Gagarin Project 400 Report post Posted October 20, 2014 Maybe it is not the pro way to do it, but in this way i do feel that i am creating something that is listener friendly. I've seen some other people around me doing and created my own approach. Being probably the biggest consumer of my mixes, i like them to look "nice" on my audio players. I am sharing the technical aspect of creating DJ mix, the "legally" proper way is to contact each of the artist/labels and ask them for permission to use a track in dj mix. Well i guess 99% of dj's in internet don't do it and i am one of those. Actually most of the time if you provide proper credits (information about track-list) most of the artist will thank you for promoting what their music. Creating of mix and archive file Recording a mix (following an idea or experimenting, track pre-selection or improvisation) Checking the mix (i do not like to re-record mixes, but sometimes is necessary) Intro / Outro - fade in / fade out (to make it smooth) (optional) mastering. ( i am not doing it, but i know some people do it). Here is discussion on this subject. Giving the name to the mix Track-list (i think this is a mandatory for all the mixes that are released to public, dj's must give credits to all the artist tracks they use) Basic mix info to the text file Cover art creation (i usually use a creative commons licensed images and i edit them in photoshop) (optional) i create a .cue file.This file is useful when you record a mix to CD, as it give the information to cd recording program about the track length. This way when mix is recorded to CD you can skip tracks. This .cue file will allow to skip tracks when you use some of the software audio players on your computers. put everything to a folder (audio file + text file + cover art file + cue) Preparing mp3 file to online / offline sharing As I record my mixes to the wave format, i keep the lossless version of file for archive (i convert them to Apple lossless format, but FLAC, AIFF can do the job as good). Then I convert it to mp3 (320 kbps). This file will be uploaded. using Itunes i add all tags: artist, name, year, style etc (see screenshot) a add cover art i add track-list to lyrics field (see screenshot) i name the mp3 file properly (something like this Gagarin_Project_-_32_-_Cosmic_Awakening_-_10_-_Earth.mp3).Adding number to the mix allow me to keep them sorted if they are stored in one folder) adding "underlines" instead of spaces can be useful when you upload files. (this allow to view all this information on some audio players, for instance the track-list can be easily visible by ipod/iphone). It also help for people to identify the author of the mix. if i want to make mix publicly available i will upload it to online streaming services (soundcoud and mixcloud) and will share share it to groups on soundcloud and facebook. you can look here the example of a folder with all files => http://www.gagarinproject.org/download-our-mixes/ Last but not least, i think dj's shall support/buy the music they mix, listeners shall support/buy original artists. Let me know if it was interesting / useful for you to read p.s. This workflow might sounds complex, well i do it like this. p.p.s. 5 Dopese, schofield, Trala Lama and 2 others reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
schofield 52 Report post Posted January 15, 2015 Great post. I generally don't do the zip folder with the cover art, cue file and text file. However I do embed the cover art into the mp3 (320) and enter the tracklist into the lyrics. The cue file however I do think is a good idea for the reasons you stated above. I use Media Monkey to add the tags in much the same way that you have above. I also agree that the tracklist should aways be presented. So many times I've wanted to purchase music I've heard in a dj mix and haven't been able to identify the track or artis. It's annoying! 1 Gagarin Project reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gagarin Project 400 Report post Posted January 15, 2015 thank you, i really glad that you read and appreciate it. it reminded me also that i have to send this article to some of my dj friends hat just upload files with no tags. I also agree that the tracklist should aways be presented. So many times I've wanted to purchase music I've heard in a dj mix and haven't been able to identify the track or artis. It's annoying! best advice is to go the DJ profile and either ask him private or public to provide tracklist. Please respect original artist works fine in most of the cases. That said, i am happy that in chill music most of the dj's give credits. It looks like none of the psytrance dj do it, that is a shame. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dopese 4 Report post Posted January 19, 2015 Thanks for the interesting post. I usually do the same steps as you. Even if it's mainly about the music, i agree that it's important to give attention to the proper tagging, find a nice cover and a good name for the mix. It's only a small amount of time compared to choosing the tracks and the mixing, but i think that these details can make a difference in the overall feeling of the mix. Also it helps the listener a lot to identify the mix on the music player or to find it again in a music selection. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gagarin Project 400 Report post Posted January 20, 2015 i apply the golden rule "treat other the way you want to be treated". Also as i listen to my mixes a lot, i "prepare" them the way i think is handy. p.s. i change the topic name... not sure professionally was the best word to use. 1 Deep Space Explorer reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorchio 0 Report post Posted December 27, 2016 Neat post, thank you! Having the .cue file prepared can be a big plus in my opinion, I would recommend that step. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites