Home 2023 Forums The DJ Booth Harmonic Mixing: Is It a Must?

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  • #1025114
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Two parts to this question I think. One of a general nature, the other a bit more specific.

    On a general note, I think it’s safe to say that two songs that are harmonically compatible will usually sound good together. This doesn’t mean the opposite is also true, i.e. if two songs are not harmonically compatible they will sound bad together. So you can mix stuff that you think sounds good, regardless of what key it was in. Actually, the first key lists I saw where back in like 84 or so. The tricky part was that you’d need to take records with exactly the same bpm to make it work, because as soon as you changed the pitch, the key would be off. Since the days of pro-grade DJ-players we have key lock and that is no longer a problem.

    More specifically: going from Fmajor to Gmajor (translated to camelot 7B to 9B) is totally feasible. It will give a “mood jump” of sorts or an energy jump. Going to Dmajore would be stretching it a bit usually, but … nothing is set in stone. So if it sounds good to your trained ears, I am sure the audience won’t have a problem with it.

    Harmonic mixing is not a law, not even a rule. Merely a handy tool to help put together a pleasant sounding set. Quite frankly a perfect harmonic set, mixed flawlessly can easily sound a tad boring too.

    Sometimes you got to keep the crowd awake and on their toes.

    Greetinx.

    #1025153
    Lamid45G
    Participant

    If you selected you song just based on harmonic one and only, you missing out the great fun and freedom of a DJ, we an artist/painter (or w/e), so we paint based on our natural beast instinct, if one color doesnt match the other, the question is how we can make it work ?

    Harmonic mixing is simply just a tool, just a guide, sometimes when we look at it, ow no it doesnt match, ok how about this or that, and sometimes ow no it doesnt match, well most of time we said Screw it! lol

    #1025199
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    I think Chuck covered it nicely. It is not a must, but it is good for a DJ to know what will work and what not. Also a lot depends on the transition, if I do one of my F/X transitions possibly even with some samples and heavy filtering… it wont matter anyways as it is not a blend, but a harder transition.

    #1025206
    rustboro .
    Participant

    Thank you so much for what you guys have said! You’ve been really helpful. I’ll make sure to remember the tips you guys have shared!

    #1025414
    Alex Moschopoulos
    Participant

    I’ve never taken much stock in harmonic mixing.

    I usually listen and just see “if they sound nice together”.

    #1025449
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    It’s what most of us have done for most of our “careers”. I have to admit that I have found some unlikely tracks to mix using harmonic key as another selection criterium though.

    Greetinx.

    #1025460
    Daryl Northrop
    Participant

    Harmonic mixing is great if you have two songs that you are mixing together while lots of instruments/keyboards are playing. If you are just mixing together the two tracks while drums are playing – it’s not so important.

    Again, like the other posts have said, your ear should be the final answer on whether or not a mix sounds good or not.

    #1025517
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    In mixvibes Cross, you can manipulate the key, it’s also got a key sync button. It makes for some interesting experimenting.

    Now you can easily alter the key with the bpm staying equal.

    #1025629
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    Yeah you can make Miley Cyrus sound like a mix of Darth Vader and Vin Diesel… sorry I love Cross but that feature is not one I am particularly fond of…

    #1025653
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Hey, I tried that 45/33 rpm trick with Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”  that someone posted way back (and that made it sound like a guy singing it, but obviously at the wrong speed) and it came out pretty cool. Suddenly there is an unknown guy singing this song in exact the same tempo as the original!

    Obviously just like you don’t want to do 15 bpm difference beatmatches, you don’t want to go overboard. But the ability to move something 2 or 3 semitones could prove helpful at times, if only as an FX.

    Greetinx.

    #1026865
    Klaus Mogensen
    Participant

    In short: No

    It’s a nice add-on when it’s possible, but way down the list for me compared to choosing the right tune, making good transitions and so on

    /Klaus

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