DJ MIXING IN KEY IS A MUST OR IS IT NOT WORTH THE BOTHER? #djmixing #howtodj #djtutorial #ellaskins

0:01 I haven't actually gone anywhere

Right, ladies and gentlemen, yes, I'm back. I haven't actually gone anywhere. Just been very busy. It's been one of those summers where you think you're going to make a bit of content and all of a sudden something happens and then it's delayed. So without further ado, why is mixing in key so important? Why? Why bother? Why take one track, play that and then decide to play another one that's in the same key or a key, a tone, a melody, a sound that works with that track. So you play track A, B and C. Track A is the same key as track B and let's say track C is a key that works. So how do you play harmonically with track B? Well, it's very simple really. It's all about vibration and energy. Now if you think that's a bit bizarre out there with the fairies then you could be right but also, I'll just move that out of the way a little bit, but you could be wrong because when you play a certain track it gives you a feeling, it gives you sort of, it passes on energy to you.

2:02 Play track, dance floor, tracks

Now what you want to do as a good DJ is to keep that energy, that feeling going and that can only be done by guess what? Finding another track with a similar energy or an energy, energy, energy that complements the one that you're playing. Now this is why when you listen to a lot of professional DJs they will, not they won't, they will mix in key unless of course they want to completely change the energy in a room. In that case quite often what you'll have is you'll have a break in the music and then you will have the next track. Now try this as an experiment if you're listening to your local radio station and they play one track into the other track with no gap even if they don't mix them, if they just blend the two tracks in because very often during the day

They won't do these long mixes unless it's an actual dance station. More likely you'll have some DJ who think they're brilliant talking about themselves and just enjoying the fact that they're on the radio and you hear them play one track, they don't talk, they play another track maybe a third track and then there'll be some form of a jingle, the news or something like that. Well what I want you to do as an experiment is listen to the two tracks make a note of them, find out the keys of those tracks and you will find undisputedly that they will be harmonically matched. But when you hear a DJ play track A and then there's a jingle or there's they talk in the middle and then they play another track it's very likely that those two tracks will not be harmonically matched

Because what they've done is they've done a bit what's known as a segue they've added a little bit extra in the middle to break the two tracks up to get you to stop thinking and listening to the last one well it's finished anyway so you can't listen to it, and then they bring in another track. Now when you listen to a professional DJ in a nightclub then hopefully that DJ will mix in key and a way of finding out if they're not mixing in key even if you don't understand harmonic mixing is to watch the dance floor. Now I've done it I'm sure every one watching this video has done it on the odd occasion where you played a track and all of a sudden the dance floor seems to break apart it doesn't there's an energy on the dance floor that doesn't work anymore and people

4:20 Camelot wheel, slowly, drummers playing

Start to disappear. It could be because you play just a crap track alternatively it could be because you played out of key, because you've lost the energy on the dance floor, because what happens if we go back to tribal instincts you know the drummers going and they're playing this beat and you get into this trance well all of a sudden if you imagine the drummers playing you know on the bongo drums or whatever and all of a sudden some guy turns up with a harmonica it'd be like what the heck's going on you've lost that energy that's pretty much what happens if you mix out of key on a dance floor. Now there's many ways of mixing in key but there's really one way of mixing out of key and that is to play a track that is not harmonically matched with the one you're playing. So

If you're looking at the Camelot wheel A1, 2, 3, A4, A5 which are the minor keys and B1, 2, 3, 4, 5 up to 12 of course 24 notes it are the major keys now this is a vast subject in itself but basically what you want to try and do is to begin with as a beginner start at the very beginning. Maybe 1A or 7A or 3A or 4B and then go to 5B, 6B, 7B or if you start at 7 go to 7 and 8 the 9 and 10 so you're slowly moving around the Camelot wheel. Now that's great for a beginner but it will slowly become boring because your mix isn't sort of going anywhere it hasn't got that sort of vibe it's just a steady flow now that's great if you're doing say a progressive house mix because you don't want these large jumps around the Camelot wheel you just

Need that energy to build slowly or to decrease slowly but on the other hand you could maybe jump a couple of notes so from A1 to say for example A3 but what you've got to be careful of there is when you mix do a long mix you need to make sure that the notes work together. So very often if you're going to be doing a long mix you need to maybe wait for the instrumental break or the intro and outro. Now there is so much more to this but I'll leave you with this by all means please post a comment let me know what you think do you think I'm talking a load of CRAP or do you think there's some common sense to it? Have you been in a situation maybe where you're a DJ well of course you're a DJ otherwise you won't be watching this as you've gone to a nightclub,

You're a DJ and you thought their set was blinding on the other hand you know you listen to them and it's all over the place and if it is all over the place it could be for many reasons one different genres different styles the DJ doesn't really know what they're playing they're just picking things out of a hat alternatively they may not be mixing in key so what do you think let me know in a comment don't forget to give me a thumbs up like and share the video spread the love practice and enjoy thank you

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