What happens if you take a loop, pitch bend it down to half tempo, while mixing in a new loop at full speed? How about if you combine that with some Ableton pitch-sustaining tempo manipulation? Listen for yourself!
Here’s another experiment, this one with pitch/tempo manipulation up and down. Halfway through creates a pretty cool effect.
I’m sure some other digital DJ has thought to use this technique. I’ll see if I can work it into the next APU mix.
I have recorded a new mix, using the Xone:3D mixer and Ableton Live software. This particular mix has lots of bass, so be sure to enjoy it on a speaker system with nice quality subs if you have one available. A good car stereo system, home theater , or set of high quality headphones will do the trick
For anybody interested in technical details … I utilized something called Harmonic Mixing a lot in this mix. Basically that means taking the musical key of each track into consideration when creating transitions and selecting loops. Just like combining different keys on a piano will make different chords, combining loops in a similar fashion makes for a much more coherent mix.
I’m really just scratching the surface of harmonic mixing, but the results in my mind are pretty clearly an improvement. When mixing without regard for musical key, instruments tend to clash in subtle ways. Being conscious of the keys of your tracks, and choosing them carefully, is a very valuable heuristic for making a smoother mix.
As I am becoming more and more comfortable with my new Xone:3D hardware, I am learning a variety of fun tricks.
The hallmark of a great DJ is the ability to take a track and make it his (or hers). A technique that really piqued my interest, at a recent rave (EDC), is the layering of the same track twice, offset by a few beats or bars.
John “00″ Flemming completely blew me away with a set at EDC 2007 using this technique. He was playing some great psyc-trance rhythms with delicious dirty bass, and using the multi-track technique to tease on each drop. I have been recently experimenting with similar techniques.
Here is a recording of this type of technique that I made using Ableton Live and my Xone:3D. The first dramatic drop is done by duplicating the track, offset, applying a High Pass Filter (HPF) to the currently playing track, along with a “ping-pong” Ableton filter, and then sliding in the 2nd track when the bass drops. The result is a climax which leaves behind some mids and highs which are then manipulated as the track progresses. Later in this example, the two tracks are faded in and out, which is another funky effect.
The sloshing highs through the middle of this example, before the track fading, is not part of the source track and is done using only the HPF on the remainder of the HPF+ping-pong effect.
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APU, Ableton, DJ Techniques, Mixes | 
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Posted by caustik
Mini-Mix 003 : 