How To Use Harmonic Mixing

Harmonic mixing eliminates key clashes.  When you mix harmonically, your vocals, melodies and basslines will be in key.  Harmonic mixing opens a new realm of creativity and allows you to achieve a "live mash-up" effect.  You can find unusual combinations of songs to mix (The Beatles vs. Jay-Z), or just enjoy flawless mixing like Armin Van Buuren and Paul Van Dyk.

To use harmonic mixing, you need to know the key of every song that you play.  Mixed In Key scans your entire MP3 and WAV music collection to make this easy.  When scanning is done, Mixed In Key displays your key results in the Camelot Easymix notation (ex. 4A, 6B).  
 

Camelot Easymix method

The Camelot notation makes harmonic mixing easy.  Here is a picture of the Camelot Easymix Wheel:




(Image showing the Camelot notation)

On this wheel, musical keys can be seen as "hours" on a clock.  For example, 4 o'clock corresponds to 4B or 4A.  The "B" letter represents Major keys.  The "A" letter represents Minor keys.

To use harmonic mixing in your DJ sets, you can mix between songs by subtracting one hour (-1), adding one hour (+1), or staying in the same hour as your last song.

If you're in key of 4A, your next song can be 3A, 4A or 5A.  It's just like subtracting or adding one hour.

Your mixes will be harmonic if you use this simple method.  Harmonic mixing works for all music genres because it is based on music theory. 

 

Create interesting mixes

You can change keys with every mix.  Using the Camelot method, you can move around the Camelot wheel one step at a time.

For a special effect, you can mix between the inner and the outer circle.  Try this:  Stay in the same "hour," but change the letter.  For example, you can mix from 10B to 10A.  If you just mixed into 10A, your next song can be 10B (change letter again), 9A (subtract one hour), 10A (same hour), or 11A (add one hour). 
 

Example Mix

For your first harmonic mix, find two songs that have the same key code.  Mix them together using your favorite DJ equipment or software, and you'll hear a smooth transition every time.  From there, you can experiment with other harmonic mixes.  
 

Brief note about Mixed In Key

What does it mean when Mixed In Key reports two keys instead of one?  Both keys are compatible with this particular song.  You can use either one of them.  
 

Advanced topics for professional DJs

Community topic:  "Energy Boost" mixing (+2 on Camelot wheel)

Community topic:  How to organize your CD collection for Harmonic Mixing 

Advanced tutorial:  Understanding how tempo affects the key when mixing

Visit Community.MixedInKey.com to read more tutorials.

 

Get the full version of Mixed In Key 3

Mixed In Key was created to detect the key and tempo of your MP3 and WAV files.  Click here to buy the full Version 3.0