djej
Thanks for the response funnyb0nz. I'm going to pick it up tonight. @clubstud81, what you say is true, and what most dj's do. Truth be known, the crowd usually doesn't get mixing at all. Just play their song and they're happy. But, if you ever heard harmonic mixing you would understand it is the next level. The songs blend PERFECTLY when mixed on key.
Posted Tue 23 Jan 07 @ 3:37 pm
Poloralphloren
Yes yes yes please add some key detection to VDJ!! Glad this topic is getting raised again :) If nothing else, at least make a column for "Key" in the VDJ browser... Currently I have the Camelot key notation #'s in the comments field, so I can sort by that... But I'd rather keep the comments field for, well, comments! And have a separate column/field for key... Thanks!
Posted Tue 23 Jan 07 @ 5:40 pm
clubstud81
ok ive been djin for a while and maybe im really good which i doubt or just plain out stupid but dont most djs just take two tracks they like and blend them together regardless of the key, cause i personally do and never have heard any complaints,. so my main question is excuse me for being stupid but whats the benefit of usin this software. and when you use it is it for live mixin or just like a renamin tool so then you burn the cd with the artist name song name and key then sort through ur burnt cds for tracks with a common key
Posted Tue 23 Jan 07 @ 8:41 pm
Poloralphloren
Didn't you just ask this above? Well my take on it is this... Yes, you can take any 2 tracks and mix them together... Will they sound good together? If they're totally random, probably not...
Most DJ's will learn what sounds good together through a process of trial and error... This is a perfectly reasonable way to go about it... But if you have lots (like, thousands) of tracks, spanning many different genres and sub-genres, and you'd like to mix them together, using key information to help sort out which will go with which greatly increases the speed with which you can put a mix together...
The larger issue here is about music in general... Any individual composition will not abruptly switch keys randomly -- changing key is done strategically, at precise moments, to achieve a specific effect... Now when you go DJ'ing any old 2 tracks together, and ignore their keys, they may or may not fit together well... When they clash, they can clash horribly... Ideally, a mix should be like one large composition, all following the general "rules" of music, which includes keys...
Now, much of what can make, say, a house mix cool is by using odd key combinations... So, no need to stick to Camelot's restrictive method -- there are many combinations that can work... But you can still be systematic about it, and use musical knowledge to figure out ahead of time what will work, what won't work, and why... Most professional DJ's use harmonic mixing to at least a certain extent. If you want to take your mixing to the top of what is possible, you need to learn about harmonic mixing... Software can make all this easier...
All I ask is for a "Key" field in the browser, please please ? :) :)
Most DJ's will learn what sounds good together through a process of trial and error... This is a perfectly reasonable way to go about it... But if you have lots (like, thousands) of tracks, spanning many different genres and sub-genres, and you'd like to mix them together, using key information to help sort out which will go with which greatly increases the speed with which you can put a mix together...
The larger issue here is about music in general... Any individual composition will not abruptly switch keys randomly -- changing key is done strategically, at precise moments, to achieve a specific effect... Now when you go DJ'ing any old 2 tracks together, and ignore their keys, they may or may not fit together well... When they clash, they can clash horribly... Ideally, a mix should be like one large composition, all following the general "rules" of music, which includes keys...
Now, much of what can make, say, a house mix cool is by using odd key combinations... So, no need to stick to Camelot's restrictive method -- there are many combinations that can work... But you can still be systematic about it, and use musical knowledge to figure out ahead of time what will work, what won't work, and why... Most professional DJ's use harmonic mixing to at least a certain extent. If you want to take your mixing to the top of what is possible, you need to learn about harmonic mixing... Software can make all this easier...
All I ask is for a "Key" field in the browser, please please ? :) :)
Posted Tue 23 Jan 07 @ 9:01 pm
Wsherrington described a really good technique with going from C Major to D Major to E Major. We call it \"Energy Boost\" mixing and there is a detailed thread about it here:
http://community.mixedinkey.com/Topic.aspx?ID=1621
http://community.mixedinkey.com/Topic.aspx?ID=1621
Posted Wed 24 Jan 07 @ 1:29 am
wsherrington
I should open by stating that I am awaiting the OSX release. In the meantime, I am using SSL at the club. Hopefully for not too much longer.
In response to Poloralphloren, I as well would like to see a 'key field' in the browser, very important for my use. I hope that the development team is viewing this post.
Dj Yakov, that is a very good link and modulating up/energy boost is such an easy technique to use; however, one does not want to over do it. I am certainly not a braggart; however, having being schooled in jazz and classical prior to my Dj career, hearing mixes with clashing keys; drives me nuts. I am sure most folks on the dance floor do not know nor care all that much; nonetheless, any good DJ worth his/her salt, should be his/her own harshest critic in a constructive manner of course. Also, a lot of the music today is very percussive so if you are mixing simply beats and no bass-lines, the basic rules are not as strict; however, the up modulation/energy boost can still be applied, and you really do not want to be bouncing all over the place in terms of your key selections. You can really suck the energy out of the entire room.
Poloralphloren, brings up a very good point and I agree with it 100%: "The larger issue here is about music in general... Any individual composition will not abruptly switch keys randomly -- changing key is done strategically, at precise moments, to achieve a specific effect... Now when you go DJ'ing any old 2 tracks together, and ignore their keys, they may or may not fit together well... When they clash, they can clash horribly... Ideally, a mix should be like one large composition, all following the general "rules" of music, which includes keys... "
I would like to add: I might help if some Dj's looked at their entire set, be it 2 hours or 12 hours, as a composer looks at an entire symphony. There is a prelude, followed by a series of movements with peaks and valleys, and a finale. Along with the basic rules of musical composition and key structure, there needs to be programming which is essential. Probably the most important skill a Dj can have. Sadly, it is often lacking even on the highest of levels (rock-star Dj's). That is a completely different and rather lengthy thread.
