Are you mixing “in key”?
Some older djs seem to have a sixth sense about mixing tracks. They will often mix similar songs to other djs but for some reason the sequence and timing results in a completely different feel. Promoters and dancers are left happy as the dance floor consistently explodes on the big tracks and chugs along between without any energy drops. There is no secret to their formula, many guys have just developed a keen ear and sense of when to play the rights tracks. Take a closer look by examining the musical structure of their sets and you might find they are often mixing in key and don’t even realize it.
So how you reliably tap into that knowledge without waiting for those random perfect mixes to pop up in your sets? Figure out all the keys of your songs and then learn how to wield that information to create a powerful dance-floor.
GROUND RULES
First, what is actually mixing in key? Technically its blending 2 songs that have very similar notes and when mixed they feel like a long lost friends that have finally found each other. Songs with the same key like Aminor will of course fit together quite nicely but often keys that just have similar characteristic will also create that feel good vibe. Mixing songs that feel right together is just the tip of the iceberg. Its figuring out which songs don’t feel right that will really make your dancers pop lock and roll.
JAZZ IT UP
Just like a classical composer or a finely tuned jazz band, a good dj will weave in and out of keys constantly lifting up the energy or creating tension and release. One simple way of consistently “lifting” up the dance-floor is to mix the next song one step up the keyboard. For instance make a transition from Aminor to Bminor. Those 2 songs wont mix well harmonically but if you do a clean beat mix then it will end up feeling like a big energy boost just hit the dance-floor.
RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
Although mixing up one step at a time is cool, sometimes just throwing on a random key will give the crowd a breath of fresh air it needs. When the energy is good, keep the key constant for a while but if you start to get bored chances are they are too, so change the key- Dramatically! One rule of thumb that some key djs teach is to not mix down a full step, for instance from Aminor to G minor. Not only is that supposed to clash but it also will result in a feeling of a dance-floor let-down. Well last night at Harlot in San Francisco, I dipped into a little hip hop for a moment and after playing Gold Digger (1A G#M), I really wanted to play Shoot to Kill “Jane Fonda” (11B A major). Not only is this moving down one step but its also going from minor to major, so in “theory”, it should have sounded like garbage. Instead, it worked wonderfully. Hip Hop is mixed in a short amount of time, often 16 or 32 counts. These kind of clashing mixes create tension and an interesting sound then boom, your into the original song without any clash and it feels great. Result-very happy dance-floor.
GETTING STARTED
You need to download a program to start reading your digital files and assigning them the correct key. Mixed in key is a popular program that is compact, easy to use and good at figuring out the right key for you. Unfortunately,at $58 its a little pricey, but well worth the money. So to help you out Yakov Vorobyev, the owner of mixed in key has offered to give away 3 free copies to our readers. In order to win you just have to be the first person to post an answer to the following question (be sure to include your email in the comment so we can send you the software!)
Question: You can mix a song in the same key and the melodic major of a key. What is the melodic major of E flat minor?
December 17th, 2007 at 12:22 am Quote
If I understand the question correctly then the answer is G flat major
December 17th, 2007 at 1:39 am Quote
i second the g flat major
December 17th, 2007 at 3:58 am Quote
its g flat major
December 17th, 2007 at 10:25 am Quote
I need your emails guys! please post new comments with you email included so I can pass that on to mixed in key.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:25 pm Quote
g flat major!
rad.norrin@gmail.com
lol! I was the first person with the correct answer AND enclosed email! LOL!
December 17th, 2007 at 4:28 pm Quote
g flat major!
Just in case the others don;t get back to you with their emails!
December 17th, 2007 at 5:32 pm Quote
@kamiok
Dude! You’re supposed to include your email in the comment along with the right answer!
So… do a repost of your answer – with your email in the comment like I’ve done. I guess I’m the first… but you can be second! HURRY!!!
December 17th, 2007 at 6:05 pm Quote
Surely I just add it to the ‘Mail’ field when I write a comment?
December 17th, 2007 at 6:09 pm Quote
No.. I think he wants it in the actual comment field where we type our message!
That’s what the first people did but he needs it in the comment field. Typing it in the mail field just allows you to post the comment… nothing more.
Copy and paste my post and change email! :P
December 17th, 2007 at 6:55 pm Quote
Ahh…well, it’s imkamiok (at) googlemail.com
December 17th, 2007 at 6:59 pm Quote
There you go!!! w00t!!!
December 17th, 2007 at 7:00 pm Quote
There you go!!! w00t!!! Yeeha!!!
December 17th, 2007 at 7:10 pm Quote
Hi my email is mjm46@hotmail.com.
Peace,
December 17th, 2007 at 7:18 pm Quote
So do we have our three?!!!
December 17th, 2007 at 9:40 pm Quote
Ok, thanks for rallying the troops Norrin-
This was my bad- the first three actually did leave their emails but it does not show up as a link unless they put in a website. Word press does a good job of hiding your email from spammers!
