IN-DEPTH EXPLANATIONS OF HOW THE CAMELOT WHEEL WORKS

WHAT IS THE CAMELOT WHEEL?

The hawker wheel is a graphic representation of a music theory called the cycle of fifths (or circle of fourths). The Ukrainian Nikolay Diletsky was the first in 1679 to develop this tool, the German Johann David Heinichen will give it its graphic form in 1728. This representation is a circle divided into 12 degrees serving to show the relationship between the 12 degrees of the chromatic scale, their corresponding alterations, and their associated tonality. The Camelot wheel is in fact no different from this system and is only novel in the attribution of a number to a degree for rapid recognition of the uninitiated. This little novelty was designed by the company “Mixed In Key” for its harmonic mixing development software bearing the same name and has thus renamed “the Camelot system”. Thus this “Mixed in Key” software offers deejays and musical programmers the ease of their selection and sequence of music, according to this system of the cycle of fifths (or circle of fourths) after having analyzed the different Tones (major or minor) and Tonics ( do, re mi, fa sol, la, si) of music files.

WHAT ARE A QUINTE AND A QUARTE?

In music, a fifth is an interval of 7 semitones, or 3 tones, and 1 diatonic semitone above a note. It is known and appreciated because it points to the consonances of the notes. That is, any note played simultaneously with the note pointed to by its fifth sounds pleasant to the ear. It is the same for the fourth that it points to the consonant note at an interval of 7 semitones, that is to say, 3 tones and 1 diatonic semitone below a note. The Fifths and the Fourths are very often used for the composition of music. In order to better visualize these explanations, I made you a graph translating the name of the notes and representing the placement of the fifths.

HOW TO READ THE CAMELOT WHEEL?

The Camelot wheel divides into 12 degrees divided into an inner part representing the “minor mode” called A and an outer part representing the “major mode” called B, the major and minor modes are called the Tonality. The 12 degrees divided into 2 are listed from 1 to 12 and represent a precise musical note distributed by the cycle of fifths. The numbers are thus associated with the letters A and B to define what is called a “harmonic key”. So it is very easy to recognize the harmonic consonances of the keys. The keys that sound and mix in a pleasant way are the keys that touch each other. Also, for example, the harmonic key 1B sounds good with the keys 12B, 2B, and 1A.

 

HOW TO FIND YOUR ARTIST, LABEL OR COMPANY NAME?

WHAT IS A GOOD NAME?

Before even judging a name, it must be exploitable, otherwise, unfortunately, it will have little interest even if it is absolutely great for your project, whether it is a business or an artist, whatever. If you haven’t researched if a business similar to yours or an artist already operates it, well you shouldn’t be surprised if you can’t operate it.

In the case of an artist, it is obvious that you will not be able to sell your music online if the name you want to use already exists or even create a website or simply an account on a social network. In the context of a company such as a label or a sound studio, for example, the risk is even greater, because you could also find yourself rightly sued, by another company that operated it before you, and it would even be unfair for you to do so.

In short, before you start anything and judge whether or not a name is right for your project, you should not look for a simple name, but a brand name. A good name is first and foremost a brand that you can use in every sense of the word. A good brand name is easy to understand, it is short and dynamic, it is resistant to time, it is easily remembered, and above all, it is what best represents you.

Whether for an artist, for a label, or for any company, the problem is the same, choosing a name is not easy, because it requires defining in a name a multitude of characteristics specific to the person or structure that will carry it.

Before you can even claim to have a good “name”, you are forced to start making a list of several possibilities, several name ideas, because even if you think you have found the one that suits you best, you will be able to be very. quickly disappointed if you realize that this one is already being used by another, or that in the end, it does not answer questions that you would not have asked yourself yet.

Obviously, it is much easier to say what it should be than to find it. But don’t panic with a little method, thought and patience, it turns out.

HOW TO FIND A BRAND NAME?

Before choosing the brand name that will best match your project and what’s more, available to your operation, you need to establish a list of ten brand name ideas. After having made this list, you will be able, through a series of questions, to check the names that best correspond to your project and then to check their availability in your sector of activity and your geographic ambition. To find these brand name ideas, I offer a multi-point method that marketers use.

Whether for a simple artist’s name, for a label, and therefore a company, this technique has proven itself and largely deserves to be trusted.

DEFINE THE UNIVERSE OF YOUR PROJECT

To start your name search, you must first define the universe of your brand is all that concerns the project it will have to carry. In marketing, we start by doing a “brainstorming” in French which means “brainstorming”, we bring the team together if we have one and we collect all the ideas that come to mind on a specific subject. Here, we will start by defining the universe of the brand and therefore of the project, the products, the services that it will have to define.

Take a sheet of paper and write everything down, don’t limit yourself to anything, except that your notes should relate to your project.

  • The type or types of product, their characteristics, styles, services.
  • General and historical references of the sector of your activity, stereotypes, archetypes, clichés.
  • The concept (s) of your project.
  • Images, music, films that come together or represent your project.
  • The culture (s) associated with your project.
  • The message (s) you want to convey.
  • The expressions and puns are attached to your project.
  • The personality or personalities who come together or represent your project.
  • Your goals for your project.
  • The values ​​that define your project, the adjectives.
  • Your ideas for slogans.
  • The brand or brands that you like and that are similar to your project.

