Digital Mixing

I've been meaning to put together a CD of all my old trance stuff that I used to listen to. The problem is that I lost the ability to mix trance well a couple of years back now and my recent attempts have been pretty shocking. So I thought I'd give it a go on my PC and mix it digitally.

Now what is the best software out there to use to do this? I know its going to take ages, but its something interesing to learn how to do. Has anyone got any experience of this?

Acid pro is pretty easy to get the hang of mate for doin mix's.

in wot way ave u lost ur ability to mix it?

A programme is not gonna help you mix trance mate. If you've forgotten just check out sum trance mixes to refresh ur memory

Well I normally mix NRG breakdown to breakdown, I love my long mixes. The trance I want to put on this CD on the other hand would involve short bang-it-in kind of mixes and to be honest I can't be arsed to put the hours in to get the hang of it again. I don't spend much time mixing these days anyway.

And cheers Dave

Acid Pro is teh ghey for doing mixes. I tried it once and never again. Automating all the EQ and volumes etc is ultra boring  <---- proper use

Ableton Live is where it's at. Get yourself a MIDI controller and do it all on the fly. My UC-33e came in the week and I've been using it all day. Fucking great piece of kit in conjunction with Ableton.

I agree. Ableton is the way to do it

The problem is you're clashing melodies right? Just wait longer to throw a track in so you're just mixing drums and no melodies. Or find some melodies that compliment each other.

I dont understand why u need a programme to help u mix trance? Surely you'd encounter the same problem.

Its like my argument in the 'vinyl becomming outdated' thread, it doesnt matter wot medium u learn to mix. U still need to learn how to mix as there is more to mixing that just matching beats. Learning to beat match on turntable will make u better at beat matching on turntables. Thats it...it doesnt make u a better dj by practising on a "harder" medium

I'm not interested in becoming a better dj these days quite frankly. I can mix nrg/hh/techno to a standard I'm happy with. I'm more interested in learning something new

Go with Ableton then, it's heaps of fun

Ableton is great! And how much does that mentioned MIDI controller retail for?

fair enough. MIs interpreted ur Q then.

Yeah mate...go with ableton. 50 deck mixing piece of piss.

 

I'm sorry, but that simply isn't true

^^Find some empirical proof of your argument.

 

why not? why would u b better if u practised on turntables than the suppsed easier medium of cd decks?

I dunno about you but if I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it right and I'm gonna get as fuckin good at it as I possibly can.  Maybe it doesn't matter if your a half-arser.

 

Pick anything in life, learn to do the hardest bits and the other bits will become child's play.  If you are finding something difficult to do, try doing something even harder and before you know it the thing you were struggling with before will happen all on its own.  I would be suprised if you haven't already experienced this hundreds of times over in your life.

Half arser? hey?

I learnt on belt drive then went to technics for my beat matching skills. Thats the only difference.

You haven't explained why learnin on the hardest medium makes you a better dj. My argument is that it only makes your beat matchin skills will get better. Not a better dj.

There is more to dj'ing than just matching beats isn't there?

Gopal, you're a condescending idiot. How long have you been at it then?

Practicing on turntables only makes you better at using turntables. Someone who learns on cd decks can't use a turntable, sure, but they can prolly work the fuck out of some cd decks. To each their own.

innit miaygi

I wasn't being condescending at all but the defensive responses say alot don't they?  I'm not trying to get in a shit fight though so don't take it all personally please.  The half arser remark was not directed at anyone in particular.

I do take your point that it won't make you better DJ, my point was that it will make beatmatching on other mediums easier if you learn on the hardest, which I consider to be vinyl as the pitch isn't as stable as on CD decks.  And you can't really become a good dj until you get over the hurdle of becoming a good beatmatcher can you?

 

Held residencies in clubs around NZ for nearly 9 years now Miyagi.

 

Each to their own, no one said we all have to agree about everything, perhaps a chill pill is in order?

Sorry dude, but...



....sounds condescending to me. We're grown men and women here, we all understand this. Sound like my father or somethin. Fair play on 9 years tho fella.



But see, that's my argument. If you've only ever used cd decks and mastered them, why would it matter if you couldn't do the same with a turntable? I think the reason beatmatching on a turntable is harder is not wholly due to the pitch. It's also picking up the needle, placing it on the record, fore and backspinning, rocking, dropping, manual record control....I think that's the main reason it would be harder for a cd dj to play on turntables, not cuz the pitch controls are slightly different. He'll just be overwhelmed with all the motions he has to go through that are new to him. When us turntable djs (like yourself I'm assuming) tried out cd decks for the first time, "This is piss easy!" Just pressing play and viola.



Agreed, but it doesn't matter what you learn on. If you grasp the concept with a cd deck and apply that to using a turntable, you already know what to do, you just have to adjust to the new feel and figure out how to manipulate the record. If you grasp the concept with a turntable and apply that to using a cd deck, you already know what to do, you just have to adjust to the new feel. The only thing that changes is the medium that you control.

That's all I said though innit. I didn't say by practising on the hardest medium it won't help improve your beat matching.


That is a good point actually about not having beat matching down first. I remember starting out 5 years ago when my beat matching was shoddy. It's a right cunt practising mixes/experimenting with mixes or wot have you when you're your beats are going everywhere.

Some good points there from both of you. 

Cheers lads

I'll give it a go

Ableton is cool, but my one gripe with it is the sound quality when it changes the speed of a track - it really kills the high end, they need to sort that out IMO