So then, congratulation’s go to David, AudioDestruction and MidiFidler.
Honorable mention to Norrin Rad and Kamiok.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:45 pm Quote
OH SNAP!!!
That hurts Ean! I was looking forward to actually using this software!
LOL!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:35 pm Quote
Sorry man, i promise more free give-aways in the future!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:41 pm Quote
Hi everyone,
Ean, thank you for a great article. Instead of sending three free downloads, we will send five. DJs who received honorable mentions will also get free copies of Mixed In Key.
We encourage everyone to check out http://community.mixedinkey.com for advanced topics related to this DJ technique. We have thousands of DJs who visit that forum regularly.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:40 am Quote
Mr. Vorobyev – Thank you sooo much for the software! I really look forward to using it!
Ean – as always – thanks for the great info this site provides and the inspiration!
You’re awesome dude!
December 19th, 2007 at 8:57 am Quote
Thats awesome everyone got involved thanks soo much to Mr. Vorobyev and Ean for the software and site respectively
December 20th, 2007 at 1:39 pm Quote
58 bucks to make a dancefloor happy(er). i might just have to buy this.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:31 pm Quote
Mixed In Key is awesome. Great for people like me who don’t have magical ears, instant improvement to my mixes. Thanks heaps to Ean + Mr Vorobyev.
January 15th, 2008 at 4:11 am Quote
I just got rapid evolution 2 (EV2) off mixshare.com for free and it is a pretty capable program. If anyone does not have the 60 bones to drop on yet another “necessary program” try it out. The website even has some music theory tips and a discussion group.
January 16th, 2008 at 3:02 am Quote
hi,
I’m just start in dj
I need som tips.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:25 am Quote
One small note, I appreciate the effors of Yakov and his dedicated team, but there is another option, free, (donations welcome) that works just great for me, and is really fantastic: very accurate at BPM and key determining: it’s called Rapid Evolution.
Works like a library of your mp3 files, with BPM, and Key. Automatically displays matching tracks.
Avail for free download on http://www.mixshare.com.
Jesse the developer is also putting a great deal of efforts into his software, and is always quick to answer any questions.
Rapid Evolution is so good and useful that it seems fair to me to mention it.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 am Quote
I agree, and will give a mention to rapid evolution when I get a chance to look at it again. RE was the first key software product I used but the early versions were really too buggy to recommend. Hopefully it has become more stable since then,
February 21st, 2008 at 1:49 am Quote
Ean, have you had time to check RE again ?.
Newest version, 2.10 is great!
(nothing to do but, do you have any idea when will vestax release the vci 100 plates for traktor?… thanks!)
February 21st, 2008 at 4:37 am Quote
Do you mean the special dj tech tools plates for Traktor? No I have not used RE lately. I need to check that out again, so thanks for the heads up!
February 21st, 2008 at 12:03 pm Quote
Hi Ean, yes, the special edition… Although the normal edition control panels are not avail yet, after almost a year on vestax website, they are still “coming soon”. So I guess the special edition may take a looooong time…
By the time they make them avail, vci100 will be out of date…
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, the site and your videos are just great.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pm Quote
“Out of Date”? The VCI ist a classic, a forever-thingy like the Technics 1200s. You’ll see them in usage in 5 and 10 years!
February 21st, 2008 at 3:35 pm Quote
“vci100 out of date”
LOL! This thing is gonna last. its expandable and DURABLE. I second the idea of it being an instant classic..
February 21st, 2008 at 3:43 pm Quote
Only reason Vestax vci100 would not become a classic is precisely Vestax itself (new firmware not avail., complete blackout on its availability, poor support, they announce basic and simple products – control panels, come on!- that take a year to be released, etc…)
I am the first to wish VCI 100 a long long life, (despite vestax pathetic support).
February 21st, 2008 at 5:21 pm Quote
It seems that Vestax is currently relocating its manufacturing plants/operations, thats why everything is coming so slow, after all its a small company.
And i LOVE the VCI-100. I already made more than 3000?s DJing with VCI and Traktor
February 21st, 2008 at 6:36 pm Quote
good for you munich techno! There are several people that have learned the ropes through Dj Tech Tools that are now getting regular gigs.
yes, its true Vestax is a small company and the few good people they do have are working really hard on 3 big products.
February 1st, 2009 at 2:04 pm Quote
vamos quebrar o virtualdj, me manda o programa ai, valeo
March 1st, 2009 at 1:45 pm Quote
THNX
August 2nd, 2009 at 5:26 am Quote
Harmonic Mixing FTW !!!
August 4th, 2009 at 1:34 am Quote
TEst….
January 4th, 2010 at 11:44 pm Quote
Softwares for key detecting sucks. As I thought, DT tested it also:
http://www.djtechtools.com/2009/11/02/key-analysis-software-smackdown