The definition of your universe does not have to be laborious, you have to do it easily and almost instinctively, if you have trouble at this stage, it is very likely that your project is not yet mature enough in your head, and in this case, it is a good time to refocus.

To help you define your universe, do not hesitate to ask your loved ones the question: This is my project … what does it make you think of, what images, what words, what sounds etc …

To expand your search, use the synonym dictionaries for your language and also for the roots of your language, and why not in another language if this is in accordance with your project.

REFOCUS ON YOUR TARGET AND YOUR POSITIONING

Once you have well-defined your universe, you must refocus it around two criteria: your target and your positioning.

Your target is the type of client, the person you are targeting, for example:
Young people, adults, grandparents, young rock lovers, French people in general, all rock fans in the world, etc …

Your positioning is how your project stands out from other similar projects, for example:
High-end, low-end, accessible to all, reserved for scholars.

This refocusing allows you to define the most suitable vocabulary and in which language.
Also, once you have defined your target and your positioning, you can on the sheet that you wrote to define your universe, highlight in red the ideas that do not correspond with your target and your positioning, and in yellow or green, the ideas. ideas which on the contrary correspond perfectly with.

Then, to refocus, more you must surround the ideas compatible with your target and your positioning which differentiates you from the competition.
We call it a competitive advantage. On this specific point, it is possible that you only have one, that said if you have none, this shows that it will be difficult to distinguish yourself from the others, in this case, the originality will be very important for the future.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR MUSIC, FROM THEFT

his is a question that every composer and arranger has already asked in his life as a creator Despite the popularity of this question, the fact remains that the answers we find on this subject often lack technical details and mature thinking After having thoroughly studied the subject, I can now offer you this tutorial which will answer all cases. But before starting to expose you all the techniques of protection of his musical works, I must start at the end, that is to say, define the organization which decides to who belongs a work in the event of litigation or which defines whether it there has been counterfeiting (plagiarism).

IN THE EVENT OF THEFT, OR OF ALLEGIANCE, WHO DECIDES ON WHOM?

If your work has been stolen, or if it has been plagiarized, only a court will be able to make it recognized, and consequently, you will be able to recover anything only by the judgment of this one.

Also, you must understand, that whatever your function or status, in the event of theft or obvious plagiarism, you will have to seize a court to assert your rights, no other organization could do it in its place, which obviously involves costs in court fees, representation by a lawyer, and also remuneration of sworn legal experts who alone can recognize whether a piece of music is plagiarism or theft In other words, if the plagiarism is not obvious, it will be very difficult to get it recognized, and if not, remember that it is not forbidden to be inspired.

HOW CAN YOU PROVE THAT YOU ARE THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR OF A MUSIC?

For this, it is necessary to be able to prove that one has authorship on work, that is to say, that one has the means to prove that one is indeed the original creator of the work, for example, a score complete with arrangements and settings as a session file of a computer music software with all the plugins used if the music was created with or a simple recording of his work. The idea is to be able to prove that it is we who created the work.

The second thing to prove is which is the most important is to be able to prove that one is indeed the first to have created the work in question. We call it anteriority. Priority is the indisputable point in the event of theft and plagiarism. Is it still necessary that in the event of infringement this one is obvious and that the work in question is not plagiarism itself?

In practice, if you discover that music was released after yours, without any difference or obviously copied from your original music itself not copied from another work to which you would not have the rights, in this case, you will be able to very go to court to prove that you are the original author of the song in question and that you are the victim of outright theft. To do this, as I told you at the beginning, you will have to prove the authorship and the anteriority of your creation on the stolen version, that said even if you can certainly be recognized as the original author of the work, if you do have not decided to exploit and distribute it,

If instead of keeping your music on your computer, you decided to broadcast it on radios, in concerts, or just on social networks and online platforms like soundcloud.com or youtube.com, in this case, there is is more likely that your music is copied, but on the other hand, it becomes obvious that your work could have been listened to then plagiarized or quite simply stolen since it is available to listen on the internet. But once again, you will have to prove that you are indeed the first to have created it and in this precise case, since you exploit your work, it will be easier to make recognize a significant shortfall in order to obtain high indemnities.

HOW TO PROVE THAT WE HAVE THE ANTI-OUTSIDE OF A WORK?

This is the question on which there are usually quite a few false good solutions. But before explaining to you the various techniques to prove that you have the anteriority of work, you must know that this proof of authorship and anteriority can be done by all possible means and should not be limited through your country.

As such, know that in 1973, it was thus judged by the Court of Cassation that the performance of the musical composition in front of several listeners was sufficient to prove the work’s prior art.

This point is important because contrary to popular belief, the best way to protect a work is to distribute it so that as many people as possible become witnesses to your authorship, also simply by broadcasting it on as many social networks as possible. should assure you the authorship, as obviously, you cannot afford to change the publication dates of the content you have posted on Facebook or youtube to name a few.

Also, in my case, to protect my musical works, I decided to sell them on platforms like Itunes, Google Play, Beatport, Qobuz, JunoDownloads, Amazon, etc … in addition to distributing them on Google +, Youtube, Spotify, Deezer, Rhapsody … In other words, it is impossible to contradict my authorship in the face of the extent of distribution of my works which were scheduled for sale with the same release date, date then acting as the date prior art.

