How do you record your mixes? One straight pass, or do you edit/remix?
Hey guys,
When you do mixes, do you restart from scratch when you miss a transition and such or do you edit the pass with a newer/better pass?
In the club it’s one thing to miss a transition, but when you want to make a good mix… must work your patience if you restart on a miss 
Thanks y’all! 
I record from start to finish so sounds like it would if i was playing live - i feel i get better practice this way
I always record live (never used the native mix recorder), however may take several takes to get like i want, sometimes i will use one tho that has the odd performance glitch in it to let the listener know it IS live, ya know 
usually like experimenting with effects etc but not for demo discs eh, keep them fairly straight up
Cut it at about half, so usually a mix will be 2 x 1 1/4 hr files.
ya, i second Bento’s sentiments
I like to do both ways.
sometimes I like to put together a mix that is flawless just for people to enjoy.
However when it comes to doing a demo for when I would like to play live.
I do one recording from start to finish. More human you know.
Yep jason. when we find DJ’s for our parties we always ask for a live mix, even if its a tape, gives you a better impression of what they can do and saves us throwing them off stage if they aint up to the standard of their demo mixes (not that we’ve done that mind you)
The old native mix recorder feature was good if you wanted a “perfect” mix but hell, not even Digweed is perfect (sorry john)
That’s the thing is I have run into DJ’s who send you this flawless mix only to find out sometime later (usually to late) they rigged it up in something like Sony’s Acid or Ableton and thier on stage skill is not quite up to par.
Shoes in the dryer!
Disastrous!
At least if they were using Ableton then they could of used it out live as well and repeated the same results as the demo.
For sure. I mean for example when i prepare a mix obviously i’m gonna chuck cue points etc in there, mainly for timing so i can get a fairly precise 2 1/2 hour mix or whatever. But when we do parties, and especially when i’m doing prog house or something, that same mix could be way longer now that i’m a loop junky.
For myself and my brother, our demo disc is actually the video from our first gig! Seeing as these days the pubs don’t really give a crap what you play as long as you pull in the punters ay, and that shows them that we can actually draw a crowd.
I find myself mixing more aggressive for demos and mixtapes but when i screw up, i restart from the beginning. This way when the clean take finally comes, it has some of my newest routines in the demo so it is current representation of my skill. Then i’ll disect the hell out of it so i can continue to clean up the routines.
Haha i save my aggression for performing, seeing as i usually have a half dozen stellas in me by then
Worst part is I wouldn’t be able to edit a mix… must be challenging to match two different sessions… unless you do like a really smooth/easy transition…
Won’t say it again, but mad props to y’all, cuz the mixes I’ve heard so far are pretty flawless (IMO) for live recordings!
I record the whole thing right through, but “cut” it half way through as in Traktor the max file size is 2GB or something. Just takes practise mate, and its also a good way to keep your concentration levels up. Couple of nerve soothing Stellas before you start is highly recommended
The first time I played live for some friends, I had a couple of Coronas in me. Beatmatching with tipsy ears is not a fun task.
I record my mixes if I plan on sharing them with friends or putting them online if there aren’t any trainwrecks. For the mixes that do have a couple of trainwrecks but are good otherwise, I keep them for reference as to what tracks work well with each other. After 9 months of using Traktor, I finally for a VCI-100, so I look forward to recording more and not being worried about a flawless mix, until, of course, I do have a flawless mix. 
That was a discussion in another forum some years ago I remember.
How to produce a good demo!?
That time the digital part was very young so the discussion went more in the way of…
“Get yourself on a solid pair of Technics or CDJ1000’s a DJM500 or 600 mixer.
Ensure you have a day where you are somewhat relaxed and will not be bothered. Have a case of your favorite beer on hand and make sure not to get stinking drunk as you will become sloppy and have to repeat it all again.
Then just relax and have fun!
Your demo will come naturally”.
When I was starting out I tried this and it more or less worked.
Another good pointer I was given is to always record yourself so that you don’t become that “Red Light Moron” or self conscious about your fuck ups when that Red Rec Light is on.
The best way I think to get a recording for if you are looking ot play out live. Is when you have a chance to, record yourself when you are playing live.
I record my mixes live & my mix cds that I give away are done in Live or MixMeister. TBH I sound 100x better live, being that I vibe off the crowd. When you do you live mix its usually in your house/room/garage.
I planned on making a mixtape and recorded a ‘raw’ version of it. Had a good day, it was fun, tried a lot of effect and looping stuff just to see how it sounds. It turned out to be quite nice with a few flaws though.
Now i’ve tried to do it again ‘for real’ and both tries it’s just been totally hopeless. Too much self awareness I think, and now I know ‘how’ it’s supposed to sound because I’ve done it before. So I try to do the same stuff again, which is hard since I can’t remember exactly what I did back then. I should just give myself a chance to not think about it and go with the flow again.
But on topic, you can produce this masterpiece which is awesome to listen to or make a live recording in which you can test stuff or show your skills. Both have their places but in the long run don’t raise people’s expectations too high if you can’t live up to them. I think you only lose credibility that way.
At our next event we are hoping to record the whole night live using the rec out on our '600. Just don’t want to rec and play on my machine in case of screw ups so maybe our VJ’s rig will do it, dunno. My brother uses cd’s exclusively but would be cool to hear one of his mixes after the fact for once.
Exactly right dude. Ya gotta be in the zone, and be sure u will not be interrupted for a few hours. In my case the flatmate has meditation on a wednesday night so thats sonic boom time lol. Do’nt be afraid to experiment and try new things even while recording, its all part of the learning process. Heck, i cringe when i hear my own mixing always critiquing my own skills dunno if thats a good or bad thing though.