Mixing and the perfectionist.... to pefect or not too perfect?

[rvltion909]

I like hearing a flaw or two per hour... shows that the computer is not doing all the work. That being said, I have a pretty dope 90 minute mix I did and never released b/c I dropped a track in one the 15th beat and not 16th. I should just put the damn thing out there.

In Traktor at least that's pretty easy to fix if you keep same master vol.

Try making a take of just that mix portion until its like what you wanted, then cut and paste it into the master mix (in an audio editor like audacity or something). If the editing is good it should sound seamless. I've done that a couple times.

[narrah]

For me the first 4 tracks have to be perfect..... Ive been working on the one mix now for over a week and ive only just got to a point were im happy with the first 10 minutes... however, now i feel i can relax and enjoy the rest of the mix.... its just selecting those first 4 that always takes me so long.

[tekkon]

i've gotta say freestyle all the way. its the only way to keep things fresh but I record every time I play. just knowing you are recording tends to put the pressure and you get the chance to go over what tracks and mixes you liked. then setup your playlist for the final mix.

if i feel like things are getting stagnant or im getting frustrated I will start playing totally different genres. it might be a day or even a week playing another genre but it really helps when you cant seem to get creative with your mixing.

[Jester]

Keep practising til you can do two hours without an obvious mistake. Then you can really start to express your ideas with your recordings, personally i hate "clinical" sounding mixes, i dont like to hear trainwrecks either but a little glitch here and there is fine with me I have to go thru a few mixes every day running the soundcloud group and OMG you guys are fucking geniuses compared to some of the shit we (sarasin is a mod also) dont let thru

[photojojo]

OMG you guys are fucking geniuses compared to some of the shit we (sarasin is a mod also) dont let thru

Uhm, thanks...I think.

[kiss-o-matic]

In Traktor at least that's pretty easy to fix if you keep same master vol.

Try making a take of just that mix portion until its like what you wanted, then cut and paste it into the master mix (in an audio editor like audacity or something). If the editing is good it should sound seamless. I've done that a couple times.

Ah... indeed. Should probably do that at some point.

[keithace]

ummm...you're not Digweed...

just keep playing and keep recording...

[wrong chris]

i can forgive hearing a couple minor technical fuck ups in a mix as long as the tracklist is interesting , but i don't get why anybody would prefer to hear them.
it's not like computers can make mixes by themselves, even guys who mix with ableton and automate everything - still takes a person to make it happen and make it sound good.


but i agree with the freestyling thing to come up with ideas for mixes, it's the only way to do it imo. takes experimenting and fucking around in the mud for a bit to come up with new and interesting ideas to be applied in either a live setting or a studio setting.

[Fyoog]

I feel your pain man, I only got back into all this last December and only got my full midi set up in April. I was a vinyl DJ for 7 years before having a 4 year break after I moved house. Now I've got the soundcloud page setup I wanted to put some mixes out there to try get some gigs but I have been trying to get a mix that I'm happy with that are as good as I used to be before stopping. Only problem is that they just aren't at the moment. Whether it's listening back to them and not being happy with the tune selection, if it's a couple of glitches with the mixes or messing up something you have worked on prior it's really frustrating!!!
I'm not one of these absolute perfectionists but I critique other people all the time when I'm out or hear something that someone has done wrong so I think I should try and make sure I have a good standard.
I know it's just a question of getting my head down and practicing, keeping a level head while doing it and not TOO much planning as then there is more for you to feel like has gone wrong if not perfect.
It'll come man just give it time and enjoy what you are doing, I feel better already haven written this down!!!

[kiss-o-matic]

but i don't get why anybody would prefer to hear them.

I went snowboarding with a friend who is pretty much a ranked expert. He told me, "If you don't fall down, you're not trying hard enough". I've used that philosophy in just about everything... although I understand why you'd aim for perfection when recording.