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| quote: | Originally posted by SnuggLe
Mixcd's etc zijn allemaal computergemixed |
Niet allemaal hoor  Twee die in me opkomen zijn Laidback Luke - Windmill Skill en James Zabiela - ALiVE. Maar over het algemeen zijn ze inderdaad door een computer gemixed. Onderstaand stukje gaat trouwens over het mixen van compilatie cd's en komt van John '00' Fleming. Het is een vrij groot stuk, maar wel leuk om te lezen. Weet je gelijk een beetje hoe het in z'n werk gaat 
| quote: | Mixing a CD compilation ... in a computer??
It's that time of year again when I put together my annual Euphoria CD compilation. This is now my 3rd album that I've compiled and mixed for Euphoria. In 2001 I joined the Euphoria family mixing Euphoria 'Progressive'. The close bond and friendship with label boss, Eddie Short, started from that day on. 'White Label' was born the following year. This unique album of unreleased material proved so popular that we decided to make 'White Label' into a series (it's also become our baby!). 2003 brings 'White Label - level 2'. Again in the same format as the last album, I've hounded and pestered record producers and record labels into giving me exclusive unreleased material treating you to a glimpse into the future of what you will be hearing on a dancefloor throughout this year. (Almost 30% of the tracks from my last 'White Label' are still not released to date....a year on!!). These tracks then go through a strategic picking process by Eddie and myself. I have a unique trademark John 00 Fleming sound, only intelligent, highly produced and credible tracks made it onto this album, so you can expect high quality music.
Traditionally I've always used my trusty turntables and mixer to mix my albums, after all I'm very proud of my ability to mix live. We now live in the digital world of the 21st century. It seems crazy owning a professional recording studio and not making good use of it, so I did! Rather than using an engineer in a mastering suite and not even attending the mix, I did it all myself. The results are amazing, a DJ doing an engineer's job ensures a prefect mix, I hope you agree. I've even taken one step further and put my production knowledge and skills into this mix. I've taken certain parts from tracks and placed them over other tracks and added special FX. I've treated this like one big remix, as if it were one track from start to finish.
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So, do you think this is cheating?? I'd have to say yes if I'd let an engineer mix the album without me even being there. (yes this happens, never to me though!!). There is a theory that you simply put the tracks into a computer and the machine does it all for youyeah right, I wish!!! So how did I do it?? (Firstly I have to tell you that it was bloody hard work and painstakingly tedious, I feel better getting that off my chest!) I feel that a good DJ knows the exact points where to mix in and out of. A DJ/producer will also know how to operate the EQ's correctly creating a smooth mix. Having this aforementioned knowledge combined with a professional recording studio I was ready to mix!!
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I used a programme called Logic Audio platinum version 5 powered by my trusty Apple Mac G4 computer. Before I started any mixing I took a couple of days programming my mix finding the right running order for CD's 1 and 2. When I was happy I started to record the tracks into the computer. When I perform a live mix, the tempo of the mix naturally increases. I may start off at 128 BPM then end at 138 BPM. It's much easier to adjust the speed of the records as you record it into the computer. When I recorded a track into the computer from my turntable, I would slightly adjust the pitch of the record, as I would naturally in a mix. This would then slowly speed up the mix gradually track by track. Whilst recording a track into the computer I would beat match the tempo of next track in my headphones ensuring that it was the exact same tempo for mixing when I recorded it into the computer. You have to remember once the track is recorded on your hard drive, you can't adjust the speed (pitch) like on a turntable to get it perfectly in time!! No that's got you thinking, not that easy is it!! (I'll tell you how I adjust the pitch in a minute). Once I had recorded all the tracks onto the hard drive of my computer, it was time to mix them together. This is where my knowledge and skill of producing came in very useful. I'm used to working with waveforms with music. A waveform is an actual visual diagram of the sound that you're hearing. I can look at a waveform and roughly tell what is happening and when it is happening. I work out how the track is structured counting the 8 bar sequences. I then place the intro of the next track alongside the natural outro of the track playing. (I hope you're keeping up with me??!!). Here's where things get tricky!! I have to match the tracks exactly in time. I zoom into the waveform and find the kick drums. Kick drums have the most definite points of the waveform, they usually show as a solid line, but this is not always the case, they can sometimes be tricky to find. It's very hard working like this. It's like looking through a microscope. If you move the object that you're looking at the tiniest bit you can completely loose your bearings of where you are and what part of the object you're looking at. Once I've found my exact points for mixing, I get them perfectly in time by tightening up the audio start times. I have to do this manually; again my knowledge of studio production helps me. Once I'm happy with the positioning of the tracks running together, I have to adjust the levels. When I do a live mix in a club, I'm constantly adjusting the levels and EQ's. I have to painstakingly put this information into the computer individually; it's takes bloody ages just doing one mix!!! Next time you do a live mix look at all the adjustments that you make on the mixer. It's impossible to get the tempos of the two tracks 100% correct. If I am doing a long mix and the tracks are 0.5 BPM out they will start to slip out of sync. How on earth do you get them back in time not being able to touch them??? This is another painstaking process!! I have to chop the track that is starting to slip out of sync and create a new audio part (waveform) at that point. I then have to zoom into that part of the waveform (like before) and tighten up the start point bringing the track back in time. Just think, all this work for simply putting two tracks together. My album had 30 tracks on it!!! Two days later I had completed the mix!!! I then added special FX, some lush strings at the start and finish points of the mix. I also took various bits from tracks and put them over other tracks. I treated this like one of my productions in the studio. Like one big remix from start to finish. The more you listen to it, the more things you'll notice. Yes it took a long time, but it was well worth it. I wanted to get this right for you lot to enjoy.
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If you still think this is cheating, I'd say try it yourself before you open your mouth!!! |
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Current addictions: Reboot // Radio Slave // Matthias Tanzmann // Mathias Kaden // Audion // Martin Buttrich
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snap Ferry trouwens niet dat hij die MC geregeld had, echt DOM! 
