0:00, Jeton, Io, Diynamic Germany, 2, 2:39, Critical Mass, Nick Curly, murmur, 3, 4:18, Hurt (Martinez Dark Soul Remix), Matthew Dear - Seth Troxler, mainstays, 4, 8:29, Hunted, Martin Buttrich, Cocoon, 5, 10:39, Don't need The Sun to Shine, Marcin Czubala, 8Bit, 6, 13:40, Now Is The Time, Layo and Bushwacka, olmeto, 7, 18:38, Bis Co, Homm - Popovicu - Bliss, Diynamic, 8, 20:56, Burner King, Santos, Noir Music, 9, 23:43, Madrugada, Mendo, Cadenza, 10, 27:50, Csmile My Consciousness (Reboot's Rebuttal remix), Frivolous, Cadenza, 11, 30:53, You and I (trentemoller remix), Filur, No Label, 12, 35:05, Big Lie, Federico Locchi & UGLH, N...
BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG THANKS TO YOU, That's THE FEEDBACK, attentive earing from a friend, very very appreciated.
I have to answer your questions, let's go.
I just use traktor with my 4D, my idea was to have some easy tools to begin sharing music I love. So, software mixing for the moment (sorry) But no "...
BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG THANKS TO YOU, That's THE FEEDBACK, attentive earing from a friend, very very appreciated.
I have to answer your questions, let's go.
I just use traktor with my 4D, my idea was to have some easy tools to begin sharing music I love. So, software mixing for the moment (sorry) But no "post-treatment" on my mix for the moment too. - 00:14 & after, the magic key of Xone 4d, that isolate mediums and modulate them - 12:54, just a cut, not filtering - Track 11 is one of my favorite tracks, appreciate that you like it, the first listening @ "le REX club" in Paris, my prefered club. the reference in Paris. - 38:04, that's me and my magic key - the last track , totally agree with you, it's a "hors sujet". - My cover, uh uh uh, I'm not serious with myself, so the cover funny works with my mix title Thanks for your precious advises, that consolidates me to keep this way. I'm very proud of your comment. And very proud to be on your Ipod. That's the real reward (already read this somewhere) ......
Interesting to see the same comment from both MarcAngelo and Dimsa about the short tracks: I am on the very opposite opinion. Without even starting to listen to your mix I liked the fact that you have 27 tracks in 93 minutes. It gets close to my own "3 minute" mixing the way I call it which has an a...
Interesting to see the same comment from both MarcAngelo and Dimsa about the short tracks: I am on the very opposite opinion. Without even starting to listen to your mix I liked the fact that you have 27 tracks in 93 minutes. It gets close to my own "3 minute" mixing the way I call it which has an average of 3 minutes per song for the whole mix. This style demonstrates much better what you can do as a DJ as it's all about the transitions. Plus I have to admit that I don't find most house tracks too exciting over a long time, there is a lot of repetition so the main theme can be easily captured in 3 minutes before it gets boring.
Now, before real house fans attack me: I am also a real house fan and I know that house is about _that_ feeling of monotone funkiness, the monotone "house" sound that puts you into that unique mood. So yes, there are complex buildups within that monotone overall sound with only few instruments coming in, even in this mimimal style of house that you use here Drik. So you do have to understand the structure and the flow not to disrupt these buildups within a single track when you do so quick transitions. That is why I cannot do this quick mixing with soul or jazzfunk tracks where the structure is more complex with long interconnecting solos that I just don't want to (and cannot) disrupt. House is different though, more space to do quick mixing there.
From what I hear in your mix, you pull it off nicely, there is a great flow, your transitions are seamless and timed properly. I mean people could say that these tracks are very much the same, and let's be honest, they are indeed very similar, very deep and dark and minimalist (I don't really know the minimal house genre so not sure if this borders it - it's definitely still deep house as it's quite funky all the way). This is not criticism, I mean it in a good way, there is a merit in the way you did the track selection, it is extremely consistent in this very deep, tight minimal funk sound, not easy to have this many tracks matching the mood.
Have to ask you about some "effects" that I could not identify: at 12:54 is it you filtering the beat for just a bar for a break? Or is it part of the song? Right at the beginning I heard similar from 0:14 to 0:16 - did not want to bring it up, it could be you or the song, let me know which one it is! I did not like the first one that much (0:14) I don't think that filtering is a good fit there and it's not done properly - filtering as a musical effect is really hard as you have to understand what frequencies and harmonics a sample has, it's only effective with a richer sound sample with many harmonics that you can cut and bring back. The second "break" at 12:54 is brilliant, I liked it (again, might be part of the song).
I loved Track 6, Bushwacka, nice buildup and acid type filtering, great tune - bit of a switch in your minimalist style too, right on time.
18:40 is very abrupt, this is out of tune. Not sure if you use "Mixed In Key" or any key detection software, they help a lot, even if they are not perfect, they can do wrong detection and then you have to use your ears.
Overall I'm not sure how you do your mix: if it's live with decks (CDJ, or real turntable and digital vinyl for Serato, Traktor) then you are truly brilliant, your 15 years of background listening to music clearly shows in this very intelligent house selection that is absolutely not mainstream and only real house fans would appreciate and understand it ("It's a spiritual thing, a body thing, a soul thing..."smile Making transitions like this in your 3rd mix live is truly remarkable. I suspect that it's live since you have the picture of a Xone 4D, what a beast! Still not sure if you use Traktor or Serato with it, it's MIDI capable but not ITCH compatible (it's only the Xone DX that supports ITCH).
