Let's say someone wanted a mix of several songs from one artist, maybe someone more melodic than club beat heavy. Chances are, the songs will be in various bpms (not too different) and keys. I checked out the harmonic mixing tutorial by Wildr and I understand that the keys have to be compatible.

If somebody gave you that challenge, would you be able to make that mix so it didn't sound like garbage (or a human jukebox as the writer called it)? Is that even possible? Sorry, if this is a dumb question, but can the keys of songs be tweaked to make them compatible?

Currently, I'm using Express (for my aerobic classes), but I'm going to upgrade to Studio 7 for some of its features.

Hi RC,

Firstly, although I posted the Harmonic Tutorial it was actually compiled by the Interwebs resident expert on all things harmonic and Mixxy - Camelot Sound.

To try to answer your question, it's really difficult to say yes or no!

You *CAN* amend the keys in Fusion or Studio 7, however doing so can return mixed results - the difficulty also is that if you have a set of tunes all Mixed in the same Key, it can sound VERY tiring and reduce the energy in the Mix.

This also applies for Mixing the same BPM all the way through - unless you add something to the Mix to break it up or add interest the Mix!

If you hear some of the Medleys (to use an older term for Mixes made concentrating on just one artist), they do (in the main) harmonically Mix, however they also usually have other transitions used in order to prevent 'key clash' - Cut's, altered backing, drop into acapella only sections etc.

HTH!