HOW TO MIX EVERYTHING WITH ANYTHING? KEY ADJUST, THE ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE

Obviously, to mix everything with anything, you must not do … anything. First of all, the tempo of the music is surely the first factor which allows saying if music is compatible or not with another. That said, it should be understood that certain music can very well be mixed with a very low speed or on the contrary very accelerated. House and Hip Hop were also born from this variation.

Also, music with lyrics can hardly mix well with another if it is mixed by superimposing the verses sung with those of another music. Therefore, it is preferable to mix an instrumental part with a singing part and to alternate.

By respecting all these constraints, everything becomes possible on the condition of taking into consideration the harmonic keys of each music and of choosing them according to their harmonic compatibilities. And it is on this point that there can be a problem because all the keys are not compatible with each other, but thanks to the Key adjust function found on dj players and software, anything is possible. .

HOW TO MIX AN INCOMPATIBLE HARMONIC KEY?

First of all, we are going to do a little reminder of the functioning of the wheel system of the fifth and fourth cycle, popularized as a harmonic key wheel for the deejay mix. And for that, here is a diagram that I made with the key notations of the Mixed In Key system with its translation into musical language.

The principle is simple for Traktor and Mixed in key (Camelot):

Traktor and Mixed In key use the same annotation principle.
The harmonic keys of a scale are identified by a number that follows the compatibility of the keys.
The “major” scales are identified by the addition of a “B” for Mixed in Key and a “d” for Traktor.
“Minor” scales are identified by the addition of an “A” for Mixed in Key and an “m” for Traktor.
And finally, a Major key compatible with a Minor key bears the same number and is placed on the same degree to facilitate the work.

This means for the Mixed In a key system that if you are in 12A, you can either mix music in 13A, 11A, or 12B.
12A for the Traktor system is said to be 5m and therefore if we are in 5m, we can either mix music in 6m, 4m, or 5d.

ALSO, THE BASIC OPERATION IS SO SIMPLE THAT WE DON’T NEED A DIAGRAM

  • Either you mix by QUINTE, that is to say, that you go to the SUPERIOR key, for example, you are in 4B and you mix another music in 5B.
  • Either you mix by QUARTE, that is to say, that you go to the LOWER key, for example, you are in 6B and you mix another music in 5B.
  • Either you mix by TONALITE, that is to say, that you go from the MAJOR range to the MINOR range or vice versa, for example, you are in 7A and you mix another music in 7B.

The problem is that to go further and mix everything with anything, you have to know the theoretical functioning of the system of the cycle of fifths and fourths to know by how many semitones you must raise or lower the pitch. ‘a music so that it can mix harmoniously with another normally incompatible. Because without it, you cannot use the “KEY ADJUST” function intelligently.

HOW TO ADJUST THE KEY ADJUST TO ADAPT ANY HARMONIC KEY TO ANOTHER?

Graduated from -12 to +12, the key adjust function makes it possible to change the pitch of a piece of music, and therefore when it is coupled with the “KEYLOCK” function, makes it possible to change the harmonic key Here, on this diagram, you can observe the different harmonic key notations distributed on an octave of a piano translated into English, Italian and with its flats and sharps.

PATIENCE THE ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE IS NEAR

Let’s continue the music theory a bit and you will understand the potential of the key adjust function An octave is a distance between a note and its double frequency, for example, an octave is a distance between the C of octave 1 and the C of octave 2.

Thus, in an octave we have:
C, C #, D, D #, E, F, F # G, G #, A, A # and
B. A total of 12 notes.

And that’s why the key adjust function is graduated from -12 to +12. Each notch represents 1 semitone.
1 semitone is the distance between a note is as follows. For example, if we raise the note C three semitones, we end up on the note D # (sharp). Another example, if we raise the note E by 7 semitones we find ourselves on the note B.

Yet another example to explain to you what an accidental is:
For example, if you are on the note F and you go down 4 semitones, you will end up on the note Db (D flat) that we could for simplicity call C # (sharp). In reality, we use the term sharp when we go up, and we use the term flat when we go down. This makes it possible to identify this variation of going down or up a note, this is called an accidental.

And all this works just as well for harmonic keys:
So if we mix music with harmonic key 6B (Mixed In Key notation), this corresponds to A # Major, and if we want to transform it into a key 7B which is F Major, you can either raise the key to adjust by 7 notches, or 7 semitones OR lower the key adjust by 5 notches, or 5 semitones.

THE ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE IS SIMPLE WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SCHEME

At this stage, you have understood how to mix everything with anything since now you know how to adjust your key adjust according to a harmonic key. The problem is that the original schematics in annotation systems are not designed for this. To tell the truth, they are almost useless since they are based on a sequence of numbers that anyone can remember, except the annotation system of REKORD BOX which has not been simplified for harmonic mixing.

On the other hand, a simplified diagram to quickly identify the value of a key adjust would be really useful, and that’s why I thought about it.
Here I offer you a diagram as easy as hello to solving this problem. As you can see, I made a very simple version for Mixed in Key compatible with the Traktor system, and the icing on the cake, I offer you another version a little more complex but with the same operation for the Pioneer

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF THE ANDY MAC DOOR KEY ADJUST SYSTEM

The diagram is a wheel cut into 12 degrees, each degree corresponds to a harmonic key To know by how many semitones you have to raise or lower the Key adjust to transforming one key into another, it suffices to count the number of degrees that separates the original key from the desired key For example, you are in key 12 (whether it is major or minor does not change anything) and you want to change it to key 9, for that, you just have to increase the key adjust by 3 or reduce it by 9 Another example, you are in key 5 and you want to transform it into key 1, for this, you must either increase the key adjust by 8 or reduce it by 4.

