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-- tighter mix sets?

tighter mix sets?

might be a irrevelant thread but after 6 mths of mixing i still have lots of "spaces" in the mix meaning empty beats.

Tried counting bars but its not possible to remember all the music that you have?

Any tipes for a newbie?

Nothing wrong with having 'empty bars', esp if your next tune sounds way different than the first tune. (ie bass is really, really, heavy)

Having said that, only real solution to the 'empty bars' problem is know your tunes and mix in at appropriate times. Most tunes you can start mixing in when there is about 90 secs left. But does not apply to all tunes

UMMM maybe you should write on the cd how many sets before the drop

Thats what i do.

For the most part... mix in your cue'd track on the breakdown of your live one. Try to make the cue'd track dominant over the live one as soon as the live breakdown bar is over (this is also where the cue'd track should increase in energy, ie 65th beat)

It should work nicely for the most part, its a good way of keeping the energy up, but shouldn't be done through a whole set, and of course the keys have to compatable when doing this because your overlaping melodies.

Re: tighter mix sets?

quote:

Originally posted by CiTrus Tried counting bars but its not possible to remember all the music that you have?

Why isn't it?

IMO, counting beats isn't necessary, but you do have to be able to 'feel' your track.

Just make sure you're dropping in the track at the right time and the phrases match up. It's pretty easy to do with trance, as the structure is rather predictable, even if you've never heard the track before (or really know it well). The only thing that gets me sometimes is the second/third (mini-)breakdown.

quote:

Originally posted by AnomalyConcept IMO, counting beats isn't necessary, but you do have to be able to 'feel' your track. Just make sure you're dropping in the track at the right time and the phrases match up. It's pretty easy to do with trance, as the structure is rather predictable, even if you've never heard the track before (or really know it well). The only thing that gets me sometimes is the second/third (mini-)breakdown.

Exactly.
I have never understood the whole counting bars discussion.. 95% av all EDM tracks are pretty predictable and it's easy to "feel the timing" if you have listened to EDM in general for a couple of months or so..

Same here. Although I really really DO love the wav display on my CDJ 1000s. Or looking at a vinyl record to see where the breakdown is coming.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeremy H Exactly. I have never understood the whole counting bars discussion.. 95% av all EDM tracks are pretty predictable and it's easy to "feel the timing" if you have listened to EDM in general for a couple of months or so..

quote:

Originally posted by starboy For the most part... mix in your cue'd track on the breakdown of your live one. Try to make the cue'd track dominant over the live one as soon as the live breakdown bar is over (this is also where the cue'd track should increase in energy, ie 65th beat) It should work nicely for the most part, its a good way of keeping the energy up, but shouldn't be done through a whole set, and of course the keys have to compatable when doing this because your overlaping melodies.

^^^^^^ This is how to get the tight mixes you want^^^^^^^^




Mike

Listen to your tracks and get to know them, simple.
Other than that, you sometimes might want abit of a break for the audience depending on your set flow.

practice, then practice some more

listen to music all the time, understand it

Waveform displays are always very nice. You can usually tell when the synth lead (or whatever the proper term is) starts, and mix accordingly.

Too bad I (only) have CDJ-800's, no waveform display. =)

Of course, I do (try to) mix harmonically, but I still tend to mix out with 2-1:30 min left in a track, and cue the incoming from the first kick beat.

The real key is the ability to beatmatch faster. This is not always easy for some people (especially me, but I'm getting better!)

The easiest way I've found to have tighter mixes is to vary when you mix in/out of tracks and how you mix in/out (ie: cuts, rapid bass switches, fades)

Sometimes just having the empty beats is a good variation, especially if you want to take the set in a different direction.

One method I have liked is to start the incoming track on the first beat of the record timed with the first beat after a breakdown of the playing track. Then you have time to make sure that the incoming track is on beat so you can bring it in as soon as the playing tracks energy slows (or sometimes at the second/third minibreak) which often is a nice effect.

I hate it when people try to tell you that you shouldn't mix in or out of breaks or breakdowns. You just can't do it all/most of the time. The times that you decide to do it usually has awesome results and can really make for an unexpected chang of pace.

Just my two cents

Indeed.

counting bars, writing on labels, drawing graphs, and bringing big yellow crayons to gigs are not going to help you. learning your records and learning to use your ear will.

Jay

Thanks for all your input guys. Gotta work hard on my practice mixes.

1Q. how would you guys prevent the "bass cancellation" effect but without the obvious bass change?

tried various ways of transition but it seems the best way is to whack the outgoing's bass low while tuning the incoming's up, but this way that i tried has a very obvious bass tune change.

quote:

Originally posted by CiTrus Thanks for all your input guys. Gotta work hard on my practice mixes. 1Q. how would you guys prevent the "bass cancellation" effect but without the obvious bass change? tried various ways of transition but it seems the best way is to whack the outgoing's bass low while tuning the incoming's up, but this way that i tried has a very obvious bass tune change.

You just need to get your tracks to lay over each other a bit tighter. Try not to make drastic changes in the EQ like totally cutting one out and slamming the other one up at the same time (of course this is a good effect to use every once and awhile) but most of the time you shouldn't even have to cut the bass very much. Just work those faders to keep your gain structure tight.

quote:

Originally posted by Zild You just need to get your tracks to lay over each other a bit tighter. Try not to make drastic changes in the EQ like totally cutting one out and slamming the other one up at the same time (of course this is a good effect to use every once and awhile) but most of the time you shouldn't even have to cut the bass very much. Just work those faders to keep your gain structure tight.

Exactly. The faders and not playing with the eq too much will help lots!

quote:

Originally posted by nerdgrl416 Exactly. The faders and not playing with the eq too much will help lots!

...not playing with the EQ?

i can see not playing with the faders too much when you FIRST start mixing. i think it's more important to get the basics of beatmatching/phrasematching first and THEN fucking with the EQ once you get that down. otherwise the beginning dj might confuse him/herself.

quote:

Originally posted by CiTrus Thanks for all your input guys. Gotta work hard on my practice mixes. 1Q. how would you guys prevent the "bass cancellation" effect but without the obvious bass change? tried various ways of transition but it seems the best way is to whack the outgoing's bass low while tuning the incoming's up, but this way that i tried has a very obvious bass tune change.

i find if the beats are cancelling each other, those tracks are not good to play together.

If you must, play with the eq's as said already.

Jay

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