Let the voting begin

[SolDios]

So it finally works, first mix everyone, Enjoy.

Please read all the notes.

Mix For Cap5 by krisosha

Please vote in the above poll, thanks everyone.

My next aspiration is for a "chill out" mix, one to put on with guests over, or making tea. Filled with trance and laid back beats to relax you and calm those nerves.

Anyways enough blabbering, thanks for all the help guys!

P.s. Poll will run untill Monday, when the deadline meets.

[imadje]

Mate, I had a quick listen but only got 6 minutes in, two transitions already ey!

will vote after listening to all of it but for now well done for getting it done buddy +rep.

[street]

smokers are jokers

[SolDios]

When you have finished listening, be sure to vote!

[Mitch]

My thoughts:

-The levels of the songs vary alot - i.e. the outgoing song dies alot in volume before the incoming track is at full volume, so you get a drop in the sound levels which disrupts the whole feel of a mix a bit

-transitions are quite often for a mix this long. Alot of the songs probably just needed the last minute mixed with the intro of the next one for a longer mix, instead of trying to mix out during the song. You wouldn't have needed as many tracks this way as well

-Transitions happen very quickly, makes them feel a bit rushed. Transitions can quite easily be spread over 4 or 8 bars, gives them that 'seamless' feel to them.

-You had some good tracks in there though and it was an improvement over the last practice i heard you upload.

I'm no expert myself im only learning like you, but this is just what i picked up, i'm sure there will be others with more experience than me that will know what im meaning, or give some more tips on the mix for you.

As for if it is worthy of a smoke machine thats purely up to cap, as its his money lol.

[SolDios]

Yeh, they do seem abit rushed, I think I left a few of them a little too late

[fackedd]

whats the tracklist.

[CapFive]

having a listen now mate lets see how we go

[CapFive]

who voted no?

guys you gotta remember guys sol is a begginer, the main goal to this was so he realises

(a) how a mix is formed, its not just thrown out there, it takes time untill you have the intuitivness to just know what song to play next

( transitioning is very complex and there are more things than just beatmatching that come into play, key, phrase, vocals, drops and build-ups. and that is coming through in his comments

© consistancy is key, this is why i asked for a 45 min mix instead of a 20 min one

now please vote on those terms... did he learn about ANY of those i just stated, we aren't judging him on how good his skills are

[Hobberz]

OK,

1. Your levels are all over the shop toward the end, its an easy fix in Audacity but you just need to keep an eye on them in the future when mixing live.

2. Beat matching was acceptable I thought, although you had some hiccups you were able to correct them on the fly in minimal time. Great effort with that considering your skill level and equipment, honestly don't think I could produce a mix like that on the MDEX.

3. You really really really need to work on your phrasing, if you had that spot on than most of those transitions would of worked alot better. Remember 4beats-1Bar, 8bars(32beats)-1Phrase.

4. You were really bringing the incoming track in hard and you definately let the tracks mix longer together. Try Beat match a phrase in your headphones, bring it in slowly without any bass and let it mix for a phrase, swap the bass between tracks and then drop out the track slowly, you want it to be a smooth as possible.

Overall Sol I think you have don't a pretty good job given your skill level and like I said before, Your equipment. Keep it up

[mattus123]

I got a couple of points to chuck in

1.I liked the songs chosen (post up a tracklist?)

2.Beatmatching: overall i thought this was acceptable for your first mix.

3. longer transitions: try letting both tracks play for 16 bars or something?

4.Phrase matching: i think this is the next step you should work on. count the beats, drop the incoming song on the start of the phrase... this will also help you with longer/smoother tranisiiotns, as the songs will line up better. (i thought ur 8th transition sounded pretty good, sounded in phrase to me)

With phrasing aswell, listen for clues in the song to let you know when the phrase is bout to end. Things like a reverse cymbol or a drum roll are pretty common things that are put at the end of a phrase. SO if you hear sometihng liek that coming along, u can be pretty certian a new phrase is about to start.

From the comments you have posted about your own transitions, it seems that your already pretty aware of what you need to improve, which is GOOD!! knowing what u need to fix will help you improve much quicker.

Overall though sol i think this was a good effort for your first mix, ofcourse there is room for improvement (there always will be), but this mix could definetly have gone a whole lot worse. solid effort

+rep

[pundaddy]

Beatmatching was ok, but it's something you should really work on. Track selection was good man, some bangers in there. I think the main thing though is what alot of the others have said and thats your phrase matching. Know the right point of a song to bring your next one in so they're well synced. You'll get there, you just gotta keep working at it.

[CapFive]

ok i guess ive seen enough, congratulations sol, you completed the task, ahead of schedule

so i decided to bump the price up a bit

Antari F80Z Alpha Party Fogger - $89

how you wanna do this sol, want me to ship to your address? PM it to me and ill buy as soon as i get your address

and CONGRATZ!!!!

