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-- Mixing break beats..


Posted by Luminar88 on Jan-26-2006 03:59:

Mixing break beats..

Yeah id still consider myself a newb at DJing.... ive got a crappy little CDmix2 but hey it gets me by until i get good enough before i go buy some real stuff (technics and a decent CD deck). anyway.. i have spent a good while trying to mix breaks, i can mix regular trance or any electronic where the kick beat is very pronounced without any problems. my issue is breakbeats. i have attempted matching the "tempo" to what sounded close enough by ear, and i can hear them matched for the most part (within .1 to .2 on the pitch dial) but it seems like i cant suck the bass out of track B so that it doesnt sound wrecked since obviously track A's bass isnt meant to go with track B's. i hope this is descriptive enough... any ideas?


Posted by Allied Nations on Jan-26-2006 04:52:

Hmm, well since you have no problems with getting them the same speed, i can only say oshould try and mix tunes that go better together.. I mix a lot of breaks and its really all about finding tunes that mesh well.


Posted by DjJade on Jan-26-2006 05:14:

listen to the highs


Posted by Zild on Jan-26-2006 14:22:

My sets are basically half house and half breaks, so I have a few tips.

When you're introducing the next track make sure that you have the bass EQ fully cut. I like to make some major cuts to the mids and highs but that part is optional. Now mix in like normal leaving the bass all the way cut. You will be able to get it to the point where the track you're brining in is dominant in the mix except you're still using the bass from the outgoing track. Let it play like that for awhile keeping it tight then when a new phrase hits swap the bass EQs. It will switch from a house beat to a breakbeat ontime with the phrase and sound nice and clean. Or vice versa the crowd usually goes nuts when you slam in a nice house beat at the start of a phrase after you've been playing some breaks.


Posted by Luminar88 on Jan-26-2006 16:55:

great input gentlemen thank you for the speedy replies. i think my issue is i cannot suck enough bass out of the introducing track. i only have 6db of kill. possibly a problem or maybe im just still new to it. i'll experiment over the next few weeks with you guys' input


Posted by Inertia on Jan-26-2006 18:06:

-6dB should be near enough at least. i think you can pitch the records, you just cant beatmatch them. its hard at first. i remember the first time i was trying to mix breaks.

my tip: get a breakbeat track with a melody or rhythm (other than the main drums) you can count time to. you know, i mean those tracks that have very well defined elements, like a nice bassline, that you could mix another record into even if they didnt have a kick. a good example for is mis James Zabiela's Remix of Dave Brennan - Drink Deep. the lead synth is in good, rhythm , you should be able to mix to it alone.

so, concentrate on that, and only that for a while. cue your track right at the beginning of the part you like, throw it in, listen if its faster/slower, pitch accodingly, re-cue. do this until it's pretty spot on, or just slightly out that you can tell by how much and correct by hand. little by little, youll see how the breakbeat pattern starts to fit, and how the highs are VERY accurate.


Posted by Protege on Jan-26-2006 19:23:

quote:
Originally posted by Zild
My sets are basically half house and half breaks, so I have a few tips.

When you're introducing the next track make sure that you have the bass EQ fully cut. I like to make some major cuts to the mids and highs but that part is optional. Now mix in like normal leaving the bass all the way cut. You will be able to get it to the point where the track you're brining in is dominant in the mix except you're still using the bass from the outgoing track. Let it play like that for awhile keeping it tight then when a new phrase hits swap the bass EQs. It will switch from a house beat to a breakbeat ontime with the phrase and sound nice and clean. Or vice versa the crowd usually goes nuts when you slam in a nice house beat at the start of a phrase after you've been playing some breaks.


+1 man, I love mixing in breaks with house. Proper eqing is definitely essential if its to sound more natural.


Posted by las3rjock on Jan-26-2006 19:50:

quote:
Originally posted by Inertia
-6dB should be near enough at least.

Are you aware that -6dB is only 50%? That's pretty weak kill for an EQ. My Behringer has something like -26dB kill on the EQs, which means that it kills something like 99.5% of the band.

If you can't get enough kill from your EQs to do long transitions, I would suggest doing short transitions like crossfader cuts.


Posted by DjJade on Jan-26-2006 21:29:

if two tracks dont sound good with their beats together, it seems to me you dont have them matched up. my tracks atleast sound really good with superimposed beats. and to be honest, i hardly use my eqs. most of what i play now is progbreaks and in my experience, the highs are alot more steady than lows. i think listening to highs is generally a more accurate practice when beatmatching anyway


Posted by Zild on Jan-26-2006 22:41:

quote:
Originally posted by Luminar88
great input gentlemen thank you for the speedy replies. i think my issue is i cannot suck enough bass out of the introducing track. i only have 6db of kill. possibly a problem or maybe im just still new to it. i'll experiment over the next few weeks with you guys' input


Are you sure you don't have 6db on the positive side and something bigger on the negative side. For example, my mixer goes up to plus 10db on the EQs but it cuts fully which I think is -32db. Most mixers should go down to around -24 or so at least. I don't think I've ever seen a mixer that only goes down to 6db of cut. If it infact only cuts 6db there will be a lot of bass still left over.


Posted by Luminar88 on Jan-27-2006 04:51:

nah im 100% posative i only have 6DB kills. its 6 posative and 6 negative. I'll see if i can just keep practicing for a while until it starts comming more naturally. Thanks for all the input guys!


Posted by Inertia on Jan-27-2006 15:02:

quote:
Originally posted by las3rjock
Are you aware that -6dB is only 50%? That's pretty weak kill for an EQ. My Behringer has something like -26dB kill on the EQs, which means that it kills something like 99.5% of the band.

If you can't get enough kill from your EQs to do long transitions, I would suggest doing short transitions like crossfader cuts.


i just meant near enough for him to learn. sure, it aint anywhere near for a smooth 4x4 to breaks transition. and yes, EQ cuts is the best way to go then...



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