CONVERT YOUR TRACK TO THE NEAREST COMPATIBLE KEY

Obviously, a variation of +6 or -6 with the key adjust is not necessarily pleasing to the ear, especially if the modified music includes vocals. To remedy this, instead of converting a harmonic key from one music to the same key from another music, you can simply convert it to the closest harmonic key.

For example, you are in harmonic key 2 and it turns out that the other music you want to mix is ​​in 8, instead of either going down or up your key adjust by 6 notches, you can only do it by 1. So if you raise the key to adjust of the track in harmonic key 2, you will then be in harmonic key 9 which is compatible with the harmonic key 8 of the other track. If instead of going up you go down from 1, then you will be in 7 which is also compatible with the harmonic key 8.

WHAT IS A PRODUCER? DIRECTOR? ARRANGER

For those who arrive on this page by chance, this article is the continuation of the article explaining what a good DJ is and what his job is If you are not already, fear not this article is also valid for all artists Previously, I explained that a DJ is a technician within addition, a role of animator and that it was necessary to distinguish him well from what one calls the “DJ producer” AND the artist-author composer. And since now thanks to the previous article, you know perfectly well what the job of DJ is, I will focus precisely on what a producer is and “dot the i’s” on what is called a “DJ producer” to finally upgrade those who deserve to be better known, namely, the director, the arranger, and the sound engineer.

WHAT IS A MUSIC PRODUCER?

A music producer is a person or a company whose function is to finance a musical project with the aim of releasing a product and earning profits from it.

This is why by default, all the artists who do not have a producer but make music (or other) in order to make a living from their art, are therefore producers because they invest themselves in their equipment in order to be able to create and sell.

However, you must know it, the artist’s investment is rarely enough, which is why the artist, therefore, calls on or is called by a producer who sees in him an economic potential to make money.

In addition, be aware that a producer cannot be the manager of the artist he is producing because the manager must not advance the interests of the producer first, but those of his artist.

ARTISTIC PRODUCER OR FINANCIAL PRODUCER?

  • The role of the financier is that which defines the term ” producer ” and
    by abuse of language, it is called ” financial producer “.
  • The role of the director is the one that defines the term ” director ” and
    by abuse of language, he is called an ” artistic producer “.

WHAT IS A DIRECTOR?

The director (also called by abuse of language “artistic producer”) is a person who supervises all the stages which lead an artistic project towards its concrete realization with a view to being exploited. This means that its role is to control the completion of work carried out by others.

For example:
A songwriter has finished the score and writing of a song that will be performed by a singer and musicians.

  • The director supervises the recording stage made by the sound engineer (s) .
  • The director supervises the stage of sound dressing and the addition of effects by the arrange
  • The director supervises the mixing stage of the recorded work made by the studio engineer 
  • The director supervises the mastering stage of the work made by the mastering engineer

Its role can go further, for example, supervising the production of the album cover and even more when it comes to a video clip.

However, for all the stages he supervises, the director can decide to carry out operations himself and can thus combine various roles such as those of sound technician, engineer, arranger, editor, graphic designer, etc …

WHAT IS AN ARRANGER?

An arranger is a musician, an artist, who “dresses” and adapts a musical composition. He starts from a composition already created and adds effects and musical instruments to add breadth to the composition or with the aim of adapting it to a well-defined style of music. For example, an arranger adapts rock music into a reggae version.

A DJ who takes up music with computer music software with the idea of ​​making a different “version” of it is, therefore, an arranger who is called by abuse of language “remixer”.

WHAT IS A DJ PRODUCER?

A DJ producer is a DJ who in addition to his profession of DJ assumes the financing of an artistic project and that is it.
This means that contrary to what we think:

A DJ PRODUCER IS NOT AN AUTHOR COMPOSER!
And therefore by definition, does not necessarily create the music it produces Also, for marketing reasons, you will understand the interest that we are sure to play on this ignorance of the general public, HOWEVER, a good number of DJ producers are also arrangers, directors, composers, authors, performers But in this case, we call them:

MIX – ANDY MAC DOOR’S SECRET TECHNIQUE

Before I can explain my “secret” technique to you, if you don’t know what harmonic mixing consists of, I invite you to go to this page which will explain to you what harmonic mixing is In addition, if you do not know how to use the cycle of fifths or the Camelot wheel for your mixes, I invite you to go to this page to learn the 6 basic techniques of harmonic mixing.

WHAT IS THIS SECRET TECHNIQUE?

This secret technique consists in using a “key adjust” function to modify the pitch of a piece to be able to make it harmonically compatible with another music with which it would not normally be able to tune The “Keylock” function allows to maintain the original pitch of music when the tempo of this one is modified, also, when it is coupled with the function “key adjust”, it makes it possible to adapt a song to the pitch you want, and therefore change your harmonic key.

HOW DOES THE “KEY ADJUST” WORK?

