Four Tet — Essential Mix 2018
Indie House · 1h 58m · analysed 19 Aug 2026 · source: soundcloud.com
Public mix analysis — no affiliation or endorsement. This report measures a publicly available recording hosted on soundcloud.com. The scores are produced by SOONOS and do not imply any partnership with, or approval by, Four Tet.
In short
Essential Mix 2018 by Four Tet scores 87/100 in the SOONOS analysis (festival ready). The strongest dimension is IDENTITY (93/100) and the weakest is SURPRISE (85/100).
The DJ's ability to maintain a hypnotic state while constantly evolving the rhythmic landscape is a hallmark of professional mastery.
Key takeaways
What worked
- Tension management
- Percussive layering
- Narrative consistency
What weakened the set
- Long static loops (6×) — Sections sitting on the same loop without layering, EQ moves or tension shifts (14:00, 22:00, 39:00, 45:00, 47:00, 51:45). Long loops kill dancefloor momentum.
What to try next
- Continue to explore the use of silence and breakdowns to provide contrast to the relentless groove.
- Experiment with subtle melodic motifs to add another layer of narrative depth.
- Maintain the high level of technical precision during complex percussive layering.
- Continue exploring the use of non-musical samples to enhance the narrative.
Timestamped insights
Each moment below is tagged with how it was produced: “measured” comes from the DSP pass on the audio, “listening” comes from the multi-agent listening pass.
Strategic disruption
Intentional reset
Seamless transition that maintains the rolling groove.
Effective use of filtering to introduce new elements without cluttering the mix.
Smooth transition that introduces a darker mood while maintaining energy.
Perfectly executed long blend where the incoming kick replaces the outgoing one without a single phase issue.
The tracks are perfectly in key, creating a new musical composition during the 64-bar overlap.
About this indie house set
Essential Mix 2018 is a indie house DJ set by Four Tet, running 1h 58m. It was measured by the SOONOS multi-agent engine and scores 87/100 overall — festival ready.
The engine files this performance as “Promising”.
The DJ's ability to maintain a hypnotic state while constantly evolving the rhythmic landscape is a hallmark of professional mastery.
How the score breaks down
SOONOS scores this set across 5 weighted categories. The strongest is IDENTITY at 93/100; the weakest is SURPRISE at 85/100.
Analysis coverage for this file is 100% — the share of the set the engine could measure with full confidence.
Energy and structure
The energy curve was sampled at 58 points, moving between 20 and 92 on the SOONOS energy scale — a wide dynamic range across the set.
8 transitions were detected and scored individually.
Beat-grid measurement (DSP) reports 743.2 grid breaks per hour, with a median beat offset of 23 ms.
How this score is built
Measured layer (DSP): the audio file is analysed directly — beat grid, tempo stability, loudness and energy. These values are measurements, not opinions.
Listening layer: a multi-agent pass reads musical intent — programming, storytelling, coherence and crowd effect. This layer interprets, it does not measure.
Fusion and ceilings: the two layers are merged, and the measured layer always wins on execution. When the DSP hears an execution problem, it caps the final score even if the listening layer is positive.
Measured coverage for this file is 100% of the set.
Full SOONOS analysis
The DJ's ability to maintain a hypnotic state while constantly evolving the rhythmic landscape is a hallmark of professional mastery.
The 8 dimensions
Not available — the 8-dimension profile was not measured for this set.
Score breakdown
TECHNIQUE
How well did you execute?
25%86
TECHNIQUE
How well did you execute?
STORYTELLING
Did the mix go somewhere?
25%91
STORYTELLING
Did the mix go somewhere?
ENERGY
Did you control the room?
20%88
ENERGY
Did you control the room?
SURPRISE
Did you remain unpredictable?
15%85
SURPRISE
Did you remain unpredictable?
IDENTITY
Did the mix sound like you?
15%93
IDENTITY
Did the mix sound like you?
Energy arc
Transitions analysed (8)
perfect
minor
strategic_disruption
noticeable
intentional_reset
Long EQ blend, low-end swap on phrase
Seamless transition that maintains the rolling groove.
Percussive layering with high-pass filter
Effective use of filtering to introduce new elements without cluttering the mix.
EQ swap with atmospheric pad overlap
Smooth transition that introduces a darker mood while maintaining energy.
Extended EQ blend with low-end swap
Perfectly executed long blend where the incoming kick replaces the outgoing one without a single phase issue.
Harmonic layering
The tracks are perfectly in key, creating a new musical composition during the 64-bar overlap.
Technical subscores
88
EQ balance
94
Beat alignment
89
Energy control
94
Tempo stability
86
Loudness control
92
Musical coherence
91
Harmonic compatibility
90
Transition cleanliness
Measured (DSP)
23 ms
Beat-grid drift (median)
Typical gap between the two tracks' beats while they play together. Lower is tighter.
219 ms
Drift p95
Worst-case drift: 95% of the set stays tighter than this value.
7,059
Boundaries detected
Points where the audio changes track or section.
25
Hard cuts / h
Abrupt track changes per hour, with no blend between the two records.
43
Clipping events
Moments where the recording hits the ceiling and distorts.
684
Level jumps
Sudden volume steps between tracks.
Measurement confidence 100% · analysed on the full audio.
Recurring patterns
Long static loops (6×)
Sections sitting on the same loop without layering, EQ moves or tension shifts (14:00, 22:00, 39:00, 45:00, 47:00, 51:45). Long loops kill dancefloor momentum.
What SOONOS heard
- Tension management
- Percussive layering
- Narrative consistency
Timeline
- 9:55Risky pressure or vibe dip
- 15:50Atmospheric Shift
- 19:30Tension Peak
- 30:05Emotional Peak
Coaching notes
- Continue to explore the use of silence and breakdowns to provide contrast to the relentless groove.
- Experiment with subtle melodic motifs to add another layer of narrative depth.
- Maintain the high level of technical precision during complex percussive layering.
- Continue exploring the use of non-musical samples to enhance the narrative.
- Maintain the long, evolving transition style as it is a key part of your signature.
- Consider introducing a very brief, high-impact percussive element to occasionally startle the listener out of the hypnosis.
- Experiment with more dramatic EQ cuts to create sudden moments of space.
- Introduce a track with a strong vocal or melodic hook to provide a focal point.
- Try a slightly more aggressive transition style in the final peak segment.
Curious how your own set scores?
Methodology and limitations
This report is produced automatically from the published recording. It measures what is present in the audio file: a bad source encoding, a partial upload or a heavily processed broadcast version can change the measured values. Nothing here reflects the room, the crowd or the night itself.
Read the full SOONOS methodology →Questions about this analysis
- What score does Four Tet's Essential Mix 2018 get?
- Essential Mix 2018 scores 87/100 in the SOONOS Mix Database (festival ready), based on audio measurement plus multi-agent listening.
- How long is Essential Mix 2018?
- The analysed recording runs 1h 58m.
- Which part of the mix scores best?
- IDENTITY is the strongest category at 93/100, while SURPRISE is the lowest at 85/100.
- How is this score calculated?
- SOONOS measures the audio with a DSP pass (beat grid, loudness, tempo, energy) and runs a multi-agent listening pass on top. Measured axes always override the listening layer, so an execution issue heard in the file caps the final score.
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- Much Love To The Plastic People (DJ mix December 2009)80
- Lost Village 23rd August 202579
- Zenith Paris 24th January 202675
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Test how a set like this one would land in a club, a beach club or a festival.
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