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Question about mixing...

Im sure this has been discussed before but i dont really know what to search for.

I just got decks, and all. What happends when your mixing, and the sing is over before you beatmatch it well. Thats sometihng ive always wanted to ask a big time dj. There gotta be times, where they just get stuck once in a while, and shit just doesnt match, no matter what you do. What do you do, im sure it has to happen sometime??

actually when you evolve, beatmatching goes easier and easier. When i first started out i needed about 1min30sec to match two records, and they'd still go offbeat. Now i can do it easily in 20sec max without going offbeat (there are exeptions of course).

It just takes a lot of practice, but once you're a bigshot dj i don't think you experience that problem anymore

so you never have times, where you just cant match tunes?

i mean i guess its possible, sometimes for me there are just tracks i cant match, or take a while to match. Maby its just a beginner thing.

there are tunes that can't be matched together, but you just don't try to do so... it's just a matter of knowing your records through and through

i mean im sure if you play the same set/tunes over and over again you wont mess up, and so they can get familure with the tunes. There isnt anything wrong with it and I feel a lot of big djs do this, like armin. But i think it gets boring mixing the same things over and over again. I think thats kinda why people bash tiesto, because his mixing is a little edgier then most djs, and sometimes the transitions dont turn out perfect.

i think it also limits your skills when your playing. Like if your used to playing tracks in a certin order. But when you play live, you feel that the crowd wants something harder or softer at that moment, or you just have the urge to drop someting that may not fit as well. Or mix tracks in an order you never have before. I know some djs that dont care, and will mix what they are used to, but thats shit imo.

Hehe i'm not talking about always spinning tracks in the same order and stuff. I hardly ever do that, and when it happens i'ts mostly not on purpose. It's just that u have to know your records before you play them out, and even the more creative dj's out there do so.

They don't always take the easiest records and all, but they do know the ones you can and the ones you can't mix.
Maybe if u can pick the right moments and all it's possible u make something off it, dbut i don't think that's something you do for the first time when ur in front of a 1000+ audience (talking about pro dj's here)

there are some records that just go well together, and there's nothin wrong with having a few pairs of records that you don't separate... as for beatmatching, just keep practicing and it will get easier and easier... it should be a piece of cake for you since you're probably spinning epic trance, the easiest gendre to mix

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but i don't think that's something you do for the first time when ur in front of a 1000+ audience (talking about pro dj's here)

true but thats weak

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it should be a piece of cake for you since you're probably spinning epic trance, the easiest gendre to mix

dieeeeeeee , I actually dont have that much "epic" trance. Id say 75% of my vinyl are hard/progressive trance. And you try mixing Nu-Nrg since its a piece of cake .

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there's nothin wrong with having a few pairs of records that you don't separate...

yea there isnt anything wrong with that. Im sure ill find a few records that i love to play in a row, but i think its a lot more fun to put stuff together as you go. A lot of the time, ill play a record, and think wow this track would go really well with this one, and just play it. I guess there is a reason they made the cross fader .

n00b alert :P

4 sure

i would have to disagree that epic trance is easy to spin. its not what i always spin but epic trance is usually very melodic with a larger variety of keys so you have to worry about harmonics more.

there are alot of tracks that just dont go. even if you beatmatch them. and there are also trakcs that arent possible to beatmatch meaning... they dont fall in the pitch range of your turntable. but i have hardly experienced having two songs that were totally out of range meaning...full+ on one and - on the other..usually ill just have to speed up or slow down a track to get the other one in the pitch range. but thats rare

if you really listen... bigshot djs trainwreck all the time. listen to tiesto lol

about the records going together.. thats what i really enjoy about mixing. its when you find the perfect couples that go together. i have a few cds that ive mixed and i have my favorite parts. i find that alot of times my friends would come in asking me to play "that good part on your cd when you mixed x and y together"

generally when i play i will mix tracks that would probably sound good trying to get to the tracks that i know sound good together...sorta like a setup and punch line type of thing. ofcorse i dont play out much and if i did that all the time then my punchlines will start repeating and that would get boring unless i could buy enough new records but thats a different can of worms.

