Any good DJ wants and needs a quality mixing program that allows you to make your own music in your own style, using many different techniques. The latest program to target this market is Mixed In Key 5. This unique program lets you make sets that are all about the music, more than tricks and techniques that manipulate existing tracks.

There are many popular users of Mixed In Key 5 which has only served to expand its popularity to DJs of all genres.

This particular software offers just about everything a DJ could want; multi-key detection, key search engine, adding a music player, music file compatibility and improved accuracy. If all that is true, then I’m excited to see what else we’ll find in this review of Mixed In Key 5.

About Mixing In Key

Mixing in key is just a fancy way of saying harmonic mixing, and it is one of the best things that has ever happened to the modern DJ. Understanding what it means to mix in key can greatly improve your skills as a DJ if you’re willing to try. Mixing in key allows you to make seamless transitions from one song or set to the next, giving you options you probably never even imagined.

How Mixed In Key 5 Works

The reason DJs around the world have fallen in love with Mixed In Key is that it made music theory accessible to DJs. You can detect the keys so that any DJ can use it to help you make mixes that sound good together. This takes a lot of time out of creating sets, so you can focus more on perfecting your DJ persona.

Whether you play a few instruments or none at all, Mixed In Key 5 makes it easier for you to create music as a DJ without a background in music. With this software you can just find tunes that match the key and mix as you see fit. Of course this won’t guarantee a good mix, it will give you a good starting point so you can make mixes faster.

Ease Of Use

Using Mixed In Key 5 is very simple, all you have to do is open a window and drag in your tunes. You just add in some basic information like where you want the key information recorded, if tempo information is required and the notion you want used. Hit the start button and then you’re ready to start mixing!

The newest version has a dual core support so it goes through your tunes fast, even faster if you have a dual core processor. It does take awhile to get all your tunes into the software, but you can leave it overnight and get started fresh the next day.

Although this mixing program is billed as the most accurate one ever, you should make sure you listen for bad mixes rather than trust the algorithms; it is still a machine and your ears know better.

There is a new feature in Mixed In Key 5 that all DJs will enjoy; you can spot key changes within the tracks. It’s pretty cool actually, the software treats each track as many different parts rather than a whole song so you can take what you want from it and use it to mix.

Other Features

Mixed In Key 5 offers many features that make it so easy to navigate, including a built-in search that allows you to find tunes by key. This will let you see all of your options for key mixes.

But there are other factors at play that make this software so useful, including super simple instructions for connecting the software to your current DJ software. This will be very useful for DJs still getting used to digital DJing because setting up software isn’t always the easiest task.

Everything is clearly outlined in Mixed In Key 5 so that you can perform just about any of the functions you need easily. The explanations are easy to understand and the tutorials make it simple to overcome any obstacle you encounter with the software.

But don’t think this software is just for the beginner because it’s not. Mixed In Key 5 provides access to advanced resources in the website forum area so you can get acquainted with the more advanced options.

Is It Worth It?

Getting Mixed In Key 5 is definitely worth the cost of purchase because you will find that it can help you become a more effective DJ. You can create mixes for any type of gig so that you always have music ready to go. It doesn’t matter where you are in your DJ career, all that matters is that you’re willing to put in the time to make it better and define your style for yourself.

While it isn’t always the most accurate program, the more time you spend mixing the more acquainted you will become with the program and recognize its flaws. If you have the money and you’re serious about making great mixes, you’ll find the most useful mixing program you didn’t know you needed.

I hope I helped you understand mixing a key; it can be a great help to aspiring DJs. Email in the box below to get access to Free video DJ lessons that will answer all of your questions about how to mix in key!

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Jonthan shows us a fun little DJ trick you can try on CDJs. I used to do this trick a lot with little vocal samples so I was excited to share it with you!

There are literally thousands of fun DJ tricks you can do on CDJs, vinyl turntables or even DJ controllers that can make you sound like an even better DJ!

Believe it or not, dropping a track into a mix isn’t just for sh*tty stipclub DJs with no skills. You can drop tracks into your DJ mix and have a great effect on the energy of your mix. My friend Jonathan shows easy dropping a track into your DJ mix can be and how good it can sound!

This is the classic mixing technique that DJ who don’t really know what they’re doing use to mix songs. They’ll wait for a good time, grit they’re teeth, look away in despair and they’ll drop the new song in and kill the old one. Most DJs make this sound terrible because the tracks don’t sound good beside each other and they aren’t beatmatched properly.

