what i do is test the track before i play it live...

i move the needle to a part of the record where all the action is happening...i normally have the bass all the way cut...i turn up the bass (EQ) and while im doing this im paying close attention to that channels LED meter...OK once you have the LED meter of that channel at same level as the one thats live..you'll have your maximum bass level. Look down at where you have your bass EQ set at...this will be the maximum you'll want to bring it at

so now when you bring it live you'll never have it go be overpowering

hope this helps in some way

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the mid EQ has alot to do with the total output of the ovreall track as well...use that in junction with the bass EQ and you should start seeing results.
I did, at least...

here's what I usually do. As I'm brining in the bass EQ on teh incomming track, i lower the current track's eq by a quarter. Then as I slowly (or quickly) bring in the bass on the new track, I lower the outgoing track just as much as needed to keep the levels constant.

Well, I think that it depends heavily on which mixer you have. My DJM-600 has several features that other less expensive mixers do not have. First off, most tracks I can get the volumes right by doing exactly what liquid does. I fast forward to the chorus of the track, where the bass beat and all of the other intruments are most intense, and I set that to peak at about +2dB. There are some tracks however, that the bass doesn't have as much depth, or has too much--whichever--and I either have too much bass or not enough. I can monitor this by setting the volume % of the live and cue tracks to 50/50. This way, if the LEDs are all lined up and the vocals of my cue track are way loud compared to the volume of the live track when I'm listening at 50/50, I know that the volume of the cue track is still too high!

It also depends on your crossfader. I know a lot of mixers don't have the option to switch the resistance levels of you crossfader. The DJM-600 allows for three different modes. One that sets both track levels to 100% when the fader is in the middle, one that sets both track volumes to about 80% and one that sets them to about 50%. Now don't get this confused. It doesn't lower the overall level of the track, your vocals and highs will still be the same level, it just reduces your bass a little bit more. This is good to have this option because different djs have different mixing styles and the mixer adapts to your mixing style rather than having to adapt your mixing style to the mixer.

You can mix several ways:

1. Leave the crossfader in the middle and use the volume sliders on the channels to mix. I do this by putting the crossfader selection to 100% volume and then when I increase about 80% of the volume slider on the cue track, then I start reducing the bass eq on the live track. It's a mix between slightly lowering the bass eq on the live track, reducing the overall volume on the life track and increasing the volume on the cue track (with the cue's bass remaining the same throughout the process).

2. Leave the crossfader in the middle and use 50% volume resistance on the fader. Then use the volume sliders, but you don't have to really play with the bass eq very much at all because the crossfader selection compensates for it.

3. Use the crossfader and use 80% resistance. I still use the bass eqs, but leave the channel volumes at 100%. This is nice for much quicker mixing.

There are of course other ways to mix, but those are the three that I use most commonly. Some people use the gains/trims to adjust the volumes, some people use both crossfader and channel volume sliders, but whatever floats your boat is what you should use. I usually use second option when I am recording mixes. I notice the bass fluctuations much less when listening to the mix afterwards in studio headphones.

Wow !!! thank you so much guys for your responses, they have helped me out alot. The only problem I have is that I don't have the best of mixers, Numark DM1002x, and the LED's don't show the volume of the channels, it only shows the levels of the left and right channels when they are playing live. I'm saving up to buy a new mixer, and input on the, I'm looking for a mixer that shows the levels of the two tracks seperatly and not live. Other than that, anything other features I don't really care cause I don't know too much about them. So anyway, thank you all for your input and I will try to keep you guys posted on what ended up working out the best for, and again thank you.

Peas

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Trance is a drug, once you experience it, you're addicted!!

Again, you can still listen to the tracks live and look at the LEDs while you are brining in the cue track. Just do it slowly and bring the bass down on the live track one or two notched reguardless of how it sounds in your monitors. Chances are if you don't have channel LEDs, then you don't have crossfader resistance options either. This means that they should be playing at 100% on each channel. Use the channel volume sliders and leave the crossfader in the middle, if you don't normally mix like this and see how it works. This way as you increase the volume on the cue track with the volume slider, once it seems loud enough, just stop increasing the volume on the channel slider and continue on as normal.

Well alrighty then, thank you very much for the information that you have given me.

Peas

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Trance is a drug, once you experience it, you're addicted!!

In your situation, considering the mixer you have, you will have to go by ear. I had a mixer, when i first started, that did not let me monitor the volume through the LEDs,,, only the live program, just like your mixer.


Figure out which songs are loud and which ones aren't. The ones that are louder, you may want it to match the song currently playing, and the ones that have a lower volume, bring up the volume slightly.
You must be asking "how can i listen to them if one is playing live and the other is monitoring?" Well, you monitor the one playing live with your headset on, then eliminate it from monitor, and then monitor the track you will bring on with your headset on. Then you do the adjusing on volume knobs for the track you will bring in.

Also, dont mix with the crossfader but with direct volume limiter for each channel. As you bring up the volume on the incoming track, try to have the bass low about 9 oclock, dont bring it up until the limiter on the new track has surpassed the limiter on the ending track. Then, as you bringing the new track in, slighly lower the volume on the playing track, but not much to where its not even noticeable to the human ear. That provides the same type of effect as mentioned above on the higher end mixers, where the overall volume lowers about 2-3db, but your actually doing it manually, instead of letting the crossfader doing it for you.

The point is, if you have a cheap mixer, you will be better off not using the fader, but the volume knobs or limiters on each channel.

Trust me man, you can get some good mixes with a cheap mixer. To be honest, a good mixer will only bring you more expandability, better sound quality. If you master what you've got, and if you learn how to use it make work for you, you can have a better mix than someone with a 1000 dollar mixer.

I have also got a question about the bass, im mixing for 6 months now, and i have a rookie question: Sometimes (it depends on the records i mix) the basses of the records are at the same moment and the bass "falls" away, you push the record a bit and it goes away, i hope you guys know what i mean, its like the bass gets less and the next beat it is normal again, the next beat it falls away, etc. WHy is this, and how can i prevent this

well first question: does this happen while you are bringing in you next track? Becasue if that is the case, that is fine that it happens that means that you have the two tracks beatmatched, the bass is cancelling each other out. The only way that I'm aware of to get rid of that is to bring down the bass of the live track a little bit and see how that works.

and bachatu, I don't use the cross fader, I don't think I have used the cross fader since day one, but thank you for your input. I think what it all boils down to is, now that I have gotten good responses from you guys, I will have to take the advice and see what works for me. I was starting to get down cause I had tried everything that I knew, and nothing seemed to help. Thank you everybody

Peas

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Trance is a drug, once you experience it, you're addicted!!

tecno logy:

the two basses cancel each other out. I dont' know how, someone explained it in the dj booth a little while ago, so search for it and it might come up.

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