Making 30-minute competition mixes

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Posted by Dojomaster26 on Aug-31-2007 01:55:

Making 30-minute competition mixes

Hey guys,

I need your advise on how to go about mixing a good "DJ contest" mix. I am used to doing CD-length mixes (70+ minutes), but doing a 30-minute mix is a bit harder for me. Specifically, I don't know how many tracks I should aim for having in the mix, and how to pace such a short set

Here's an example of a competition mix that I attempted:

[[ LINK REMOVED ]]

I know there are a couple of mixing mishaps, but I'm going to do more takes with this mix later to correct those errors. I tried doing the mix using as many tracks as I could while still letting the "meat" of the tracks play. Is this a good way to go about the mix? Should I play the tracks Dancemania style, or should I try to let tracks play out and just showcase about 6 of my best tracks? I'd especially like to hear from people that have done these types of mixes...

Thanks in advance

Posted by DiscoStew on Aug-31-2007 02:51:

Personally, I don't do anything different for short mixes. I just want to have a solid mix and don't want to sacrifice that by trying to pack a lot of tracks into a short period of time. Most of those competitions are just a contest to see who can get the most buddies to vote for them anyway.

Posted by adx on Aug-31-2007 02:55:

I would keep the tracks simple and tight. Dont use your longest tracks... you dont want to hear the same beat for half your set.

I would guess energy is key. Unless your into all that Minimal stuff...

In my case: I would start with some Electro ending with a titch of Prog House/Trance.

Posted by miamitranceman on Aug-31-2007 03:35:

Mix the next track in during the current playing track's breakdown if you're trying to fit a lot of tracks together. I did a promo megamix a few months back for a promoter because he wanted to hear my style in terms of the types of tracks I play. He didn't care about listening to the entire track.

Posted by Dojomaster26 on Aug-31-2007 18:42:

Thanks for the tips. I figured that letting a track play for too long would make the mix lose some of its "punch", so that's why I tried mixing my 30-minute mix in "Megamix" style.

Did anyone check out the mix? What can I improve on it (besides fixing the trainwrecks)? Its a Funky/bangin House mix I did for the EDM Sound System competition.

Here's the tracklist:

Annie - Hearbeat (MSTRKRFT Mix)
Bada - V.I.P (East 4A Mix)
Madonna - Hung Up (SDP Extended Mix)
Nifty (Basement Jaxx) - Northern Clubs
Funky Green Dogs - You Got Me Burnin Up (Olav Basoski Main Mix)
Basement Jaxx - Lucky Star (Jaxx 5000 Future Dub)
Prodigy - Outer Space (Audio Bullys Remix)
JS-16 - Stomp To My Beat (Original Mix)
Young Punx - Interplanetary (Young Punx Club Mix)

Posted by Stu Cox on Aug-31-2007 21:37:

Yeah I think cramming as much in as poss tends to be the way forward with short mixes, but still try and put across your sound - if you play deep dark stuff, throw a bit of that on; if you play cheesy stuff, fill it with that; if you play all-sorts then stick a real variety on there.

Having any kind of long intro is a no-no really (definitely don't just start with the 3 minutes of kick drum and percussion at the start of most tunes!) - something you've avoided in your mix there so that's cool.

Remember in 30 mins don't feel you have to progress smoothly, like you would for a club set... it's a lot less "formal" if you like, really mix it up and play around.

I'd say you're on the right lines content-wise, but you're really gonna have to get that mixing a lot tighter... I know you said you were going to give it a few more takes, make sure you get that bang on - although you do tend to get a little bit more leniency if you're rolling tunes out quickly.

Posted by Beatflux on Sep-01-2007 04:30:

Re: Making 30-minute competition mixes

quote:
Originally posted by Dojomaster26
Hey guys,

I need your advise on how to go about mixing a good "DJ contest" mix. I am used to doing CD-length mixes (70+ minutes), but doing a 30-minute mix is a bit harder for me. Specifically, I don't know how many tracks I should aim for having in the mix, and how to pace such a short set

Here's an example of a competition mix that I attempted:

[[ LINK REMOVED ]]

I know there are a couple of mixing mishaps, but I'm going to do more takes with this mix later to correct those errors. I tried doing the mix using as many tracks as I could while still letting the "meat" of the tracks play. Is this a good way to go about the mix? Should I play the tracks Dancemania style, or should I try to let tracks play out and just showcase about 6 of my best tracks? I'd especially like to hear from people that have done these types of mixes...

Thanks in advance

Sweet tracklist bro. That last song had me at the vocals. I'm not much of a house afictioniado if you can tell.

If you are going to try the dancemania mix idea, you're going to have your work cut out for you because there are some foes who can whip up a storm with Ableton.

Your beatmatching sucks obviously, but I loved your tracklist and programming. You had a sweet small peak in the beginning, you brought to down and then really topped it off in the end. Right at the first phrase of Stomp I got 4 kills within 5 seconds, :P(CoD4).

Do you have a link to the competition?