My First Mix :)

[King of Snake]

okay, today I made my first dj mix, using Ableton Live, and it's here for your listening pleasure (I hope):

http://www.sputnikkproductions.com/sputnikkmix_01.zip

It's sort of melodic techno and a bit of prog/trance, with Dark Train thrown in a the end for good measure. I think it turned out pretty well, but constructive criticism will be accepted and appreciated :)

tracklisting:

Jona - Evidence (Get Physical Music)
Slam - Azure (part 1) (Soma Recordings)
Alex Smoke - Neds (Vakant)
Stardiver - Another Moment of Silence (Kompakt)
Aril Brikha - Berghain (Kompakt)
Aril Brikha - Akire (Poker Flat)
Square One - Vesuvius (Freerange Music)
Square One - Vesuvius (Justin Martin's I Hope It Doesn't Blow Mix) (Freerange Music)
Pivot - Two Surreal (852 Recordings)
Michel de Hey and Grooveyard - Compound (Peter Horrevorts Remix) (EC Records)
Toby Holguin - Twisted Dreams (Lemon 8 Twist Remix) (Basswalk Records)
Liquid Soul - I Get a Rush (Motion Remix)
Loafer - Dirtbike (16 Bit Lolitas Remix) (Hope Recordings)
Underworld - Dark Train

[BeautifulBurnout]

Neat - looking forward to this. And would I ever criticise you? :p

[Leon]

Dude, this mix is really nice. I have to study like a mofo for my tests and this really helps. I love it.

[King of Snake]

thanks, I'm gonna work on it a bit more later today I think. There's a couple of transitions that could be better (that's the nice thing about Ableton, you can simply go back and edit your set later :))
Good luck with studying!

[King of Snake]

for those who already donwloaded this, I just uloaded an updated/tweaked version of this mix, and also in 192 kbps quality instead of 128.
You can use the same link as in the first post to download.
Thanks for listening!

[Leon]

for those who already donwloaded this, I just uloaded an updated/tweaked version of this mix, and also in 192 kbps quality instead of 128.
You can use the same link as in the first post to download.
Thanks for listening!

Was gonna ask for a better bitrate version of the mix, thanks.

[BrotherLovesDub]

great mix michiel. incredible first effort.

[King of Snake]

there seems to be an error in the new version I just uploaded so I'm gonna replace it with a new one again :rolleyes: (ableton doesn't always seem to render automation correctly)
sorry bout that, should be up in half an hour

[kid cue]

i had trouble unzipping this. it seems to get stuck on tracklist.txt ?

[King of Snake]

hmm, my guess is you must have downloaded while I was still uploading it so you got an incomplete file. Maybe you can try again? I just tested it and it works fine here.

[stimpee]

I'm just listening to the first version while downloading the second.... Sounds good so far! The Slam tune is grrrreat. I'll comment on your transitions when I pay enough attention!

[undarrenworld]

Oh, very nice, quite good sound and it flows nicely.
All done on Ableton? Amazing!

How did u get to used to ableton in this way? When I need to start with ableton for making mixes, what u will recommend me to start with:)

[spacejunk]

This is a good listen.:)

[kid cue]

oh, i got it to work. i think this is a nice first mix. many of the transitions do feel a bit 'safe' to me--such as the one into the Slam tune, or the one at ~30min, and even the "Dark Train" mix. it could be the software. you fade the next track in very gradually, and it blends with the current track, which often fades out very quickly. the tunes you selected are very melodic & driving tracks, which makes for the possibility of very lush, exciting, and hypnotic mixes. i found myself wishing many the blends could be a little more energetic, and with both tunes staying together for longer. instead, they generally seem to stay out of each others' way.

another effect of this is to give each tune time to develop in the mix, as you leave room for the intro to settle in, after which the tune really takes off, etc. maybe that's just the prog style, but it can feel a bit cumbersome over 90 minutes. a lot of Kompakt mixes use this strategy too, but i feel it's hard to pull off well.

some of the later mixes were great however. the UW, esp. Karl's vocals, worked well at the end, and caused me to "get" the appeal of minimal a lot more. nice DJ connect-the-dots ;)

[Leon]

oh, i got it to work. i think this is a nice first mix. many of the transitions do feel a bit 'safe' to me--such as the one into the Slam tune, or the one at ~30min, and even the "Dark Train" mix. it could be the software. you fade the next track in very gradually, and it blends with the current track, which often fades out very quickly. the tunes you selected are very melodic & driving tracks, which makes for the possibility of very lush, exciting, and hypnotic mixes. i found myself wishing many the blends could be a little more energetic, and with both tunes staying together for longer. instead, they generally seem to stay out of each others' way.

another effect of this is to give each tune time to develop in the mix, as you leave room for the intro to settle in, after which the tune really takes off, etc. maybe that's just the prog style, but it can feel a bit cumbersome over 90 minutes. a lot of Kompakt mixes use this strategy too, but i feel it's hard to pull off well.

some of the later mixes were great however. the UW, esp. Karl's vocals, worked well at the end, and caused me to "get" the appeal of minimal a lot more. nice DJ connect-the-dots ;)

I agree on the fade-in fade-out but it works for me. And about the cumbersome feeling, well I just describe it as "being in trance" :) I like that.

