Yeah, I have been through a couple of the past comps and their soundpacks.. definitely useful on learning. Thanks.
Some people on these forums are dicks, i wont mention any names coz you know who you are!
I remember being overwhelmed and have no idea where to start.
The loop masters djmixtools series is a good place to start if your into production and dj’ing. They are pre mastered stems of original tracks that you can cut/edit to your hearts desire.
Also check out dj tutor (ellaskins) on youtube. The guy in mad and the tutorials are more about dj’ing with cds & vinyl but the principals are the same and the skills transferable into the digital world.
Theres also shit loads of tutorials on production on youtube. Check out people like ill.gates and vespers. Those guys are putting out vids on how to transform your studio productions into live performances.
One important point to make is that there are no real shortcuts. Getting good requires a fuck load of time and practice. Its been 17 years since I got my first KAM belt drive turntables. I try and practice for a minium of an hour each day and Im still hunting and discovering new music.
Nothing wrong with using the key of a track to find tunes that fit nicely. I have over 10000 tunes on my harddrive. I use the genre & key to narrow down my choice. i.e my house/electro selection has over 3000 tunes, any given key will have 100+ tracks I can chose from. At the end of the day I still have to chose witch of those 100 track to play but I would be totally lost without being able to sort by genre and key.
i disagree. you should be mixing in key, or at the very least, mixing things that aren’t causing dissonance. for certain more atonal genres it really doesn’t matter that much. or in areas where there are no melodies, though if you have an out of key melody come in immediately after your first track’s melody stops, it will likely still sound odd to people who are paying attention.
also, it’s not really a bad thing to be limiting the number of songs to be played into another song. key is just one narrowing factor along with several others. i do however feel like you shouldn’t put all of your faith into a key tagging software, especially if you don’t have enough tracks to pick from. at the end of the day your ear should be the best judge and in charge of making sure your mixes are in key.
This isn’t true. Limitations and restrictions are a very important part of the creative process.
when i was still kinda learning to beat match, its important i mention that 13 years ago i was playing trance and hard dance, i went out an dug through a few bargain bins at a local record shop and bought some uk garage music and dnb…with the soul purpose of training my ears so when i went back to my normal music my beat matching was way tighter.
i also ended up liking dnb too lol. now i play house, but the skills are totally transferable.
I’m looking forward to seeing your amazing work.
Also - limitations are restrictions should be IGNORED when choosing a name, DJ BOB. 
The OP doesn’t have 10000 tracks…
I feel sorry for you if you are lost without being able to sort by key. I’ve been playing a long time. “What key is this track in” isn’t even in my thought process, never was.
Your ear will tell you whats best. Not some piece of software.
The OP is just begining and should not worry about what key tracks are in.
i agree to some extent, i think maybe i’m just misunderstanding your original sentence since there was no clarification. when i hear someone say [QUOTE]first..stop mixing shit in key…[/QUOTE] what can be inferred is “it’s ok to mix dissonant songs together.” i don’t think op or anyone should necessarily get hung up on a camelot wheel number to make all of the song selections, but instead should be using their ears to make sure things aren’t dissonant and are sounding good. like most tools it can be used to various extents and has a rate of error.
i personally use mik because i have quite a lot of tracks and narrowing down can be helpful, but i don’t always follow it if i think a song with a non matching code will fit better.
aaaah…i see the confusion now…I should have dropped “worrying about” after “stop”…
Unless I did want him to find two tracks that have no business going together and make them go together…
Lol, I can see you rubbing your hands together in a diabolical fashion…good, good, mix all the dissonance things…
“play me something that makes my teeth hurt”
^^^
OP: Best advice I got off this forum is practice everyday and record everything. Listen to it, fix what YOU think is wrong with it. Research, rinse, and repeat.
Give the guys some constructive advice or don’t post. Alternatively, i can arrange for that for you.
I have to agree. Coming from someone who also has been playing a long time, I would never even consider using MIK. I can’t imagine hindering myself to saying well I can’t mix this with this because the keys don’t match so I have to mix this first and then I can mix this. 2 tracks in the same key can still sound like crap in the same way 2 tracks in diffferent keys can sound like crap. I can see it being used as another tool and if some people feel it enhances their set to each his own but to ONLY mix in key is a little OCD IMO.
Grab your favorite tracks in the same genre, close in tempo, and practice mixing. Thats it. Every single song in your chosen genre can be used to practice.
@keithace
I dont have time to sit and key every track I own. I use all the tools available to me to get the job done. I then leave said job with a pocket full of cash and a night club full of happy punters wanting more.
I feel sorry for you coz you clearly have fuck all better to do other than trolling internet forums putting down people that are trying to help others.
Oh the irony. Subjective matter is subjective…
You can make your own practice sets. MiK your tracks, and plan out a 10 track mix based on the key. Map out how the set will progress based on the key of the tracks.