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Harmonic Mixing
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| Beat Blog |
Ok, I've done a search and found nothing of particular use, and the sticky thread doesn't seem to contain anything. Perhaps Allied Nations could sticky this thread if people post some useful stuff.
Without further ado...
I have no musical background, though I have a vague understanding of chords etc, and have downloaded a bit of piano theory to teach myself. I can play basic chords and read sheet music, the latter with a lot of difficulty.
So, in regards to harmonic mixing, and finding the key of your tunes:
1. What is the most efficient and accurate way of determining a tune's key? Using ears only of course, I don't trust computers.
Any particular parts of the song I should be looking to match to, such as bass, melody etc? Is there any way to confirm if I am right?
Using my piano at home, how would I go about finding the key of a certain track? I have confidence in my ears being able to pick the correct chord when I play it, but I can't just sit down and play fifty random chords until I find the right one. Any good place to start?
2. Besides using the camelot or any other system, how do I know which chords/keys will be complementary? Is this simply a matter of musical experience such as what a classically trained pianist would have?
3. Someone please explain this notation to me:
"D#m (2A)"
That's D Sharp minor, aka 3 black keys. What does the "A2" part mean?
Does that indicate the octave that you are playing in?
Thanks for any help, anyone. I think that to a certain degree I subconsciously pick complementary tracks to mix anyway, just as I subconsciously phrased my tracks before I had ever heard the term, but I'm eager to learn the theory anyway and improve as much as I can.
Cheers |
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| Shini |
| I'm only very new to harmonic mixing myself but I can help you with the "2A" part, its a system called Camelot that makes knowing which tunes are in key much easier. Basically it consists of a clock face type circular image that is split into sectors, each with a key, i.e E major and a code i.e 12B. the image and an explanation of how to use it can be found at their website, just Google it, I don't have the link right now. |
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| Beat Blog |
Thanks, but besides being 81 pages long (:eek:) that thread doesn't answer some of my questions. However, through Nem's superb work in posting so many tunes, I will be helped!
| quote: | Originally posted by Shini
I'm only very new to harmonic mixing myself but I can help you with the "2A" part, its a system called Camelot that makes knowing which tunes are in key much easier. Basically it consists of a clock face type circular image that is split into sectors, each with a key, i.e E major and a code i.e 12B. the image and an explanation of how to use it can be found at their website, just Google it, I don't have the link right now. |
Thanks - I've already seen the camelot site, it's good. Surely that 2A means something outside of the camelot system though? |
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| Alex |
Easiest way: Using a program like Mixed in Key (or better) to identify the key of the track
Most Accurate way: Using a keyboard and finding the main key of the track that way, long, tedious, but the most accurate and with the best results once you've trained up the old ear :) |
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| Omega_Blue |
dude, the camelot system is just a glorified circle of fifths, and i personally find it sickening that they actually trademarked a name for said circle of fifths.
1. i personally use either my guitar or the 3xOSC in FL studio to key my tracks. a good rule of thumb is to listen to the lowest sounding note in the bassline of a track- that's usually the root note (though it's not always the case). plink around until you play the same note on your keyboard. whatever the root note happens to be, that's the key of your tune. assume 90% of the time the track is in a minor key unless it sounds really "weird" (that's just the trend in most EDM we spin). many times the first note of a repeating phrase happens to be the root note also (though once again you should never depend on it), just because that happens to be a trend in creating music.
2. that you just have to know. read about music theory. i mainly use intervals (the relationship between two notes) and relative keys (two different keys that share all of the same notes) to mix. mixing parallel keys (two different keys with the same root notes) usually works too, but sometimes there will be dissonant notes here and there that'll make the mix sound ty. once again you probably won't be mixing a whole lot of parallel keys since most of the music we spin is in a minor key.
google "musical intervals" and "relative key". interval-wise, the least dissonant intervals for me is unison/octave (obviously), perfect forth, perfect fifth, major second, and sometimes major/minor 3rd. the most dissonant for me is minor second and tritone (augmented 4th/diminished 5th) so i usually avoid mixing between tunes with those intervals (though some will disagree with me about that).
3. i don't pay attention to that . not sure, but i assume the "2a" pertains to which octave it is above or below middle c on the piano, but in all honesty that shouldn't really mean when you're mixing. D#m is D#m, no matter what octave it's at, and i'm pretty sure there isn't a whole lot of house/trance out there that deviates too much from the middle octaves.
if you have any other questions i'd be glad to help. |
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| Omega_Blue |
like this fluffy, fairytale-esque pic describing the camelot dj system to the mentally disabled bothers the hell out of me.
edit: and furthermore, "camelot" is quite possibly the most ridiculous name for a "dj system" ever devised. |
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| Beat Blog |
| quote: | Originally posted by Omega_Blue
like this fluffy, fairytale-esque pic describing the camelot dj system to the mentally disabled bothers the hell out of me.
edit: and furthermore, "camelot" is quite possibly the most ridiculous name for a "dj system" ever devised. |
:stongue:
I saw that picture and had a laugh, yeah.
Thanks muchly Omega, you've answered my questions accurately and succinctly, a rarity on internet forums.
May you bear many prosperous sons and daughters. :gsmile: |
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| b1_ |
Rapid Evolution music database software has some info on harmonic mixing here:
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
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| Beat Blog |
| quote: | Originally posted by b1_
Rapid Evolution music database software has some info on harmonic mixing here:
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
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Awesome!
Thanks, that's really helpful too.
These two bits ring really true for me, this is what I was trying to say before:
Most DJs have developed an ear for music, and when listening to a song or mix that is off-key, a mental alarm is triggered and it will sound noticably sour or unpleasant.
Many advanced DJs already mix harmonically by a hit or miss method, although they may not know it. They already spend extra time to test potential mixes, and only use those which pass. By applying harmonic music theory and intelligently selecting songs, a DJ can eliminate countless hours of wasted test mixing. |
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| Beat Blog |
I'm surprised, this is a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would be.
Even though I have no musical background, I've been told in the past by producers and DJs alike that I have a good ear.
I'm finding it quite easy to pick the root note at the very least, and without too much hassle I should be able to pick up chords in the next week or so. Thanks for the help all. :D |
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| b1_ |
Try Rapid Evolution. Free program, and it will detect the keys of all your songs, then all you have to do is double click on the song you're playing and all the songs that could be harmonically mixed with it light up in green. Great tool.
But I'm not one to like having my play list being slavishly dictated by keys. The better DJ you are and the more skills you acquire the more free you will be to mix any two songs together, enabling you to direct your party exactly where you want it to go at all times ;). |
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