What is "Dirty" House? Are you making up a genre like they do for Dubstep?

Lol I'm not sure what you mean when you're comparing to dubstep because dubstep actually has a clear sound. I'm not one that cares for "genre battles" so I could be wrong, but the difference to me for dirty house compared to house is that dirty house has more of a "drop" and it sounds more "raw." It's hard to explain, easier to simply give examples. Compare "Move it 2 the Drum" by Chuckie and Hardwell vs. "Ghosts n Stuff" by deadmau5. They both run at 128/130 bpm, but have a clear distinction between one another.

PS. I forgot to mention, the reason why I posted this is that it was the first mix I made with the Vestax VCI-300 MKII, great controller!

it goes off beat a lot when you're mixing, the levels are all over the place, there's key clashes in spots, overlapping melodies that don't work well together, off phrase transitions.... do yourself a huge favor and learn some music theory and basic recording techniques.

stop

hammer time?

she's a super freak, super freak (she's super freakay)

also, that afrojack song is NOT a remix of Jason Derulo like you have it in the track listing. It's a remix of Imogen Heap's song Hide and Seek....
Watchwww.youtube.com

just an fyi...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!! Remix of Jason Derulo!!!! Ahhhhhhh Hahahahahaha!!!! Gimme your turntables! You're done!

I love this forum! (nh/nm)

Yeah I have trouble keeping the volume the same throughout, itch doesn't have anyway to show this and I can't figure it out using my headphones since the "middle" point between the cue/master knob(sorry I don't know the name of it) is not truly what the previewed track will sound like.

I'm not sure what you mean by "off phrase transitions" but as for the key clashing and overlapping melodies, I'm not "musically inclined" per say. I do know a little bit and to me the overlapped melodies sounded fine and to parties that my mix has been played the crowd seemed to love it. Maybe to a more musically inclined person it doesn't sound as good, but in general to a big crowd it seems fine.

As for the offbeat thing, the only time I messed up with the beat is the mix between the first and second song, I didn't want to record the whole thing over just because of that one screw up, so unless you can point out another spot I think it's harsh to say it goes offbeat "a lot."



I know this actually, but my friend gave me that song and that was how it was listed. I heard the original song a long time ago from the snl skit before the Jason Derulo version, but since it was written as a remix of whatcha say on what my friend gave me, I kept it that way.

I hate a dirty house i gotta keep things tidy, if im gone alot ill hire a maid to come in and fix it up a bit but you gotta watch em cause they wont hesitate to pocket loose change

.......you dont say

if this is a case MABYE JUST MABYE you should look into other avenues of employment or another hobbyest endevour rather than being the person soley responsable for selecting and playing music

wait...let me get this straight.....you messed up the transition between the 1st and 2nd song...and didnt want tto record the WHOLE THING over...the whole thing being the 1 song you had played

.......speechless

Well that's pretty ridiculous, you're telling me when you started DJing you knew everything there is to know? I don't understand why you have this tone of almost being mad at me for all of this. I do this as a hobby and that's all, and by your logic if you're not a perfect expert at the task you should just let go of it? Imagine how many people would never get anywhere with that kind of logic.



While I was mixing I didn't realize it was offbeat. When I listened to it over again that's when I noticed, keep in mind I've been doing this for barely over a year and not seriously, just as hobby.

Its not all that bad, do you gig out alot\play for crowds or are you just a bedroom dj??

I played at 2 bars and other than that the only other way my mixes are heard are at parties my friends bring them too. I myself don't party, which sounds odd to many people I meet, but that's just not who I am. I just like to mix the music and listen to it. I've never been one to try anything too fancy or add any effects because I like to keep the songs as original as I can. Which is why I try to do "quick" mixes between songs, but I still need to learn more on how to do that effectively.

this is why

I hope you realize that comment right there made you look even more ridiculous than before. If you don't like my mix, that's fine, I don't expect everyone to do so, but then you say you had a "mad tone" at me because LATER I revealed I only played at 2 bars? That's my choice by the way, I have been asked to do more, but I like keeping it as a hobby and not interfere with my school work. You had that tone against me before I revealed this and it's silly to be mad over something like that either way.

2 other things to mention to you:

1) You said you don't like dirty house, so what brought you to a topic named "Do you like dirty house?" If you don't like the genre, don't bother listening to it.
2) I appreciate constructive criticism but if all you're going to try and do is to insult me because I'm not a perfect DJ after a year, try finding another topic to post in. Your words have no help here.

just for my own curiosity.....how much did you get paid to rock those bars?

also when did i say i dont like listening to dirty house? Also regardless of that answer why did you name your thread "do you like dirty house" if you only want people who liek dirty house to be involved, by leaving the thread title an open question you invite lovers and haters of the genre to give their opinion

Couple of things... first off, meet Bezzle. He will argue with you on any point any one makes, and do it just because he enjoys it. If you don't really like to argue, I wouldn't argue with him.
Secondly, I think he took a "mad tone" because you made some pretty serious errors on your mix, got called out on it, and responded defensively. For example, someone pointed out that some key clashes... and you responded by saying that in a "big crowd it seems fine." It may sound fine to you, and you may not have noticed a crowd reaction, but if you put this mix up against one that IS mixed harmonically, most people will notice the difference.

