quote:

Originally posted by ti_gui909 That i agree with. But that's not what i was answering to. I was answering to his comment : "any DJ that *needs* keylock isnt that good imo. people have been DJing for decades without it. i really domt see the need." Of course nobody *needs* master tempo but it's a great feature. You can beatmatch a track with vocals without altering that vocal too much, wich is great. But i understand pkcRAISTLIN was referring to using keylocking in harmonic mixing wich is not what i'm talking about. where does that come from ? I, for sure, know much less then you on either subject but i know enough to participate in this discussion. Don't come and tell me some proverbial shit to undermine my right to have an opinion on the subject. It's just not cool man. I did not attack anybody, I'm trying to stay in the arena of idea. I don't believe I've shown a reluctancy to embrace a little basic musical understanding. But anyway I think DJing is NOT that complicated. It's still playing some records for a party. It's still choosing the right tune for the right moment (whatever is the key of the tune). You wanna talk the basic of music, creativity and music as an art, go in the production section.

Please note that I did actually have a sub heading that stated 'In General' which actually means that it wasn't specifically aimed at you but some of the other coments that have been made more recently in this thread. Didn't actually mean to imply that it was aimed at you.

Cheers
Nem

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

quote:

Originally posted by Nemesis44 I have never in my life (and not saying it wont happen) come across a DJ who, once he or she has learnt how to mix harmonically has turned around and said "This is pointless, I wont bother with this".

I know this isn't the thread for it, but I gotta say this statement is exceptionally true. I've known a lot of people, myself included, who were hesitant to start to learn about mixing harmonicly, in my case it was mostly because I was confused and a bit intimidated to learn at first, but since I've put the effort into beginning to learn, I've already started trying things in mixes that I just wouldn't have thought to do before (new mashup ideas/phrasing ideas mostly for now), and I genuinely feel (without sounding too new-age) like a whole new world of mixing has opened up for me...

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last minute disco dot net

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RJT I know this isn't the thread for it, but I gotta say this statement is exceptionally true. I've known a lot of people, myself included, who were hesitant to start to learn about mixing harmonicly, in my case it was mostly because I was confused and a bit intimidated to learn at first, but since I've put the effort into beginning to learn, I've already started trying things in mixes that I just wouldn't have thought to do before (new mashup ideas/phrasing ideas mostly for now), and I genuinely feel (without sounding too new-age) like a whole new world of mixing has opened up for me...

a-freaking-men.

As someone who's been paying attention to dance music for a while but only playing records a relatively short period of time, I've copped a bit of flak from local know-it-alls for my being something of a keying evangelist, but I've only ever met two kinds of DJs: those who've never actually done it (played from a collection of tunes they know well that are labelled by key), and those who are thoroughly convinced.

songs have melodies. DJs mix songs. is it really such a difficult concept to grasp that DJs should have a handle on mixing melodies?

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quote:

Originally posted by Nemesis44 Please note that I did actually have a sub heading that stated 'In General' which actually means that it wasn't specifically aimed at you but some of the other coments that have been made more recently in this thread. Didn't actually mean to imply that it was aimed at you. Cheers Nem

copy that !

got me on my high horses there !

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-- DJing is overated --
-- Production is underated --

quote:

Originally posted by Nyquist_Theorem

Yeah, it's just extra funny to me because I think the main reason I didn't want to start with harmonic mixing was that I felt almost like it was going to be this crutch I was using to mix, like some sort of "trick" that was somehow "cheating." I guess I thought if I couldn't figure out compatible keys/tracks by ear, then what good was I really... In reality, it was the exact opposite because it trained my ears to better understand what compatible keys sound like, and with no real musical training outside of teaching myself guitar and bass, it was almost likesome major epiphony or revelation....

alright...

/harmonic mixing evangelizing

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last minute disco dot net

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Originally posted by jdat Basic djing is not complicated by any means. But stating that djing does not or potentialy shouldn't include any knowledge of basic music composition, creativity and such will lead to making you a very boring and completely unoriginal dj.

