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is key matching songs/samples/vocals REALLY needed?

K

karbonkidd

Artist
i've tried for so long to teach myself how to make mashes in perfect key, but have come to the conclusion when they're just to be played out on the weekend it might not be all that worth it...

don't know whether i'm talking like a defeatist or a truth sayer, but here's some tunes that i'm happy with (that you're more than welcome to rip apart if i'm wrong)

http://soundcloud.com/karbonkidd/give-it-away-rick-james

http://soundcloud.com/karbonkidd/karbonkidd-super-tag-team-bros

http://soundcloud.com/karbonkidd/how-low-can-you-ride-ft-war

thanks in advance for your help peeps ;)
 
out of key mashes make my skin crawl but thats just me. other people may not pick up on it though.
 
It would be fairly important. Ever heard of any DJ in a place worthwhile, play a mashup which wasn't in key ? Off key does have its merits at times. But as a general rule, its rather risky.
 
I currently have 2 off key mashups on my soundcloud, one of them it's only a sample which is OOK and 95% of people don't notice it. Another is with using LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem where the chorus goes OOK as the chord progression of the instrumental track by J-Lo is different to that of the LMFAO track, now again only 95% of people notice it.

I never used to mind but recently I've gotton far more accurate and nowadays I only produce mixes/mashups to a level where I would deem it only to be disliked by people simply because of their own preferences rather than the quality of my mastering. In other words, so that it could be put on radio or listened to by music fans who actually know their stuff.

When your a beginner it's fair enough, so long as it's not Too OOK, a little is alright. But it's best not to get in habit of ignoring the pitch, try and keep things on key :)
 
Hello all,

I realize this is an older topic, but I figured I'd offer my 2 cents. Hope that's ok. So mashing up and being on key. I think this is way too overlooked for a lot of DJs, producers, remixers ,etc.. A vocal being out of key with the instrumentation is the difference between someone saying "oh this must be a DJ mix" vs "Oh, wow did Daft Punk really get together with Boston to remix their track?" In my past experience alot of people don't even realize their listening to a mashup when everything seems to "fit" and be on key. After they think about it for a second they start to realize, but when the track has a vocal that is a half step higher than the root note of the instrumental they start to say "oh, that just doesn't sound right" (esp those who are not music majors or in possession of perfect pitch.)

With tools like AutoTune, Melodyne and even the pitch shifter within FL Studio vocal retuning is in reach of even the beginning producer.

Now, if you don't have a perfect studio acapella on hand this can make things trickier, but even so alot of times tricks can be played with repitching the track to get root notes and chords to work out.

Sadly, my remixing time has been curtailed recently to record live instruments so I can only offer an older mashup showing use of vocal retuning...

So I first have to make the following disclaimer: By no means am I knocking the original mashup (or artist) as without the original I might not have come up with the idea (I loved the original idea.) When I heard the original I thought to myself "That's a damn good idea and in my opinion is 90% there. If those vocals were just in tune it would be perfect." So I went to work AutoTuning the vocals to where I thought they should be and I want to again say GREAT IDEA to the original artist.

The original idea:
http://www.crooklynclan.net/preview.php?id=18410

The idea with correct pitch and some silly synth strings at the beginning:
http://soundcloud.com/djgiantg/hey-airplanes-giant-gs-refix

G
 
In the old days when you sorted 12" Vinyl by BPM this was to have some sort of order plus when mixing you could only really go +2 or -2 without a huge pitch difference.

Recently I have used the new mixed in key as I needed software that would BPM and Key my mp3 tracks so I could start to get some order, I only use this as a basic guide as the BPMs and Keys might be out but at least I can look quickly and see that 2 tracks might mix better together than a another.

Hope this helps, If you are mixing trust your ears rather than what the software says the BPM is. Its just a guide!!!
 
In my experience, most people notice out of key mixes. Personally, they make me want to tear out my hair. Even mixes where vocals are centered < 1/8 step sharp or flat make me want to punch a baby.
 
TakYamashita said:
In my experience, most people notice out of key mixes. Personally, they make me want to tear out my hair. Even mixes where vocals are centered < 1/8 step sharp or flat make me want to punch a baby.
Click to expand...

naturally, it just displays shoddy mixing skills. there's no way 2 different-key tracks could work together properly. I ain't no DJ and I still know it's Remix 101. it just doesn't sound right to the ear, and people who can't pick that up should not be allowed anywhere near remix kits
 
My experience:
1. the audience doesn't know whether it's a mashup or not. This is because they came to have a good time, and not to analyze the DJ.
2. However, sometimes they come to me when they realize that *this* song is different from the original that can be heard anywhere. Then they ask. :)
3. I only do mashups in keys. I "mix in key". ;)
4. People just loooove harmonic mixing, because it spices up the set, and they feel even better than in a regular, basic beatmixing enviroment.
 
The word is harmonic mixing people. It applies to mashups to keep things in key, but it also applies to a DJ just mixing from one track into another. Remember when your mixing everything still has to be in key.

The audience may not notice, or may not care - but if you want to further a career as a DJ or a porudcer, you will need to be able to mix in key / harmonically
 
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