[King of Snake]

oh, i got it to work. i think this is a nice first mix. many of the transitions do feel a bit 'safe' to me--such as the one into the Slam tune, or the one at ~30min, and even the "Dark Train" mix. it could be the software. you fade the next track in very gradually, and it blends with the current track, which often fades out very quickly. the tunes you selected are very melodic & driving tracks, which makes for the possibility of very lush, exciting, and hypnotic mixes. i found myself wishing many the blends could be a little more energetic, and with both tunes staying together for longer. instead, they generally seem to stay out of each others' way.
I see what you're saying and I agree, when listening back to it I sometimes get the same feeling.
I think I'll experiment with adjusting some of the mix points so that tracks play together longer.

another effect of this is to give each tune time to develop in the mix, as you leave room for the intro to settle in, after which the tune really takes off, etc. maybe that's just the prog style, but it can feel a bit cumbersome over 90 minutes. a lot of Kompakt mixes use this strategy too, but i feel it's hard to pull off well.

do you mean that by not mixing the tracks together longer, you get to hear the buildup more troughout each individual track? Hmm, well wouldn't that be pretty difficult to avoid though, as each tune generally has some sort of buildup?

[Leon]

I see what you're saying and I agree, when listening back to it I sometimes get the same feeling.
I think I'll experiment with adjusting some of the mix points so that tracks play together longer.

There is one point though, there's a transition going on between 2 tracks and the melody's together sound slightly out of key. So maybe the way you did is the best way.

[King of Snake]

well yes it won't work for all tracks due to clashing harmonics (I didn't really have that many tracks to choose from yet so I did the best I could ;)) but some of the mixes could still be improved upon.

[Professor]

remember in abelton you can PUT them in key :) however, i often am guilty of letting mixes go on TOO long. lettting every track's intro work itself out is often a vibe killer in a club... (so i've been told) .. for instance, making a daring mix of a song coming in strong right after it's first break is usually a heart stopper if done right. but hey, i've listened to this mix several times now, and i'm a firm believer in 'song choice' mixes over perfectly mixed ones. well done man.

[BeautifulBurnout]

I'm impressed. And envious. Wish I could do this shit :D

Seriously, very much enjoying this. Picked up on what Duckie, Leon and Shane have said, especially with the intro's a tad long, but overall really impressed with this and enjoying it.

Well done! Now you have to teach me how to do it :p

[kid cue]

do you mean that by not mixing the tracks together longer, you get to hear the buildup more troughout each individual track? Hmm, well wouldn't that be pretty difficult to avoid though, as each tune generally has some sort of buildup? i think it's a different effect -- in your mix i get a feeling of 'starting over' with almost each new track, rather than riding the crest of an ever-building wave. this isn't bad in itself, but is a little much for my taste. whereas some more layered mixing, maybe not allowing each track to breathe quite so much, might allow you to build a lot more momentum at times. just a thought. i'm a strong believer in the mix making the tunes, so....

as far as melodies not working together, yeah--that's always a concern--but there are some tracks (e.g. Dark Train) where the melodic element is more of a repetitive pulse than a developing motif, so even if the keys don't perfectly match, i think it's ok to pull a longer mix.

anyway, i think it's mainly instinct. the more mixes you make, the more sensitive you become to the overall arc from beginning to end, how to manipulate the listener's sense of time ... that's the absolute biggest challenge of it IMO, whether you plan the tracklist or you're improvising!

[viddy]

Liking it. Needs more listening before proper commenting.

[King of Snake]

i think it's a different effect -- in your mix i get a feeling of 'starting over' with almost each new track, rather than riding the crest of an ever-building wave. this isn't bad in itself, but is a little much for my taste. whereas some more layered mixing, maybe not allowing each track to breathe quite so much, might allow you to build a lot more momentum at times. just a thought. i'm a strong believer in the mix making the tunes, so....


thanks for clarifying. I see your point and will take it into consideration for the next mix :) (or maybe I'll do some more editing on this one)

[verbal]

Haven't listened yet cause I'm at work. Will listen when I get home.

I'm just getting into DJing with Live myself. So are you just hitting record and having it record all the automation you do? Then going back later to tweak?

Using a midi controller?

[King of Snake]

yeah that's pretty much what I did. I used my Nord Rack as a midi controller.