Mixed In Key

Mixing. For some it may seem as natural as flight for birds, for others it may look like something for the utmost skilled and almost impossible. Well, I guess both parties are right: mixing is a skill that has to be developed and must also be hard-worked. But there is also a "natural" thing to it: for some DJs, hearing the right tune of a track and matching it to another in the same or a harmonic key it's an easy task.

For others though, it is rather hard to quickly "hear" the perfect tune of an ending track and set the next one, so that they can crossfade-mix them, or even mix-on-BPM them. That's the moment when a software like Mixed In Key makes its presence highly needed. By analyzing the key of a certain tune, Mixed In Key gives you the opportunity to choose the right following song, so when the first one ends no disharmonic sound is heard. Basically, this program helps you identify songs with the same or harmonic musical keys.

Mixed In Key provides even more help: even if you have to mix two tracks that have different keys, it lets you know what that difference is, so you can eventually alter one track's pitch just to bring it to a certain key you'd need and then - later on during that song - come back to the original pitch. After all, every DJ CD console has the large pitch-changer fader and it's not there just because it looks nice :)

The looks

Mixed In Key's graphical user interface is as simple as it gets. Rather Spartan due to its very few buttons and tabs, the UI is nevertheless perfect for what the software does. I really can't imagine what more could it receive ? apart from a potential total XP-style, three-dimensional buttons and maybe, some skins. But skinning for such a software may seem a totally futile thing, since its use is strictly for analyzing a track's pitch. It is already wonderful that it has a "face"... because for such a program a DOS-like appearance could have been sufficient.

The lack of many graphical elements is somehow underlined by the presence of a very rarely met tab: "feedback". One has to really be out of ideas (who wouldn't for such a simple software?) to put a "Feedback" tab on the main window of a program.

One visual element with very good looks and a very helpful tool is the "Easymix System", a piece of tutorial that visually explains what "in key" mixing is all about.

The works

Since I mentioned the "colorwheel" of harmonic musical keys, it means we're passing to the features section. I really find it hard to write a review for a soft that does just one thing. Let alone the fact it does its job very well...I decided to let Mixed In Key analyze one track from one of my bands' oncoming album. Well...it was right, a major it was! Even more, I gave it another try and still right. This means for me it really works. Another proof can be found here so if you don't believe me, maybe that mix will convince you.

All songs analyzed are stored in a browsable and searchable library so you can get the dominant key of a song without the need to re-process it. The search is fast and its results are highly accurate. The drag-and-drop allows you to quickly operate the Mixed In Key with the minimum amount of moves. This minimalism can be of very much use when you have to prepare a longer setlist.

Mixed In Key offers a well-written tutorial which explains the reasons which stood at the basis of the software and the needs that led to its creation. Even I learned a very cool thing about mixing, a thing I will surely apply next time I'll find myself in front of the consoles: writing the Camelot notation key in line to each track on the CD will tell you instantly what goes with what when thinking of the next song people will bounce on.

The circular diagram showing the Camelot notation and the harmonic keys along with the school-like explanation will help you get a better picture on the whole idea.

The good

For the professional DJ, Mixed In Key is a real sidekick: it can save huge amounts of time in the setlist preparation which leads to the DJ being more relaxed at the show. Provided he rests at all ;) Easy to learn, easy to use, great helper.

The bad

Everything is fine, nothing bad here.

The truth

One of a DJ's best friends. If you're made to make money (or large amounts of passionate fun) out of mixing, the Mixed In Key is a must.