This article is a reader’s question. If you have a DJ question why not email it to me @ james (at) djkippax.com. If it’s a good question I may answer it with a big helpful blog post like this one:-)
Recently an email subscriber called MD asked:
What is the best DJ software for recording the best quality mixes? I use Virtual DJ with a NUMARK DJ2GO2 and I have a hard time getting my volume levels right I also need advice on naming and publishing my recorded mixes? But I have a dilemma because the mixes I want to upload are awesome, but I think they need to be professionally mastered? Are there any tips u can please give me to make my mixes sound and look good?
Let’s start with MD’s first question.
Table of Contents
How to keep your volumes consistent when making a mixtape
MD asks: I have a hard time getting my volume levels right?
Most DJ’ing software has an auto gain function which will help to equalise your volumes. If this is turned off, ensure you switch it on.
Auto volume detection is good but it’s not perfect. It can make mistakes for a various reasons. And some DJ programs are better at dealing with automatic volume corrections than others.
If you are having specific problems with your DJ’ing software, it’s always a good idea to check the manufacturers forums first. As you might be able to find other users with similar problems and there might be fixes.
I did a little search for auto gain problems virtual DJ and came across this forum thread.
Likewise, if I had problems with another DJ’ing program, I’d try to perform a similar search on their respective forums. Reddit also has some great DJ’ing forums, so it can be a good place to search too.
Aside from this, I would recommend that you assess all your track volumes before recording a mix. You can do this two ways:
- Use a media player with replay gain to display all the replay gain values. This will allow to spot excessively loud or quiet tracks. But just be careful, this method isn’t without it’s limitations.
- Perform a rough practice of your mix and note any tracks which sound loud/quiet. Play with the gains and either save your adjustments in the program (if that’s possible), or record (with a pen and paper) how much you alter your gains.
I’ve always mixed using my old Rane battle mixer and Vestax turntables, which means I mix my audio outside my DJ software. And I manually match my volumes using the VU meters and my ear. If you’re mixing this way you do volume equalisation a little differently. For those interested in my method of getting the volumes right, I do the following:
- When I’m DJ’ing and matching my track volumes, aim to set every track to 0db or +2db on my mixer.
- I find the peak volume of each track and try to set my level to 0db or +2db. The peak volume is the loudest part of your tracks; it’s usually when all the elements are playing and the tunes you are mixing are at their loudest. The loudest bits of a record is usually in the middle, frequently they occur after the breakdowns. So, you might need to skip to the middle of your tracks when setting levels.
Setting the volumes in this manner is the first thing I do when I’m mixing on my turntables with Traktor. I do this before I even start beatmatching, cueing or scratching records.
Moving on…
When performing or recording a mixtape, don’t fear altering the volume of a track after it’s been mixed – even if it’s the track playing through the speakers. If you notice your playing track seems loud, just gradually trim it’s a volume a little. If you alter the volume slowly it’s less noticeable in through the speakers or the PA system.
Always pay attention to your meter levels when you’re playing/or cued tracks are at their loudest. It’s easy to get carried away when mixing, as a result, you can make the mistake of pumping the volume higher and higher as your DJ set progresses. You must avoid this because it will cause your mix to become louder over time, and you are more likely to push your volumes into the ‘red’ – causing clipping and distortion.
Ebb on the side of caution when mixing, try to keep your tracks quieter rather than louder. Tracks pushed well into the red will clip or distort – making your DJ mix sound bad. It’s often impossible to fix or repair the sound quality of a recorded DJ mix if clipping or distortion has occurred.
By contrast, we can increase the volume of a quiet DJ mix recording by applying peak normalisation during the post editing process. Doing it this way will avoid the dreaded digital clipping.
What is the best DJ software for recording the best quality mixes?
The best method of recording a DJ mix depends on how you are mixing your tracks.
In your case MD, you are mixing using a Numark DJ2GO2 DJ controller. This means all your mixing occurs inside your software.
Conversely, when I’m recording a DJ mix from Traktor, turntables, and my Rane TT56 DJ Mixer, I’d be mixing externally – as the mixing occurs outside my software (Traktor).
Most modern DJ’ing software (like virtual DJ, Serato, Traktor) will let you record internally. This is the best way to record your mix as you’ll be converting your audio less. And as we will later learn, minimising the amounts of conversions that your DJ mix goes through is important.
When recording a mixtape, use the best resolution which your software allows. Personally, I like to record my mixes at 44,100hz sample rate and I record at bit depth of 24 or greater.
Your recording format should be set to Wav if you are on Windows, or AIFF if you’re using a Mac. Wav/AIFF files are lossless audio formats, meaning they retain more audio information than a compressed file like an MP3.
The choice of audio editing software makes no difference to sound quality. Audacity is a fantastic free audio editor, and it sounds as good as premium programs like Adobe Audition.
Recording an analogue signal (like the audio output from a mixer, soundcard, or a DJ controller) is more difficult to get right as you will need an additional soundcard or a hardware recorder to capture your audio.
Avoid using your PCs built-in microphone jack to record any mixes. These built-in microphones have horrible sound, they are often noisy, and can add buzzing to recordings. Also, the converters (which convert the analogue signal to digital) are usually of awful quality.
