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Originally posted by superglo I'm having one of those 'can't mix for shit' days. My sets are going nowhere, my beatmaching sucks, harmonic mixing has gone to shit. My transitions sound like 10 race horses running around my house. Hell, not even the set's i'm listening to are giving me any inspiration.

As for harmonic mixing, that should be the first thing done when deciding a mix, "are these said records in the same key"? Unless you're mixing during straight percussion, where there is no melody.

Know which of your records sound BEST together, and this should eliminate which other records to mix it with. remember, you're creating a sound that was only separate and now has a nice little partner to compliment it.

Beat matching will always be essential, even mid mix (ie during the mix, adjusting and "riding" the pitch live). to help with beat matching, don't always just concentrate on the kick. i like to concentrate on the highs first, then a snare (if there is one). the kick is usually the least reliable.

as for anything else, like everyone says, practice. which records sound best together? concentrate and focus on those mixes most (because it sounds the best, right?)

the only other thing you can do is buy more records.

hope this helps. Believe me, i spent over 8 hours my first day mixing before matching my first descent transition. the frustrations are only of worse to come btw