Knowing your tunes

It’s a good point Chris, especially considering the influx and availability of digital tunes versus buying a few 12″s every week. I think what Terry 42 said above about looking at the waveform and cue points is a great idea. If you can understand what you’re looking at in the waveform, you can look at an entire track and know ‘ok so this is the intro, then a beat kicks in here, then it all comes in, then there’s the breakdown, then it’s all full-on’ etc. And also most (not all!) dance music follows a fairly straight formula, you know, 16/32 bar sections. So technically speaking you can probably mix most tracks of a similar genre together and (this for me is a crucial point) providing they’re in key, you could make it work, without knowing the tracks inside out. At a most basic (or lazy!) level you just know that the last section of one track (16 / 32 bars) is probably a good time to start the beginning of another, and work your magic with EQs.

The trick then when you’re practising is to find those tracks or those sections of a track that really complement each other. You might flick through a track and be immediately taken by the breakdown, or the chorus, or an acapella part. You then don’t need to know the whole track, just single that bit out, loop it, sample deck, whatever.

Finally, think about how you structure your crate and how you label your tracks. Personally I structure my crates according to genre and wherever possible rename my tracks to include the key, that way I know immediately if the tracks have a good chance of working together, regardless of how well I know them. Of course, it helps if you understand a little about keys / harmony to make this work.

For me the visual aspect of vinyl, both the sleeve and the record itself, really helped to ‘memorise’ the audio. I think also as others have said, it’s very easy and cheap to acquire a lot of music in the digital age with no real tangible, physical element to it, making it harder to remember.

There’s a little voice in the back of my head . . . . “If I can’t remember the song, is it even worth playing?'”

Also 1st time poster, but I’d like to chime in on this as I have just gotten through this process. I’ll mostly be reiterating what others have said, but I’d like to add:

-Cut the fat out of your current playlist/songs: I have an “Inactive Collection” folder for old/unused songs and an “Active” folder for tunes that don’t get played much. There is a lot of fluff at the beginning and end of songs, cut it out.

-Set cues and loops: Try and give a good listen to your new tunes as soon as you buy them. I think this is the best time to set your cues and loops as your ears are fresh to these tracks and you just purchased them for a reason right? Setting your cues and loops in strategic places, along with the waveform, will help you figure out your phrasing.

-Quality > Quantity: Before buying new tracks make sure to take a run through your current collection. Do NOT buy tracks on the day you find them. Let them age in your box for a day or two. Maybe look through different genres on different days. Make sure you like what you’re hearing and if at all possible look up the tune on youtube.

-Use the comments section: I just started using this in TP2.5 and its really helping. I’ll put notes or do a genre list that helps me learn what the track is or what it sounds like before even clicking on it.

I’m going to post this on the main site this Sunday, as it’s a great discussion with some valuable input from Terry_42, Rodders, Steelo, DarioJ and everyone else above – thanks guys!