Well I wanted to know how everyone mixes, or is there only one universal way to do it.
For example what I do:
1.Put on a track and play around with it until the bpm is matched with the track that is already playing(easier said than done).
2.Once the bpm is matched around the end of the track that is playing I find a place that I would like my new track to start, and I hold the vinyl. Once I get to the place I want to mix into, I release the vinyl, and slowly fade in to the new track will fading out of the other.

Does everyone do it the same way or differently...I have only been spinning vinyls for like 4 months so maybe there is a step that I am missing in all of this, suggestions are welcome.
Thanx

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You forgot the EQs..

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Melodic Progressive.

Better than sex.

I do it that way usually. But other times I beatmatch the second track, then cut its low frequencys with the EQ, sometimes a bit of mid too. And depending whether its got a real hard bassline, reduce the width a bit. When the first track starts to die down I loop it, and let the second looping track fade in, but with the first still playing in the background, release the loop on the 2nd and let the EQ filters go and the width, and slowly reduce the low freqs of the fast track and fade it out.

Maybe this is a dumb way of doing it, but it usually sounds ok, =)

spectra, you're talking about mixing cd's right? i mean, how can you loop a record, unless your mixer has a sampler or something...? just wondering

This is a good one. There is much more to mixing than just beat matching. Most non-DJ's won't notice too much of a difference between a good dj and bad one if they can both beat match. First off, the most important part of mixing aside from beat matching is phasing. I'll be basic even if most everyone knows what I mean, for those who don't. Almost every trance track is in a 4/4 beat. I'm not a music major like some of my friends, but from a dj standpoint this means that there are 4 beats that you can count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. The goal is to get the 1st beat of the live track aligned with the 1st beat of the cued track. It's a little hard to explain, but tracks are arranged to have measures that corespond to the even powers of 2^n. 2^2 = 4, 2^4 = 16, and 2^6 = 32. These are the beats that you have to count. If you have an unmixed track and you count the beats, you should notice that every 16 or 32 beats from the begining, a new instrument or beat should be introduced. Knowing this makes it easy to mix because around the 56 second mark on a 140bpm track (4 sets of 32 beats) the track presents itself a great point to mix in. Some tracks have shorter intros--around 28 seconds (2x32 beats) and some have longer. But by knowing this and that all trance tracks are arranged like this, you can mix much better.

I like to mix in when there is enough beat to get the track going, 28 or 56 seconds is usually ideal. And I know when to mix out because the track ends the same way. I know that most trance tracks are too dull to keep people dancing once it hits 56 seconds till the end of the track. People without cd decks are at a slight disadvantage to recognize these spots because they don't have a track time on the turntable, like cd decks do. But it's not too hard once you realize that if you have an incoming track that starts picking up at 56 seconds and you start it right at the high point and in phase during the last chorus, you will be able to mix out at just the optimal time.

Anyway, this is how I mix. I am sure there are many other techniques and tricks to get the job done, but I also like playing almost all of the track too. Some others that have 16-20 tracks in a 90 min set instead of 11-15 like to transition over much closer to the chorus.

Many tracks .. well most tracks has a woosh sounds after every 64 beats .. that's when i release the cue track to play. This way both tracks' 'woosh' will be at the same time and u can change the bass (low eq) then ..sounds really good.

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"COLLAPSED OBJECT WHOSE GRAVITY IS SO STRONG THAT NOTHING, NOT EVEN LIGHT, CAN ESCAPE IT. AS A RESULT, THE OBJECT IS BLACK, AND IT IS A HOLE BECAUSE ANYTHING THAT FALLS IN CAN NEVER ESCAPE..."

quote:

Originally Posted by TranceGeek spectra, you're talking about mixing cd's right? i mean, how can you loop a record, unless your mixer has a sampler or something...? just wondering

I wish I had either some CDJ's or some decks, but I don't. Not really because I cant afford them (If I saved I prolly could be a set of 1210's and a mixer, or atleast some pretty good kit). But a) i'm hopefully off to uni next year, and b) the records I have to buy would cost more than the decks & mixer.

So in answer I use MP3's, ripped from CD's and AG, and Traktor DJ Studio.

Last edited by spectra on Apr-16-2002 at 18:45