That being said, dropping in a track can be used with every genre of DJing. Hip Hop DJs use it to mix quickly in between tracks or to drop in a really popular song out of nowhere to make everyone scream on the dance floor. Top 40 DJs drop in tracks because they can’t possible mix Britney Spears together with ACDC and make it sound good so they cut one song off and bring in the other really quickly. And house DJs use drops to pick up the energy of a mix by quickly switching to a song with a stronger baseline or better percussion.

Jonathan shows you the easiest way to drop a track into the mix. I used to use this technique all the time when I was DJing in clubs. I would play a song that had lower energy that would be more chuggy (less vocal and melody) to bring down the energy a little. Then I’d slam in whatever song I felt would make people scream. Usually it would have a vocal that everyone know or a REALLY heavy bassline.

The best way to learn how to DJ with drops in your mix is to just go ahead and start practicing. You can’t really go wrong. Try it with the bass up on the song you’re going to drop in. Try it with the bass down. Try it will different types of songs. Learning how to DJ is all Dj Training -which Jon is doing in this video – and experimentation!

Do you know of a better way to drop in a track? Think you can do it better? What did you think about this dj mixing video? Let me know in the comments!

If you’re thinking about signing up for some DJ lessons, don’t go anywhere! You need to read this first!

A lot of new DJs head out to buy DJ lessons, find some free DJ lessons or track down some DJ lessons online and the end up making some huge mistakes. There are 3 common mistakes that new djs make when they sign up for their first DJ lessons.

Falling for one of these “dj lesson traps” can make the process of learning how to dj take so much longer. Scoring the set of DJ lessons that are right for you will make DJing fun and you’ll learn how to DJ very quickly. But if you end up with the wrong DJ Lessons from a mediocre teacher your DJing will suffer. The Dj lessons will teach you bad habits and it will slow your progress big time.

So before you go out and buy a package of DJ lessons or Dj lesson DVDs, make sure you know about these 3 common downfalls of DJ lessons:

DJ Lessons Tip #1

One of the biggest mistakes that new DJs looking for DJ Lessons make is they go and sign up for DJ Lessons before they know what kind of a DJ they want to be. DJing comes in many different styles and they differ depending on the music genre. A hip hop DJ is going to need different dj skills than a house DJ or a top 40 DJ for example.

So before you go out and buy DJ lessons you need to decide on a few things:

1. What genre of music will you play? – The sub-genre of the music you DJ will change over time but as long as you start out knowing the broad genre of the music you like to play (electronic, hip hop etc) then you can find appropriate DJ lessons easily.
2. Whats your ultimate goal with your DJing?  – Knowing where you want to be will help influence how you should start as a DJ. Do you want to just mix tracks for your friends in your basement for fun? Or do you want to be touring around the world, making re-edits on the fly with complicated DJ software for thousands of people? Knowing this will effect the type of DJ Lessons you should buy.
3. What DJ equipment do you want use? – Learning how to DJ with Ableton Live DJ Software will be another world from DJing on turntables with vinyl. And DJing with vinyl requires different skills than DJing on cdjs. You need to know what dj gear you want to learn before you buy your DJ lessons.

Make sure you know the answers to these beginner DJ questions first and then find DJ Lessons in your city or online.

DJ Lessons Online Tip #2

When you nail down the style of music you want to DJ, the type of DJ equipment you want to use and you know your ultimate goal with DJing you can set out and look for DJ Lessons. But hold on, who are you going to get DJ lessons from?

There are hundreds of DJ schools and DJ tutors in each major city. It doesn’t matter where you are, you can bet that someone is offering DJ lessons. But heres the thing; not all DJ lessons are created equal.

The harsh reality is that a lot of the DJs that are now teaching DJ lessons couldn’t make it as a professional DJ. They never got to play any big shows. They never got to play to dance floors of thousands of people. Some of them even suck at mixing. Is this the type of DJ you want to buy DJ lessons from?

If you want to take lessons you want to learn from the best! If you’re learning about basketball, who would you rather learn from: Me (played B-ball in highschool) or Michael Jordan? Obviously Mike. Everyone wants to be like Mike!

DJ Lessons are no different. You want to learn from the best. And there are a number of qualified DJs in your city and online that had success with a DJ carear and now just want to give back to the DJ community.