All that said: songs are recorded in a certain "key." Songs in the same key mix flawlessly (form a harmonic standpoint). Songs in different keys can compliment each other or clash, just like wearing certain colors. Human reaction to these things are very basic and primal... we often can't describe why it doesn't look/sound good, but we know that it does or doesn't.

"phrasing" refers to the different part of a song: verse, chorus, etc. Songs all build from one to another etc. As a result, if you run two choruses over each other (in any genre) it doesn't sound good, and the natural tension in the songs is ruined... it is a great way to make two good songs sound like crap.

Lastly, with the volume... that's a real easy one. Listen to how it sounds. Take your headphones off. Look at your meters.

All the above is the world's most simplified introduction to all those things, which, if you are a DJ (pro or otherwise) you should be researching on your own. THere are tons of great websites for new DJs. Most important of all is to record and listen to your mixes... DAILY (or everytime you mix). You are, or should be, your own toughest critic.

*tips hat, G'Day mate



more or less....also setting up the proper answers from him so i can put him in my sample bank to use as an example in later conversations

PS danu165 please read and learn the above, its good information, save it, write it down, take a pic, do what you need to do to learn it because thats knowledge and not being "musically inclined" (i really still cant get over a dj claiming this publicly) is no excuse

you asked for constructive criticism, that's what I gave you. No anger, no hate, just brutal truth... you say you're not very musically inclined, so learn. you don't know what I mean by off phrase transitions? Phrasing is one of the most basic concepts in dealing with song structure and something EVERY dj should know. Learn what it means. you say you have trouble keeping the volume consistent throughout a mix? this is something else very basic to djing. learn about gain structure and work on it. there's a sticky here on the serato forums about it.
serato.com
I don't use itch, but I know in ssl there is a gain meter, and damn near every mixer I've ever seen has channel level indicators. again, keeping levels consistent from song to song is something very basic to being a dj.

beatmatching and transitions - most of the transitions were off beat, not just the 1st one. there were a couple that were close. beatmatching is another basic skill. If you didn't HEAR that the 1st transition was off beat when you were mixing, I don't know what to tell you.

Key clashes- the first transition clashed really bad, but honestly, you could have called this "Danu's Dissonance Mix" If you don't know what the word dissonance means, look it up. Get your hands on a keyboard and press 2 white keys right next to each other. that's what dissonance sounds like. your mix is full of it. Learn what it sounds like, LISTEN for it when you're mixing (as in preview a song in your headphones to make sure it doesn't clash before you mix it in) and avoid it. the flipside of this is learn about harmony and apply it to your mixes. google "harmonic mixing" and if you truly cannot hear the obvious clashes, get mixed in key (a software that scans your songs and tells you what key they're in) and use it. but honestly, if you can't hear how horrible that shit sounds.... maybe call it a day and hang up your hat.
If you don't wanna give it up, like I said before, do yourself a HUGE favor and learn some music theory (melody, harmony, tempo, time signature, etc). Do yourself another favor and practice basic dj techniques.
you asked for constructive criticism. I'm giving you just that. You can get defensive and say "well it sounds good to me" or "it worked at some parties" or you can take it to heart and work on these things. I didn't say "you suck, go fuck yourself" I said these are the things that I hear wrong with your mix, go work on them" Brutal truth. Take it as you will.

+1 well said

I did it for free, I did it for fun if you ask why I did it for free.



You said it right here:



Unless you meant dirty house mix, but it wasn't too clear either way. And my intention was to only invite those who actually like dirty house.



If you would would you be able to give me an example so I could see the difference?



Ok that's what I thought but I didn't want to assume wrong. I don't believe I did any of that, the way I mixed every song is that I would mix the build-ups both songs together until the other song's build-up takes over. Might not have sounded to good at points but to me it seemed effective since I know no other way to mix dirty house.



How is it not an excuse? How would I be able to tell key clashes and such without being musically inclined? Let me reword it this way, you are giving me criticism which yes I can agree I did things wrong. However, it's not constructive like how reggae delgado put it.

Oh wow sorry I put my post in the quote marks, to make it more clear the quote was



and my response:

The anger comment was directed to Dj-M. Bezzle, sorry for the confusion, I took your comment into actual consideration.