In case you use offline software (Digital Audio Workstation, DAW) then it's not that much of a miracle, you can be more precise there (I use ACID Pro) - one can always improve a mix with a DAW, it's a lot of detailed work though, polishing it here and there, volumes, effects, transitions, etc.
Not that you need it, overall I cannot fault your mix. I'm writing this while I'm listening and I really enjoy the flow. This is something I'd love to listen to in a club, probably not at 3am, but rather at 5 or 6am (! - yes, in the morning, after a long-long party). If you can score a gig in Acapulco, go for it, they have all these special "chill-out" bars that open at 5am or 6am (! some play downtempo chillout but your set would be a great fit there (Cancun might be similar but I haven't been there...)
This definitely goes on my iPod, it's also great to listen to before going to sleep, just like my "Nu Dawn" session, but that's downtempo.
Interesting to hear at Track 11 (hehe - that's me! that you bring in a more jazzy, soulful deep house that is still quite dark but you introduce vocals. Quite tender vocals, brilliant. I actually liked all the spoken words and background style discussion and chatter in the earlier minimal tracks, where do you get these? Will definitely drill down into this style, I quite like it.
What I like is that it sounds ambient in the literal meaning of the word, but nothing like the "ambient" genre that is so obvious and even quite cheesy in most chillout compilations which mix downtempo and deep house "ambient chillout" tracks. Your selections are light years away from them, no feel of any commercialism here, and it's not even "mainstream underground" which is an oximoron but you know what I mean... Have to repeat myself, very intelligent and sophisticated track selection, you do have a unique and individual sound (not like the rest) that is the dream of every DJ! Well done!
Love the vocals still going on at Track 12 but only as a sound sample, not too melodic, fits into the overall style. Again, have to call out that all your transitions are very seamless, great flow - I could not "notice" any transitions, I could not tell when you switch from one to another... I mean I could, if I listened really closely, but I don't want to since the flow is so brilliant.
Are you doing the filtering of "Call me back" vocals from 38:04 to 38:21 (with a big drop in the middle for a half note?) Might be part of the song, it's interesting that it filters out but comes back again, great long transition this way. You see, that's what I mean, subconsciosly I hear the changes and transitions but there is no need to analyze them, they are so seamless that I can't decide whether it's in the song or it's you, it could be both. That is a really serious achievment for any DJ.
Track 14 has some nice vintage sound effects, TR 808 I believe, that birdy kind of sample. Track 15 is also vintage sounding with the classic funk breakbeat sample (It Takes Two/Cheryl Lynn break)
All and all your mix is something that should be listened to in its entirety - just picking tracks and jumping from here to there for a quick listen will not give back the mood and consistency of your work, once you listen longer you get pulled into the flow, it's very phychedelic, sometimes a fairytale, but quite dark, still not a nightmare at any point, it never gets that hard or agressive.
One small mistake: your last track runs for over 6 minutes when the average is 3 minutes for the rest. I know it's the last song, it probably shows that you're mixing live and had to keep this running at the end. However it's not the best track (I did not like it at a quick listen) - it fits into the whole mood but not outstanding. At 89:42 it's a bit to obvious, mainstream, almost pop music, I would have definitely cut out that part with the vocal solo - the lyrics are not too great and it's breaks the cool house feeling. Again, not a biggie.
The other comment is that your mix is dark and minimal all the way though - I like this sound with the "dub" kind of feel of short spoken words only, no vocal solos at all. However you could try to experiment with using a bit more uplifting tunes and turning slowly into dark and back. I myself enjoy those transitions since there is bigger contrast - the dark tunes sound even darker when you put them next to a more soulful or uplifting funky track.
By no means this is an advice though: like I said you seem to have found your unique sound where you're good at, you don't need to listen to me or anyone's advise. Even in the forum I wanted to tell you that you should not be so desperate for feedback. It is nice to have comments, but bottom like you know what you like and it's all about you expressing yourself, not about impressing others. Like Pat Metheny said in one interview: "I like to hear when people say they loved a song that I played, but in a sense it does not make a difference, they could even say they did not like it. It feels good when someone enjoys the same music and feeling but it will not change or influence the way I am playing" (something similar, it's not a word-by-word quote). It all comes from inside, you can have inspiration from others, pick up technical tips and tricks but at the end of the day it's all about you. The other great example for this mindset is the movie called "Dingo" with Miles Davis where Miles (as Billy Cross in the movie) tells the young trumpet player (played by Django Rheinhart) that he does not need his, Miles' advice or directions, or other people's opinion, he should just follow his own path and play the music he likes to play.
It's that simple. And that's also the art in it. With that measure you are clearly an great artist!
Ah, yeah, the only disturbing thing was the cover art for me, had to comment on it!
Hello MarcAngelo! Thanks for your contructive comment, it's very important for a "young dj" like me. Let's go wroking on this, and improving !!! Thanks, Cédric
Nice mix, some of the tracks I think are a bit too short. I think a Vol 1 and a Vol 2 would have worked better. Transitions are very good and some cool tracks.