World Of Trip-Hop Mix
On Aligning The Planets, and Other Challenges
Dramatic: Track lighting and turntables.
One of the rewarding parts of recording a mix is the harmonic sound when successfully blending tracks, the elements from each complementing each other in sync; unfortunately, it's not as simple as it seems. From a more-cynical point of view, mixing records in precise unison for any extended length of time can be like trying to align the sun and the moon.
That being said, I've been messing around with records since 2000. I certainly haven't perfected the art of mixing, but I've definitely improved as time has passed.
The Hands-On Approach
Until I can scratch digital audio just like I would a 12" record, I'll keep buying 12" vinyl. Admittedly, the technology has improved in the last few years and is now pretty close. If I were just getting into the turntable thing now, I'd probably go for one of Numark's hi-fi, hi-tech toys. In the meantime, I'll stick to dusty, imperfect analog(ue).
The Tracks
Running Audacity on a laptop for recording and writing data to a mapped (NFS) drive via 802.11b, the 160-minute mix turned out resonably well:
- Intro
- DJ Food - Dark Lady
- London Funk Allstars - Give It To Me Raw
- Jaffa - Sneakin'
- The Herbaliser - Scratchy Noise
- Gorillaz - Tomorrow Comes Today
- People Under The Stairs - Schooled In The Trade
- DJ Presto - Relax Your Mind
- People Under The Stairs - Sunroof
- DJ Food - Sexy Bits
- 9 Lazy 9 - Life Goes On & On
- London Funk Allstars - Today London, Tomorrow The World
- London Funk Allstars - Junkie's Bad Trip
- Big Dada Sound - Showtime
- House Of Pain - Who's The Man (Original Mix)
- Beastie Boys - Jimmy James
- Cypress Hill - Hand On The Glock
- Beck - Where It's At
- Nas - I Can
- Keith Murray - Get Lifted
- Robyn - Show Me Love (Grand Jury Mastermix)
- Dr. Dre - Still D.R.E
- Cypress Hill - When The Shit Goes Down
- Pharcyde - Passing Me By
- Harlem Zip Code - Where Will You Go
- DJ Krush - Kemuri
- Zero 7 - One Arm Break
- Sade - King Of Sorrow (Fun Lovin' Criminals Remix)
- DJ Shadow - Midnight In A Perfect World
- Outkast - Spottieottiedopealiscious
- Max & Harvey - Big Amoeba Sound
- Peace Orchestra - The Man Part One
- Naked Funk - Dreamland
- Lewis Taylor - Lucky (K&D Suicide Mix)
- Portishead - Humming
- Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
- U2 - The First Time
- Red Herring #1
- Red Herring #2
- Beck - Rowboat
A number of NinjaTune and Om Records artists were worked into this mix, with some more well-known tracks thrown in for good measure.
While I've improved my skills over the years, I think I still have a long way to go - my name isn't Mark Farina.