M Zone's Mixing

What's everybody's view on M Zone's mixing? I've heard people rubbish it before, but never really noticed much of a problem, but then i've mostly only heard him out live. I recently purchased M Zone - Come Out and Fight, a studio mix cd, and I have to say that the mixing is apalling. Beats slip out, tunes end awkwardly, vocals over vocals, etc. I remember a post Mark wrote on here commenting on a members studio mix, saying a studio mix should always be tight with no mistakes - why then would M Zone feel fine about releasing such a poor and mistake riddled cd :?:

i have heard him be good a few times but last time i heard him he mixed neary everyu track out before the break which i thought was strange,the floor was still rockin though

i'm gonna jump to mick's defence here. yes, his mixing is different, of course. and i do notice things going 'out' when he mixes. but i think what's so good about this sets is the quickness and the programming. it's like a trance-style jeff mills in an m-zone type of way. listen to mick on tape you're like 'wow, this isn't as good as i thought he was'. but listen to him live and you're blown away. for me, he's very good at what he does. he does things his own way and no-one can copy him. full respect. plus he was the first person i know of in this country to play hard trance (early 90's). it was actually mick that first played me a full set of hard trance!!!

m-zone is a legend!!

i've been hooked on m-zone since i first him he play in ‘96 - he blew me away.

mark is right, m-zone is a living legend and i rate him alongside others such as (the late) stanley kubrick & shigeru miyamoto. by this i mean he is a master of his trade... in a league of his own.

his beat-matching isn't always great. but as for:

-track selection & arrangement;
-ability to read the crowd;
-punching/blending/mixing in the right melody/beat/sample at the right moment;

he is second to none.




m-zone we salute you!

i would nor have known any different, b4 i started djing myself, mzones style of mixing and style of tune have always been differnent from anyway else and you have to give him that, yes sometimes his mixing is a bit sketchy, but next time you listen to one of mzones sets, check out the way he keeps the konstant beat going and people do enjot his sets, even the dj criticsssss.....

I think M.Zone is wicked but his mixin does let loose every now an then,but he can kick teeth in with his style. maximum respect to M.Zone!

Before anyone gets the wrong idea I just wanna say that I do also love M Zone - as a lot of you have said, he is amazing live, in that he carries the pace really well, everytime i've seen him out it's been amazing, most live sets are pretty good on cd too, it was just this studio mix cd that surprised me.
The reason I started this topic was just to see everyone else's opinions, as I remember there being some negative comments on the country club forum. I really respect what he's done for our genre, he's a legend, I just don't think i'll buy anymore studio cd's from him :wink:

Ihave the utmost respect for Mick and as i said he always rocks the floor and i wouldnt hesitate in bringing him back up to Scotland .
I appreciate it the ways he does things and i agree with Mark that his sets live are awesome

I was a massive fan of Mick from around 95 - 98/99 ish, haven`t seen him much or listened to his mixes that much in the last few years, to be honest i think Mick is an excellent dj, fair enough he might do a few mistakes but what dj doesn`t?... I like the way he used to work his sets and always steered away from any slightly cheesey tunes, always dark & dirty hard trance...I don`t really follow the hard trance scene that much now, used to love it just as much as me techno, but it all got a bit samey imho..... this week though i have been listening to a few mixes from mark & mick and they suprised me, hard trance has moved on & sounds a lot fresher and harder..... just my 2 cents.

that was me techfunk02, still having problems logging in!?!?

I'd agree that his mixing is a bit shaky with the beats, but he has an uncanny way of brining things in so it sounds cool! on a loud speaker system M-Zone has blown me away many a time!

Well said voorheez. I was gettin well pissed off with everyone slating m-zone on the cc website. It was like they were followin a crowd. Fair enough m-zone's mixin is off sometimes, but he plans his sets so well and manages to keep a constant hard beat going throughout. He is all about sticking clear of commercialism and keeping it underground as well.

Respect to m-zone.

I've just the one tape of M'Zone's Uderground Hard Trance. And like everyone else has been saying the same exists here. First of all, i would like to say what a storming set it is. Some of the tunes are amazing. Really underground and rare, heavy basslines, dark synths, 303's everywhere. And like everyone else has said: Some of the mixes are out, or slip out, i must say i was really surprised at first to hear this, but the tune selection, and energy of the set is amazing. I think M_Zone's best assist when he is mixing is his structuring - Where he drops the mix in. This plays an important role on the floor and on the tape i have. I noticed He drops them in early but he keeps the energy high. No stop in pace - No pause for breath. One mix Kicks, the other breaks - Quality

Sorry, I forgot to log-in before.
I've just the one tape of M'Zone's Uderground Hard Trance. And like everyone else has been saying the same exists here. First of all, i would like to say what a storming set it is. Some of the tunes are amazing. Really underground and rare, heavy basslines, dark synths, 303's everywhere. And like everyone else has said: Some of the mixes are out, or slip out, i must say i was really surprised at first to hear this, but the tune selection, and energy of the set is amazing. I think M_Zone's best assist when he is mixing is his structuring - Where he drops the mix in. This plays an important role on the floor and on the tape i have. I noticed He drops them in early but he keeps the energy high. No stop in pace - No pause for breath. One mix Kicks, the other breaks - Quality
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the times i've heard m-zone play out his mixing has been a tad sketchy, but his tune selection and the way he builds his sets are always wicked, and in a club i think this is what really matters. yeah, technically a few beats slipping out here and there isn't tight mixing, and it does matter on a tape/cd but if the party's still rocking then who gives a fcuk?

M Zone has been my favourite DJ since I started listening to this music in 1994, in my opinion, hes still no. 1 and the fact that sometimes his sets have a few dodgy mixes does nothing to change my opinion.
He always stays 1 step ahead of everyone else and has not stopped coming up with the best sets live and on tape or CD.
No one else at all has the same style and understanding of the tunes that really do get to my insides like others dont, and really make me go for it!!
In my opinion hes the best and Im sure he will be for a long time to come yet, and people who really are into the stuff he plays will agree.
He researches his tunes and goes far to get them in my opinion thats what counts. :wink:

To me a good dj doesnt have to be a gr8 'mixer' if u know wot i mean. As a dj Mick is absolutly awesome. Set structure wise, tune wise. He knows how to work a crowd and works damn hard to get the right tunes he thinks work. As Mark says, hes a true legend. To me one of the best 'DJs' around.

innit mike, agree entirely with that comment. Theres so much more to djing than beat matching.

The man is a legend, nuf sed

weeeeell, m zone gave me a mix cd of his on nye (cos i was being a ligger and sitting in the dj booth with me records while uhf n kaine were on before him :)) and its cool, so the man can mix if he wants - i think all of us have sets where we just **** up loads sometimes so i tend to have lower expectations for mixing 'live'..

I rememeber the last time which m-zone was booked for the country club....

any1 whos played there knows that it was a DJs dream..... a near perfect monitoring system, which was mackie powered... and an allen and heath to scream it up on...

we watched m-zone carefully... and as his set went on his mixing got worse and worse and worse.... it was as if he couldnt be bothered, as if it was boring him........

Fair play to the bloke... he spread the word of hard trance no end...

But ever since that set, i havent had one good work for m-zones mixing... and he was never booked at the country club again.