Couple of months ago I decided to start mixin hip hop (like the commercial stuff on the radio like lil jon, dmx, nelly, beyonce etc..) and its totally changed my view of mixing .. I used to go for the long seamless mix, but after mixing hip hop and learning to sometimes 'slam in' songs real quick, and be way more creative .. I'm finding it way more fun than just mixing dance 4/4 music where it tends to be pretty much the same formula for a mix most of the time..

I was just wondering whether you guys that also mix hip hop / pop / rock what other ways you can mix 2 songs in, especially where theres a change in BPM eg. playing a 100bpm hip hop song, and then playing a pop song at 120bpm ..

1. 'slamming in' the next track (without any mixing, generally only tends to sound decent if the new track doesn't start with the beat straight away eg. like 'the next episode'); or

2. slowing down heaps the pitch of the track playing then dropping the next track from a cue point

and I'm unable to do scratch then drop the next track, or backspin as i don't have decks yet..

congratulations on being open minded

Ive been playing other styles for years- i play hip hop/r&b nites sometimes too- its nice to play something not so dependant on beat matching or long mixes. You have more licence to experiment with hip hop mixing too.

Scratching them in can sound good , but can be overused.
Hold the record still on one spinning platter- then as you hit stop on the other one, simultaneously release it on that one. Got to be careful that you dont get feedback when holing the record still with the fader open though.
Or you could relese it as you pull the x fader across- depends what you fell comfortable with.

Plenty of ways to do it- just be aware of clashing vocals, and chopping the first few beats/vocals off a new track- doesnt sound good.
Holding two tracks in together can sound good because you can chop between them
Plenty of oppurtunities for layering acapellas and instrumentals too.

Loads of stuff like this you will get a better reaction by just dropping it in- its so easy to up the energy level by dropping a new track in the right place, not the same sort of build up to it you have playing house or trance.
You are right about the next episode- that definately needs to just be dropped- reaction is always good for that.
The right choice of tune can instantly change the energy in the room-but can also kill it.

you may even find you like using the x fader..

Ask nem- he wasplaying hip hop before some of you were born (old fart )

Yeah sometimes I feel like its better to drop the track in than try and mix it .. especially so with 'party up' and 'be faithful' where they have a little bit with only vocals before cuttin into the main song .. then when the beat comes on Bam! luvin' it..

hip-hop mixing (i'm talking with vinyls for now) is not an easy skill to pick up. You don't have nearly as much time as in edm to cue up the incoming record and adjust it, before letting it go on the live channel. Some djs cue it up while the channel is live even. Also, I think if you take away scratch capabilites from hip-hop mixing, you are taking away a huge component. When listening to a hip-hop dj to me the main thing is how smooth the transition is. Anyone could throw on "the next episode" or some killer top 40 rap tune, to throw it in and make it seem like the beat has not changed from the last song, takes real skill.

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guess i should congratulate you on being open minded. i, for the most part, can't stand most radio music, so i doubt i'll venture into mixing it. a friend of mine does like mixing some hip hop with trip hop, and acid jazz, so if i ever feel the need for something different i'll probably go that way...

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i've been thinking about this a lot lately...not hip hop, but i do listen to a lot of stuff other than trance that i was thinking about mixing up. i think the future is to make a blend of genres into sets...i was gonna start experimenting with it because i don't really have any experience, but thought i'd post since you brought this thread up...

for real.. i think hip hop is way harder than "4 on tha floor"...

I picked up EDM mixing pretty quickly and then I tried applying my skills to hip hop.... BIG MISTAKE...

Hip hop beats range so much in tempo from 90-120 bpm its really hard to know what two songs go together... and then there's scratching... whole new ballgame...

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Yeah I've found mixing 4/4 and breaks requires practically little to no knowledge of the song your playing ie. it could be a brand new tune, but you have a fair idea of how the mix is going to go ... Hip hop on the other hand, you have to focus know the right spot to drop the track, whilst looking out for clashing vocals etc, and if you miss the cue/start point it kinda makes it way difficult since u have a shorter time to drop the next track. Also for me its harder to beatmatch than 4/4 and breaks since the bpm is slower so theres more of a gap in between beats and this makes me tend to overshoot aligning the beats whilst beatmatching more

Does anyone know of any hip-hop DJ's who actually mix records? I've basically just been listening to the guys at the local club (not very effective since I'm usually too trashed to take real good notice) to use as'someone to copy/learn of'.. I had a quick listen to DJ Green Lantern and some other dudes sets, but they just seem to just hurt the efx or scratch over the top of the mix then start the new song from scratch ..

yeah i mix a lot of it and know a few others who do too.

Takes careful track selection though, and a good knowledge of the tracks and speeds otherwise it doesnt flow or you have to picth stupid amounts up or down.
Unlike house , its not dependant on it- which is a refreshing change

Cool, Freak - you got any mixes uploaded anywhere? or know of any hip-hop forums that are of a similar seriousness/respect level/quality of TA?

next time i do one ill record it- might not be for a month or so though.
No idea of forums

For hip-hop mixing, there really is a different style between East Coast vs. West Coast DJs. The East Coast DJs like Green Lantern, Clue, Dirty Harry are mostly interested in having the latest, unreleased freestyles, tracks or hot blends in their mix while the West Coast style is more about the beat mixing and scratching and blends (DJ Rectangle is the best example of this).

I tend to follow the West Coast style focusing most of the attention of my mix on beat mixing or blending with accapellaas.

If you have any webspace I would be more than willing to upload any mixes I have to share (I just don't have any webspace), but feel free to PM me if you want.

JM-8

Last edited by JM-8 on Jun-30-2004 at 17:46