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ofcorse i dont play out much and if i did that all the time then my punchlines will start repeating and that would get boring unless i could buy enough new records but thats a different can of worms.

yea, i have liek 50 records, so my selection is a bit limited, and dont want to get bored of them. Its slowly growing though.



btw, i like tiestos "cross-fade slam" It may not be the best classic "mix slow in, mix slow out". But if your playin stuff 140, i think tisto does a good job keeping the energy up, unlike some. Even if it sounds a bit harsh at times. More djs need to attack mixing a bit more imo, and take a few chances. It may not sound good sitting @ a computer, but it owns in a club.

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Originally posted by sandstorm03 btw, i like tiestos "cross-fade slam" It may not be the best classic "mix slow in, mix slow out". But if your playin stuff 140, i think tisto does a good job keeping the energy up, unlike some. Even if it sounds a bit harsh at times. More djs need to attack mixing a bit more imo, and take a few chances. It may not sound good sitting @ a computer, but it owns in a club.

Or you can get some skills like PvD and swap the low frequencies :P Same energy without the sloppy offbeats.

yea pauls a magician, i dont get it esp when hes on, its like wtf. But once in a while a slam is needed.

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Originally posted by sandstorm03 yea, i have liek 50 records, so my selection is a bit limited, and dont want to get bored of them. Its slowly growing though. btw, i like tiestos "cross-fade slam" It may not be the best classic "mix slow in, mix slow out". But if your playin stuff 140, i think tisto does a good job keeping the energy up, unlike some. Even if it sounds a bit harsh at times. More djs need to attack mixing a bit more imo, and take a few chances. It may not sound good sitting @ a computer, but it owns in a club.

thats right but i guess im probably not gonna be playing in a club and my cds are genearlly geared towards a more listening crowd since im a bedroom dj. i tend to take chances in my room and stick with what im sure soudns good for other people to hear

Back to your original question though...

With practice, you can beatmatch faster than the track ends. Even if it's a track you've never heard before. Looking at the grooves of the vinyl will help you decide how fast you can mix out. And you're right... there are more than one way to mix. The smooth seamless mixing is a standard but once in a while doing a few tricks as you're mixing can sound really good.

As the others said. Just practice that's all it is.

Worth mentioning that Tiesto is worlds number one for many reasons but his mixing skills are not one of them. There are tons of DJs out there that pass him in skill (His own words too) but being a DJ is about so much more than mixing.
It get's frustrating sometimes though. I haven't trainwrecked in public for about 6 years now. Worlds number one did it on a DVD sold world wide (Yes... we all know the mix.... Traffic... he he, and don't anyone try and tell me that it still sounds ok because it doesn't he he). I doubt if you would have hear PVD or Sasha do that although I have heard Digweed really f*ck it up once.

Jules, Oakenfold and Robert Smidt can really suck but there are a ton of DJs out there who are pretty much flawless everynight.

(And let's face it, if John Peel can get in to the top 250, you have to question who the f*ck votes on that chart anyways. For those who don't know, John Peel is an old geezer who used to play on radio one in the UK. Mainly Punk and similar music).

Just keep practising and you will work it out. Get the beat matching right and then get creative after. Remember that beatmatching isn't what it's all about even if it's fun.

Peace
Nem

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Originally posted by Scottaculous Or you can get some skills like PvD and swap the low frequencies :P Same energy without the sloppy offbeats.

i love doin that, its so fun! i drop in the bassline of gabry fasano - reactor. (http://www.discogs.com/release/52921)

its a great bassline and when you drop it into another track but letting the hit hats keep going, it sounds tight and gives and awesome effect.


damn i love djing

yea swapping the low frequencies is tight at times, esp when its stronger then the previous track.

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Originally posted by sandstorm03 yea swapping the low frequencies is tight at times, esp when its stronger then the previous track.

Or faster bassline

could you do that with the faster kick though?

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Originally posted by sandstorm03 could you do that with the faster kick though?

By faster kick, you mean the incoming track has a faster tempo? No, because there are other elements of the track that remains such as hi-hats. You can still hear the wreck.

yea thought so...

it would be cool if music was layered so that you could just take out the bass. Or vox, and so on... Maby it will make me millions .

I've been spinning for about 6 months now and fall under the "Ferry Corsten School of 64s". He has a way of mixing that just baffles me. Like in his Mixed Live set, he mixes perfectly into Mesh-Purple Haze. I have no clue how he did it becasue the bass line of that track is kinda weak. He's amazing to listen to.

I definitely need to tune my matching and then its on to the EQ. I think THAT is where the true magic happens.

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