I’m one of them. I won’t toot my own horn too much but I’ve been able to DJ all over the world. I’ve played with everyone of my DJ heros and I’ve made great money and had a blast doing it. Now I’m giving back to the community by offering FREE video DJ lessons. You can sign up for them at the bottom of the page.

Either way, be careful about who you get your DJ lessons from. The wrong teacher can give you bad habbits. A great teacher with solid DJ lessons will set you up for greatness.

Free DJ Lessons Tip #3

When I started out learning how to dj I didn’t have any extra cash. As a result it took me a long time to figure out how to dj. Years!

If I had paid someone to give me some DJ lessons I could have advanced as a DJ a lot quicker and learned how to be a DJ within a few weeks. But I just couldn’t afford the expensive DJ lessons…

DJ lessons in any big city are at least $50 per hour and you need at least 20 hours to know the basics. So how do you learn how to DJ without spending $1000+ on DJ lessons? Easy! You can start by singing up for our free video DJ lessons newsletter by entering your email below.

Then you can look for less-expensive DJ lessons in your city. Whats even better though is buying some online DJ lessons. There are tons of DJ tutorials online that you can buy for less than the price of 1 in-person DJ lesson. So you can say hundreds and even thousands of dollars on in-person DJ Lessons. Better yet you can watch these videos over and over again so its like you have your own dj coach giving you dj lessons 24-7.

Weahter you choose to find DJ Lessons Online or DJ lessons in your city you can get started today by signing up for our free video DJ tutorial newsletter by typing in your email adress below.

This series of free video DJ lessons on how to be a DJ won’t be free for long. I’m going to have to start charging for these videos soon. They’re really high quality! Don’t miss this opportunity!

Score access now before its too late! Type in your email below and click the “Get Instant Access” button right now:

Enter your email and click “get instant access” right now so you can score your free video DJ lessons!

You obviously want to know how to DJ or else you wouldn’t be here. Learning how to DJ can be an extremely easy, quick and fun process. Or learning how to DJ mix can be a terribly frustrating and boring process. And the not so great news is that its really up to you.

If you want to discover how to DJ you’ve come to the right page. I’m going to break down the key steps you’ll need to take when you learn how to DJ. I’ll also highlight some key points that hold people back from figuring out how to DJ so you can avoid the same fate of failure and frustration!

How To Dj Tip #1

The first difference between someone that gets how to dj quickly with easy and someone that struggles to learn how to dj mix for a year or more, is the concept of teaching yourself. Teaching yourself how to dj is the quickest way to get frustrated and give up.

It has been scientifically proven that the fastest way to learn anything new is to model after or learn from someone that has already done it. In this case you want to learn from someone that has figured out how to dj quickly and easily themselves.

98% of new DJs struggle when learning to DJ and take years to dj mix simply because they turn down opportunities to learn from other successful DJs. They’d rather slog away in their bedrooms messing up mixes instead of paying a professional DJ tutor a few bucks for a half-hour dj lessons where they will learn how to dj very quickly.

Whats even worse is that every day new DJs all over the world log onto messages forums to ask about DJ Training products. And the old keyboard-jockey DJs tell them “if you want to learn how to dj, teach yourself like I did. Don’t waste your money on those DJ training videos, DVDs or in person how to dj lessons.” This is such flawed advice for a number of reasons.

1. Teaching yourself can take up to a year or more to learn how to dj mix.
2. These DJs in the message forums never played any big shows or made it anywhere as a DJ.
3. If you have a chance to spend $50 or $100 and save 6 months of struggle, so you can be rocking out to huge dance floors, why wouldn’t you?

So the first key is that if you want to learn how to dj quickly and easily, and avoid struggling for years, you need to get mentoring from a pro DJ that has already been there. Someone that has already taught people like you how to DJ.

How To DJ Tip #2

The second advice I have to share that will teach you how to DJ even quicker is to start out buying cheap dj equipment.

One of the biggest mistakes I see new DJs that want to learn how to DJ do is they blow all of their money on a top of the line mixer.

NEWSFLASH: You don’t need a top shelf Allen & Heath or Pioneer DJM-800 mixer when you’re starting out. You won’t use 90% of the features as you learn how to dj and your money goes to waste.

Instead pick up some cheap, used DJ gear that is in good condition. This will allow you to learn how to DJ faster because you will be focusing on crucial DJing skills like beat matching and scratching instead of getting distracted by things like effects. This will allow you to learn how to DJ a lot faster!

