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-- What do you do with songs like these?
What do you do with songs like these?
I spin techy, electro, dirty house. I have a bunch of records that do NOT have clean outros that slowly wind down. They either just totally stop cold or they still have alot of "stuff" going on in them when the track ends. For example there will still be alot of hi frequecies present when the song ends.
I find it difficult to deal with songs like this because they will not sound good when mixed with many of my other songs
For example, say that song A has a crappy ending.....I usually need to dig around and find another song that will sound good when mixed with song A. This seems to lead to pre-planning part of my set because of this.
This sucks becase I love the songs except for the troublesome outros and want to incorporate them into my set but it is such a pain to do so because they just won't work with my other records.
Does anyone else deal with this? and what do you do about it?
Should I only use these records when I can have the next song preplanned? or should I just not use these songs altogether and stick with songs that are more "interchangable" and easier to mix out of.
you can definatly mix them.
Brake, quickly pass to to your opposite chanell, use effects along with lyrics (common example: "Were gonna go back...back into time" etc
I usually combine this type of material with more mixing specific outro songs.
It is obvious that you shouldnt mix one after the other (this particular type).
Also I think keeping the integrity of your set by not braking and quick fading too often is a must.
shouldn't be a problem at all
use EQ's specifically EQ those sounds you don't want to hear anymore so in this case EQ the Highs and transitions shouldn't be as harsh
As you might have already tried, EQing doesn't always cut out exactly what you want on most mixers (I've never tried or used a parametric EQ, suppossedly from what i've heard these are used for studio mixing/mastering. Some DJ mixers have these).
Anyways, This comes down to knowing your records and trial and error. Count beats and know exactly how long until those samples come up. Try mixing in kicks from the incoming song so the bassline floods in RIGHT as the samples start (Or basically the song is effectivley up and running). Do you have kill switches? kill the Hi's and Low's for those samples to mute them as much as possible, then fade out. even try echoing a snipet of the sample out, then drop in the kicks.
Maybe you tried all this already, including a quick cut. Know your records beat by beat. sometimes you will kill some energy doing this, but at least you're out. It's like this, if you REALLY like those records, you'll find a way to make it work. trust me, i know 
Mix out before the outro?
Ok, Lets see. What i would do is that if the song just pretty much cuts out without any wind down outro, i would make sure that the track i am currently bringing in is at a part where the energy is about the same as the one currently playing. That way, when the first track cuts out, you would still have the same feel in energy. I have made some pretty crappy mixes and it wasn't because the beats were off, it was because the the first track would go out and with that track goes all the energy that was once there. Now i would only be hearing a kick and a hi hat (yeah, whatever. there were probably more stuff) of the second track. not too much happening there. Some tracks takes a while to get to a good point so that means you would have to start mixing it in earlier.
Hope this helps dude.
Have a good one.
TaylorR you can just cue from the good point instead of having to cue it earlier. To keep your mix from losing energy when a track runs out don't wait for the outro to start mixing, reserve the outro as backup. Just in case you run into any problems you know you can rely on the outro to get you into another track.
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| Originally posted by TaylorR Ok, Lets see. What i would do is that if the song just pretty much cuts out without any wind down outro, i would make sure that the track i am currently bringing in is at a part where the energy is about the same as the one currently playing. That way, when the first track cuts out, you would still have the same feel in energy. I have made some pretty crappy mixes and it wasn't because the beats were off, it was because the the first track would go out and with that track goes all the energy that was once there. Now i would only be hearing a kick and a hi hat (yeah, whatever. there were probably more stuff) of the second track. not too much happening there. Some tracks takes a while to get to a good point so that means you would have to start mixing it in earlier. Hope this helps dude. Have a good one. |
Most DJs improvise their sets meaning they do not plan what songs they in any certain order. Sure, they have some key tracks and good tracks for beginning and ending their sets. It is just all comes down to how well you know your tracks. Either from trial and error or taking the time to really study the songs.
the whole spur of the moment has it's limits, and you will know the know limits the first time you kill the energy. going on a feeling is cool, but when the mix dies, obviously you felt wrong. don't be afraid to know your records, counting beats. its alot simpler than you might think. you'll probably remember that that one record has a 64 count intro the first time you count it. trust me it works wonders. all the audience will ever know is "damn that was a good mix".
Backspin. 
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| Originally posted by DJ_Ikronix Backspin. |
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| Originally posted by Rikki Hehe The essential get out of a bad mix quick trick |
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| Originally posted by DJ Joshua H By the way, is this common for DJ's to preplan part of their sets to accomodate songs like this. For example planning a sequence of 4 or 5 songs that you know work nicely. Or do DJ's create their set totally spontaneously. Thanks again! |
yeh if its cdj then loop it. Alternative method is if you have a laptop in your setup then rip the track to the lappy then play it from that and use the looping function withing the DJ software (I use traktor). I dont have a cdj but I have a pc and thats how I mix those tracks with tricky endings that just dissappear abruptly.
Thanks for the advice guys! I use mostly vinyl so it looks like I'll have to look out for some dj tool type records to help bridge between tracks with bad endings.
By the way. Does anyone put notes on records? Like just to remind yourself about something in the song (ie: cue points, what is happening when the song is ending, or how the bass sounds). I find it hard to remember everything about every song I have so I was thinking about doing this. Thanks!
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| Originally posted by DJ Joshua H Thanks for the advice guys! I use mostly vinyl so it looks like I'll have to look out for some dj tool type records to help bridge between tracks with bad endings. By the way. Does anyone put notes on records? Like just to remind yourself about something in the song (ie: cue points, what is happening when the song is ending, or how the bass sounds). I find it hard to remember everything about every song I have so I was thinking about doing this. Thanks! |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DJ Joshua H By the way. Does anyone put notes on records? Like just to remind yourself about something in the song (ie: cue points, what is happening when the song is ending, or how the bass sounds). I find it hard to remember everything about every song I have so I was thinking about doing this. Thanks! |
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