I pretty much mix harmonically all the time. You can mix more quickly, play more tracks, play live mashups, switch genres, etc. It also helps you establish a groove and keep the crowds attention. I used to use Rapid Evolution but don't anymore. It's much easier to bring up a keyboard on ur laptop and just find the bass note. Some tracks are harder and u might mistaken it for the 5th instead, but with some practice, u can find it within 30 seconds.

to the people that mix in key pretty consistently:

did you guys all have previous experience playing an instrument? do you guys key the tunes yourselves, or use software? i myself have zero instrument experience and haven't really touched on harmonic mixing because the whole theory is pretty foreign to me still. i wouldn't mind trying, but i really just don't know where to begin finding the keys of my songs.

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Originally posted by JD8180 to the people that mix in key pretty consistently: did you guys all have previous experience playing an instrument? do you guys key the tunes yourselves, or use software? i myself have zero instrument experience and haven't really touched on harmonic mixing because the whole theory is pretty foreign to me still. i wouldn't mind trying, but i really just don't know where to begin finding the keys of my songs.

i play a bunch of instruments so the concept of mixing in key was pretty easy to pick up. i key everything with FL studio's 3xOSC plugin.

if you don't have any musical experience and you wanna start keying shit out immediately i would do as what the others have said and get a program like mixed in key or whatever, but i can't attest to its accuracy since i've never used it.

after a while you can ballpark a track's key by ear, and in the end you'll memorize what tracks go well with each other.

i used to do the whole mixed in Key bit but i don't like the feeeling of being told whta tracks i coudl mix into or can't mix into, i like having the freedom of playing whatever i damn well please... and even if two tracks are HORRIBLY out of key, if you EQ them just right, you can make it sound decent

most edm is composed in minor keys.
you have 12 options of keys to select from and 8 options (same key, shifting to major/minor of the same key, 3,5,7 semitones up or down) to select from once you have a track picked out.

the only limiting factor is depending on how you want the energy to go (up/down/steady) in that case you only have 4 choices of keys for up/down and two for steady. still, you should have enough tracks in your case that shouldn't be a problem. also, if you're key mixing you should train yourself to think a few steps ahead of how you're going to program your set to get to a track you want to play that isn't harmonic with the one you're playing now.

always exceptions though if you just HAVE to play THAT track next :P

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quote:

Originally posted by TRNG i used to do the whole mixed in Key bit but i don't like the feeeling of being told whta tracks i coudl mix into or can't mix into, i like having the freedom of playing whatever i damn well please... and even if two tracks are HORRIBLY out of key, if you EQ them just right, you can make it sound decent

Sometimes you need your mix to sound divine instead of just decent. Actually change that sometimes to all the time.

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Latest Mix

agreed. i think sometimes, dj's don't want to mix in key b/c of limited track choices. at least that was the case for me starting out. but that shouldn't be an excuse. if u feel limited mixing harmonically, then u don't have enough tracks

I used to mix in key often, but now I just mix what ever works.

I can do it by using my ears, without planning things out before hand, but I prefer not limiting myself to matching keys of the tracks. It's more fun that way.

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Do whatever works for you.
Some people use their ears to detect tracks w/ identical keys.
Some chosoe to write it down.
Writing down is esp. is a good idea, if you're bad w/ track names and such, you can also write down additional information such as BPM.

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Spacy dreamer

I understand all this is new to you it was to me at one time also. now days the only time i am mixing harmonicaly is when i am mixing in tracks that have Hi notes on top of each other. you can mix almost anything low and get away with it and it just sounds like your changing songs. but say you have a piano track coming in on another piano track. (this is just for instance) and there not in key with each other or not in a relitive key with each other. it can sound like 2 donkeys mating.

best thing to do is record your sets if your new to this so you can go back and hear the difference that it actually makes.

also when you are mixing in key for 4 hours you better have a hell of a music collection going on.

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I still BPM and KEY all of my tracks but i dont always mix in key jsut when needed.

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Cheers guys, your help is really appreciated and if you all lived close by I'd buy a round. either way I downloaded rapid evo and im gonna tackle that beast, however how accurate is it when i ask it to key it through the file? I'm just iffy on writing it down if theres a chance it might not be right, seeming as I dont quite know how to key by ear.