Even more important is that you will also have a bunch of money left over to spend on things that are more important. Buying music and getting yourself DJ Training.

Your music collection defines you as a DJ. Having expensive DJ gear won’t build a following or get you any gigs. But your music collection will!

Same for DJ training. If you invest that money in a series of online DJ lessons or some training videos that show you how to dj quickly, you’ll learn how to dj mix so much quicker and will be having a lot more fun as a result. Not to mention all of the gigs you’ll be getting once you know how to dj.

Investing in DJ training is what sepeartes the successful DJs from the DJs that never leave the bedroom. And spend your money on your music and investing in DJ training so you’ll know how to dj faster and have more fun along the way!

Tip #3 On How To DJ

When I started out learning how to dj I didn’t have any extra cash. As a result it took me a long time to figure out how to dj.

If I had paid someone to give me some DJ lessons I could have advanced as a DJ a lot quicker and learned how to be a DJ within a few weeks. But I just couldn’t afford the expensive DJ lessons…

So how do you learn how to DJ without spending $1000+ on DJ lessons? Easy! The 3rd tip in the how to dj advice post is to sign up for our free video DJ tutorial newsletter by typing in your email adress below.

This series of free “how to dj” video DJ lessons on how to be a DJ won’t be free for long. I’m going to have to start charging for these videos soon. They’re really high quality! Don’t miss this opportunity!

Score access now before its too late! Type in your email below and click the “Get Instant Access” button right now:

Enter your email and click “get instant access” right now so you can learn how to DJ fast!

This is one of the many little tricks I teach in my Pro DJ Mixing: Quick & Easy video series but DJing For Dummies does it with a vinyl record and pioneer cdj. Prety cool stuff.

Everyone thats learning to DJ has to be able to tell which song they are mixing is going faster than the other. And to be honest its not an easy thing to be able to tell which song is going faster and if the song you’re listening to in your headphones is faster or slower than the track playing out loud in your dj mix.

This dj training video shows you a little trick that new DJs use to learn how to DJ a lot quicker. It eliminates the guess work out of knowing if the song in your headphones is faster or slower than the song playing out loud.

No joke it took me months just to figure out how to listen to two songs at once in my dj mixing and figure out which was going faster. You can short-track this part of learning how to DJ and beatmatch by following this bloke’s advice!

As a beginner DJ you literally need to train your ears to pick up the different sounds in each song so you can gauge wich song is going faster in your DJ mix. Not an easy task because theres no other activity where we humans have to listen to two sounds at once except DJing.

Try out this dj training tip and let me know what you think. It should help you learn how to DJ quicker than you thought!

Its long been thought that scratching on a digital setup isn’t as good as scratching vinyl. Sure James Zabellia rocks with scratching but what other electronic DJs scratch on a regular basis – aside from the odd wack buildup you’ll hear at a local DJ night in your hometown.

And while Vinyl scratch DJing will always have its place in the DJ industry, believe it or not diehard vinyl DJs, you can achieve the traditional scratching sound on a modern digital setup too.

This is by far one of the best digital scratching tutorials I’ve seen online.

Scratching isn’t easy especially with so many features on todays Pioneer CDJs and mixers. I’ve been DJing for close to 10 years now and I still learned a ton about scratching from this DJ training tutorial.

Seriously, if you start dropping dj tricks like this scratching in your mix at the right times you will stand out as a DJ huge. Theses types of DJ tricks could score you a Dj gig over another new DJ.

I recommend following D.O.D’s advice for learning how to create a traditional scratching sound without the classic dj equipment.

D.O.D. is using CDs of DJ scratch sounds, a Pioneer DJM 900 and Pioneer CDJ 2000s.

This dj training video is one of a series of many dj tutorials that D.O.D has put together for Mixmag. I’ll be posting more of them here soon!

After a lot of videos like this one started floating around a lot of DJs started defending DJ Steve Angello saying that he can mix without headphones. I’ve seen a great video showing Steve Angello mixing without headphones (I couldn’t find it). Now its clear that what DJ Steve Angello was playing was part of a pre-recorded set to sync with the fireworks. But when he does mix without his headphones, that raises the question, how can you DJ without headphones?

Its an old DJing party trick to know how to DJ without headphones. Its not as difficult as it looks. Here’s how:

Its a lot easier than you think to learn how to DJ without headphones, especially for someone like Steve Angello who is an adept studio producer.

