tempo for progressive/trance mixes?

TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- DJ Booth
-- tempo for progressive/trance mixes?

Posted by annon185 on Jan-16-2003 16:00:

tempo for progressive/trance mixes?

what would be the best tempo for mixes with epic, uplifting, and progressive trance music? progressive sounds kinda bad when too fast, and the other 2 is boring when too slow....help me out here plz

Posted by dJohn on Jan-16-2003 19:59:

Ehh..you pretty much answered your own question.
As far as exact BPM...tht's upto you to handle.

Posted by P`zazz on Jan-16-2003 20:27:

not a good idea to transition between uplifting and prog, they are very different styles and have completely different bpms so your transitions will fail and your set will sound crap, best choice is to separate your set into to parts, eg first hour play prog and then with a smart and fast transition get into your uplifting part of the set

Posted by Spin Doctor on Jan-17-2003 05:57:

With respect, I disagree P`zazz. If you go from Prog first hour then Uplifting in the second with distinctly separate sections then that will sound bad. It�s all down to how you structure your set. The trick is to blend. Start off with the slower prog that sound bad fast and build things up. Every now and then covertly adding a bit to the pitch. You�ll have some faster prog that can be pitched up a bit more next with slower Uplifting/Epic thrown in. Then, if you�ve worked it right you�ll be able to drop the Uplifting stuff. The longer you have to do this the easier it will be. i.e. Prog to uplifting in three tunes is going to be harder than eight.

Posted by P`zazz on Jan-17-2003 11:53:

you are right, but this desires a lot of work, you will have to sit down and calculate the tempo of all your prog tunes and wright it down on the sleeve so that you will know which is the faster stuff and whether you like it or not the last prog tune will be pitched way too fast and may sound crap

Posted by djxtension on Jan-17-2003 17:44:

quote:
Originally posted by P`zazz
you are right, but this desires a lot of work, you will have to sit down and calculate the tempo of all your prog tunes and wright it down on the sleeve so that you will know which is the faster stuff and whether you like it or not the last prog tune will be pitched way too fast and may sound crap

If you know your records well, there's no need for writing down BPM's...

That's the whole art of dj-ing: making a transition from the slower stuff to the faster tunes.

A transition is not only a smooth mix between two records, it's actually a mix between more than just one style...

Posted by Mod1 on Jan-18-2003 00:52:

quote:
Originally posted by djxtension
If you know your records well, there's no need for writing down BPM's...

That's the whole art of dj-ing: making a transition from the slower stuff to the faster tunes.

A transition is not only a smooth mix between two records, it's actually a mix between more than just one style...

spoken like a true master.......agreed hehe

Posted by Spin Doctor on Jan-18-2003 01:50:

P`zazz as djxtension says, you should know your records well enough to not have to write down the BPM of each tune beforehand. You should just be able to know whether a tune is at the faster end of things or the slower end. We don�t me that you should know exactly what BPM it is and exactly how much it needs to be pitched, just a general feel.

Having said that, I don�t really think it�s cheating if you write the BPM of a tune, along with the Key, on your records as a guide as long as you don�t rely on this for mixing.

Posted by DJ Kibon on Jan-18-2003 02:24:

...

...well, here's my two cents.

I've done a bunch of digital mixers on my computer, with all sorts of different genres mixed together at times.

I most often tend to be about 140 BPM for the mixes, with slight variances higher and lower. That's just my personal preference for tempo, though some of my mixes are slower.

My stuff is hosted at www.texasbeatz.net , search DJ Mix section for "DJ Kibon" if you want an example.

Posted by Alccode on Jan-18-2003 03:12:

Eventually you'll get a feel for which records are slower/faster, and you can arrange them accordingly, if you like.

