Harmonic mixing, what the hell?

Silence · Post by **Silence** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:57 pm

so they call it harmonic mixing...
i´ve heard alot about this...

what i wonder is, what selfrespecting Dj doesnt mix in regards to harmonics and such...i mean...seriously...i dont get it...

ok i know my question isnt well formed or that i might not even have a clearly formulated question but...i dont get the hype...
i really cant grasp the concept of ppl not thinking about keys and notes and harmoncs when dj:ing...

well...i hope ppl can have a civilised discussion about the subject of harmonics/not harmonics

iamnotcool · Post by **iamnotcool** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:04 pm

i never did. I used to know my records well enough to know which tracks worked with which. You don't necessarily have to know every last thing about harmonics and keys to be a good DJ. To this day, I still cant determine a song's key by listening to it, and I don't even know how to do so.

ethios4 · Post by **ethios4** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:08 pm

Seems like it would be really hard to mix harmonically before unless you didn't change the pitch of the record more than a tiny bit.

eamoon · Post by **eamoon** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:20 pm

Well, yeah, it is hard. It's traditionally been less about forcing records to be in key with one another, and more about choosing ones that already are (and that work thematically, etc.). You know, the part of DJ'ing where you actually have to think like a musician (or at least a conductor).

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:45 pm

Take DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Brain Freeze album, great mashing (for the time) but they paid no attention to key for most of the mix.

I bought this software and the best part was seeing right away that if I pitch a song up or down a few keys it'll blend in with this other song. All of a sudden a song that's in Gbm, I pitch it up to Am and it goes with C major songs.

jeskola · Post by **jeskola** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:51 pm

i believe its called "power mixing". is it mixing a track 2 semitones below... cant rember

lunabass · Post by **lunabass** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:57 pm

So does this mean that dj's can get stuck in the same key? How do you change key when djing?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:03 am

lunabass wrote:So does this mean that dj's can get stuck in the same key? How do you change key when djing?

Depends on the tonearm. Straight tonearms are for individual keys, curved tone arms can handle any key but don't sound as warm.

stjohn · Post by **stjohn** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:04 am

i dont agree with it either.......

its hardly 'harmonic' either is it.... its based on the harmoncs of the bass keys.... so in effect its disregarding harmonics created by other elements of the track, drums etc...

there is also certain keys that you mix into....... to make consonant intervals!!! why not disonance?? or obscure consonance

stjohn · Post by **stjohn** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:05 am

lunabass wrote:So does this mean that dj's can get stuck in the same key? How do you change key when djing?

they go bye some chart that tells them whats good or not....

feckin eejits

lunabass · Post by **lunabass** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:16 am

Tone Deft wrote:
lunabass wrote:So does this mean that dj's can get stuck in the same key? How do you change key when djing?
Depends on the tonearm. Straight tonearms are for individual keys, curved tone arms can handle any key but don't sound as warm.

can you use a combination of straight and curved to play chords?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:19 am

lunabass wrote:
Tone Deft wrote:
lunabass wrote:So does this mean that dj's can get stuck in the same key? How do you change key when djing?
Depends on the tonearm. Straight tonearms are for individual keys, curved tone arms can handle any key but don't sound as warm.
can you use a combination of straight and curved to play chords?

Curved on one deck, straight on the other so I get the best of both worlds. I also run them off of 220V rather than 110V for smoother bass response.

bencodec · Post by **bencodec** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:26 am

Tone Deft wrote:
lunabass wrote:So does this mean that dj's can get stuck in the same key? How do you change key when djing?
Depends on the tonearm. Straight tonearms are for individual keys, curved tone arms can handle any key but don't sound as warm.

lunabass · Post by **lunabass** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:33 am

Tone Deft wrote:I also run them off of 220V rather than 110V for smoother bass response.

transformers definitely add warmth

BeatPsychic · Post by **BeatPsychic** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 3:18 am

Yeah, you can also rub toothpaste all over your vinyl, and make sure the needle is pointing to the sky, this really adds that polished sound....