All any DJ has to do to be able to mix without headphones is to drop his tracks into any serious audio software like Logic pro or Ableton live and reset the tempo. So DJ Steve Angello for example could set his tracks to 126 BMP so that they’re all exactly the same speed.

Then when he goes to play his gig he locks the tempo fader at however fast he wants the music to go. +1.8 for example. Now all of his tracks will be playing at 128bpm.

So how does he know when to DJ mix in the new track if he is DJing without headphones? Thats easy too. Any DJ that has ever made a demo CD knows what I’m talking about.

When you DJ mix the same tracks over and over again you get to know how they mix with other tracks. You can eventually recognize the exact cue point at which to throw in the next record. You can just feel it. You hear a certain crash or a certain sound and you’ll know thats why you have to press play on “X” song.

Furthermore, when a song is in key you can play it with any other song within the same key, at any point and the mix will sound good. DJs used to have to mark the keys of their tracks themselves but these days they use software like MixedInKey.

And if the song is the same BPM already then is very easy to get them in sync. All you have to do is bring the second song in and listen to your dj monitor speakers. You’ll be able to tell if the song is a little fast or slow at which point you can just give the Pioneer CDJ a little flick to get them matched perfectly.

Anyone with access to common music production software can do this and can learn to DJ without headphones.

DJ Steve Angello takes it one step further though. He doesn’t do this with CDs anymore. The only thing he brings to his gigs now are SD cards. Thats right, little memory sticks with all of his music that can be stuck into the new Pioneer CDJ 1000s and Pioneer CDJ 2000s. So you won’t even see him moving around CDs.

Now you know how to DJ without headphones, are you going to try it yourself?

This is a continuation from the last post about DJ Steve Angello fake DJ mixing. Its a post about how to DJ if you’re going to DJ with just software.

Lets face it, as DJ technology progresses so too does the ability for new DJs like us to learn how to DJ mix quickly and put together some sweet mixes. It also allows you to auto-beatmatch so you can chat up that really cute and slightly-tipsy girl thats been hanging around the DJ booth giving you the f*ck me eyes. Like most advancements in technology there are improvements. DJing is no different.

This means that more and more DJs are switching over to laptop based systems using Traktor DJ Studio, Serato Scratch Live, Ableton and more.

The challenge with this is that DJs are now even more boring to watch. Lots were fixated on the mixer and the decks to begin with. While this was boring itself its not as boring as watching someone click a mouse on their laptop. At least with CDJs and turntables even the non-flamboyent DJs had the classic DJ cueing up a record arm movement and the hedphones around the neck.

I remember I went to see DJ Sasha a few years ago in Vancouver and I was completely disappointed. The whole time it looked like he was just checking his email. I could have sworn that if the music wans’t playing he could have been in a library, not the DJ booth.

So my point here is this: if you’re going to DJ on a laptop or digital controller, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to perform as a DJ. Learning how to DJ isn’t just about DJ mixing, its about about entertaining!

Take the guy in the clip above for example! He has his laptop out but he looks like he’s having a blast! Sure he might be DJing a wedding but everyone is loving it. You can hear them reacting to his dancing while he’s DJing.

I tell you what there is nothing more exciting when you’re on the dance floor than watching a DJ lose it even harder than you are. I saw DJ Steven Angello play with the Swedish House Mafia at the Amsterdam Dance Event back in 2007 and this was the first time I had seen a solid DJ performance. The DJs had air-horns, people were spilling fire from the stage and Steve Angello stood up on the DJ booth and started FREAKING OUT. The energy in the room was electric.

So take notes from Steve’s past awesome performances and his current screw up. Watch the DJ in this video freak out. Develop your own style of entertaining but you have to do something!

A lot of DJs forget why party venues hire DJs. Its because DJs are entertainers.

Having a DJ in the room creates a better, more energetic feel to a room than having music play off of a juke box. This is a fact.

So if the DJ can create all this energy, why is it that so many DJs just look at their laptops like they are checking their email?

The best DJs, the ones that have the biggest following and the most loyal tribe are the ones that let loose and pump up the energy like the guy in this video.

Okay he might not look cool because he is a little older and his movements make it look like he’s having a seizure but he’s doing his best at being an entertainer. You should too!

Do you like his dance moves? I was thinking about learning some of them myself.

Seriously though, don’t you agree that DJs that just stare at their laptop are boring?