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-- intro and outro of tracks for DJing

intro and outro of tracks for DJing

Hey, Im wondering (since I know shit all about DJ mixing etc) what the requirement is for the into and outro of your track.

I know you should have it to the bare minimal, such as kicks, hats?
Ive been told to include the bassline too but Im guessing that if the bass line was in a different key it would bugger up the sound.

Also is their really any FIXED time for intors, outros or breakdowns etc?
Ive heard the breakdown is normaly 8 bars long or that something new has to come in every 8th or something?

and before you say 'Listen to some tracks' I have and alot of these things dont seem to apply, but hell most of my files are radio edits

good question - for me personally i just give it 16 bars of only percussion and no bass, but thats just me. I good DJ could probably swap the basses in a way where you'd hardly notice. You just have to think, the more stuff you leave in for the intro/exit, then yeah the less empty the mix's transition will sound, but the harder it will be for the DJ to mix without fucking up something.

Thats my 2

Well, this topic is very much underestimated by most producers that don't know anything about dj-ing. I do think it's very important for producers of electronic music to make their tracks dj-friendly, because dj's will be playing those records most of the time.

So that's why a nice long intro and outro are required. I actually love those tracks with long intro's, because you can then get busy with mixing them and doing all sorts of tricks. I hate the tracks that start with the main theme after 16 bars or something.

My suggestion therefore is to check out some non-radio edits of tracks and you will learn a lot of them. Remember that a long intro is required if you want to be dj-friendly, the outro can be a bit shorter IMO.

hope this helps

Thanks, would you have the bass in that intro or just percussion?

What about filtered percussion?

I like long intros, that progressively ad in elements. That way, you can bring it in a play around with it. I rather have the bassline in the beginning rather than have it drop in suddenly. I also don't like it when the kick all of a sudden becomes heavier. Start will the full blown kick. Little hihat rolls and stuff are good to smooth out any jumps in intensity.

if you start with just some kicks and percussion it's very dj friendly.. it's not just mixing in btw,it's beatmatching aswell...

but on the other hand,a good dj can mix in everything,aslong as it's at 1 tempo/bpm.. i have mixed in tracks that only had some background synths and vocals ( Hybrid feat. Kirsty Hawksky - Blackout) and it was no problem.. but to reach a bigger market when it comes to dj's i would play it safe and start with kicks and some percussion,that's the easiest and most relaxed way to beatmatch a record and mix it in...

also.. checkout Luc Poublon - Quantum Leap (it's on ATCR) .. don't start your record like this cause you can get confused the way the beat starts..

the intro is one of the most important parts

this is the 1st part that either draws your attention to the track or has the opposite effect and makes you turn it off!
IMO each intro/outro should not follow a standard path, they should be unique

Thanks,

What about this theory that something new should come in every 8 bars or something?

it doesnt have to be every 8 bars IMO, just whatever you decide suits the track

but it must be phrased properly to make it sound better

i never use a standard amount of bars in a build-up, to keep it from getting standard aswel...

so my key idea is creativity: if i was a dj, and i have this great song on vinyl, i want to be able to do 3 things with it: use it as an intro, as a track in between other great track, and as an outro...

intro - how do you get from silence to the point where the beat comes in and the song should be able to be mixed into another track if wanted.. so the intro is basicly the first impression of the track and therefor it must capture the thoughts of the listeners; it depends on the style of the track what kind of intro you use, but mostly the intro is more gentle than the actual track...

the track - beats to dance on, melodies to dream on and percussion to go wild to...

outro - so the track is over, and your favourite dj has decided that this will be his last piece of vinyl of his set: the listener just had a climax and has been dancing for about 3 minutes now, so when building down for a mixover, also think about the outro: pads and beats without the leads... if correct the outro will sound phat in the build-up of another track, aswell as keeping the listener in dreamland before softly nudged into reality when the sound slowly drifts away... (this could aswell be a break: anticlimax before climax)

if this sounds hard to you, it's because it is: i hardly know a song that has a great intro aswell as a great outro AND is a great track too; if you know such a song, regard it as being perfect

so whe have to make a choise: intro or outro... since dj's tend to build up a set from soft sounds to hard sounds, categorize your track... if it's kinda soft, make an intro, if it's sorta hard, make an outro... just remember: nobody likes to stand still on the dancefloor too long (because then they will know notice they're drunk)

quote:

Originally posted by azior just remember: nobody likes to stand still on the dancefloor too long (because then they will know notice they're drunk)

Ultrabeat-Pretty green eyes, no beat for 1:30

Heh, my biggest problem is keeping my breakdown/buildup under 2 minutes, which sucks when you're spinning your own tracks live as you hate to see people just stand around on the dancefloor.

I think if people are standing around and not appreciating the breakdown, you might be playing the wrong kind of music to this crowd. If you're at a trance club it should be fine but at a regular nightclub that plays it all, i would try to keep a constant beat. Just my opinion.

Nah I run a trance night that brings out 400-500 people every Friday night. It's jsut a weird vibe. We've had the night for a little over a year, but it used to be a shite hardhouse night and a lot of the people are still used to that sort of sound.

Tracks that go over best are techtrance type tracks with maybe a minute of non-beat max. There are exceptions of course, but I'd really like to be able to keep my breakdowns to under 1:30 in the future. My biggest problem is usually creating the 16 bars that connect the end part of my intro to the beginning of the breakdown/buildup. I can never really drop out the elements of the intro and get into the main melody/lead in too short of a time, hehehe.

What I would do then is Start creating your Track From the Breakdown and once finished go back and make an intro using exsisting elements from the track, Im sure thats what alot of producers do. Think about it, its pretty hard to know where your going until you write the main melody first, so you tend to do that first. You cant introduce something well utill you know what your intoducing and how the introduction should shound in relation to the upcoming track.

ON a big note, Alot of remixed/Chopped percussion is in the intro of a vocal trance track, now to do this starting from the begining would be stupid to try. They must of layed the track down fisrt then worked backwards, see?

sean

Never really thought of that.

I most always pump out the main riff first, but i usually work the percussion while making an intro. Hmm. Nice tip.

I don't have trouble making intros, I have problems keeping my breakdowns short =P This is something I've resolved in my latest track though.

quote:

Originally posted by Damie Mckeown Ultrabeat-Pretty green eyes, no beat for 1:30

Wish there was no sound at all

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