There is such a thing in DJing that beginners do not always reach with their minds. This is harmonic mixing.

What is it for?

This is to make the mix better. I think it's better to hear once than read a hundred times. To begin with an example:

Example 1

Like? Doubt :) Another example:
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Example 2

Now it is clear? :)

How to achieve this?

To achieve the effect and create a truly beautiful and melodious transition between tracks, you need to know the key of this track (that is, its tonality), and how to alternate these tones.

Generally speaking, everything has already been invented and done for us, you just need to go and take it.

Mixed In Key and Co.

On the website Mixed In Key you can buy (and somewhere in Google find for free - the question of religion) the same program, which scans your music collection and gives you a list of songs that can be reduced beautifully.

By the way, the same function is provided by MixMeister Studio and MixMeister Fusion ( mixmeister.com ), keeping the resulting value directly in the library (which is much more convenient, I think).

Traktor DJ Studio starting from the second branch also knows how to memorize (but not determine!) Key in its Track Collection. Can this Ableton Live! - I do not remember exactly, I hope for your hint :)

Harmonic Circle and Camelot Notation

A certain Mark Davis (to whom we should all say a big thank you) came up with and recorded the notation of Camelot, grouping the most frequently used tones in European culture in a kind of “clock”:



For a start, it would be nice to just try to flatten the tracks, the tonalities of which completely coincide.

Then you can try to make the transitions to the "hour" forward or backward. That is, if the original track is D-flat Minor (12A), then the following can be put A-Flat Minor (1A) or F-Sharp Minor (11A).

Another experiment - transitions from the inner to the outer circle within the same "hour", that is, from minor to major and vice versa. Here you need to be attentive with the mood of the track: in the middle of a merry club house it is not always possible to stick some dark electric :)

It can take a long time to explain in words, but the shortest way is practice itself. If the bear has not arrived in the ear, it will immediately become clear what is good and what is bad.

What should be remembered

At one foreign forum I came across a post where it was said that MixMeister products recognize tonality with an accuracy of up to 70%, in particular, very rarely make a distinction between major and minor. At this point, blame yourself - nobody canceled the ears, if “it doesn't sound”, you have to take matters into your own hands. On the website of the same Mixed In Key, many DJs and producers admitted that they used to use a piano keyboard or synthesizer (which, by the way, is much more accurate, although it requires hearing and time).

Another subtlety is the tempo-key dependency. You need to know that if we accelerate or slow down the track, then every 6% of the speed of the key will change according to the direction. If the track was originally 140BPM and in the tonality of 12A, then by slowing it down by 6% we will get 11A.

There is a simple rule: if the difference in speeds is less than three percent, then the tonality of the second track can be taken the same. If more than three - one more / less.

And remember, harmonic mixing is not a panacea for creating a quality mix, it is just one of the components. The creative component, as well as good taste when choosing music for the set should not be forgotten in any case.