can be just as positve as key mixing (as long as its done right!) and i think its best to go on instinct until u get that 8 o'clock slot on R1.
excuse me. ihave a habit of talking complete crap sometimes.
PS. i do realise this has nuffin to do with ur original question but sorry, im not smart enuff to explain how to go about pulling it off. just expressin' my feelings...............ooh first post.
lets attack this one step at a time.
do you understand that if you've found your "root key"
or just the key of the track, you can play a basic major chord for example C,E,G (if its C major) and it should blend smoothly. for example, try "pvd - for an angel" that's in c major.
(if it was minor, it would be C, E flat, G)
see if you follow me..
ok. y is everyone so obessessed w/ finding root keys and stuff like that? just be a smart dj and mix records that sound good together. fuck sifting through records trying to find root keys that match. if you can't differentiate between major and minor tracks, learn some scales just so you know what they sound like. dont turn your whole focus to trying to select things that harmonize, you'll be grazing through vinyl all night. i think it takes the fun out of dj'ing when you start writing down bpm and key signatures on your record sleeves. if something doesn't harmonize that u do want to mix, im sure there's a solo rhythm track somewhere in there [ending?] thats begging to be mixed w/ another rhythm track or bassline from a new record.
Lexi
i agree w/ lexiconavenue.. was just trying to help out those who're asking..
you probably shouldn't be writing down key sigs on your vinyl, you could get all confused - just because their in the same key or similar doesn't mean they'll mix well.
i suppose the best way to mix is to know your vinyl inside out and what goes well in succession (after each other)
styles and such.
unless you're trying to build a set from scratch for a demo tape or something, trust your judgement on the fly..
See... Harmonic mixing can be very useful and can take a mix to great heights if done appropriately, especially when mixing trance tunes, however the thing is I find writing down keys and bpms kinda lame.
However, if you have a ear for music, in terms of keys compatability, you are at an advantage. I personally do not mix harmonically (I just go with the flow), but I have heard mixsets by Sasha and Oakenfold who has done excellent mixsets by mixing tunes harmonically.
An advantage in mixing harmonically, by being able to change the bpm of a particular record without changing the pitch can be done by using 'pitch shifter' which are found in DJM 500/ 600. (Your record can be playing at +8% and you can adjust the pitch back at 0)
Whether they exists seperately in other effectors, I am not too sure. However, this is an advantage if you wanna take mixing to a higher level.
After all, practise makes perfect and experimentation is the key.
Hey Patticus - have you really got perfect pitch? I've only ever met 1 person other than me who's got it. How old were you when you realised???
Anyway, here's a couple of examples of tracks that beatmatch AND keymatch. I'm sure there's more in my vinyl collection somewhere.
Mandalay - Not Seventeen (Tom Middleton Mix) and Blue Amazon - And Then The Rain Falls (Both Original and Dub).
PvD - For an Angel and BT - Dreaming (Libra Mix).
perfect pitch
Joel, I've had intesnive classical music training in piano since I was 3 (I quit a few years ago). Even if I wasn't blessed with it, I think it probably would have been developed by all those hours practicing. But yeah... I guess I've always known that I've had it
kinda annoying, sometimes if I bitch in a thread about a track being played in the wrong key (pitch) and sounding bad, people are like wtf is up with this guy. hehe
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