OK guys. I bought Virtual DJ about two months ago and have been playing around with it. I must say it is such an easy program for us beginners. Now I understand what makes a clean mix, but when it comes to the transitions what should I know? Like when you here say mega mixes the transitions are very abrupt or sudden but say with trance they seem smoother. So what makes good transitions?

I don’t profess to be a DJ nor will my playing around with Virtual DJ ever take me anywhere, but for my own enjoyment I want to know so I can do it better.

Thanks guys

Rich

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It's not dance unless its Eurodance!

Last edited by DJ Double Threat on Oct-24-2005 at 22:58

What style do you spin (or... double click?)
I play mainly goa... many of these tracks have cool intros of weird synths and / or voice overs... playing that over the finishing track adds a cool new dimension, and the mix is pretty cool too if its beatmatched properly.

Don't worry about how long/ short it is... let the tunes decide for you - if the outro is short, make a short mix, vice versa. Sometimes, you can hold a mix for a few minutes, which is also cool.. just play around till you find what you like. Theres millions (ok maybe not millions) of things you can do, even just using software... does it have a smple or loop feature? try looping sounds over the playing track, if you time it right it can sound sweet. Just tinker lol.

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You will have to use the equalizer for doing a smoother transition.
VirtualDJ privide a kind of crossfader like eq and you can set keyboard shortcuts to set the faders position instead using the mouse.

quote:

Originally posted by In-Dust-3 You will have to use the equalizer for doing a smoother transition. VirtualDJ privide a kind of crossfader like eq and you can set keyboard shortcuts to set the faders position instead using the mouse.

+1

Be sure never to let two kickdrums play simultaneously.. it sounds like shit.

Once you know a little bit about EQ'ing you can maybe look into mixing in KEY. That way you'll have to analyse which key a certain song is in and try to mix it with another song, which is in the appropriate key as well. I noticed that Armin van Buuren has most of his vinyls coded with the BPM and key written on it

I spin in VDJ mostly euro dance, techno and limited trance. I mean I realize that mixing is also up to the DJ himself and to two dj's would mix two songs the same way. But this topic was more or less brought up for my own benefit.

Any other help would be great too, thanks guys.

Rich

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It's not dance unless its Eurodance!

quote:

Originally posted by slimebucket I spin in VDJ mostly euro dance, techno and limited trance. I mean I realize that mixing is also up to the DJ himself and to two dj's would mix two songs the same way. But this topic was more or less brought up for my own benefit. Any other help would be great too, thanks guys. Rich

why don't you post a sample of how you mix? and we can give you constructive criticism

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_Blue why don't you post a sample of how you mix? and we can give you constructive criticism

I have been thinking about it, but I am more or less embarrassed of my mixes unless I think they are perfect.

Sure I'll do that. Maybe they sound better then I think?

Rich

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It's not dance unless its Eurodance!

start recording every time you play
then burn it or load to an mp3 player and listen to it a few times, pick apart your mixes

do the things you liked, change the things you didn't

then do it again, and again, and again, etc...

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Listen to other people's mixes. One way I learned is I'd try to mix 2 tracks spot on the way I'd heard it done on a mix by some other DJ and remember that technique. Mostly I have a few set ways I'll run a transition now, but like most everyone here says or will say, it's totally dependent on track, style, mix type etc. That being said there are some taboos to mixing that you should not do (i.e. mixing vocals on top of one another).

When you listen to your mixes, try them on different sound systems. Sometimes in certain headphones a mix will sound near perfect and then when you put them on speakers they sound awful and out of sync.

When I'm messin around on VDJ, I'll use the EQ's and start my mix with the high , then bring in the mid 32-64 beats later, then the low end. Maybe try something like that and see how it goes. You still gotta know your tracks though so you know how much time you have to mix.

Have fun!

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