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To mix means to blend, and mixing music involves blending two or more sound recordings together, either to achieve a particular effect, or to string them together seamlessly without any ‘gaps’ or breaks between them.
Not all pieces of music can be mixed together: tempos (or BPMs) need to be close together and it’s also almost impossible to mix two singers singing different melodies at the same time – the result is a cacophony.
Generally speaking, two rhythm patterns can be mixed together (it will work more or less well depending on the case), but two melodies cannot.
Mixing Bob Marley and Metallica? Good luck – in practice it’s very difficult.
Electronic music with a clearly identified beat (the kick) and a more or less constant BPM for a given style (for example, house is around 126 BPM) lends itself particularly well to mixing.
It’s made for. The presence of purely rhythmic parts at the beginning and end of a track (particularly in house music) even has a name: Dj frendly.
Mixing vynils involves matching the beats of the two tracks. This is done manually and by ear by moving a control (slider) on the turntable called Pitch, which slightly varies the speed of rotation of the turntable.
It’s a difficult art, and the people who practise it consider that they are really mixing, as opposed to those who ‘cheat’ by using mixing software and the magic ‘SYNC’ button.
With the advent of the CD audio format, various manufacturers, notably Pionneer and Denon, have also brought out CD decks dedicated to DJs, and incorporating special functions: memorisation of points, loops that are impossible to implement with vynils, etc.
These turntables generally come in pairs and are often coupled to a good-quality mixer that doubles as a sound card/preamplifier.
The growing use of digital music formats (MP3, FLAC, Wave, etc.) has led to the creation of so-called time-coded vynils and digital CDs, which do not contain music but rather references to duration and tempo.
These turntable-mounted devices allow the DJ to mix tracks that are physically on his computer or on a USB device, while still benefiting from the functionality and ‘touch’ of the turntables.
It’s as if the DJ is mixing ‘real’ Vynils and/or music CDs.
No more lugging around bins of Vynils or boxes of CDs.
Just as computer-assisted music (CAM) software revolutionised and democratised the world of music creation, specialised software has changed the world of DJing.
Here too, there’s no need to lug around bins of vynils and the like: a simple computer or even a USB key is all you need to take your track collection with you.
Also, when the automatic synchronisation – the famous SYNC function – is activated, the software will harmonise, in other words make the beats of two separate tracks hit exactly the same note. This is what ‘old-school’ DJs consider unfair.
From that point on, even a goat can mix …
Although …
Even if the problem of synchronisation is managed by the machine, the quality of a mix is first and foremost your selection, and then the way you play it.
And that’s where mixing software has the advantage of opening up a world of new possibilities that are impossible to implement with the ‘old-fashioned’ mix: loops, overdubs, resampling, integrated effects, etc.
Are you with me?
I’ve noticed that a lot of DJs in Africa use Virtual Dj as their mixing software, but the vast majority of international DJs use Traktor, not forgetting a third thief, Serrato Scratch.
If the name Traktor sounds funny in French, you should know that it’s derived from track.
Both programs offer comparable functions: track library and playlist management, recording of multiple CUE points and loops on the same track, automatic synchronisation, etc.
Is that Chinese? – I invite you to have a look at some video tutorials on the subject.
The real difference between Traktor and Virtual Dj is that the creators of Traktor (Native Instruments, Berlin) also market an extensive range of dedicated controllers.
Mixing software has many buttons and controls, and while it is possible to control it with the mouse, the limitation is that you can only perform one action at a time.
Keyboard shortcuts also exist for commands, and they work, but they’re tedious.
The external controllers, connected to the computer via USB, offer the Dj a user-friendly interface for controlling their favourite software, as well as serving as a much more powerful sound card than the one built into the computer.
A generic controller – of which there are many makes and models – comes with software drivers that enable it to control or drive the most common mixing software.
It provides the services of a high-performance sound card as well as the main hardware functions of a DJ mixer: volume control, equalisation, effects and loop controls.
A dedicated controller is designed to work with and drive a particular piece of mixing software.
The best example is the range of controllers produced by Native Instruments for Traktor.
There’s something for every taste – and every budget:
There’s the S4, the ‘Traktor Suitcase’, which includes all the software controls in hardware, along with its simplified (and cheaper) S2 and S3 versions.
It’s great, but you’ve got to carry it around with you…
At the same time, Native is marketing a range of much smaller controllers, which of course have fewer functions.
There are several models with very different characteristics (X1, Z1, etc.), so it’s up to you to find the one best suited to your style of music and mix.
Now you probably know a bit more about the subject.
Now … On your marks … Ready? …. MIX!
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