The “key adjust” function can generally be modified by a potentiometer or 1 button to increase it and 1 button to lower it. The “Key adjust” is graduated from -12 to +12, 0 is the neutral level. When we raise the “key adjust” to +1, the pitch of the music is increased by 1 semitone, when we go up to +2, the pitch of the music is increased by 2 semitones, i.e. 1 ton. And so on up to +12 which increases the pitch by 12 semitones or 6 tones and therefore 1 octave. Obviously, it is the same in the other direction when we lower the “key adjust” from 0 to -12.

As an image is often much more meaningful, you can observe in this example that when music has for harmonic key the note F of the 2nd octave and is mixed with a “key adjust” set to +4, its harmonic key will then be in A of the same octave When this same music is mixed with a “key adjust” set to +7, its harmonic key will be in C one octave higher.

HOW DOES ANDY MAC DOOR’S SECRET TECHNIQUE WORK?

The technique is based on the cycle of fifths and more simply the hawker wheel, so it starts from the observation that to go from one tone to another (i.e. 2 semitones above), you have to increase 2 harmonic keys. For example, to go from C Major to D Major, you have to go from the harmonic key 8B to 10B. Or to go from F Minor to G Minor, you have to go from the harmonic key 4A to the Key 6A. And so on.

So, taking this mechanic, my technique is as follows When I want to mix music of an incompatible harmonic key with another, I use the “key adjust” to transform the original key of music into another harmonic key but compatible this time with the other music to be mixed.

BY ITS SIMPLICITY, THIS TECHNIQUE IS FRIENDLY

This technique is formidable, because not only is it very easy to remember, but in addition, it really allows to give a boost to your mix and especially allows you to mix everything with almost anything. To put it simply, to go up by 2 degrees you must also raise the key to adjust by 2. To go up by 4 degrees, the key adjusts by 4 must also be increased, and so on. Same in the other direction, to go down 2 degrees, you have to go down the key adjust by 2. To go down 4 degrees, you have to go down by 4 the key adjust. The only thing to remember is that it only works with even numbers and especially not odd numbers. In other words, it works by 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and does not work by 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.

HOW TO PERFECTLY ADJUST THE VOLUMES AND GAINS?

Reading the title, we could say that the question is not very complicated and does not really deserve a chapter on this theme, and think again!
Adjusting volumes and gains is not that easy for someone uninitiated to studio mixing techniques, in other words, a deejay No doubt you have already noticed that after recording a deejay mixing session, the volume of your music tended to rise and saturate at times, or even lack the height of volume at certain times of your session.


Because there are several things to understand, in particular, the mastering stage when finalizing a production of music which has one of its functions to compress the sound to get as much volume out of it. sound without degrading the hearing quality I am not talking about compression of computer files such as Wav to MP3, but of audio peak compression device

Apart from, the way to chain several pieces together, it is the regularity of the sound volume which is often lacking among amateurs.
This is why there is every interest in carefully studying this question which may seem trivial to finally come out with professional-quality mixes.

THE NOISE FLOOR, THE BACKGROUND NOISE

Let’s start with the first problem which will direct us to a way of regulating its volumes and its gains. Noise Floor, called “Noise Floor” in English, is unwanted noise that affects the output of audio material regardless of the input signal. When you turn on the amplifier for your speakers and set it fully, you will hear a hum that matches the background noise of your amplifier and also the noise perceived by the cables connecting your speakers. When you turn on your mixer with all volumes fully and connected to your amplifier, you listen to the background noise of your amplifier associated with that of your mixer. The more devices there are connected between an audio source and your speakers, the more the background noise increases.

This is why the first objective of good volume control is to cover this background noise by overwriting it with a much stronger audio signal.
In other words, the goal is to try to get an audio signal at the strongest level possible to attenuate the perception of background noise.

The problem is that the audio signal must not exceed a certain volume which will risk damaging the equipment and obviously considerably distorting the quality of the original audio signal. This maximum level depends on each material, and there is not a single material with the same characteristics, which is why, to facilitate the adjustment of each device without knowing its technical characteristics, the Vu-meter was invented.

THE VU METER

The vu-meter is a modulometer and its function is to show by a needle or LEDs, the level of an audio signal.
In professional use, the Vu-meter means “Volume Units Meter” (in French, volume unit meter).
It was designed not to measure an audio signal, but to indicate that it is approaching a normal value. This normal value is indicated as 0 dB or 100%, which is why it can also be called SVI which stands for “Standard Volume Indicator” (ie in French, standardized volume indicator).

The level meter is a very effective display for audio applications, as it gives a level quite close to the perception of volume perceived by the human ear. Usually, it is graduated from -20db to + 3db and it has a rise/fall time of around 300ms, so it does not show peaks and very fast events, but rather an average.

In summary, a good volume setting should correspond to a maximum volume aligned with the 0db value of the meter. The + 3db of this must be used as a margin of error, that is to say, that a volume should only exceed 0 dB in exceptional, unintentional, or unforeseen ways. Contrary to what many think, normally, you should never see a volume exceed the 0db threshold of a meter.

VUMETERS IN DIGITAL SOFTWARE

Unlike the meters present on analog equipment, the meters present on digital software are generally not. They are called so by abuse of language. Most of the time, it is a Peak-meter, although they are different in their standard, their use is similar, to adjust them properly, as for the meters, you should never exceed the 0db threshold.