Posted by The Greener on Jan-18-2003 07:41:

Use an acoustic guitar tuner to keep notes correct, not Flat nor sharp on first song

Posted by The Greener on Jan-18-2003 08:05:

No One has recognized what the main thing changing the speed of the song does. If you only listen for tempo then you don't understand music basics and/or never created music. Not to sound Hastely

The speed changes the notes or scale of the song. Have you guys ever heard of Notes, Sharpes, and Flats??? the main note of a song should remain the same. Its kinda like keeping a instrument in tune.

BTW The word Pitch on "Pitch Control" has nothing in relation to speed but the actual scale of notes.

Soooooooo. If the main riff of the song is a regular note, keep it pitched as an regular note. dont pitch the song flat or sharpe it sounds not like the artist created it

Thats why when you see us Superstar DJ's, tossing a record on and then ripping it off the wheel and not play it is mainly BECAUSE the songs contents are not Tuned together at the same beat.

Soooo...Again if you can recognize by ear notes if they are flat or sharpe, lucky you!! or you can use the strobe on the first song.

Posted by Dj-Steve on Jan-19-2003 16:18:

Posted by DJ Kibon on Jan-19-2003 20:27:

...

quote:
Originally posted by Dj-Steve
that's ghey... marking down the bpms is totally ghey. Stop djing P`zazz if you do so....

...erm, not sure if I agree with you on this one.

I've talked to a couple of prominent local DJs about this (I'll leave out the names), and they used to do similar stuff when they first started out. They would calculate all the BPMs, and plan out the entire set in advance.

Now they just spin various records as they go, with no two sets being the same. Point is, everyone starts somewhere.

Posted by Alccode on Jan-19-2003 21:23:

Re: ...

quote:
Originally posted by DJ Kibon
...erm, not sure if I agree with you on this one.

I've talked to a couple of prominent local DJs about this (I'll leave out the names), and they used to do similar stuff when they first started out. They would calculate all the BPMs, and plan out the entire set in advance.

Now they just spin various records as they go, with no two sets being the same. Point is, everyone starts somewhere.

Totally agree. When I started out, I would write out the number of phrases in the intro and outro to each track, on the record sleeve. This way I could make mixes that wouldn't end early etc. But now I just mix by "instinct" and by looking at the record grooves.

DJ Kibon is right! Everyone starts somewhere.

Posted by P`zazz on Jan-19-2003 21:44:

quote:
Originally posted by Dj-Steve
that's ghey... marking down the bpms is totally ghey. Stop djing P`zazz if you do so....

stfu steve, I don't do that but even if I did it makes no difference, a lot of great djs do it

You should stop djing because with your arogance and rudeness you are going nowhere

Posted by DJ Kibon on Jan-19-2003 21:52:

Re: Re: ...

quote:
Originally posted by Alccode
Totally agree. When I started out, I would write out the number of phrases in the intro and outro to each track, on the record sleeve. This way I could make mixes that wouldn't end early etc. But now I just mix by "instinct" and by looking at the record grooves.

DJ Kibon is right! Everyone starts somewhere.

Glad you agree. I'm just staring out into the scary world of vinyl now, after doing mixing on my computer for about 1 1/2 years.

I think I may end up calculating BPMs for each record initially, to give me a bit of assistance in determining which record is playing faster, etc. I don't see how that's a bad thing at all.

Posted by Alccode on Jan-20-2003 00:21:

Re: Re: Re: ...

quote:
Originally posted by DJ Kibon
I think I may end up calculating BPMs for each record initially, to give me a bit of assistance in determining which record is playing faster, etc. I don't see how that's a bad thing at all.

And it's not, really. In fact, I believe you will get better faster by using little aids like that, than by being "cool" like Dj-Steve. In the long run, you will outgrow your aids, because you simply won't need them anymore. But in the beginning, they help out a ton!

Besides, whoever learned math by doing all the hard calculus first. Everyone starts at the 1+1=2 phase at one point or another.

Posted by Breeze on Jan-20-2003 17:03:

feel the music , be lost in the mix and let the sounds guide you.