My First Mix :)

[kid cue]

Originally Posted by King of Snake

do you mean that by not mixing the tracks together longer, you get to hear the buildup more troughout each individual track? Hmm, well wouldn't that be pretty difficult to avoid though, as each tune generally has some sort of buildup?

i think it's a different effect -- in your mix i get a feeling of 'starting over' with almost each new track, rather than riding the crest of an ever-building wave. this isn't bad in itself, but is a little much for my taste. whereas some more layered mixing, maybe not allowing each track to breathe quite so much, might allow you to build a lot more momentum at times. just a thought. i'm a strong believer in the mix making the tunes, so....

as far as melodies not working together, yeah--that's always a concern--but there are some tracks (e.g. Dark Train) where the melodic element is more of a repetitive pulse than a developing motif, so even if the keys don't perfectly match, i think it's ok to pull a longer mix.

anyway, i think it's mainly instinct. the more mixes you make, the more sensitive you become to the overall arc from beginning to end, how to manipulate the listener's sense of time ... that's the absolute biggest challenge of it IMO, whether you plan the tracklist or you're improvising!