If you are recording your DJ mix to another device, invest in another soundcard to record your mixes. If you are looking for a cheap soundcard which won’t break the bank, then check out the Behringer UCA202. That’s a relatively inexpensive soundcard which can produce adequate audio quality. However, the more money you invest in an additional soundcard, the better your recordings will be.
How to use EQ to control DJ mix volume
If I had to make any further recommendations to MD situation, I would say look at getting a better mixer – one with an EQ.
An EQ will allow you greater control over the mixing process. And you can perform DJ’ing techniques like subtractive Eq’ing, which will improve your volume levels in your mixes too and make your mix transitions smoother also.
Mastering DJ mixes
MD also asks: I think my mixes need to be professionally mastered?
One area which confuses many new DJs is the best way to master a DJ mix. Many newbies think that mastering is a magical process which will fix all their sound quality problems and make their mixtape sound as good as professional mixes. This is wrong!
Producing a DJ mix which sounds good starts with track selection – you must use the best quality tracks for your mixes. At a minimum, your music files should be Flacs, WAV, AIFF files or another lossless file type. Or, at the very least, 320 CBR MP3s.
Whatever you do, don’t use YouTube rips for your DJ mixes. Because the video site removes large parts of the frequency spectrum.
DJ’ing is brutal on sound quality. After all, when you mix tracks, add effects, route mixes to other soundcards or FX units, et cetera, each process converts your audio – and every audio conversion produces a little loss in sound quality.
Sadly, you cannot avoid all this converting, you can only minimise its negative effects. Using good quality music files is one way to minimise the damage done to audio quality; more expensive and better DJ’ing equipment is another.
How to record a digital DJ mix
If you are recording your mix internally inside your DJing software, don’t mix at the maximum volume possible.
Give yourself some headroom when recording your mix.
I like to record my mixes around -12db to -8db, this leaves me with plenty of room for any accidental volume spike.
Certain parts of the DJ’ing process can cause spikes in volume. Here are a few:
- Mixing two tracks together will cause the volume to increase
- Using effects on your mix
- Scratching
- Boosting your EQ instead of cutting and not using it in a subtractive manner
Therefore, it’s wise to record your mixes at a quieter volume. Because, if there’s an unexpected spike in your volume, you reduce the chances of clipping occurring – distorting your mix. Besides, we can increase the volume of a quiet mix inside our audio editor during the mastering process. On the other hand, restoring clipped audio is a nearly impossible process.
How to master a DJ mix
Mastering isn’t the magic wand that many new DJs think it is.
As I’ve tried to highlight in this article, a well-mastered DJ mix starts with a good source: namely mixing tracks which have decent sound quality.
The next part of the process is to avoid anything which introduces distortion and digital clipping. This means keeping control of your track and recording volumes.
Performing those two steps alone will improve your sound.
Things to avoid
One mistake many new DJs make when mastering is to apply a complex mastering chain to pump up the volume and polish their mix.
Honestly, you don’t need to go crazy when trying to master a DJ mix, because there are too many variables which make mastering DJ mixes difficult.
First, consider that a DJ mix is a collection of tracks. Each track in a DJ mix will have been mastered in its unique way; the mastering process gives each track its shine and polish and makes certain elements and frequencies stand out.
Your tracks will also have been mastered at different volumes too. And no two tracks are alike as they contain different frequencies, will have different keys, and have different structures. Also, consider many DJ mixes span a timeframe of 20 – 120 minutes or more.
For example, if you were trying to apply something like a multiband compressor to your mix you would have to factor all the above points. You would also have to automate different settings for different parts of the mix. The same settings might sound good on one track but might make a different part of your mix sound terrible. As you can see the complexity increases fast, which makes the mastering process difficult.
Over the years I’ve tried complex and simple mastering process on my mixes. And my best results have come from using a simple approach. Here’s how I like to master my DJ mixes:
- I listen to the whole mix in my audio editor and note any bits which sound louder than the other. I also use the VU meters to confirm certain bits are louder than others.
- I then try to equalise the volumes using my ear and the VU meters. I try to use gradual fades up and down to increase or decrease volumes. Gradual fades are less audible. A listener should notice no volume jumps.
- Once I’m happy I apply peak normalisation and a little limiting.
I keep my final mix on the quiet side. I avoid brick walling my mixes with the limiter [link].
Brick walling your mix will make it sound loud, but this comes at the expense of the dynamic range of your mix. Loud DJ mixes often sound dull, lifeless and are fatiguing to listen to over long periods. Maintaining a good dynamic range means that when your DJ mix is played loud it sounds punchy, crisp and the bass rattles your teeth.
How DJ Equipment affects sound quality
MD also says: I use Virtual DJ with a NUMARK DJ2GO2.
The quality of your DJ equipment will make a big difference in the sound quality of your mixes. A £100 DJ controller with built-in soundcard won’t sound as good as a top of the range CDJ.
If you are using cheap DJ equipment, don’t beat yourself up too much if the sound it produces isn’t that good. The big-name DJ mixes on the mix hosting sites will have probably been made using some of the best DJ and recording equipment. There’s no way you can compete with this when making mixtapes with DJ’ing gear which is a fraction of the cost.
