Conflicted, looking for honest opinion!

[Patch]

I've always wondered about MIK, but haven't taken the leap yet. I feel like I would rather focus on which song fits better than whether or not it's in key. But I'm generally only mixing 8-16 beats with the type of music I play (disco, French house, indie dance, hip hop), unless I'm doing some crazy looping stuff. I can see how harmonic mixing is more important for longer blends.

This is WHY I use MiK. Not to choose which record to play next, but to ELIMINATE most of the records that I WON'T play next anyway.

Sorting by Key allows you to narrow your number of possible next tracks by removing most of the tracks will sound terrible anyway.

MiK is not gonna make you a better programmer - but it is a simple way of making the best use of your time between tracks.

NOW - MiK, + proper tagging of all of your tunes, +iTunes (or similar) smart playlists = AWESOME organisation = BETTER programming.

P.S - I STILL haven't got around to investigating iTunes Smart Playlists - but goddamnit, I will. And when I do..........

[tekki]

i've been using mik for about a year now and it's something i would recommend pretty highly. you always have to let your ears be the final judge which it sounds like you do anyhow. also, don't be afraid to go outside of the camelot system if you don't have a lot of "proper" choices based on mik. it is very handy if you have a lot of music like me so selections can be narrowed down, and it gives me a better idea of how the flow of a set can work.

i don't think you will be disappointed. oh, and btw there was a free key tagging software that was being promoted on here that people seem to like a lot as well but i can't remember the name. may want to search for that. one of the mods really likes it...photojojo or jester, i can't remember who. if you get that one, then you can still buy gear too!

edit: ah here was the thread:

http://forum.djtechtools.com/showthread.php?t=37799

direct link to software: http://ibrahimshaath.co.uk/keyfinder/

and it was jester!

Me as well.

Key Finder is the better of key analysis software I have found up until today.

[Patch]

MiK also does tempo, though.

I'm sure if Keyfinder did tempo, I'd be all over it, though (I hear Keyfinder is faster than MiK - but if it doesn't do tempo, that's understandable..).

[rukkus]

For MiK, like it's been repeated numerous times, its fucking awesome for organization. I'm pretty scattered when it comes to sorting my library and it's nice to by able to type bpm + key and get a giant list to sort through. I don't understand this elitist mentality some people are portraying, trying to imply that each song must be '100%-in-the-moment-but-also-i-know-every-song-i-want-to-play-in-a-row'. It just doesn't add up. We all take moments to dig through the crate and pull out what inspires us at the moment, and tools like MiK just make that easier. By no means does it pick the next song for you or limit your selection.

I think I like it because I can just lump all my songs in a single folder and use MiK's great tagging system to sift through what I want, when I want it.

[Patch]

Preach!

[Percy]

I bought it a few years ago & love it. It doese make your mixes smoother. If you mix in key for a while & then go back to your old way you will notice the clashes & less well matched mixes imediately. As for the fact people have been mixing fine without it for years, i disagree. I have been listening to house music since around 97. If ou go on any old school websites and listen to the greatest DJs from back in the day the people we regarded as legends you will notice two things. The mixes were nowhere near as smooth as they are today & there are a lot more tracks that clash (still great times though). They were the best back then working with what they had. Technology has moved on and made things better for us all. Its just a tool. I still think the most important thing is the music notthe mixing but if you can make the mixes more enjoyable to listen to too then great. Buy it. Enjoy it.

[Nicky H]

I have been listening to house music since around 97. If ou go on any old school websites and listen to the greatest DJs from back in the day the people we regarded as legends you will notice two things. The mixes were nowhere near as smooth as they are today & there are a lot more tracks that clash (still great times though).

lol, utter rubbish...

[smiTTTen]

I bought it a few years ago & love it. It doese make your mixes smoother. If you mix in key for a while & then go back to your old way you will notice the clashes & less well matched mixes imediately. As for the fact people have been mixing fine without it for years, i disagree. I have been listening to house music since around 97. If ou go on any old school websites and listen to the greatest DJs from back in the day the people we regarded as legends you will notice two things. The mixes were nowhere near as smooth as they are today & there are a lot more tracks that clash (still great times though). They were the best back then working with what they had. Technology has moved on and made things better for us all. Its just a tool. I still think the most important thing is the music notthe mixing but if you can make the mixes more enjoyable to listen to too then great. Buy it. Enjoy it.

I got three words:

Ren ais sance

[StephanV]

I was a minute away from buying MiK, but then I heard about KeyFinder. Really fast, and appears to be pretty accurate. I've yet to actually use it for live usage, but that's more due to my laziness than anything else.

So my advice: try KeyFinder!

[Coldfuzion]

Didn't read the whole thread, just the first post. You all know that Rekordbox analyzes the tracks for you as well, right? And it's FREE.