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Your Mixing Style

The other day, a friend of mine (who is a much better DJ then me) and I were having a talk about mixing styles...not even so much styles, but that's the only work I can think of to explain it.

Basically, he uses two "styles". In one, he lets pretty much the entire song play before he transitions out of it, and in the other he "speedmixes", where he only lets's 1-2 minutes of the song play before going into his next track.

So, what method do you folks use? Any pros and cons, in your opinions, of either style?

I let the whole song play, almost every time. I suppose it depends the style of music, but most of my trance tracks are excellent all the way through, and not repetive. if you mixed in only a minute, you'd miss some good parts of the song. plus, they are busy songs, so mixing in the middle wouldn't sound good.

but, if you are mixing house, or techno, progressive, or even just more minimal style trance, then by all means slam them in that fast!

I guess it all boils down to what type of song you're playing.

Generally, when I'm playing something more melodic, I like to ride out most of the tune.

When you're playing an anthem or something with just a ton of energy. I always wait 'til after the breakdown (which most trance songs have at least one) Then lay my next tune down right after the beat kicks back in. It holds energy very well into the next tune.

Mixing out too late on a high-energy tune can destroy the audience energy. You want to hold them at that peak for as long as possible. If you wait too long to make a transition, your energy can already start to spiral downward.

Don't know if I made any sense there.... heh

As I get more and more experience I'm gettin quicker and quicker

right now i usually let a track play for about 2 minutes...unless its a track that I want to play longer (if its got good vocals or im just feelin it)



I spin house so i guess thats whats to be expected

I read somewhere in this forum: " a DJ is a sort of artist"
Whatever boils up in your mind, you turn into music.

i mix using my style
and yes, a dj is an artist

and i wouldn't really say what your friend does as styles...
it's just how long he waits for mixing

style would be the manner in which he mixes...
like if you use a lot of cross-fader tricks or if it's just a plain bread and butter mix

All of the below is IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnSmith but, if you are mixing house, or techno, progressive, or even just more minimal style trance, then by all means slam them in that fast!

I must disagree with this.

When spinning something like progressive, it's even more important than trance to let the song go all the way through.

In fact, I let all my songs play all the way through. Why? Because the entire song exists for a reason! The producer(s) has carefully arranged their song, and definitely intends the whole thing to be played. Otherwise why would they have released it the way they have?

In progressive, there is a lot of buildup in a track. Cutting it off halfway through means you will most likely miss the best part, or other good parts.

I must say that unlike trance, all parts of a prog song are very interesting, even the intro, which you can't say is the usual case with trance.

The reason why people mix in songs quickly is to keep the people on the dancefloor dancing. With trance, you have to be careful with songs that have 2 breakdowns, with the second breakdown etc. being almost exactly the same as the first. In this case it might be good to mix out after the first breakdown, but even then, if it's a good track, I'd still leave it all the way through.

I believe that the reason people started to mix out of songs halfway through is precisely because of these repetitive 2-breakdown trance tracks, otherwise people would leave the entire song in.

So my suggestion is to leave the entire song in, unless you have one of those repetitive 2 breakdown ones. Happily those aren't as bad anymore anymore, as producers try to spruce up the transition from one breakdown to another. If it is good, then keep both breakdowns in, by all means. If it's boring, then mix out of it.

Hope this helps.

I agree with Alccode on the issue of breakdowns. Crowds hate breakdowns. They don't know what to do during a breakdown. They look around and assume somebody tripped over a plug or something.

One style is to mix in before the breakdown hits, as what my friend who spins acid trance (and techno) told me. I often do that, or I don't even spin records with big breakdowns in the first place. I'm recently falling in love in trance songs with breakbeat breakdowns (ie there are no places in the songs with huge, beat-less parts) such as the latest Hemstock & Jennings remixes. Damn they're good.

In some cases though you can get by with huge breakdowns but that's only if you have a really heavy trance crowd (ie all the PVD, Ferry, and Tiesto crowds). They know what breakdowns are and they love them.

For the mainstream U.S. crowds however, they get confused like little sheep in the fields. Poor sheep.

breakdowns are good to give the crowd a breather but not too many obviously. when im a punter i like there to be a nice buildup first, get some rhythm going. the best place for a long breakdown is at the peak of a set with a storming climax!

i can think of more then a few sasha sets which are built up like this! almost no breakdowns until the very peak and then it drops and crowd goes insane.

if you are playing prog and you use each breakdown in a track it is risky and it may be hard to build energy like this! however as said, prog breakdowns are generally more interesting then trance ones. still...no beat = people moving off the floor

quote:

Originally posted by Blithe I guess it all boils down to what type of song you're playing. Generally, when I'm playing something more melodic, I like to ride out most of the tune. When you're playing an anthem or something with just a ton of energy. I always wait 'til after the breakdown (which most trance songs have at least one) Then lay my next tune down right after the beat kicks back in. It holds energy very well into the next tune. Mixing out too late on a high-energy tune can destroy the audience energy. You want to hold them at that peak for as long as possible. If you wait too long to make a transition, your energy can already start to spiral downward. Don't know if I made any sense there.... heh

Perfect sense!

I like to let song play for about 5-6 minutes, i don't like very much compilations or sets with short songs.
If in a song there are 2 breakdown sometimes i like to start mix immediately after second breakdown but usually i start mix on the last 32 beats with main riff and continue it on next beats where there isn't main riff.

i spin mainly uplifting, some hardstyle as well.. i let the song play until there's about 2-3 minutes playing in the song and then i try to mix the incoming tune in, sometimes its a bit difficult cause most uplifting tracks are "packed".. but im getting the hang of it..

I'm sorry but I cant listen to a song for 5-6 minutes...i get bored and lose interest

I spin hard trance. I try start out my sets with some of the more melodic type hard tracks, kinda like the Hennes & Cold remix of Clear Blue Water, just as an example. I let these tracks play out a bit longer, almost the whole track. As I start to build up and really get into the hard songs I start mixing tracks in/out about every 2-3mins to really pack in all the energy I can yet keep the set moving.

I think it really depends on what the song is. If it gets very repetetive after awhile, then it's better to mix out of it more quickly. If you picked your tracks carefully, I don't think this should happen too much. Also, I tend to think that higher BPM gives the tracks some added energy and danceability (if that's a word haha).

I usually work with fading basses and trebbles. That usually gives a good sound. Sometimes even a beatkill.

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