Name a popular track you know well, and I'll explain to yuo what a phrase and those 16/32 beats mean.

ok erm say if i wanted to mix radiohead street spirit (tiesto remix) into scott bond + solar stone - red line highway (original mix)..
thanks

As a mixing DJ, there are 4 ingredients you will need to do a smooth mix.

1. Tempo / beatmatching - the obvious one. Different tracks are produced at different tempos, therefore you must match the tempo.

2. Volume - Often overlooked by beginner DJs. Different tracks are produced at different volumes, therefore you must use the gain to match the volume. It's actually not as simple as that but as a beginning DJ, that's really all you need to know. For the smoothest mix possible, bottom line is make sure all the frequencies are represented in the middle of the mix by using your three equalizers.

3. Phrase - A phrase is a group of notes being played together to form a musical "idea". This leaves the listener with a sense that the idea is done or complete. What that means to dance music is this idea is always completed after 16 or 32 beats. Have a listen to the beginning of Street Spirit where there is only hihats, kick drum. After counting 32 beats, you will notice the bassline hits, another "idea" has started, thus starting another phrase. You can count 32 anywhere through out the track and you'll notice elements of music (melody, bassline, drum pattern changes) all happen every 32 beats. What that means you, the mixer is, to have a smooth mix, you must mix in at the start of a phrase in order for the mix to be less noticeable. As Street Spirit is ending, elements of the track are removed every 32 beats. That's when you mix in a little with the incoming track replacing the lost element with a new element of the incoming track. (In your case Red Line Highway).


4. Keys -- this is really advanced so I would learn the other 3 well before even worrying about this.


EDIT: I should point out that you need to mix in the 1st beat of a phrase from the incoming track with the 1st beast of a phrase from the outgoing track.

thank you very much, that enforced what i knew and also tought me some things i didnt know, like for example i thought every track was the same volume. ok ill definatley take note of what you wrote. thanks for your time

Good stuff you wrote there. After reading all the stuff previously, now my mixes sound shittier to me.

___________________
Blip, blip, blip...

quote:

As a mixing DJ, there are 4 ingredients you will need to do a smooth mix. 1. Tempo / beatmatching - the obvious one. Different tracks are produced at different tempos, therefore you must match the tempo. 2. Volume - Often overlooked by beginner DJs. Different tracks are produced at different volumes, therefore you must use the gain to match the volume. It's actually not as simple as that but as a beginning DJ, that's really all you need to know. For the smoothest mix possible, bottom line is make sure all the frequencies are represented in the middle of the mix by using your three equalizers. 3. Phrase - A phrase is a group of notes being played together to form a musical "idea". This leaves the listener with a sense that the idea is done or complete. What that means to dance music is this idea is always completed after 16 or 32 beats. Have a listen to the beginning of Street Spirit where there is only hihats, kick drum. After counting 32 beats, you will notice the bassline hits, another "idea" has started, thus starting another phrase. You can count 32 anywhere through out the track and you'll notice elements of music (melody, bassline, drum pattern changes) all happen every 32 beats. What that means you, the mixer is, to have a smooth mix, you must mix in at the start of a phrase in order for the mix to be less noticeable. As Street Spirit is ending, elements of the track are removed every 32 beats. That's when you mix in a little with the incoming track replacing the lost element with a new element of the incoming track. (In your case Red Line Highway). 4. Keys -- this is really advanced so I would learn the other 3 well before even worrying about this. EDIT: I should point out that you need to mix in the 1st beat of a phrase from the incoming track with the 1st beast of a phrase from the outgoing track.

nice explanation... very helpful...

___________________
dj Lam.com