DJ Tutorial: Learn Harmonic Mixing w/ DJ Endo

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Harmonic mixing is becoming an industry standard for professional DJs all over the world. It is an innovative way to mix tracks together that are in the same or related keys, resulting in better sounding DJ sets. Mixing harmonically compatible tracks makes it easier and more pleasing to perform long blends and mash-ups. The goal is to eliminate key clashes.
In this harmonic mixing video, Dubspot DJ Instructor Endo shares his knowledge about an innovative way to mix tracks that are harmonically compatible with each other using Native Instruments Traktor, FM8 synth, and Mixed In Key.
Read more: ow.ly/5y3I302ASw8
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[@MrTaisoul]

All you guys complaining that this is not needed are buggin. I've been mixing since the 90s and the best DJs back then cataloged their vinyl by key and BPM. It was a must in any large collection. It took forever (unless you were diligent and did it when you purchased your records). Having the power of software to do this is freakin awesome. Half you guys claiming you are "Old School" because you do it by ear are full of it. I'm old school because I'm OLD. Lol. I have a great ear for pitch to (I produce as well). I can do it by ear but with a huge collection sorting is more efficient. I prefer to let the software do keying. It's a task NOT A SKILL. And just because your key is on point does not mean you will rock the crowd. The art of DJing is about reading the crowd and having great selection, programing and edits (Now called mash-ups)!! PROGRAMING AND EDITS ARE THE LOST ART. Even beat matching is a task. It was a skill but it's no longer needed. I still do it though because it just makes me feel good. Lol. Stop bitchin and start wowing people with your selection and timing. Take them on a trip already!

[@iljab3557]

i agree, but the problem is: much of the analyzed files have a wrong key look at this: www.djtechtools.com/2014/01/14/key-detection-software-comparison-2014-edition/

[@mariocamino5436]

Ilja Boor I hear you llja Boor but so what? So it's not perfect. 99% it's on point enough for me. I use my ears at the end of the day anyway. That's just natural to me. It's not rocket science. This just saves time. If a track is not working then I don't play that track. Simple. The software allows you to override the key and store it also. I'm lazy so i don't but you can. I just think people are over thinking this shit. The software works. I back it up. I've been mixing since 1987. DJs, performers, lighten up! Not only does it work pretty damn well. It's cheap! AND The developer has never charged me for an update. Come on you cynical bastards! LMAO. You know what? I changed my mind. Don't use it. I'll just stand out. NOTE: This is not directed at anyone in particular.

[@daveslow84]

WORD!

[@RoyClaessen]

This video actually pushes me to do more research and go even deeper with my music. Thanks great video and dont even mind the haters!

[@dubspot]

Glad we could help. Thanks for tuning in!

[@brandonunger1689]

damn, I'm still learning more and more in Traktor thanks to videos like these. incredible

[@neilmobile22]

easily one of the best youtube channels out there!

[@DeeJayEndo]

Who are you calling a noob? I've been DJing for 12 years, started only on vinyl. Going back to my mixes I made 10 years ago, they were actually in key before I even knew about harmonic mixing. A good DJ will know what goes well together "by ear" but this is a system that will help you find tracks that go well together harmonically QUICKLY. In the digital world this is an amazing tool. I guarantee if you try the software out it will change your life.

[@inthydreams911]

Been using harmonic mixing for awhile, but I didn't realize you skip keys to build energy. Pretty awesome stuff, thank you! Wow this mashup with the shpongle and everything is awesome!

[@rhythmfield]

Good stuff Endo & Dubspot, NY Stufent here, keep up the good work. 5 years on this vid still pertains

[@cordeezyt]

your videos are mad helpful, you do a good job explaining things using examples.

[@DeeJayEndo]

@TheEverettRyan Great to hear! Mixing Harmonically will definitely help you stand out in the DJ world. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@garciavicmanuel]

it's 3:00 am. So glad I found your video. learned a lot in just a few minutes. awesome job. thank you so much.

[@DeeJayEndo]

I hope this kept you up the rest of the night listening to awesome key combinations with your tracks!

[@johnnyrocket2146]

good stuff man. easy to understand.... def looking forward to taking my mixing up a notch.

[@Dtroy93]

Endo, this is a great tutorial, really opening my mind to a better way or mixing. And forget these people stuck in the past. Let them continue to cry about the good old days when dj's we're breaking their backs lugging around crates of vynil, this is the future and my Traktor Kontrol s4 and laptop is all I need :)

[@HughMungussy]

this cleared up all my confusion with harmonic mixing. so excited to be going to dubspot next year!!!