When using the virtual mixer of a deejay software, in theory, and in practice regardless of the level of the volumes of the tracks, the sound will never be saturated internally by the software, in the event of exceeding, only the indicators can be frozen at their maximum and therefore prevent us from visualizing the dynamics of music and compare one volume with another objectively.

The only element that can distort the sound, distort it, damage it, is the software output level which may be too high for the sound card used by the computer. That is to say that if the software asks the sound card to release a volume exceeding its technical capacity, it will saturate very excessively, even going so far as to physically damage the card. This is why all audio software includes a limiter to protect the circuit of the card. Also, to view the general volume level of the software and warn if the limiter is compressing the sound or not, a Vumeter and a Limiter activity indicator are always present at the master output in the software and/or for each track. when

ADJUSTING THE TRACKS EARNINGS

The Gains of the tracks or shall I say the gains of the channels must be adjusted so as to equalize the volumes. In practice we adjust the Gain of one track in relation to another, that is to say, that when we listen to a track A and that we want to mix the track B, we adjust the gain of the track B for that the volume is at the same level as track A. For this, you must browse the music of track B to identify the loudest parts in volume to adjust its gain to the same level as track A.

To do this as perfectly as possible, you have to start by adjusting the gain of the very first music you want to mix so as to leave room for adjustment for the other tracks. That is to say that we must not adjust the gain of the first music too high or too low, which could prevent us from properly adjusting the gain of the other track that we want to mix. The ideal is to start mixing with again adjusted in the middle so that thereafter we can have as much margin of correction upwards as downwards for the other music.

Firstly, when the gain of the general output of a mixer is not strong enough, it may be necessary to increase the gains of all the tracks by default to compensate for this lack of power.

Secondly, in a digital configuration like a deejay software, we can have to adjust differently from the middle to adjust the maximum height of the level displacement of the LEDs of the “false” meters, this is very rare and is most of the time due to a poor configuration of the Midi hardware, for example, a midi dj console which would have been reconfigured to be usable with a dj software not pre-configured for this console.

ADJUSTING THE GENERAL MASTER MAIN GAIN

To adjust the general Master / Main volume, you must strictly follow the rule for using a meter, namely adjusting the maximum volume level to 0db. Make sure that the sum of all the channels (of all the tracks) does not exceed this threshold. Or exceptionally, and in this case, the maximum volume must absolutely never exceed half or even at most 3/4 of the maximum value of the general Main / Master meter.

That is to say that if your meter is graduated to a maximum of + 3db, you must ensure that the volume never exceeds + 1.5db and especially not + 2db. (even if theoretically + 2.9db should be good).
If your vu-meter is graduated to + 10db, you must ensure that the volume never exceeds + 5db and especially not + 7.5db. (even if theoretically + 9.9db should be good).

When you mix on 4 decks, I advise you to adjust the Gain of your Master / Main by playing the 4 tracks at the same time and this at a sustained moment of each song, without modification of the equalizers, to define the maximum possible volume.

WHY IS A MARGIN OF ERROR ESSENTIAL EVEN IF WE NEVER EXCEED THE 0db OF VU METERS?

Yes, the question is oriented, but it allows me to explain a very important phenomenon that many deejays hide. It is imperative to keep a margin of error, because all the music is not “mastered” in the same studio and at the same time. And therefore, the perception of the sound volume of a music may vary from one artist to another, even though the Vu-meter indicates a similar level.

Also, music on track A, for example, may sound louder than other music on track B, while the meter on track A displays a lower level than track B. And that is why it is essential to have a margin of error to leave room for an increase in the gain. But this phenomenon is not possible you will say to me, to which I answer you yes it is quite possible, and I will prove it to you just after.

WHY CAN A MUSIC HAVE A LOUDER SOUND VOLUME THAN
ANOTHER WHEN THE VU METERS INDICATE THE OPPOSITE?

Because of the MASTERING! During the finalization of a piece of music, before being able to burn it on a CD, on vinyl or even to make an MP3 of it, it is necessary to standardize the Sound to adapt it to support and a type of speaker. As part of a mastering intended to be listened to on your hi-fi system or your MP3 player, the sound is compressed to enhance the sound level to the detriment of the dynamics. Everyone has already noticed this volume enhancement work on television or radio with the passage of advertising.

When you hear the advertisement you have the impression that the sound volume is louder, in reality, the volume is not louder, it is the dynamics that have been compressed, sometimes even crushed, to enhance the volume’s less strong. In other words, loud volumes are compressed and therefore reduced, and low volumes are increased, resulting in a sound that is on average higher.

ADJUST THE RECORDING VOLUME

Record the sound of a deejay software with the same computer

When the recording is done digitally on the same computer producing the original sound, there is in theory no background noise and therefore, it is in this case smarter to adjust the virtual input volume well. below 0db, leaving us with more room for error. However, to perfect the result of the recording, it was preferred after recording at low volume, to enhance the signal in sound processing software by using a mastering compressor.

Record sound from an analog source with a computer or an external digital or analog recorder

In this case, it is necessary to apply to the letter the rule of the use of a Vumeter. It is necessary to record with a maximum volume adjusted to the 0db of the sound output meter and to the 0db of the input sound of the device which records it. Everything must be done so that the volume never exceeds this threshold, or exceptionally, and in this case ensure that the maximum volume absolutely never exceeds half or even at most 3/4 of the maximum value of the view. meter.

