- Main Entry: 1smart mixing
- Pronunciation: \?smärt ?miks\
- Function: noun
- Etymology: from Old English smeart/ akin to Greek mignynai to mix
- 7 a: aided mixing <software enviroment>b: operating by automation <a smart machine tool> c: intelligent 3
Smart Mixing is the process of allowing technology to automate certain tasks so that you are free to have more fun with the music. That does not mean putting your software on auto pilot or taking the challenge out of djing. It means creatively setting up your controllers so that the software helps you mix better than you could before. Our own BentoSan, who does an amazing job of moderating the forums, first used the term in his article on combining Traktor with Ableton. In this article, we will adopt the term into a more general use. Smart mixing can be a tremendously powerful tool that automates certain no-brainer tasks to free up your attention. Here are a few excellent examples of smart mixing that you can incorporate into your own sets right away.
Smart Knobs
When you crank up a effect you want it to increase in intensity but sometimes turning things up to 11 just does not have enough boom for the room. So why not tack on an extra oomph at the end to really knock their socks off. One example would be the fader fx mode on our VCI-100 SE. When you use the faders to increase the fx levels a 2nd effect kicks in at 50% to add a little extra flavor. Traktor Pro now makes it much easier to layer different effects and commands on a single knob much like Ableton live. Why twist multiple commands when you can crank one smart knob?
Smart EQ
Typically, you turn up one bass EQ while lowering the other to make room. Why not do both of those actions in one twist? make it so a single knob turns up the base while turning down the other tracks. In my Novation 25 SL youtube video (at 4:23), I built a low pass filter that slowly cut out the base and turned down the volume at the same time. Since this is a commonly needed combo, I found myself going back to that slider time and time again.
Smart Compression
Moldover took the smart EQ concept one step further and developed his own smart compression theory. Sometimes completely cutting out the base of a track just will not work. Since many instrument and vocal parts have frequencies spread across the spectrum cutting out all the lows may kill a lot more than you want. Compressors do a great job of making room for a new part without destroying a songs sound. Multi band compressors can work on specific ranges, squeezing the low end alone so that the new kick has room to pump but not killing the base line on an old track. Moldover set it up so that as a new track is brought in, more compression is applied to the low end making room for a track automatically without killing the energy.
Smart Sync
There are a number of controls that can be used at the same time as SYNC to automatically keep tracks locked in. Double assigning a single button to loop and sync for instance, matches up phase when you need it but allows traditional beat matching for the rest of the mix. Check out this article here on the site where we go into that concept in depth.
Smart Browsing
This tip come courtesy of Richie Hawtin from his Traktor videos for NI. When he browses though the collection, that button or knob has been double assigned to also change the screen layout to maximize browsing visibility. When the “load this song” command is sent then the screen switches back to a performance layout. Check out this video for the full scoop
Smart FX.
You need some echo on this track- fast. Ok, so first I need to select the echo, then turn it on, then find the right length and then turn up the wet dry mix. Oops – the mix ran out before you even got the echo working. That’s not performance mapping. Smart FX mapping would be putting ALL of those commands on one knob- The echo knob. Then that knob always works and you don’t have to think about a damn thing, just how you’re going to get that girl’s phone number before the bar closes.
Your Turn!
Give us some examples of ways you combine functions to make djing fun and easy.
[quote comment=””]So I’ve figured out how to set up “smart browsing” for traktor 3.4, by using the “window #10 toggle” for my up & down browsing, and “window #1 toggle” for my left & right browsing. But i can’t seem to figure this out with TraktorPro. It has something to do with “view>only browser toggle” but it just wont stay. how come?
oh, and if anyones trying to watch that Richie Hawtin video just for the smart browsing section, it’s at 3:00[/quote]
[quote comment=”15041″]I’m using a Ps3 sixaxis controller for some of our gigs, and I like to map the smart eq to the tilt of the controller. As you tilt it to the left, it ups the bass on Deck A and cuts it on Deck B. Once you get past the halfway mark at 45 degrees, it starts to cut Deck A’s high and boost Deck B’s. I also have the PS button set to toggle between Transport Mode and Effects Mode. Transport Mode has all the buttons assigned to play, pause, cue points and deck pitch and tempo. Effects mode switches everything over to EQ and effects.
I have another trick I use sometimes for songs that have long breakdowns with no drums, or sections without much going on. I toggle on the beatmasher during the intro beat or during some vocals or something interesting, but keep the mix turned down. It’s set to a full bar length, so it’s sampling a full four beats. Then in the breakdown or whatever, I turn the mix up to bring in the kick or sampled material, to add some interest to an otherwise dull portion of the song. It’s a quick way to sample something from the song, without having to duplicate it to another deck.[/quote]
Hi, how u connect Traktor with ps3 SIXAXIS? You use MiJoy Pro VTS plug in?
