Before I can explain my “secret” technique to you, if you don’t know what harmonic mixing consists of, I invite you to go to this page which will explain to you what harmonic mixing is In addition, if you do not know how to use the cycle of fifths or the Camelot wheel for your mixes, I invite you to go to this page to learn the 6 basic techniques of harmonic mixing.
WHAT IS THIS SECRET TECHNIQUE?
This secret technique consists in using a “key adjust” function to modify the pitch of a piece to be able to make it harmonically compatible with another music with which it would not normally be able to tune The “Keylock” function allows to maintain the original pitch of music when the tempo of this one is modified, also, when it is coupled with the function “key adjust”, it makes it possible to adapt a song to the pitch you want, and therefore change your harmonic key.
HOW DOES THE “KEY ADJUST” WORK?
The “key adjust” function can generally be modified by a potentiometer or 1 button to increase it and 1 button to lower it. The “Key adjust” is graduated from -12 to +12, 0 is the neutral level. When we raise the “key adjust” to +1, the pitch of the music is increased by 1 semitone, when we go up to +2, the pitch of the music is increased by 2 semitones, i.e. 1 ton. And so on up to +12 which increases the pitch by 12 semitones or 6 tones and therefore 1 octave. Obviously, it is the same in the other direction when we lower the “key adjust” from 0 to -12.
As an image is often much more meaningful, you can observe in this example that when music has for harmonic key the note F of the 2nd octave and is mixed with a “key adjust” set to +4, its harmonic key will then be in A of the same octave When this same music is mixed with a “key adjust” set to +7, its harmonic key will be in C one octave higher.
HOW DOES ANDY MAC DOOR’S SECRET TECHNIQUE WORK?
The technique is based on the cycle of fifths and more simply the hawker wheel, so it starts from the observation that to go from one tone to another (i.e. 2 semitones above), you have to increase 2 harmonic keys. For example, to go from C Major to D Major, you have to go from the harmonic key 8B to 10B. Or to go from F Minor to G Minor, you have to go from the harmonic key 4A to the Key 6A. And so on.
So, taking this mechanic, my technique is as follows When I want to mix music of an incompatible harmonic key with another, I use the “key adjust” to transform the original key of music into another harmonic key but compatible this time with the other music to be mixed.
BY ITS SIMPLICITY, THIS TECHNIQUE IS FRIENDLY
This technique is formidable, because not only is it very easy to remember, but in addition, it really allows to give a boost to your mix and especially allows you to mix everything with almost anything. To put it simply, to go up by 2 degrees you must also raise the key to adjust by 2. To go up by 4 degrees, the key adjusts by 4 must also be increased, and so on. Same in the other direction, to go down 2 degrees, you have to go down the key adjust by 2. To go down 4 degrees, you have to go down by 4 the key adjust. The only thing to remember is that it only works with even numbers and especially not odd numbers. In other words, it works by 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and does not work by 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.
