Importance of Mixing in Key?

Well you have pretty much naild it yourself IMO!

I think that it is like this in importancelevel.

1 Play the right music in the right time (AKA Read the dancefloor)
2 Mix IMO mix the music together in some way and mix the way you mix (BPM mixing is boooring after two hours)
also mix genres, tempo and mix in anyway possible…..
3 When you master the above 100% and want to add something, add Key (Mixed in key)
But do not ever let the key mix be more important than 1 or 2…….

When doing mashup key is a must, when doing mixtapes it is somwhat also rather good to get the mixes in key.

Most people I know does not care a rats ass about mixing in key and they still rock the ass out of most DJs who do!

Personaly I have all my tunes set up so I know what key they are and I work as above!
If I want to play a tune that does not match in key I do play it anyway but then I know it does not match so I
mix it in thinking of that. Otherwise it will not sound good if there is an accapella bit in the track currently playing and I mix in an instrumental part of the next song clashing in key…….
That is one of the reasons it could be a good idea to get a copy of MIK even if you do not mix in key 🙂

It is IMO like BPM counters, loops, samplers and effects a tool to be used with care…..

while mixing in key sounds great, i have found over the years that it doesnt make or break adancefloor, most people dont hear the key of a track, dance floors for the most part react to the beat (or bpm) and there for is the energy of the track that provides the bang, as i mainly play hiphop key really isnt all that important and so i dont bother with it

I think it’s more to give you another option and should’t dictate your mixes.

D-Jam has a point. Crowds don’t mind key changes, it’s key clashes they don’t like, which you can avoid by mixing properly. Although I still love key mixing, it’s added a whole new dimension to my DJing.

I see it as quite important. if you beat match 2 songs and they melodies don’t blend it sounds to me as a kinder garden quire trying to sing the loudest instead of in tune 😀 But always ears first 2 A1 songs don’t always fit like a pair of socks 😀
The most important is how the resault sounds not that they are in key.

imho.. mixing in key is a bit over rated..people hear beats.. and with effects (if one is into tweaking knobs) or by using loops creatively, you dont need the key of a track.. just rock the funky break, but im a turntablist so what do i know

i think everyone covered most of the bases but one thing I’d like to add: just because you don’t have your keys labelled doesn’t mean your not mixing harmonically. If you mix songs that sound good together (which you should probably be doing :p), chances are your mixing harmonically.

mixing in key is great if you like long smooth mixes in techno, house ext. I created some pretty epic moments by mixing two heavy melodic tracks together in key. Though it shouldn’t be the most important thing, it sounds great to my ears and makes it sound so much smoother imo 🙂