|
hip hop is way harder... i guarantee someone will disagree w/ that statement, but i know for a fact that spinning hip hop requires more talent/turntablalism. for one thing, its almost impossible to mix.. i make instrumental loops (using serato) at the beginning of some tracks. by some, i mean any track that doesnt have vocals right off the bat (i'd say about 50% of the rap songs give you enough time to make an instra loop). you can drop the track in too but you usually have like 5 seconds until people start singing or whatever.
another sucky thing about hip hop is the fact that the songs range from 80 to 170 beats a minute!! so (using serato) i organize my tracks by bpm and start off the night around 110bpm and slowly work my way down to 80. then i jump from 80 to 160 and back down again. it really sux cuz if you change the pitch even a little on a rap track it sounds like total shit so you gotta make sure there isnt more than a 2bmp difference between 2 tracks you're mixing (i usually hit quartz when there's a drop off on the track i just dropped into so i can get it into its original bpm).
sometimes it can get boring. when you want to drop a track that doesnt have vocaless instrumentals at the beginning, you have to scratch into it (which i hate doing). you can also just drop the track in if there's instrumentals at the end of the track you're cueing out of.
if you are getting requests, that can really fuck you up. i'll be at 120bpm and people will be requesting songs at 80 and 100 bpm. when that happens, i improvize (or make them wait). you can do a delay echo on the end of the chorus on track you're finishing up and drop the new track (w/ big bpm difference), or you can do a high to low filter sweep out of the track you are spinning and drop in the new one. i like to use the delay echo and drop method if i am dropping in a track with a 2 second intro or someone talking or whatever and i like to use the high to low pass drop method when the track i'm dropping in starts off abruptly with bass and people singing/talking.
every rap song is totally different (in terms of muscial make up, key, tempo, etc...) so you basically have to be really familiar w/ the music. it took me a while to get used to hip hop and i'm still not 100% comfortable (i've been doing it twice a week for 6 months now..)
if you are a house/trance dj that has an opportunity to spin for a hip hop crowd once in a blue moon, i suggest that you just spin baltimore club music. its just like house/trance and very structured. its high energy hip/hop and remixes that ranges from 120 to 160bpm. any trance dj could spin baltimore club with no problem. hope i answered you're question... i taught myself how to spin, so these might not be the most effiecient/best methods. i definitely have my own style so i guess thats a good thing! i dunno, there might be more qualified people to ask at this site but i dont know of one to refer you to...
its a constant learning experience
bisco
Last edited by discobiscuit on Oct-12-2006 at 08:57
|
