♪♪♪ Are You Afraid of the Dark - Halloween Mix Competition 2007 Listen & Vote Now ♪♪♪

[Bruceway]

I'm really sorry guys, but I havn't listened to all the sets, so I won't be voting.
It would seem unfair to those I havn't heard yet... Good luck to you all...

[Tek-Fox]

Originally Posted by DJ PSYCHOTRANCE

Well i for one think anonymous competitions are a whole lot fairer, that way voters will judge on the quality and tech ability alone. Plus i don't think it's fair to allow people to use ableton as it's not realtime mixing and has alot of features that vinyl, cd and even software dj's don't have.

Just my 2 cents.

I may be naive, but I don't think people here are voting on names alone, nor is there a predisposition that can't be disrupted. Shoom's mix last year was so good that this year I was almost certain that I would vote him at the top, but so far thats not the case. Everyone has the bias, be it genre, bpm, whatever that can't be helped.

Fair is a loose term. How fair is it that some DJs have a crap numark mixer and I have a Pioneer 600 or an 800 at my disposal? It's not. I could go out and get a kaos pad and use that to further the complexity of my mix by adding effects or go get a professional sampler, that seems hardly fair. There will always be a technology gap that exists in a contest that isn't run in a vacuum.

As to ableton (I'm not sure if you have used it) and saying that it doesn't force you to mix. IMHO beatmatching is the least important thing in a good set and it should also be 100% automatic. Mixing in ableton is not easy either I would actually prefer to use CDs and Vinyl but that was not an option, as I wanted to use this as a reason to force myself to use and learn this program. Beat matching is fairly simple, but you do need to understand the warping structure and how to align segments as well as how shifting one segment will affect everything. It isn't as drag and drop as you think. In addition to that, EQing is 1000x harder as it is less organic, ableton takes a lot of the feel out of it which I'm not a huge fan of. It does allow for splicing and moving of stuff but anyone with a CDJ can use the loop feature to do that as well.

Not that you are calling me out specifically either, but I feel that there are many platforms out there, and sticking with standards only limits your ability to be creative. As DJs, as people who just mix other people's stuff together its not enough to just be good, something needs to set yourself apart and track selection and good mixing won't get you there.

[Tinkerbelle]

I don't know what is up with my computer and pudman's mix. It stopped at 18:28. I'm going to have to delete it from my library again (5x this makes) and upload it again. I don't know why his mix is freaking out my hard drive. Must be the tobacco....and absinthe infused in his mix.

[Tek-Fox]

Originally Posted by Deadly Groove

Now that's an idea and I think I should set 4/20 as the deadline.

Oh jeez. Then Im doing a all ragga/led zepplin/floyd mix

[HudsonHawk]

amen tech fox (that was about the ableton bit). We're in a digital age mate... and I dont think you have ever used it because you make it sound like it puts tracks together with some sort of magic... it's not the case... yes it eliminates beatmatching ... but even to acomplish that i have to go through each individual track and set warp points. Ableton doesn't take human element out of mixing in fact I think it makes it more human, if you will. People like exercyst or myself can spend days if not weeks preparing a mix.

[bobbias]

Originally Posted by Tek-Fox

Oh jeez. Then Im doing a all ragga/led zepplin/floyd mix

Haha, that would be wicked.

[HudsonHawk]

Originally Posted by Deadly Groove

Now that's an idea and I think I should set 4/20 as the deadline. I think this idea is fantastic. I'm hosting it too!!! I called it!!!

DG's hosting the following from now on:

Halloween
Christmas
Valentine
4/20

You guys have all the other times to host competitions.

lol what other holidays you can take over so you can keep hosting all year round...? Mothers Day, Memorial Day, Fathers' Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, International Talk like a Pirate Day

[K-BAN]

Originally Posted by PhineasFreak

are you saying you prefer anonymous competitions?

yeah, thats it!
sorry! made it sound like this one was anonymous which it clearly wasn't ;p

[Roussi One]

Originally Posted by HudsonHawk

International Talk like a Pirate Day

hmm... now there would be some interesting mixes... haha

[and Tink, i had that problem a couple times... i could DL the mixes and they would 'complete' at like, 10 minutes. so i just re-DL-ed them and they finished. i dunno. ]

[Deadly Groove]

Originally Posted by HudsonHawk

lol what other holidays you can take over so you can keep hosting all year round...? Mothers Day, Memorial Day, Fathers' Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, International Talk like a Pirate Day

Well now Hawk, it looks like you or Ominae have your hands full for all the other competitions on here or if anyone else wants to. I'm only doing 4 comps a year.

[Tinkerbelle]

Originally Posted by K-BAN

yeah, thats it!
sorry! made it sound like this one was anonymous which it clearly wasn't ;p

The Halloween competition wasn't anonymous last year, K-BAN. DG kept it the same way that Lil' Rascals initiated it......purely out of Respect.

Originally Posted by Roussi One

[and Tink, i had that problem a couple times... i could DL the mixes and they would 'complete' at like, 10 minutes. so i just re-DL-ed them and they finished. i dunno. ]

Thanks Roussi One. I'll listen to it again tomorrow night before posting my choices. Won't have anymore time today.