[pundaddy]

Cap mate you are a quality bloke, +rep.

[Hobberz]

Congarts Sol, now keep practicing and we look forward to more mixes.

Big ups to Cap, +rep.

[imadje]

lol, my vote doesn't matter anymore sol but well done it's all good, and +rep to cap for being cap.

My thoughts on the mix: I agree with most the above: i'd say beat-matching is good and consistent over the course of the mix which has good tracks that work together.

Phrasing and sound levels could use some practise and i'm wondering how you mix?

Do you set a tune, beatmatch it, then bring it straight in the mix

or ...

do you set a tune, beatmatch it, then cue it, listen to the tune thats already playing again then wait for a good point to start the mix?

[SolDios]

The problem with the levels was I was using my crappy bedroom speakers, with them, its difficult to tell the differences in sound levels.

Will make sure my next "Chill out mix" is almost perfect.

[imadje]

^ answer my question pls sol. I have options for you whatever answer you give mate.

[mattus123]

The problem with the levels was I was using my crappy bedroom speakers, with them, its difficult to tell the differences in sound levels.

Will make sure my next "Chill out mix" is almost perfect.

use your headphones to get the right volume levels before you even start the transition

[Hobberz]

The problem with the levels was I was using my crappy bedroom speakers, with them, its difficult to tell the differences in sound levels.

Will make sure my next "Chill out mix" is almost perfect.

I though the mdex had led bars to show the levels.

[SolDios]

The way I do it is this

Select song, find the point you want to start, cue it, start and beatmatch, fade over.

[imadje]

^thanks for the answer mate.

I thought thats how you did it.

*edit* short version:

an alternative way of doing it is to follow all the same steps i.e. select song, find the point you want it to start, cue it, start it, beatmatch it but then before fading it stop, get it back to its cue point and wait. Tune yourself back into the tune that is playing and get back in touch with that b4 re-starting the new tune and doing your mix.

*edit* Detailed version:

Bear with me while I try and explain this a bit more...

i.e. select song, find the point you want it to start, cue it, start it, beatmatch it. But before fading it across: wait, chk your beatmatch, let it run for maybe 30 seconds in your 'phones. Chk it will stay beatmatched for a while without nudging. As you get better you can reduce the time you leave it but for now be sure it "sits" for a while so you wont have to wory about it while you're mixing. If it isnt sitting you need to fine tune still.

Once it sits for the amount of time you want to mix it with then set it back at the cue point. It will wait for you to start it again and you know now it will be matched.

Now: listen to and get back in the vibe of the tune that's playing. That's what anyone dancing will have been listening to so respect that as you bring in the new track.

Now you choose your moment to re-start your new track from it's cue point, Here is your opportunity to make sure it makes musical sense with the phrasing... as soon as it's going quickly chk the beatmatching is cool in your 'phones and start fading up using the vol or cross fader. You may have seen DJs who keep one ear of the phones on their shoulder and occasionally use the shoulder to push the 'phone up to the ear - this is the way we listen to the main mix but also keep an ear on the incoming track in the 'phones.

So at this point in the mix you can still hear the incoming track in your 'phones by nudging the phone to your ear using your shoulder. As you turn up vol on your mixer you will gradually hear this new tune through your main speakers/front of house. This is the final opportunity to set eq, gain, vol etc to suit the overall mix. To keep it really smooth for all listeners pay as much attention to levels as to phrasing and matching.

If all is well you now have two tunes "sitting in their beatmatch" phrased nicely and available for you to concentrate on how and where to fade or use eq/fx etc.

It will take a little longer at first following this techique but it will leave you far more able to control your transitions. And taking longer over your mixes wont do any harm anyway.

As usual ask any questions if things dont make sense, and i only offer this waffle in the hope it helps.

[Duracell]

I think the rest have covered most of it, especially foolish, good advice man.

The main problems are phrasing and transitioning.

To help you with the quick pre-mature transitioning, instead of using the cross fader, try using the up faders and leave the x-fader in the guts.

So beatmatch your track get it back to the cue point, turn the lows off on the new track, then put the up fader to 1/3 or 1/2 way and when your ready hit play. (With the fader down like that you'll be able to make any slight nudges to fix a miss timed cue start)

Now slowly over the next phrase or two, blend the songs together by brining the up fader all the way up swapping basslines, highs mids ect. Try to swap things in the flow of the two tracks, that is to say when your listen to the tune and you know there is a change that is in the tune use that to drop something out or bring something in.

Also if you have filters try mucking around using the low pass and high pass, they are good to help smooth out transitions :-)

In short big props to putting yourself out there it takes a lot of balls to put your shit out there for whales to criticize, so i hope my rambling rant and the good advice from the other guys help pal. + rep

[CapFive]

obviously i have black out the personal information but its on its way sol! just so no one thinks im pulling a fast one, i will PM you personally with the order number so you can track it

[SolDios]

Caps = absolute legend!