[@vrusimov]

Well done...a critical part of djing in my opinion...especially as it pertains to energy.

[@fissoleouf23]

The final mix is ... stuning !

[@DeeJayEndo]

❤️

[@crackerackadingdong]

really good tutorial for showing my dj friends. used to play classical so i know about music theory outside of djing but explaining it to people who never played music is tricky

[@DeeJayEndo]

Harmonic Mixing is great for ANY genre of music, even genres like techno which are mostly percussion. It actually finds the general key of tracks with all drums. For hip hop its amazing.

[@sonicallyno]

great video mate, thanks for the upload.

[@DeeJayEndo]

Amen brother. Preach! Thanks for writing and for your comment.

[@rahulanand0101]

thank you! sounds great!

[@DeeJayEndo]

I am a Berklee graduate and classically trained. I know music theory trust me ;-) However when your dealing with thousands of tracks in your library, this is a great tool for narrowing down your collection and getting to the tracks that will mix harmonically faster.

[@degs24]

Very helpful and easy to follow tutorial. Thanks.

[@weirdleather]

Thanks for the video, this helps a ton

[@TroyP20]

Great information I will definitely be using

[@TrevorTV]

This is a very well done tutorial, nice job.

[@raffi3o3]

great video, many thanks !

[@garethmillers5453]

Great Tip where you Fill out the Musical Key in the Comments section to show yourself that you have checked whether that is the actual key after working it out yourself. Thank you.

[@DeeJayEndo]

Still using this system to this day!

[@bcgelandewagen]

clear concise tutorial. Very helpful!

[@meneerproduceer]

Great video, an eyeopener. Youve explained music theory better than my teacher could ever. Thank you. I could not find a crack of Mixed in Key that worked with Win 7 Ultimate, however I found a FREEWARE program called Keyfinder, which does the same thing. This trick improved my mixes by factor 2. thanx again !

[@FrogoHelps]

very informative great video!!! this video makes me more motivated

[@electricalconnection8522]

thank you for doing this!

[@rsjokes]

Good video mate, I already got this stuff, but it's good to reinforce the knowledge

[@Daencker]

Great tutorial. So simple. You can also mix in key with a diagonal key from the wheel ex: 1B -> 2A, 5B -> 6A, 10B -> 11A etc. So it works when minor key is one camelot step lower than major key and major key is one camelot step higher than minor key. Like 2A -> 1B, 6A -> 5B, 11A -> 10B. I have also experienced that all minor keys can sound harmonic together as you mentioned with the higher energy boosts from 12A to 2A, 9A and 7A. They can all work, but not every time. Same with major keys.

[@helmettilt96]

Nice vid keep them coming!

[@DDaniels3000]

Love this helps so much, and using this technique with Push makes it even easier, find my self just jammin to songs more lol

[@gpernarella]

excellent explanation!!!

[@BpmSupreme]

thanks for the lesson on harmonic mixing!! great video!

[@DeeJayEndo]

Thank you BPM Supreme! Much respect!

[@zulfisyed9045]

thank u s great to know with so much of detail god bless

[@forestknauff14]

Really cool. Learned a lot about the Camelot System.

[@pornmeister75]

Thanks a cameLOT ;-) really helped my mixing sounds soooo much better!! And today you don't need mixed in key, Traktor has it now also build in.....

[@Hadyzahra]

Helped me a lot , THANK YOU :)

[@bAdDA5z]

awesome video. thanks

[@TheOverReal]

awesome, thank you!

[@starvinmarvin305]

Tiesto uses this method! Omg Good tutorial man!

[@ffernandez16]

thank you for this vid

[@moisespamisa965]

Your an Angel man. Thank You :)

[@diegopinedao]

thanks for the good info

[@beattzzz]

Great video. Also, props for using a track by a little-known 90s dance group from Melbourne. I wasnt sure if anyone outside of Australia had ever heard of the original Pendulum :)

[@matthewtoledo3675]

Sweet... Thank the DJ

[@fajarnurmajid5319]

thanks a lot, very useful

[@GorkemADR]

All you do is nagging all the time. Fuck your ego guys. Just because you're DJing, it does not make you a superstar. Let us learn something important here. It's a vital task for organizing stuff. Great Video Endo, Thank you.

[@KyleKronez]

Agree.

[@BlackSuneEmpire]

Mum say's I am her superstar.

[@joachimvanhulle]

good explenation, thanks!

[@vivekanandhanchandravathi]

Classy one!