STRUCTURE IS THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL MIX

Everything is in the title, the key to a successful mix is ​​the structure. But what structures?
Before going into details, it is important to understand and recognize that all music has a structure, more or less elaborate according to the styles and the way of composing of an artist, the structure is the first thing to analyze before mixing music. another. Otherwise, disaster is assured.
When you listen to music, you can only notice that it is made up of different parts, if you do not perceive them, it is better to immediately stop wanting to be a dj or a composer. This is why before talking about the structuring of a mix, we must talk about the structuring of music.

THE STRUCTURE OF MUSIC

Music is exactly the same as a story, even if it has no words, the music is structured according to the desire of the composer as well as the writer. It is by the structure that these lead his listener or reader to an emotion, a frustration, a pleasure, a feeling, and even a reflection. In general, when we speak of a complete and well-made, well-edited, or well-constructed music, it consists of several different parts that constitute its structure:

  1. INTRODUCTION:
    This part creates an atmosphere that plunges the listener into a universe, an atmosphere before starting the musical “story”. It makes you want to listen, to go down in history.
  2. COUPLET:
    The verse is the narrative part of a piece of music. It is through the verses that the story is told, they are like the chapters of a book and are the basis of a musical story. Unlike the chorus, the verses are not necessarily the same, there can be several types of verse in the same music, however, it is rare that they are superior to two different types.
  3. PRE-CHORUS:
    The pre-chorus is a part located between the verse and the chorus, it is not essential and therefore optional, but it allows you to slide over the chorus. The pre-chorus is a transition that prepares for the chorus.
  4. THE REFRAIN:
    The chorus is the most easily memorized part of a piece of music, it is the very essence of a piece and is generally the most emotional part because it contains the main message of the work. This part is repeated at least twice, but the chorus is so important that some music is only built around it. Some music is even composed of a single chorus that keeps repeating itself with slight variations. Maurice Ravel’s Bolero is the perfect representation of this.
  5. BRIDGE:
    A bridge is a part generally composed with a different chord (keyboard chord), the bridge is used to bounce on a verse or a chorus. By its difference, the bridge serves to revive the attention of the listener.
  6. BREAK:
    The broken part is actually a bridge, we give it this name when it is short and is composed of a rhythmic type of call or on the contrary devoid of rhythm.
  7. SOLO:
    As its name suggests, the Solo is a part of the song highlighting a musical instrument, such as an electric guitar for example. It is used to highlight the sound and playing of an instrument in the form of a performance.
  8. OUTRO:
    The outro part is the exact opposite of the intro, this part makes it possible to conclude music in style or in the case of deejay music to present a simple rhythmic part to facilitate mixing with another music.

Obviously, as you can imagine, there is no obligatory structure for the music, but it is clear that as with a book, there is little chance that you will find a story that begins in chapter 6 and continues on the 14th then the 25th, and the 2nd. Even if it does exist, it is still very rare. The goal of this article is, first of all, to make you understand that each piece of music has a structure and that badly constructed music has little chance of being appreciated, because the brain (human in this case) loves when there is a mathematical relation, it is moreover the whole principle of music, because it is a mathematical expression of a feeling, of an emotion. If you don’t like math, but music, you can still count,

MIX WITH RESPECT TO STRUCTURES

Here is the secret! To make a good mix, you have to respect the structures of the music. To do this, you have to start one music over another, by focusing on the start of a game and especially not along the way. That is to say, it is necessary for example to start music 2 at the beginning of a part on the beginning of another part of music 1. And it is on this point that the Hot-cues present on CD players and Deejay software have their main use. By marking the beginning of the types of parts composing music with CUEs, the deejay can then remix music live, and it’s just brilliant !!!

By respecting the usefulness of a part of the music with the usefulness of a part of another music, the success of the mix is ​​assured. Indeed, as we saw above, a “bridge” makes it possible to bounce either on a verse or on a chorus, this is why when one mixes two kinds of music, one will prefer to launch a verse or a chorus of another music after the “bridge” of the current music. Or why not the opposite, to launch a “bridge” of another music after the chorus or the verse of the music in progress.

Obviously, it is still necessary that the 2 sounds agree musically and for that nothing beats the ear and a serious work of research of music which can be linked with each other before embarking on alive. This is called a playlist. But this is another story.

WHY A DJ MUST LEARN TO MIX WITHOUT SPEAKERS

WHY WITHOUT SPEAKERS

Any deejay with good career experience has experienced at least one of these inconveniences:

  1. I had to mix in a room where the monitor speakers were so rotten that the sound of the dancefloor covered the dj booth with an unbearable delay making mixing almost impossible.
  2. I had to mix in a room where there was not even a monitor speaker, I had to mix with the sound of the Dancefloor and adapt to a delay of the sound and unsettling reverberations.
  3. The sound of the deejay booth was so loud and powerful in the treble that I tended to reduce them while the sound of the hall was well tuned, which resulted in a set that was too low and muffled.
  4. Ditto, but with return speakers with too much bass, the result was a flood of treble and poor bass, the total bad trip for the audience.
  5. The deejay booth was so well insulated with great sound, that I didn’t even realize that at one point the sound of the room was almost nonexistent because of a false manipulation by a guy who had passed into the room. cabin.
  6. BRIEF SO MANY REASONS FOR PREPARING FOR THIS KIND OF ADVENTURE FOR THIS THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION: LEARN TO MIX ONLY WITH YOUR HELMET! BUT BEFORE, LET’S EXPLAIN THE REASONS FOR THIS SO OFTEN ENCOUNTERED DELAY. WHY IS THERE A DELAY BETWEEN THE SOUND OF THE ROOM

AND THE SOUND OF MY DEEJAY HEADPHONES?