[K-BAN]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell MO

The Halloween competition wasn't anonymous last year, K-BAN. DG kept it the same way that Lil' Rascals initiated it......purely out of Respect.

Thanks Roussi One. I'll listen to it again tomorrow night before posting my choices. Won't have anymore time today.

I should probably be more specific. SMACK I'll blame myself for not getting any sleep yet ;p
The uh.. Merry mixMash was anonymous and that was a really fun competition. 8)

[pudman_x]

Originally Posted by K-BAN

forgot to mention...Pudman X, I really liked your set! what style is it? my lack of experience says chillout. It was relaxing and just put me in a good place. and the track at 12mins sounds familiar yet..not ;p was it taken from anywhere?

haha glad you liked it dude, it was mostly ambient stuff, acid-ambient, ambient-techno, among some other weird stuff.

[Deadly Groove]

The deadline is at 11:59PM PST tonight guys. The winner or winners are declared on 12:00AM PST October 31st which would be tomorrow. It's 11:16AM right now. You have until 11:59PM to listen and vote, a little over 12 hours to do so.

[pudman_x]

HAHA! I like the 4/20 mix idea, that should definetly go down

[90degrees]

Originally Posted by K-BAN

90° - 210 Elm Street - Cellar of Sirens- the track that comes in around 10 minutes really captured me. good feeling emotions pour out of it. my favorite part is at 13 minutes, the hypnotic builds trance out your mind with its crafty layers working together. has sort of an old goa-ish sound from the acid. what is this tracks age and name? the release at 14:08 takes me away!

Jacob Todd - Grasping For Straws [Niko Fantin Mix]
Label: Emote Music
Date: 08.Feb '07
Play Length: 08:04
why did I pick it? I had the final scene of Romero's Dawn of the Dead in my head, the black dude just about to blow his head off (hopelessness and resignation) but then decides to fook that and give it another "shot" at life --- and runs for helicopter....
sirens-wise it's the lure, the hypnotic promising sound, seducing you only for you to end up in a deep but deadly embrace that won't allow escape.



Thanks for the vote Psychotrance, happy you liked...and I'm playing with your two cents and add my two pence.
Is only oil on canvas true art or does crayon on cardboard go through too?
anyone throwing away a couple of Picasso's pencil sketches, me would take them....

I personally think it's the outcome that justifies the means, if it captures my spirits and makes/does me move/think I'm more than okay.
I said somewhere else that I prefer a good Ableton jock over a crappy turntablist any day.
Still, I'd forgive a trainwreck if the overall flow is good, actually it can be sometimes quite refreshing -like a well positioned scratch on some killer tune vinyl- and makes it original like the silver strip in a banknote.
Some guy here on the boards recommended to look into Hawtin a lil more (after me giving a quite biased description of "minimal" in a PM). Richie uses Live and def knows how to splice, rearrange, melt and mould.
Or in short as excercyst once said (was it you??): trim the fat.
I actually think it's the next step, evolving into other possibilities of musical expression.

s for all

[Hit Hard]

Originally Posted by Deadly Groove

Now that's an idea and I think I should set 4/20 as the deadline. I think this idea is fantastic. I'm hosting it too!!! I called it!!!

DG's hosting the following from now on:

Halloween
Christmas
Valentine
4/20

You guys have all the other times to host competitions.

What's "4/20"?

Votes:

Dogfax: 3 Points
Deadly Groove: 2 points
Phineasfreak: 1 point

[90degrees]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/420_(cannabis_culture)

http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/420.asp

a search engine does....

searches!

Edit:
shame that Valentine's clashes with Pancake day.

[Dogfax]

Lost internet service last night.. Isnt that just typical!!

Oh well got them all listened to finally, and was wholely impressed once again. We have some very sick minded people on here, which is a good thing

Thnx to all that listened, voted and commented as always... cheers all, but the Dogs votes are as follows....

3pts Ominae
2pts Rapter
1pt The DG

[DJ PSYCHOTRANCE]

Originally Posted by Tek-Fox

Not that you are calling me out specifically either, but I feel that there are many platforms out there, and sticking with standards only limits your ability to be creative. As DJs, as people who just mix other people's stuff together its not enough to just be good, something needs to set yourself apart and track selection and good mixing won't get you there.

No i'm not calling anyone out Tek-Fox, just giving my opinion about doing comps that are on a totally level playing field, if everyone was to use the same mixer, same decks etc, then the dj with best mixing skills etc will stand out from others.
Yes i have tried ableton but would rather use traktor 3 as it gives a feel that you are actually mixing. I use traktor 3 and the Hercules dj controller. I do understand what your saying about ableton giving you more options to be creative, but i get frowned upon for using traktor, people say it's not proper dj'ing and ableton is even further away from proper dj'ing than traktor.
i did enter this comp knowing others would be using ableton so it's not a complaint from me. Just i think it would be more of a level playing field to either have a competition thats for vinyl and cdj's only or a comp for software dj's only......ableton is first and foremost production software that you can use if you know how to use it to make dj sets. thats why on other forums that i take part in battles state hardware or software only and no effects.....so everyone is on a level playing field.

And i have no objection to dj's using ableton or other software to mix....just that in a comp a master of ableton does have a seriously huge advantage over other dj's with basic mixers using vinyl.


PT.