How do I create a mix, what is my method etc
Often I go with the flow so I first start with a track that I really love. I’ll review the BPM’s and the music key the track is in.
This is very important aspect to me because I like not only the beat to be at the right BPM but the music key also. I find that this gives a mix more harmony and it works very well for me in my weekly Guido’s Lounge Café mixes.
That view is based on the number of plays downloads as well as the positive feedback in listener-comments across several sites. Well that’s my view anyway.
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Next I start to search for tracks in the same keys and beats.
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Clearly there is a lot of listening involved as I listen to tracks the whole way through as I believe it’s very informative to know how tracks start & end. This way I can see whether I have room for a fade in or out.
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Also and if there any vocals on the track, then I also consider ‘how do those vocals affect the mix and the overall journey of sound & he listeners experieince when hearing the mix etc.
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See you can see that there are a lot of areas to look at but usually I just start experimenting with tracks to see if what works the best.
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Once I have a track-list that I like, I start to gather all the tracks I plan to use in the mix as well as ensure that all tracks are the same volume, HZ and quality. I have always believed that good preparation is half the work so I’m meticulous in this preparation.
Nb. my preferred & favorite programs to work with are; Audacity, Adobe Audition, Novation Twitch (controller) and Izotope Ozone 5.
Guido
(Guido's Lounge Cafe)
How I listen, reinterpret & feel about music
First I’d like to say something about what I consider to be the difference between
‘good’ & ‘bad’ music.
Bad music I like to compare to as bad food for the soul, like junk food. It’s something I can listen to but not for too long as it makes me restless, uncomfortable, it just feels unpleasant listening if I have to listen to it for too long.
But good music gives me energy, I can listen for a long time and I never tire of it.Good or bad music is different for everybody and overall, that’s a good thing because life would be very boring if we all liked the same music, just like food.
Also we often think or are led to believe that ‘popular’ music is good music but the Lounge music genre where I operate & I’ve observed that one can miss out on a lot of good music if one only listens to music based only on ‘main street’ popularity. After a while, I’ve found that if I ignore the bulk of the daily flood of music that marketing people try to push onto listeners, then I’m much more aware of the better music & so I’m in a better position to receive the type of music that gives the listener ‘energy’, instead of the ‘junk-food music’ that people follow because it’s the latest trend.
Maybe you should try some of my mixes and test my theory for yourselves.
Guido
(Guido's Lounge Cafe)