Of course having basic knowledge can only help DJing.
And I believe that in order to be a good DJ you need to understand some basic music theory and a big deal of rythm theory can help you do some very neaty cuts, EQ cut, well placed reverse kick, and probably lots of other little tricks i can't think about. I would even add that you can transpose what musicians calls soul or also energy into mixing with live beat syncronisation and just throwing a song in with your gut without perfecting the beatmatch or with creative cuts and weird tricks and EQ cut. And for melodic trance, overlaping melody who match (or made matching) in keys to create rich new melodies. That would be what i would call taking DJing to the level of a performance.

But I still believe that in order to be a good DJ (i.e a DJ that can set the dancefloor on fire and make those party people dance with passion) a DJ must pick the right song for the right moment and that goes by having good musical taste and feeling the crowd for what it craves for. I say that this is by far the most important thing. As long as you have that you can be original and not boring even if your mixing is very simple. I mean most of the big star DJ's mix are not that sophisticated. Mainly they neatly sew intros in the song where it fits well. I say once you have decent mixing skills you got the technical aspect covered when considering crowd appreciation. Of course some extra/super mixing skills can help but it doesn't make or break a great DJ.

I do respect though the fact that you guys take DJing to the next level. I think there's always a place for inovation.

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-- DJing is overated --
-- Production is underated --

quote:

Originally posted by ti_gui909 copy that ! got me on my high horses there !

No worries man,
When I read through it again I realised that it wasn't exactly clear that was what I was doing either. Cool beans.

Cheers
Nem

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

quote:

Originally posted by ti_gui909 But I still believe that in order to be a good DJ (i.e a DJ that can set the dancefloor on fire and make those party people dance with passion) a DJ must pick the right song for the right moment and that goes by having good musical taste and feeling the crowd for what it craves for. I say that this is by far the most important thing. As long as you have that you can be original and not boring even if your mixing is very simple. I mean most of the big star DJ's mix are not that sophisticated. Mainly they neatly sew intros in the song where it fits well. I say once you have decent mixing skills you got the technical aspect covered when considering crowd appreciation. Of course some extra/super mixing skills can help but it doesn't make or break a great DJ.

Absolutely, there are times when a track is 'the one' and you simply have to play it, wont disagree with you on that for sure.

Something I discovered though is that with me at least when I get that that feeling about a track it's nearly always in key or compatible with or at least gives an uplifting key change. What actually makes that tune 'the one' is an interesting concept.

If you play out a lot as I do you will eventually get to know what the tunes that work are and what's big at the time so you will find yourself working to that point when you are going to drop the bomb as it were.
Also, the more you do DJ you learn to recognise the signs earlier so you can find a way to work towards it and still maintain harmonic methodology. Think of it like this, it's good to drop the right tune at the right time, but if you do a key lift with it as well you will blow peoples minds. It just adds to the excitement.

It does take time to learn but it's good to see that you guys are talking about it, as you stated it's definately something that makes a good DJ.

Dancefloor dynamics are probably the most important skill set you can have as ultimately it's all about our audience. On the other hand harmonics do take certain risk elements out of the mix as you are not going to do a key drop and potentially have a negative impact on your listeners. It makes it easier to maintain energy.

We should probably rename this thread, Vinyl vs CDs vs Harmonic Mixing... he he.

Cheers
Nem

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I prefer vinyl over cd's... why??? cause i enjnoy the 'collectable' factor in the medium... i'm sick of the 'real dj's only play records' wank... i remember when it was all about the tunes... the only downfalls to cd's is they can potentially mak things easier... there is a well known dj in Australia that does and has done for years editting tracks before each gig so they're all in the same tempo and key... i also have gripes with dj's that use fancy effects to hide dodgy mixes... but at the same time it has and will made the talented ones more creative... as for the me in the future?? i see myself buying more vinyl till (if ever) it's no longer being made... but maybe ripping it to cd to play out...

that said i played at a well known brisbane venue a few weeks ago, had bought a few downloads to play, got to the venue to find the room i was playing in had no cd players!!

Ableton Live! u slow mofos :P

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start ur own thread u 7334 pusy :P