[@watchlp5]

very nice. KEEP CALM AND WATCH DUBSPOT

[@JohanBrodd]

I'm actually writing my album so the tracks match harmonicly with each other. This is a really awesome mixing technique. Not that I'm a DJ, but I tend to work the same way.

[@ALTN8NRG]

Great Vid!

[@JohnVandivier]

great advice man

[@thomaschazot]

this is genius thanks a lot !!

[@amirgaripler2380]

good job man,

[@DeeJayEndo]

@thefishdog this is true. If 2 tracks that are in the same key are raised or lowered by 6% then they are a half step apart from each other. If you play tracks that are similar BPM's then the system works. I am posting a new article soon on the Dubspot Blog on my system of mixing Harmonically without using Key Lock. Stay tuned!

[@LockIsGaming]

Thank you so much for the tutorial on camelot harmonics....

[@DeeJayEndo]

Thanks for watching man! Algoriddim is a GREAT program. I love it for fun. Its not a pro DJ application but definitely a ton of fun. Check out my Harmonic Mixing study I did on the Dubspot Blog to see how accurate DJay is compared to other key detection programs. Search for "Endo's Key Detection Study" to see all the results in full detail. In Traktor you just turn key lock on and then turn the "Key" knob to change the pitch chromatically.

[@raheemandroll]

good job bro its helpful

[@deejaysoulution]

great tutorial

[@DINO92AVFC]

I'm using Traktor's key detection since it exists. To verify if key is right, first I try to find song on Beatport and read the key in song's info, otherwise I do it by ear.

[@tomasmorey1269]

and all this digital work it was made before on the fly with bare ears, jajaja. Very good video Endo. Best,

[@DeeJayEndo]

The good DJs might find they were harmonic mixing their whole career and didn't even realize it.

[@AA1010101010]

great stuff

[@cuervacho]

You are a generous man, sharing all these tricks. For someone who has studied music, this particular tip might sound super basic (this is like the ABC of composition), but what a useful tip it is, nevertheless! Thanks!

[@georgeforrester2919]

Nice I learned something.

[@Puzzle_Dust]

@DeeJayEndo your totally right man!

[@Willdrknght]

@ theblackfluid , I buy 90% of my music from beatport and used to just use the keys from the site but now I use MIK and from my old notes look spot on !

[@thinApe]

Yes, it does.

[@DeeJayEndo]

@TheNolimits29 What I was referring to is going up one half step, which is one note on the piano. So you can go from a B to a C because there is no black key in between those two notes. Also you can go from an E to an F (No black note inbetween those notes either). If there is a black note in between the notes, or if the next note is a white note, you can use that key (ex F to F# or C# to D). Each time you go up a half step, this adds 7 to the number on the camelot wheel.

[@Statusinator]

Whenever I hear harmonic DJs talk I suspect that I am literally tone-deaf

[@nuravvoc4794]

thanks buds blessings toya for posting zeen

[@DeeJayEndo]

@khoafilm I would suggest analyzing your music before even importing / playing it in Traktor or iTunes. The way to update the tags in Traktor is to select the tracks in the track collection (you can batch select), right click on the list or track and choose "Edit" - LEAVE EVERYTHING BLANK - DO NOT CHECK ANYTHING - then hit "OK". It will refresh the tags and the keys will show up like magic :)

[@vuongquang007]

thanks you alot.

[@DeeJayEndo]

Mixed in Key is about 82% accurate for dance music (especially dance music with harmonic content). I did a study on this which will be posted soon!

[@DeeJayEndo]

@VVooDz To get the tags to update, Right click on the Track Collection and choose "Check Consistancy". Or you can select a group of tracks and right click and choose "Edit", then hit the "OK" button WITHOUT TYPING ANYTHING IN, and all the tags will update. The other way is to double click on the track title and the tags will update just for that song. Also keep in mind there is a dedicated "Key" field in Traktor that Mixed in Key can write into. Choose this option in the mixed in key preferences

[@DeeJayEndo]

@yann27 You can change that in the mixed in key preferences. Go to View - Key System - and change it to Camelot Keys

[@xbase09]

thanks!

[@DeeJayEndo]

To show the keys in Traktor you need to go to the Mixed in Key Preferences, click on the "Key" tab, then check the option for "Update custom "Initial Key" mp3 tag (viewable in Traktor). Then in Traktor, right click in a grey area in Traktor's browser (above all the categories) and select "Key". This will show the key column in Traktor's Browser. Just a tip: I would run all your music through mixed in key BEFORE bringing it into Traktor.

[@nirson123]

amazing

[@nicoverba]

Traktor 2.6.1 FTW! =)

[@JohnLaFosse]

This type of information makes or breaks a DJ. Without your lost.

