Online
Mix Nights Online: Beyond Beatmatching w/ k means
18th March 2025
7.30 pm GMT
£8.30 or free for Sustainer & Soulmate Saffron Members
Saffron’s monthly workshops are part of the Saffron Members Club, but non-members who are women, non-binary people, trans or gender non-conforming folks may also purchase a ticket.
BEYOND BEATMATCHING: CREATIVE APPROACHES TO MARRYING DISPARATE SOUNDS
Join Bristol-based selector k means to explore different approaches for piecing tracks together in ways that go beyond traditional beatmatching. Together with k means, we will discuss fundamental elements such as texture, space, energy, tension, chaos and narrative, specifically within the context of marrying disparate sounds and styles.
Rather than prescribing greater importance to one building block over another, the session aims to encourage attendees to develop their own perspectives, methodologies and frameworks for approaching mixing in a way that feels natural and authentic to them. The session will therefore be interactive, with plenty of chances to discuss, ask questions, and share ideas with others (but only if you feel like it!).
There will be time at the end for broader questions extending beyond mixing. This session is aimed to be accessible for people of all experience levels, so if needed, we’ll briefly cover the basics of mixing in the beginning.
About k means
Never content to sit still in the expected, k means likes to throw you in at the deep end. Having honed their skill over hours of on-air experimentation for Noods Radio and Rinse FM, k means has settled on a style spun more from texture and mood than any specific tempo or genre. As a resident at Bristol’s mind-expanding Psychotherapy Sessions and Brussels-based Kiosk Radio, their commitment to the fringes is borne out in an omnivorous appetite for sound, an exploratory approach that sees the selector navigating the wildest terrain and loosest vibes while maintaining a laser focus on the dance floor, spinning you out only to snap you back in.
From tunnelling wormholes in many of the most beloved venues across the UK, from The Trinity Centre and Strange Brew in Bristol to Ormside Projects, Venue MOT and FOLD in London, as well as SOUP and The White Hotel in Manchester, to rearranging the insides of some of the best clubs in the world, like Fabric, OHM and De School, k means proves that no room or stage is too big or small to thoroughly trip out.
Between closing Unsound and Timedance’s seven-year anniversary and making vital appearances at Intonal, Dimensions Festival and Three Wheel Drive they demonstrate the ability to hold crowds at a constant simmer, burbling between unease and release, throbbing tension and low-slung sleaze, finding delicate balance between the dark, the disorientating, the steamy and the sweat-slicked.
ACCESSIBILITY
We never want money to be a barrier to people accessing music tech, so if you are unable to afford a ticket but believe you would benefit from attending these workshops, please email us on members@saffronmusic.co.uk.
Workshops are open to people worldwide, but will be running at 7.30 pm GMT so please bear differences in time zone in mind. If you purchase a ticket but are unable to attend live, you will automatically be emailed a recording of the workshop(s) after the event.
We are committed to making our online events as accessible as possible. We have created a guidance document about this – Click here to view the accessibility document. Alternatively, please email us with any access requirements you may have: hello@saffronmusic.co.uk
GENDER POLICY
The gender imbalance in the music technology industry is well-recognised. While we are absolutely not ‘anti-men’, we see that a shorter-term solution is to provide fellowship and learning environments that are not dominated by the cisgender male perspective. Therefore, these workshops are intended for women, non-binary, trans and gender non-conforming people to attend. While we do not ban cisgender men from attending, we hope that they will respect that this event is not intended for them.
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