Ok, a pair of mini-rants before I start talking about the mix
Mini-Rant #1 – can we all admit that, with the combination of RekordBox and the Pioneer DDJ-1000, using the low/high pass filter is alway better than EQs? Seriously. The EQs never seem to cut between lows and highs such that you just cut out the baseline or that a vocal falls just into the mids. The filter consistently does a better job of cutting elements of a song out that you don’t want. And realistically, if you cut out the mid, you just wanted the bass, so cutting out highs is fine. And if you wanted the lows out, going up into the mids until the right about of low elements get filter out works great. Yeah, sure, I’d feel like a more advanced DJ if I used EQs more. But every time I try, if fiddle with it for a while, don’t get what I want, flip to the filter, and voila, it sounds perfect!
Mini-Rant #2 – The equipment you are listening to makes a big difference. When I practice, I use a pair of studio monitors. When I mix, I use a good pair of headphones. When I listen, I use earbuds or a car stereo. With the first two, it is challenging because each highlight or muddle different things, so you never know how your mix will sound in the real world. Then, for the real world, it sounds different than either. The good news is that cheap earbuds are pretty forgiving and road noise will cover a lot of mistakes.
Ok, NOW for the mix. I called this one Too Easy, because it started off as such. Last weekend, while I was arranging tracks for Mix 32, I also arranged the tracks for this one. So, when I went to mix everything together, everything sounded great together. Too Easy.
So, to make it more fun, challenging, and a better audio experience, I really spent time trying to master each transition. I’ve included most of my notes from the first transition. It included EQ play (ironically, here I did try the filter and got better results with the EQs), volume fader play, returning to the start first track, and lasted for about 48 bars. I then went back and added a sample (a first for me on RekordBox) and an effect. The second transition was easy too, so, I manually looped 4 bars of Nobody Else. The third still ended up being fairly straightforward with an uneven use of filters. The outgoing track, Up All Night, filtered low over 16 bars. The incoming track, Who We Are?, filtered from high to normal using only the first 8 bars. And, I added an echo effect to exit.
The other meaning of the title was the realization that mixing tracks is a bit easy, because it is kinda formulaic. I am mixing elements, but my approach is consistent. It will get more challenging as I push to master beatmatching and mix more adhoc moving forward.
Enjoy!