[@AtomicArcherGuy]

Nope. This information isn't 100% necessary for DJs. I would know. Over 1000 shows with no harmonic mixing. Got by on being good at reading a crowd, selecting good music and MC skills for my weddings and nightclub performances. If you can't use a mic, you're a broken DJ. If you can't get people dancing because your song selection sucks, you are a broken DJ. If you can't read a crowd, you might get lucky a couple times. If you can't mix harmonically, oh well. If they dance, they dance.

[@JohnLaFosse]

Christopher Rees Apples and oranges. It depends.

[@AtomicArcherGuy]

I disagree. If you have the other skills in your repertoire, you don't need harmonic mixing to add to the list. Its just an excellent 1up.

[@JohnLaFosse]

Christopher Rees By typing apples and oranges I do not mean that I'm polar opposite in this argument that I don't feel is one to begin with nor do I feel I am neutral. Harmonic mixing is another avenue for creating crowd energy thru technical methods and without experience and practice sure it can not work. In essence both avenues are interesting but not studying music and how it is broken down doesn't make one a better DJ because it is popular. Understanding why a transition is dissonant and why it is smooth is an afterthought. DJ's come in prepared with tunes they know work together and for many it is really well thought out and so the mixes are already harmonically mixed by just being natural. I spent 5 years in Boston niteclubs as a barback, a buser and a lighting operator. And all I did was listen. I tried my hand at spinning and was terrible at it. It is a talent and harmonic mixing can dramatically improve a DJ looking to improve their skills but it is simply bad advice to not explore it. It is liken to telling a musician not to learn ear training.

[@AtomicArcherGuy]

Oh, I was just saying that it doesn't depend because djs used to get by without all this information and technology.

[@FrankGhoriTV]

Very good maaaain !! :D

[@DeeJayEndo]

@BraylenTV Yes it will work in Serato Itch because you can write into the Comments, Artist Name, or Track Title which will show up in Serato

[@TecNickelSwag]

Good Stuff

[@ElectrikBear]

@DeeJayEndo thanks for the response! great video btw

[@DeeJayEndo]

The setting is in Mixed in Key. Go to the Mixed in Key Preferences - Update Tags - Check "Update Common Tags", Make sure "Update Custom Initial Key Tag" is checked. Then go to preferences - Key Notation and choose "Camelot"

[@KeithOcean]

Sure I'll share, and by the way great vid man. The 100% free software I dug up is called Rapid Evolution 3 or RE3 -it does a decent job at finding (the correct)keys and tagging ect. but I'm sure the U.I. is not as user friendly as the mixed in key software. Also I take back the statement about 'mixed in key fools'(clearly they are smart peeps) + that's not my style to downgrade others to make a point, and I agree with you man that their software is top of the line and saves a ton of time/work.

[@DeeJayEndo]

@iroh181 Yup there is. They are called Load Markers. I put on on every track I play.

[@DeeJayEndo]

Traktor has a built in Key Lock feature, and key adjustment feature. If you turn key lock on, you can turn the key adjustment knob to adjust the key. I would only adjust the key a half step up or down though because it can start to sound funny if you change the key too drastically.

[@Kriziun]

good video, helped a lot :) thx another question would be i saw that u have some nice house kinda deep house tunes? the one u played tony lionni and some of the "4 deck action". How do u find these artists or where do u get the music, rly loved it and for me its so hard to find such nice music in this genre, cause i don't know how or where to look, don't know really good artists :/

[@markbrown9771]

Mixed in key and Traktor use two different systems. One is the system mention in this vid and the other is called Open Key Notation. They work the same way just using different letters, personally i have used Traktors one and it works great for me but i have no experience with Mixed in key. Hope this helps!

[@DeeJayEndo]

@ElectrikBear You can choose to write the key before the file name, and you can view this in Ableton. Just be careful about renaming files because you can possibly break file paths.

[@LONGSHOTLOVE]

Thanks for the reply, I finally Figured it out though lol

[@FlashBreakerOfficial]

uhh... this is really cool ^^

[@DeeJayEndo]

@TheGhettostylus Not only will it find the key of any song, but it will also key short music loops... and very accurately might I add.

[@DeeJayEndo]

I just did a study on the accuracy of Mixed in Key vs. Rapid Evolution, Traktor's Key Detection, Keyfinder, Rekord Box, Beatport and a couple of other key detections program. Mixed in Key is the most accurate, except for Rekord Box which beat them by 1%, but your best bet for Key Detection is to use Mixed in Key. Search for "Endo's Key Detection Study" to see all the results in full detail!