As for the whole harmonic mixing thing, that brings a very limited amount songs for a mix doesn't it? If a mix were only all harmonix mixing, sure the mixing itself would sound great, but listening to songs in the same key would bore the audience eventually would it not? I know there's a concept that you don't want the keys to be completely different, but as you mentioned that I have a lot dissonance, which yeah it's not "harmonic" but to me it doesn't sound terrible. If it's close enough I feel that it works, am I wrong about this?

Oh and I forgot to address the gain issue. Yes I look at my meters and they're always at the same level, the gain meters are obviously not clear enough though as you can see from my mix. I'm just using the VCI-300 MKII by itself, so I guess it's gain meter is just not good enough.

please use the ENTIRE quote and if you still think i was talking about music kick yourself






thatnks for the answer it was EXACTLY the answer i was looking for...this is what im talking about guys, you sir are whats wrong with the game

Lol don't worry I'm "out of the game" I just do it as hobby now as I said

Oh woww... my bad I figured the first part was a typo and then I had no clue what you were talking about in the second part thinking that.

this right here is what pisses people off. I'll let bezzle handle that one, cuz I'm sure he has a rant on freejays and how they fuck up the game on file....

harmonic mixing does not mean all the songs are in the same key. It means that transition to transition you are mixing songs together that are in complementary keys.

yes. you are wrong about it. It DOES sound terrible. google harmonic mixing and learn the technique. learn about the concepts of harmony and dissonance. and if you want to mix two songs together where the keys clash, it's fucking house music. the intros and outros don't have any melodic elements to even have a key, so just mix the outro of one song into the intro of another....

awsome, enjoy your hobby, much luck on the practice and for the love of god please keep your hobbying away from public gigs that professional djs could be making money from :)

lol, yup, acutually this gets tracked as statistical data next that will be added to that file....its nice to have real world examples to back up my mad ravings when the time comes up, mr danu165 will make a wonderful statistic, all i need him to say now is that the his mixes WERE on beat because he pressed the sync button so they must be right lol........*slowly stops laughing, gets look of concern, slowly looks at danu........were you using the sync button in itch???

I was wondering that myself....

lmfao!!! I diddnt bring it up but when op said he has a hard time getting the levels right in the HEADPHONES I assumed he was syncing...(my roomie "practices" in his headphones and is always complaining that he cant get his levels right either)
Its pretty damn hard to record a solid mix when your not using an EXTERNAL sound source to monitor your master out.

...and THEN he said he was using a vci-300.....oh dear......

I never even thought of this.... that dude didn't have ANY external speakers and was only using headphones....

I do it all the time and I think the thing about it that annoys me the most is I use a 57 (previously 56 and before that a 54) and the cue/program toggle rather than a blend makes it worse than it has to be.

Talk about a "bedroom" dj! Dont wanna wake mom n pops up late in the night when hes getting his dj bl3nd on!

also, I don't really understand how sync works. I mean I can see an algorithm fucking it up with some crazy syncopated beat or some off time jazz shit in a weird time signature, but how can someone go off beat when using sync on a 4/4 house track? I hear it all the time...

Its all based on the bpm which is based on a number for example128.543 which is only so close to perfect. Over time they slip a little just like a loop can do. Which is why syncers keep mashing the sync button to resync the mix.

see that I can understand, a mix slipping over time even with sync. I'm sure when I'm beatmatching by ear I'm not accurate to 3 decimal places lol, so I'll have to nudge it here and there to keep it in time. what I'm talking about is total train wrecks.... sneakers in the dryer kinda shit. How does that happen with sync. or is it that sync just puts the song at the same tempo and doesn't align the transients?

If a DJ cannot sync 2 tracks, I'm sure computers will have a hard time as well. Not sure about EDM cause it seems simple to my untrained ear, but certainly with syncopated music auto sync sucks.

files.sharenator.com

oyster.ignimgs.com

27.media.tumblr.com

files.sharenator.com

It's time the old "i dont really give a shit so i'm gonna make fun of you" sniffles comes back! :)

Almost as annoying as M-Bezzle but without wasting space on pointless arguments! I have arrived!


















Again.

word

It's starting to feel like the 2007/2008 ssl forums again :)

couldn't agree more, you could be perfect on bpm's, the math working right, but if its out of key, there is no saving grace. mixed in key will help, but u gotta know how to use that shit first. and understand the basic mathematics of music, and yes there is math involved with music



another good point, i've been recording when ever i have mixed, way back in early 2007, and from those early recording all the way up to last nights quicky, u can hear the not only the difference in the harmonics, phrasing, mathematics, but in the programing as well, and no one, and i mean no one is harder on me then myself, even if i screw up the most basic mix, i literally wanna talk my ass outside and beat the living shit out of myself. i am my own worst enemy!
youtu.be



sneakers in dryer.....too funny, gotta remember that one!!

been wanderin what happened to that guy