Sound & signal
Arpeggio
An arpeggio plays the notes of a chord one after another instead of together. In electronic music it usually arrives as a fast repeating pattern from an arpeggiator, running in time with the tempo.
In practice
Treat an arp as a lead, not as texture: give it the mix on its own, or filter one back.
The workable moves are the same as for any melodic top line, and the reason is harmonic. Two arpeggios in related keys still fight, because each one spells out its chord note by note and the ear tracks both. If the incoming record is arp-led, bring it in under a break rather than over a full arrangement, or high-pass the outgoing track until only its rhythm is left.
Lead
What to treat it as
1
How many belong in a mix
Under a break
Where to bring one in
Where these come from: Mixing conventions for melodic material rather than catalog figures — we read a track’s brightness and warmth, not what its notes are doing. For what we can measure, see the melodic layer it belongs to.
Why it matters
An arp is a melody and a rhythm at once, which is what makes it awkward in a mix. Layering two of them puts two note patterns and two rhythmic subdivisions in the same space, and one of them always sounds like a mistake.
It is also the most tempo-locked element in a record. Because the pattern is tied to the grid, pitching a track several percent audibly changes the arp before it changes anything else — you hear the correction in the melody first.
Frequently asked
What does an arpeggiator do?+
It takes a held chord and plays its notes in sequence at a set rate, locked to the tempo. The result is a pattern that is melodic and rhythmic at the same time.
Can you mix two arpeggiated tracks together?+
Rarely well. Each arp spells out its own chord one note at a time, so two of them argue harmonically even in compatible keys — filter one back or bring the incoming record in under a break.
Why does an arp sound wrong when I pitch a track?+
Because the pattern is locked to the grid and the notes are exposed. A few percent of pitch is inaudible on drums and obvious on a sequence of single notes.
Related terms
Top line
The top line is the main melodic or vocal hook sitting above everything else — the part you hum afterwards. It occupies the upper mids, which is the most crowded space in any mix.
Hook
The hook is the part of a record people remember — the vocal line, the riff, the moment that makes it that track rather than any other. Everything else in the arrangement exists to set it up.
Musical key
The musical key is the note a track resolves to plus whether it is major or minor — A minor, F major. It is the same information a Camelot code carries, written the way a musician would write it.
Harmonic mixing
Harmonic mixing means choosing the next track by key as well as tempo — staying on the same Camelot code, moving one step around the wheel, or swapping between the major and minor of the same number.
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