I ought to close by typing that these tools can be applied by any Dj regardless of what genre of music/style they play, be it Country and Western or Drum and Bass. The difference is how much to use, when to use it, and to what end. I know Dj's whom at the end of the night deliberately clash keys and train-wreck mixes to have the club cleared out by a certain time. Personally, I would never do such a thing, and I prefer to use programming instead; nonetheless, the desired effect was quickly achieved.
In response to Poloralphloren, I as well would like to see a 'key field' in the browser, very important for my use. I hope that the development team is viewing this post.
Dj Yakov, that is a very good link and modulating up/energy boost is such an easy technique to use; however, one does not want to over do it. I am certainly not a braggart; however, having being schooled in jazz and classical prior to my Dj career, hearing mixes with clashing keys; drives me nuts. I am sure most folks on the dance floor do not know nor care all that much; nonetheless, any good DJ worth his/her salt, should be his/her own harshest critic in a constructive manner of course. Also, a lot of the music today is very percussive so if you are mixing simply beats and no bass-lines, the basic rules are not as strict; however, the up modulation/energy boost can still be applied, and you really do not want to be bouncing all over the place in terms of your key selections. You can really suck the energy out of the entire room.
Poloralphloren, brings up a very good point and I agree with it 100%: "The larger issue here is about music in general... Any individual composition will not abruptly switch keys randomly -- changing key is done strategically, at precise moments, to achieve a specific effect... Now when you go DJ'ing any old 2 tracks together, and ignore their keys, they may or may not fit together well... When they clash, they can clash horribly... Ideally, a mix should be like one large composition, all following the general "rules" of music, which includes keys... "
I would like to add: I might help if some Dj's looked at their entire set, be it 2 hours or 12 hours, as a composer looks at an entire symphony. There is a prelude, followed by a series of movements with peaks and valleys, and a finale. Along with the basic rules of musical composition and key structure, there needs to be programming which is essential. Probably the most important skill a Dj can have. Sadly, it is often lacking even on the highest of levels (rock-star Dj's). That is a completely different and rather lengthy thread.
I ought to close by typing that these tools can be applied by any Dj regardless of what genre of music/style they play, be it Country and Western or Drum and Bass. The difference is how much to use, when to use it, and to what end. I know Dj's whom at the end of the night deliberately clash keys and train-wreck mixes to have the club cleared out by a certain time. Personally, I would never do such a thing, and I prefer to use programming instead; nonetheless, the desired effect was quickly achieved.
Posted Thu 01 Feb 07 @ 8:53 am
ashlar
It's true. As a harmonic mixer myself, I have yet to find a single program that can find a key on point every track. I agree that MixShare's Rapid Evolution is pretty damned close and you can even tell it to authenticate a key adjusting the setting. I use Mixmeister as well for quick BPM calculation. I think they actually have a smaller shareware program solely made for BPM.
The problem I have experienced within VDJ (even without the use of any ID tags) is that you cannot label a track via key-bpm-artist-title...would everyone agree and simply name it opposite as artist-title-key-bpm? Something in VDJ decides that any - (dash) is a divisionary item between naming variables? Although seems to be quite opposite for VOB files...wtf hehe
The problem I have experienced within VDJ (even without the use of any ID tags) is that you cannot label a track via key-bpm-artist-title...would everyone agree and simply name it opposite as artist-title-key-bpm? Something in VDJ decides that any - (dash) is a divisionary item between naming variables? Although seems to be quite opposite for VOB files...wtf hehe
Posted Thu 01 Feb 07 @ 9:47 am
Chunky
CAVEAT!
If you use a program such as MixedInKey to rename your painstakingly assembled database of tunes in VDJ, guess what happens....?
You get that dreaded little yellow question-mark icon for your tunes. Unless you're gonna go through and rename EVERY tune manually in your database, effectively you've just wiped all of your cue-points etc. *sob*
I'd love to be proven wrong on this one. Cos I got a lot of work ahead of me once more. :o(
If you use a program such as MixedInKey to rename your painstakingly assembled database of tunes in VDJ, guess what happens....?
You get that dreaded little yellow question-mark icon for your tunes. Unless you're gonna go through and rename EVERY tune manually in your database, effectively you've just wiped all of your cue-points etc. *sob*
I'd love to be proven wrong on this one. Cos I got a lot of work ahead of me once more. :o(
Posted Thu 01 Feb 07 @ 5:00 pm
ashlar
I've been manually adding the key values via VDJ comment area...argh!
Posted Thu 01 Feb 07 @ 10:32 pm
wsherrington
I as well have to add keys manually. Which is not that big of a deal for me; nonetheless, I would like to see a 'Key' section in VDJ. Actually, I end end-up practically re-mastering via a two layer multi-band compressor for all of my downloaded tracks, even though I am downloading at 320 K. I find often the endings are cut short, or the dynamic levels are very inconsistent. Also, I try to add more 'warmth' to the tracks. Happy Dj-ing.
Posted Sun 04 Feb 07 @ 7:28 am
monster26
I've just started trying MixedInKey - what is the best way to do it? Can it automatically add to the comments field?
When will this be incorporated into Virtual DJ?
When will this be incorporated into Virtual DJ?
Posted Fri 30 Mar 07 @ 10:46 pm