Mthrfckrz Mix (Electro House) [Advice Requested]

[khouri]

I've downloaded and enjoyed so many of the mixes posted here over the years, thought I should shit or get off the pot, right? Plus there's an Underworld portion of this I think you guys will like.

MTHRFCKRZ Mix (57 MIN, AAC format, 82 MB) (http://www.johnnymetropolis.com/music/MTHRFCKRZ_Mix.m4a)

Most of this music is already a few years old, but I had pieces of this thing in my head all this time and I just needed to get it out.

The mix features samples/elements/portions of, in this sequence:

01. New Order: Exit
02. LCD Soundsystem: North American Scum (Kris Menace Remix)
03. Underworld: Peggy Sussed (Pete Heller Vocal)
04. MSTRKRFT: Street Justice (2007 Version)
05. Mylo: Drop The Pressure (Rex the Dog Remix)
06. Freeform Five: No More Conversations (Mylo Remix)
07. Peaches: Shake Yer Dix (Tiga's Where Were You In '92 Remix)
08. Annie: Chewing Gum (Mylo Remix)
09. The Prodigy: The Way It is (Live Remix)
10. Shiny Toy Guns: Nothing Compares 2 U
11. Goldfrapp: Ooh La La (Tiefschwarz Remix)
12. Simian Mobile Disco: Sleep Deprivation
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cheated Hearts (Peaches Remix)
14. Alter Ego: Rocker (Eric Prydz Remix)
15. Digitalism: Magnets
16. Daft Punk: Technologic (Vitalic Remix)
17. Soulwax: Miserable Girl (Nite Version)
18. Justice: D.A.N.C.E. (Les Rythmes Digitales Remix)
19. Daft Punk: The Brainwasher (Erol Alkan's Horrorhouse Dub)
20. Daft Punk: Robot Rock (Soulwax Remix)
21. Daft Punk: Oh Yeah
22. Soulwax: NY Lipps
23. Simian Mobile Disco: It's The Beat
24. Pet Shop Boys: Integral (Perfect Immaculate Mix)
25. The Chemical Brothers: Star Guitar
26. Daft Punk: Too Long (Live)
27. The Chemical Brothers: Elektrobank
28. Diddy & Felix da Housecat: 20 Minute Versions
29. Robyn: Be Mine! (Ocelot Mthrfckrs Remix)
30. Marilyn Manson Vs. Goldfrapp: This Is The New Shit

Besides Traktor 3 and a mouse, I have no gear whatsoever. I don't even have a separate headphone output, so I did all this the looooong way, if you know what I mean. I'm long past the point where I want to use some real gear and get out of the bedroom. I know I want to stay digital for the moment, and my research suggests the VCI-100 is the best way to go. But I'd like the Dirty DJ community's opinion.

This mix is where I'm at, musically, for the moment, but I want to do more complicated things with mixing, remixing, transitions and effects. So if anyone's kind enough to listen to this mix, would you please let me know if the VCI-100 is what I want, or recommend other options? I'd really appreciate it.

[holden]

Hey johnny-m!

Thanks for posting! i'll definitely check your mix out and give you some feedback soon.

Don't feel too badly about the lack of gear - it's not the toys that are important, but how you use them. Mixing is an art and takes practice, and even with the best equipment, an inexperienced mixer will cause trainwrecks. If you have an ear for good tunes and can quickly recall songs that are in similar keys/tempos/"feels", (as it seems you can, judging from the tracklist), you're on the right path.

Just for giggles, my first "mixes" were done solely with Sony ACID, whereby i beatmatched tracks individually, and while the music played, i'd scramble through my collection to find some track that "might" work. A lot of extra time spent "fixing" the stutters and pitches. Now, i still like the studio mix that i can spend time on, but play around with Torq digital mixer and am taking lessons on turntables. So many mixes these days are done in Ableton or other laptop programs, that the true art of balancing the spinning plates is being lost a bit.

Cheers,
holden

[khouri]

Thanks for the encouraging words, Holden. Looking forward to your remarks!

[Dunwho]

Hey johnny-m!

Just for giggles, my first "mixes" were done solely with Sony ACID, whereby i beatmatched tracks individually, and while the music played, i'd scramble through my collection to find some track that "might" work. A lot of extra time spent "fixing" the stutters and pitches.

i don't exactly DJ myself but we all have to start somewhere right? Well Sonic Acid 3.0 is what i started on, and i believe Sony have bought it since, and these days i still use Sonic Acid Pro. 4.0 ...

..but like i said i don't DJ, when i started makin music i would sample a lot of stuff, because all i had was a semi-acoustic guitar and a pedal and input into the computer...so finding that beat to work with your own music and realising that your own music was never at a constant beat....well....needless to say a lot of "fixing" went on....

..but these tracks...eventhough today i am quite happily producing music with a mix of Reason, Cubase and Acid PRo 4.0 (and performing live with Reason, my guitar, a mixer, midi controllers, a few pedals and recently i added a numark dj dual cd player and a mixer for that).... these first tracks mean so much to me now... the amount of work and time...and the mistakes... so nostalgic ...ha and it was what...4 years ago? not even that long...

but i guess what im trying to say is that while you may push for the more advanced equipment its the stuff that you produce when your still just banging spoons off pots and pans....thats the stuff that you need to remember when your waiting for your shiney new computer to render another 2hour mix you just banged out on your top of the range gear.... remember those days and apply it to your new shiney gear... cus if you put just as much effort in you will come out with something mad...something absolutely STONKIN!

well thats what i think anyway.... im gonna give your stuff a listen to now..

