The Question I've been debating with an Olde DJ Colleague of mine is:

Should a Mix of 45 - 78 minutes be left as one Continuous Non-Stop Track or Split into a Number of Tracks to be Burned to CD!

There are two sides to the debate, what I would say:

1. Leave it as One Track if you are intending it to be an MP3 only (compared to a CD an MP3 has less quality and less harmonic-range).

2. Split it into a Number of Tracks if it is intended to be a CD, the Benefits is: You can access the point you had left it at (especially if you were listening to it in a car) and you can easily find the same point if you have to stop it for any reason.

Now what I have done with my last two downloads is give the person the choice. The Non-Stop MP3 Track is downloaded as an MP3, or as a Number of Tracks, the Number of MP3's / Tracks are Downloaded in a WinRar Archive (.rar).

Can I have your comments please?

Awaiting your response:- Rom'

I leave a mix for a download as one full thing but on cds I tracksplit then just before the mix

This means a prospective promoter doesnt have to fuk about skippn back and fore to hear a mix

Also if i split the mix anput it on my phone my phone stores them in alphbetical order so wouldnt all be next to each other, you cang et round this by storin them all in same folder but it is a pain in the ass

Bang on Ty - that's exactly how I used to do them, but haven't done a promo mix in ages now!!!

And another hint here - NEVER call it a "demo". It's a promotional mix.

Exactly


Pm coming ajay

Cool cool!!

i prefer getting mixes as 45mins with out splits, as the stop starts between mixes can sometimes take away from a good mix.

live sets recorded from inside a club is the ones i prefer best.

si

As a promoter/dj who listens to a lot of demos, I dont mind a demo on a single track, but I do prefer one that is split into tracks, so I can skip to the right place when listening to the rest of the demo. It wont really influence my decision to book a dj. But if it is split into tracks, absolutely DO NOT have it windows media stylee with pauses in between each track. I cant listen to a mix when its like that.

If its for download then yeah, have it on one full single.

exactly

i normally split the mix down to single tracks and offer both 1 mp3 or it in tracks.

Been lazy with the last few mixes havnt bothered splittin them down due to the time it takes.

Thinking about i hav been lazy as fuck recently by not actually do ne mixes, all recent stuff has been recorded live at events.

Think i should pull my finger out!

A damned good point!
Agreed, if they are meant to be singles, then i would say that's a diferent matter.

Thanks for your response people, this is quite an interesting inteligent debate>

a mix im putting up for download i'll put as one long track. i thought about trackmarking them and putting them in a zip or a rar folder but if they were saved as mp3s i think they would have a 2 second gap between each track (correct me if im wrong anyone). but anything that goes on cd should be trackmarked. its lazyness on the dj's behalf and is a pain in the bum to listen to if theres certain tracks near the middle or end you perticulally like

and anyone who mixs a 45 min mix shouldnt be allowed to upload them as thats bone idle lol. ive mixed a couple of hour mixs for clubbed up radio but everything else ive done has been as close to 80 mins as possible.

the day they create a 2 hour cd i'll be the happiest man alive lol

Now that would be great.

Now if you go through a 77 minute MP3 using GoldWave (as I do) what you do save a part of the Mix as a Selection say as: "Intro" onto the Desktop or Whatever folder, delete that selection "only on GoldWave"(which you had saved onto the Desktop or Whatever Folder), find the next place where you blend 2 tracks in, save that Selection as Whatever and carry on from there.

Now when you burn Tracks 01. Whatever to 18. Whatever there will be a Milisecond Gap which will not be Noticeable except for a slight CRACK / Pop sound at the most.

I hope you understand what I'm on about LOL?

THE CRACK IS SHIT!!!!!!

people - just save as one long mp3, and provide a .cue file. google it to find out how to make one - it's PISS easy, and enables you to burn the single mp3 with track marks, without any sort of crack whatsoever.

Nice 1 guys,
learn somethin new everyday ;)

WITH CD'S SIMPLE TRACK MARK BUT NO SPACES! PUT MARK SOMEWHERE IN THE MIX FROM ONE CHOON TO ANOTHER! OR JUS AS ONE TRACK FORCE THEM TO LISTEN TO THE WHOLE THING LOL!
;-0

It's not exactly rocket science to burn a CD from multiple mp3 files without gaps between the tracks!
Just learn how to use your CD-writing software. It's usually called "track lead-in" and should be set to zero.

It helps if you use decent software to split the audio into multiple tracks. Ideally this shouldn't even be done. The tracks are best done in the CD-writing software from a single source MP3 - to allow others to do this, you just supply the "cue" file for download as this contains the exact times for each track-break.

You don't need a 2 hour CD - there are ways of compressing a mix without loosing the quality.

Yes, but I have noticed on DSI that it is extremely rare to find someone who had split their 40+ minute mix into seperate tracks and I have yet to find someone who has supplied a Cue-File.

Now I have found how to do it without a Cue-File, that is if one is lucky enough to have the Nero 8 suite of burning software?

With a bit of experimenting I now know how. So if you have Nero Express, open the program, choose the option Music, open that up.

Drag the MP3 Fliles into the program in the correct order (obviously).

1. Right Click the 2nd Track to Highlight it,
2. Choose Properties,
3. Choose "Cross fade with previous track",
4. Put a tick into the little box,
5. Next to the Ticked Box, place the number "1" into it. (The programs default is "0" which doesn't work!)

Please repeat the procedure withe all of the following tracks to make a seamless tracked CD without any gaps or skips in the mixed album!

By the way thank you for all of your advice.

i prefer mine tracksplit.

the easiest way to do it is with a cue sheet.

all you do is have one continueous mp3 and a cue sheet file that tells the program where the track splits are.

open the cue sheet with the burning software and it puts the track split in without gaps.

cue sheet generators can be found all over the net.

google.co.uk