And the very top end mixes by the biggest-name DJs may have been professionally mastered too. Some mixes may even have been created internally in digital audio workstations (DAWs) using studio-quality 24-bit tracks. There is no way you can compete with this level of sound quality with cheap DJing gear. So, don’t be too hard on yourself if your mix doesn’t sound as good as the latest Boiler Room mix by Roger Sanchez.
How mix hosting sites affect your sound quality
These days, most DJ’s share their music on one of the mix hosting sites such as Soundcloud, Mixcloud or HearThis.
Did you know that these sites reencode and reduce the sound quality of your mixes to reduce their bandwidth costs?
Again, if you rely on those sites for sharing and promoting your DJ mix, you cannot avoid this conversion and the effect it has on your sound quality.
But, as I’ve mentioned earlier, we can try to minimise its negative effects – namely uploading our mix in the best and biggest audio format possible. So, when you upload your mix to the mix hosting websites, upload it as a Wav, AIFF or FLAC. This will help to improve your sound quality as less information is lost during the mix hosting sites’ internal conversion process.
It’s worth mentioning that you can use the mix hosting sites crappy streaming rates against them. One way I promote my DJ mixes is to offer lossless mixes and high-quality MP3 file downloads via my website. This allows me to differentiate myself as a DJ because most of my competitions mixes are hosted on Mixcloud – meaning their sound quality will be restricted to Mixcloud’s default streaming quality.
This differentiator doesn’t appeal to everyone, but it does appeal to some. And with competition being so fierce these days in the music industry, any differentiation you can create between you and your competitors is valuable.
Another reason you want to entice new fans away from platforms like Mixcloud and Soundcloud is: you have more control. You never know what might happen to that platform in the future. There’s always a chance that a mix hosting site could be shut down, be bought out, or take a turns for the worst.
I’m old enough to remember what happened to all those DJ’s/artist who solely relied upon Myspace for music promotion. Much time, energy and music was lost when that site died.
How do I name my DJ mix?
I’ll openly admit I’m unimaginative when naming my mixtapes. I keep my DJ mix names basic. Look at my oldschool hip-hop/rap or my 90’s house music mix sections, and you’ll notice that my mix names are simple. I simply label them: hip-hop mix one, hip-hop mix two, hip-hop mix 3; the same applies to my old school house mixes. I do this because it clearly shows people what type of music I mix.
Also, I want Google to have a clear idea of what my mixtape page is about. Because it increases the chances of the search engine sending relevant fans my way – fans who are searching for the types of music I mix.
By contrast, if I used obscure DJ mix names, it may confuse Google and any new fans who visit my website.
Likewise, I always include a tracklist on my website’s mix pages as well. Because it tells new fans, new visitors, and the search engines what music is on my site. Also, by including a list of track titles on my mixtape pages, my website sometimes ranks in Google for some of the artist names on my DJ mixes.
I’m not saying that using obscure names for your mixes is wrong. But these days you need to clearly show people what type of music is on your mix. Because if you don’t, they’ll move on and might not listen to your mixtape.
I always append my DJ name to the end of my mix too – for branding. I apply the same naming conventions to SoundCloud and Mixcloud too.
DJ mix artwork
I’ve written in greater detail about how to create covers for your mixtapes and DJ mixes. But I’ll reiterate some of the key points of the article.
If you lack Photoshop skills, it’s often far easier and quicker to get someone else to make your artwork for you. Either hire someone on a site like Fiverr; or if you know anyone who is a digital artist, ask them to create some covers for you.
The next easiest way of producing DJ mix artwork is to use a template (from a stock art site) or use an app like Canva. Remember that there is a slight learning curve to this approach.
Personally, with my mixes, I usually just find some weird free public domain picture, and then stick the title of my mix and my DJ name on it. I know my art skills are limited, so I try not to waste too much time on artwork.
Lasty, if you are offering MP3/Flac download versions of your DJ mixes, ensure you embed your artwork into your file using a tagging program. My personal favourite too for this is MP3 tag.
Takeaways
- Remember good DJ mix sound quality starts with good sounding tracks
- You don’t need complex or professional mastering for a DJ mix to sound good. A less is more approach to DJ mix mastering is the best approach I’ve found.
- Cheap DJ gear won’t produce sound quality as good as expensive equipment.
- Recording and sharing DJ’ing mixes involves converting your tracks many times – each conversion reduces sound quality. You cannot avoid all these conversion steps you can only minimise their damage with good recording practices.
- Soundcloud, Mixcloud, and HearThis.at convert most mixes uploaded to them. This will reduce your sound quality further.
- Practice, practice, practice. The more mixes you make and share, the better you will get. And remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
- In today’s hyper-competitive DJ industry, producing good mixtapes isn’t enough. You must also know: how to create artwork, have some sound engineering skills, and know how to market yourself. You need not be an expert in everything I just mentioned, but a cursory knowledge will help.
Do you have a DJ question like MD’s? Why not email it to me @ james (at) djkippax.com or add a comment below.
Keep on scratching,
Best,
James DJ Kippax