Dave
www.intheblackbox.eu (http://www.intheblackbox.eu)

[Dunwho]

Sorry man im having trouble opening it.... its just the format that infact my Acid has hijacked it and started looping it....wierd...so i only have like 4 seconds of the start over and over... ill see if i can fix it and give it a listen.

bare with me

[Lx_Nen]

My advice is if you are going down the computer route rather than turntables, wait a few months for Celemony's Melodyne Editor to be released. If it's half as good as it claims to be, it's going to completely revolutionise mixing.

[Professor]

melodyne is a pain in the ass. i've been playing with it since early beta, and now have the full version as shipped with protools 8... it's an interesting concept, maybe useful for engineering purposes, but i'm not sure ther ewould be a good dj application.

ableton live. period.

[Lx_Nen]

That's the old Melodyne... the new one called Editor works on polyphonic material, so you can do insane things like change a chorus from major to minor, or repitch/move/delete individual notes from songs... see the video here for an idea of what it does: http://mixonline.com/video/mixtv/melodyne_celemony_dna/

There will soon be beta for this, which will be available soon to owners of the full version.

[khouri]

Sorry man im having trouble opening it.... its just the format that infact my Acid has hijacked it and started looping it....wierd...so i only have like 4 seconds of the start over and over... ill see if i can fix it and give it a listen.

bare with me

Weird! Here's an mp3 version instead:

KILLKILLKILL MTHRFCKRZ Mix (MP3 format, 96 MB, 57:07 MIN) (http://www.johnnymetropolis.com/music/MTHRFCKRZ_Mix.mp3)

[Dunwho]

Weird! Here's an mp3 version instead:

KILLKILLKILL MTHRFCKRZ Mix (MP3 format, 96 MB, 57:07 MIN) (http://www.johnnymetropolis.com/music/MTHRFCKRZ_Mix.mp3)

Ok cool thanks... listening to it now...just breaking into a bit of underworld...liking it already hahaha

let you know when im done

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

I'm not able to download anything at the moment as I have so little memory(on my computer) for anything.

For now.

[Dunwho]

Was real good man, and in a way its a real pity you dont want to go into the hardware end of things because you do have a real good ear for what goes well and how to build a sound.. im more into minimal sounds myself and the tracks (especially near the end) would not usually be my cup of tea but you really did do a good job in mixing and blending their qualities well..its very listenable..

Personally i must say again you should think about the hardware end of things, because with track progressions like that and the sound that you have gone for you could do well as a DJ and have a lot of fun and make a little money while your at it.

But if you are sure you want to stick with what you are doing and improve on it, all i can say is keep putting in the long hours that you do even if you do find the right program which is more efficient for what you do... because as i find myself at times...it is easy to fall back on the gadgets and gizmos that make doing things easier and forget the hard work you put in when you didnt have it in the first place.. if you apply the same hard work to the new gizmos then you will just keep getting better and better... we all just gotta be disciplined! ha

sorry i cant suggest something good for you to use.. im a Reason man myself..and am gradually building up my hardware to lower my dependency on it to be honest so im pulling aware from software as much as possible..sorry

[Dunwho]

Actually maybe Abelton Live? i dabbled in it for awhile but it was a little to DJ like to me ... and now i realise that it may be just what you need..ha anyway thatss my suggestion

[khouri]

Apologies for the huge delay in responding; been slammed with work.

Sincerest thanks to everyone who listened and shared feedback and advice. You guys are awesome.


Personally i must say again you should think about the hardware end of things, because with track progressions like that and the sound that you have gone for you could do well as a DJ and have a lot of fun and make a little money while your at it.

Thanks very much Dunwho. But when you say "hardware route," what do you mean? Traditional turntables? CD decks? Or something like Serato as opposed to an all-in-laptop approach?

[Dunwho]

Thanks very much Dunwho. But when you say "hardware route," what do you mean? Traditional turntables? CD decks? Or something like Serato as opposed to an all-in-laptop approach?

Yea i mean like cd turntables and a good mixer... and perhaps link that with a laptop for a more dynamic sound.. if you are already familiar with using computer programs to create the sound you need then it wouldn't be crazy to think that perhaps incorporating a bit of hardware would not be too difficult. and with a good bit of practice you'd be ready to start making a little money hear and there...

its just an idea.. but i understand it doesnt answer your current question concerning computer based music production.

[King of Snake]

ableton live. period.

listen to the prof. Ableton Live is where it's at, especially if you want to do "complicated things with mixing, remixing, transitions and effects". Personally I don't know about something like that VCI-100. It's only good for basic 2 channels mixing, so that's not gonna give a you a lot of options. Plus you don't need the jogwheels if you're playing with Live. Just get something like a Evolution UC-33, that way you can mix with 3+ channels with enough controls for EQ and some FX.
And of course Live is a full-blown production program as well.