So I've figured out how to set up "smart browsing" for traktor 3.4, by using the "window #10 toggle" for my up & down browsing, and "window #1 toggle" for my left & right browsing. But i can't seem to figure this out with TraktorPro. It has something to do with "view>only browser toggle" but it just wont stay. how come?
oh, and if anyones trying to watch that Richie Hawtin video just for the smart browsing section, it's at 3:00
Here's a trick to setup a smart knob in Trator Pro.
In this example, the knob does the following:
– if to the most left, the effect is turned off
– turning the knob to the right will do multiple things:
– selecting the desired effect
– turning the effect to ON
– turning the wet dry mix
– going back to the 0 position disables the effect again.
This uses some tricks that tell Traktor that the knob is actually a button. So if your MIDI setup changes in the future it might break this smart knob.
…watch out for the (!!)'s below:-)
Traktor Pro Settings:
(1) Effect Selection
Control: Effect Select
Channel: FX Unit 1 (this example assumes it is set to advanced mode)
Type: Direct
Type of Controller: Button (!!)
Set to Value: enter your desired effect
(2) Turning the Effect on
Control: Effect On
Channel: FX Unit 1
Type: Hold
Type of Controller: Button (!!)
enable INVERT!!
(3) Dry/Wet Mix
Control: Dry/Wet Advanced
Channel: FX Unit 1
Type: Direct
Type of Controller: Analog Fader/Knob
Have fun andagoodone!
Volker
Great article, very helpfull!
[quote comment=””]The problem lies in how the Belvario smart-mixer(aka Smart-Compression aka) is wired together to start with, replacing the compressor out for a live7 compressor isnt going to solve the issues that the design has to start with.
From what i could tell with Moldovers setup he compresses the material in stages which is much more ideal than the Belvario setup which compresses the material in one stage for all channels. However the main flaw with the Belvario setup is that when you turn up a send in the Belvario setup the material is sidechain compressing itself which causes colouring of that audio channel. This is called an “effect” on the Belvario page, but i personally call it a flaw in the design itself.
Its pretty clear that Moldovers smartmixer is pretty difficult to setup for people who cannot understand reaktor or sidechain compression techniques. If we can get an Ableton file that anyone can load, even with a demo copy off the Ableton site without having to download any VST effects i would like to think that the Smart-Mixing idea would get alot more much deserved attention.
Theres a discussion starting up on the forums for anyone who is in discussing this futher. Sorry if i hijacked your comments there Ean 🙁
See this thread in the forums: http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?p=15994#post15994%5B/quote%5D
The problem lies in how the Belvario smart-mixer(aka Smart-Compression aka) is wired together to start with, replacing the compressor out for a live7 compressor isnt going to solve the issues that the design has to start with.
From what i could tell with Moldovers setup he compresses the material in stages which is much more ideal than the Belvario setup which compresses the material in one stage for all channels. However the main flaw with the Belvario setup is that when you turn up a send in the Belvario setup the material is sidechain compressing itself which causes colouring of that audio channel. This is called an "effect" on the Belvario page, but i personally call it a flaw in the design itself.
Its pretty clear that Moldovers smartmixer is pretty difficult to setup for people who cannot understand reaktor or sidechain compression techniques. If we can get an Ableton file that anyone can load, even with a demo copy off the Ableton site without having to download any VST effects i would like to think that the Smart-Mixing idea would get alot more much deserved attention.
Theres a discussion starting up on the forums for anyone who is in discussing this futher. Sorry if i hijacked your comments there Ean 🙁
See this thread in the forums: http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/showthread.php?p…
Can we have a tutorial on some midi-assignment tricks that are possible with TPro? I keep hearing about all the new possibilities, but I can't seem to achieve anything else than a simple shift-function with modifiers.
Especially the stuff you describe in the "Smart Knobs/FX" sections tickles my fancy. I'm building my own tsi from scratch, and TPro made it nearly impossible to use another tsi as cheat sheet because they removed pages (and tsi-files are, opposed to tks barely in a human-readable xml format).
For what it is worth, it is quite simple to duplicate the Belvario smart mixer into Live 7, just download the side chain comp free plugin he is using, install it, load his als file, write down the parameters he is using and enter them into Live new comp. Cable the Live comp as it should. Been there, done that, and I don't like the sound I get either. Also I'm not sure the way he is doing it is the easiest, his setting is quite convoluted.
Smart compression is the holy grail of mixing, what Moldover can achieve with it is just awesome. Now, do anyone know where to find the parameters and routing he is using? Does he use the Live 7 comp? Does he tweak those parameters on the fly or are they fixed?
In short: Can the real Moldover please stand up? 🙂 And teach us the way. We're not worthy, but we're eager to learn.
