Welcome to the first entry of my new blog.  I want to use this place a way to share my thoughts and insights in music and DJ culture.  I also want to share my mashup productions and approaches and insights into remixing, which is a big passion of mine.


I have been a DJ for ten years.  It's not a long career but my knowledge was in many ways fast-tracked in that I found a mentor who was willing to teach me how to be consistently good in this business and avoid many of the mistakes and pitfalls that can become a barrier to going from a "hobby" DJ to "professional".  In just a few years I was schooled in many sound principles of mixing and remixing, constructing a good set, and reading a crowd which has benefited me time and time again. 


I have learned alot from my mentor.  Much of that knowledge I can never explicitly share because it's not my knowledge to share.  But I can discuss the concepts I have learned and applied over the years that has benefited me and may benefit you.  Music is art, but there is also a science behind it.  There is a methodology to making music, mixing music, remixing music.  If there wasn't then any form of randomness would sound good to our ears and would be acceptable.  Any mix or remix would sound great.  But that is not the case.  Even with my education, I have still stumbled in the dark and have learned some hard lessons.  My failures have been my lessons's learned.  


One of the main reasons for starting this blog is that I love music.  But I also love what I can do with music.  I enjoy surprising myself and what I am able to put together using existing samples from different genres and eras.  It's wonderful to be able to create something unique that can be enjoyed by people on a dancefloor, broadcasted on the radio for thousands to listen to, or admired and respected by fellow DJs.  It's a thrill to meet a challenge and win.  It's also a learning experience.  Every time I create a mix or a mashup/remix I learn something about the sounds I used, where I used them in the mix, why I used them.  I come closer to my goal of understanding how music works together.  It's almost like breaking a code, or as my mentor used to say often "solving a puzzle".  Mixing music or producing a song or a mashup is like solving a puzzle.  You have to find the pieces that fit, ignore the ones that don't, and have the patience to work it until you have created your masterpiece.  


I hope you guys enjoy what's in store for this blog.  I look forward to reading your comments, critques, suggestions, and well wishes.  


Regards, 


Mario Santiago aka DJ Mario in the Mix