The reason is simple, for any good serious installation of a concert hall or discotheque, the sound of the hall goes through a series of audio processing devices, in particular, a “compressor” and in its extreme version a “limiter” , which allows you to compress the sound to prevent the speakers from receiving an audio signal that is too high in frequencies that could damage them, for example during a scratch session or poorly dosed dj effects and especially to standardize the sound level of the room. The compressor standardizes the sound volume of the room and the limiter, which is nothing more than a compressor with extreme settings, can be used to protect the ears of the public, but also those of neighbors and thus avoid a fine for excess. sound,
The problem is that these compression devices act on the sound with more or less delay and thus create a delay between their audio source and their output connected to the amplifiers of the speakers in the room.

Although they are not the only ones responsible for sound delays, they are nonetheless responsible for more than 90% in a classic installation.
The length of the cables and the processing of the amplifiers are also a cause of delays but remain anecdotal compared to compressors and limiters Therefore, monitor speakers are not and should not be connected to a compressor and limiter.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES TO MIX ONLY
WITH YOUR DJ HEADPHONES?

  1. The main reason is that no matter where you mix you will feel like you are in the same sound conditions as the place you are rehearsing, you can do without monitoring speakers and mix in the crappy booths of the world. a world without it bothering you.
  2. No more delay problems, since you only mix with your headphones.
  3. You can adjust your equalizers knowing your equipment, your DJ headphones become your second pair of ears and therefore, you can rely on it for the settings of your music, rather than a stage monitor that you do not know.
  4. You can mix at home in your room without disturbing your neighbors and those who live with you, techno and hardcore will no longer disturb your neighbor.
  5. You will no longer have stiff necks because you will no longer need to free your second ears from your headphones to refer to a stage monitor.
  6. You will finally be able to buy yourself a good studio headset rather than a DJ headset designed to be wedged with his shoulder. The studio headphones will stay upright on your head, which is still much more comfortable.

 

HOW TO MIX ONLY WITH YOUR HELMET?

Since the 2000s, deejay mixers have continued to become more and more sophisticated. Ranging from 100% analog to 100% digital without forgetting 100% digital and analog hybrids, yes deejay mixers are more and more complete and compatible with all kinds of mixing. All this to say that since the 2000s almost all deejay mixers now have a headphone function called “Cue / Mix” in the form of a potentiometer or a fader, on some mixers this function is called ” Cue / Master “,” PFL / Main “or” PFL / Master “or” PFL / PGM “. This “Cue mix” function allows you to switch the sound of the deejay headphones from the selected audio source called “cue” or “Pfl”

Also, this function was thought and created in order to propose a solution to all the problems mentioned at the beginning of this article. So why without depriving? There is no reason. That’s why when you mix at home when you practice, mute your monitor speakers and use this function. Not only will you be much more comfortable when you mix in the evening, but you will also be ready to face the worst mixing conditions.

Should we still not forget his helmet lol but that’s another story ..

HOW SHOULD THE CUE / MASTER PFL / MAIN FUNCTION BE USED?

At first, it can be a bit unsettling if you’ve learned to mix only with monitor speakers and DJ headphones taped to one ear, but that’s only at the very beginning after 2 to 3 hours. training, you get used to it very quickly.

Concretely, it’s very simple:

  1. We position the potentiometer (or fader) at the end of the race on “Master” (“Mix” or “Main” for certain tables), so we listen to the sound broadcast on the dance floor.
  2. When you want to listen to another music without the public hearing it, you must obviously first activate the “Cue” (“Pfl”) button of the track (s) you want to listen to, then switch the “Cue / Mix” potentiometer (“Pfl / Main” or “Cue / Master” or “PFL / PGM”) to the “Cue” (“Pfl”) position. Thus, the closer you get to the “Cue” (“Pfl”) end position, the louder the volume of the tracks you want to preview and the higher the volume of the return sound from the dance floor. weak (only with headphones).
  3. When you have prepared the music you want to launch on the dancefloor, you just have to switch again at your convenience the “Cue / Mix” potentiometer (“Pfl / Main” or “Cue / Master” or “Pfl / Pgm”) to the “Master” (“Mix” or “Pgm”) position to hear the sound that the audience hears.

As I said, after 2 to 3 hours of training you will reflex to switch this potentiometer, and you will feel less and less the need to listen to the return speakers until you no longer have any. need Subsequently, you can choose a good studio-quality headset rather than a DJ headset where the modular frame is often a more important criterion than the quality of sound reproduction itself and which greatly affects its price Rest assured a good studio headset from “Beyer Dynamics” or “AKG” is worth all the top-of-the-range Dj headphones on the market in terms of listening quality and comfort. In addition the robustness and very often at the rendezvous, unlike some high-end dj brands that I will not mention.