Else, I'm all with you Bento, mail me (you have my mail cced on the last round of mail Ean sent us about the logo) and tell me where you're at, I'm far from being very good at Live and compressors, but I sure can try.
One and only thing I can remember right now about my setup is: using flanger requres you to lower the low freqs. because they get easily distorted in digital domain. I use one slider on my MIDI to lower the base and increase flanger on master channel.
I second the DJ Bios opinion, it is ok summing more functions to one knob but why do we have other knobs (thoose that are pre-set and never turned). It would be a same discussion again like with sync and "it kills your creativity if you haven't mixed vinyl before u started using sync btn". Damn I'm full of dung.
it sounds like Bento may come up with something cool for everyone 🙂
Does anyone know how to implement smart-compression in Live 7? Belvario's smart mixer, as far as I know, doesn't work in Live 7.
Can we intergrate the Richie Hawtin style of browsing into our Traktor Pro tks?
Same with the echo. In Traktor 3, I used to leave my echo buttons on @ all times but I had the amount @ zero. That way, I could activate the echo I want and hold it as long as I want by hitting freeze @ a moments notice. The opposite was having to hit echo on AND turn on freeze to extend it. I don't have Traktor Pro yet but your description sounds like that may be easier to do it or @ least it's well on the way in a future tks.
Killer article !
I ended up taking the Belvario smart compressor out of my setup because i didnt like the colouring of the audio when turning up a send. Instead i would like to create my own Smartmixer – theres certainly no shortage of ways they can be made but id like one that doesnt colour the audio of the track i am turning the send up on.
If anyone has Ableton Live 7 + compression knowledge and wants to work on this project with me send me a message on the forums. If we can put something decent together we can put it up on the blog and credit will be given where credit is due 🙂
I received my MPD32 a week ago, I have been thinking very hard about controllers assignments ever since. Smart mixing is indeed very seductive, but I think it has some drawbacks: by automating / tying together several of your actions, you kind of lose freedom. If a button controls 5 things, that's great because I only spend one button on my controller (you never have enoguh of these) and I do not have to play with 5 buttons, but on the other hand what if I want to do 1 of the five things. You should of course make sensible choices when tying functions together, but I am quite sure that sooner of later you will miss that freedom.
I even thought of implementing my own midi translation layer, to assign different functions to a control based on velocity or define complex combinations of controls to launch a function (haven't looked at the modifier capability, but it seems rather limited).
Hiya Ean,
Top thread dude, very very worthy discussion. I'm interested to see the growth of peoples smart mixing techniques as it's definitely a good use of technology.
Some things I assign:
– Basic Tape-Delay with Live's SimpleDelay:
This is not so much the traditional 'saturated' tape delay, but you could easily add saturation or use another combination of plugins to achieve the same effet.
For this example lets say I'm mixing with 3 main decks in Ableton – On the One Return bus I'll add 3 Simple Delays with whatever settings I want for the delay.
Now I map a Delay Send for each track to one of the 3 Simple Delays.
Next, map the on/off to the same knob and adjust.
Group each delay individually so you can adjust the range of delay in the Chain properties to give a more 'build up' effect with the turn of the knob (delay gets more intense as you turn it up), but have the cut off at 126 so when you hit 127 the delay will trail out and finish.
The trick here is that at anyone time you may only have one delay happening if you choose, but if you use two and set them up so track C is about 3 O'clock (perhaps no track playing in this channel), as you turn up the track A send to delay that channels signal it will feed into the other delay (since they are on the same Return track) and create an emulated tape delay.
You can obviously add your own effects/saturation to tweak the end result and control the build up of signal.
Cheers
hey you know what this is a great starter and to do list for those starting.
I myself have taken and done up a check list to ensure my set up in optimal, along with Eans music organizing tips. This should help any digi dj get a good footing.
cheers!
I'm using a Ps3 sixaxis controller for some of our gigs, and I like to map the smart eq to the tilt of the controller. As you tilt it to the left, it ups the bass on Deck A and cuts it on Deck B. Once you get past the halfway mark at 45 degrees, it starts to cut Deck A's high and boost Deck B's. I also have the PS button set to toggle between Transport Mode and Effects Mode. Transport Mode has all the buttons assigned to play, pause, cue points and deck pitch and tempo. Effects mode switches everything over to EQ and effects.
I have another trick I use sometimes for songs that have long breakdowns with no drums, or sections without much going on. I toggle on the beatmasher during the intro beat or during some vocals or something interesting, but keep the mix turned down. It's set to a full bar length, so it's sampling a full four beats. Then in the breakdown or whatever, I turn the mix up to bring in the kick or sampled material, to add some interest to an otherwise dull portion of the song. It's a quick way to sample something from the song, without having to duplicate it to another deck.