Maybe we're born with it maybe it's maybelline...

[fatmandy]

A great mix tape is a great mix tape, but how 'real' should you take it? Is a tweak for the greater good or is it a cheat? Are cheat codes allowed if they smooth the path to that perfect mix?

I regularly play a venues and lay down long mixes, where disk space allows I record them (sods law always means low on disk space = best set, that's the way it goes!). But, when playing a 4 hr set, and recording it, all goes well apart from a part or two where a punter might have been requesting and you had to rush a mix.. is it ok to revisit that post production and smooth it over to then be happy and release that recording? Or, as we all would hope in a perfect world, it is only legit to release a perfect, natural take? Even if it means burning what is essentially a great selection and one banger of a session?

My personal opinion is simple edit then share away (personal disclaimer, I have done this twice but the rest of the take was so epic it had to be done), the tracks and selection are the focus, the technique is the icing and when the majority is solid... set that bird free and don't look back.

A perfect set is something special, but a nearly perfect with make up is just as pretty to the observer that almost certainly wouldn't notice the thing that narks you hard!

What I'm trying to say is that a production set can still be rubbish, a natural set can still be rubbish, but if a touch up on a great in the moment set means you can release that set and be truely happy with it why shouldn't you just do a quick tweak and stick it out there? Should it be dumped because it is not a pure representation of flawless DJing or do we live in the real world where there are punters, toilet breaks, kamakazi smokes and long ass residencies to deal with?

Interested in your replies, I'm on the fence as there is nothing better than that flawless recorded mix, but there are so many that with a tiny tweak could be there.. is that moral? is that ok? Is that cheating?

Happy to post a raw example if you want with the bits i'd tweak

[Patch]

Post it up.

As long as you're not mud-representing shat you do live, I don't see any problem with it.

[overcast]

One of my favorite quotes from Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton's book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is "...several of history's best DJs have been ropey mixers." While it's been 15+ years since that book was released, I think the sentiment remains. You can't be expected to be perfect all the time, but as long as your set is still on point, I'm sure it shouldn't matter.

[SirReal]

I spent a week in Eastern Mexico with Bill Brewster and 300 of my "best firends" seeing Dubtribe Sound System in 2000.