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My First Mix Of 2 Tracks How Did I Do??
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| johnbenjamin |
Ok.... Here it is I just started spinnin about 2 months ago and I have been practicing mixing these 2 tracks than I want to start off my first set with. I want my set to start off melodic and then to get more progressive. Let me know what you think of these tracks together. Do you think the second track is to much harder than the first? I need your opinion on the beat matching, and your overall opinion on how I did. Its only 2 tracks about 10mins in length total a 10mb download, I just want your opinion weather I'm on the rite track. Thanks in advance.
LINK TO MIX
Track List:
Michael Thomas - Afterglow
Jupiter Prime - Ocean of Joy (Prime Mix) |
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| Devbert |
| Mix sounds pretty good. That song Micheal Thomas - Afterglow is pretty sick as well. |
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| johnbenjamin |
| THanks alot bro, now I just need to find a track that matches ocean of joy out of about 50 of my records I dont like how any of them mix. I dont like mixing two vocally tracks together, do youu agree? |
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| Dj Flesch |
This is a very good transition. Your beatmatching was flawless and both tracks were in phrase with eachother. Not only that, but you brought the second track in, in-phase too. Not many begining djs do that. You didn't let the first track play out too long and you brought in the first track right into an upbeat part of the track, which kept the energy going.
The volume levels were slightly off during the transition and it was noticable that you dropped the volume of the first track a little too much a little too early, but only very slightly! The volumes of each of the two tracks were good in relation to eachother, it is just the little bit during the middle of the transition that I'm talking about.
One thing that you can do is provide a teaser of the vocals "Ocean of Joy" during the first track so that the second track flows even smoother and the crowd's energy is intensified.
Overall, very good for only practicing two months, but I must ask, how many times did you practice it and how many times did you have to record it before you got good at it? You can perfect any transition given enough time, but you can measure your skill by the number of times that it takes you to perfect it. It ususally takes me twice for most mixes for comparison. |
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| johnbenjamin |
Thanks alot for your advice, Now when you say the volume was slightly diffrent how would youcue that so it was equal. Do i just use the eq lights and adjust the trim?
Also, I have thought of teasing the vocals but didnt really try it yet. Now I will.
TO Answeryour question, it took me a couple weeks to find 2 tracks I liked together (beat matching phase counting) Once I got used to that I was able to practice the transition. Once again this is my very first EVER successfull transition, so it took me probably about 3-4 times adjusting the bass trim and mixing in the rite phase. But I can beatmatch a track and get a good transition out of it in about 2-3 trys,if I cant get it by then,itsprobably because they do not match..
By the way I'm having a really hard time findind a track that goes good with "oceanof joy"
Thanks alot dude, and I'll wait for your reply |
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| johnbenjamin |
| Because tripod sucks unless i pay so check back in a little bit |
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| Dj Flesch |
| quote: | Originally posted by johnbenjamin
Thanks alot for your advice, Now when you say the volume was slightly diffrent how would youcue that so it was equal. Do i just use the eq lights and adjust the trim?
Also, I have thought of teasing the vocals but didnt really try it yet. Now I will.
TO Answeryour question, it took me a couple weeks to find 2 tracks I liked together (beat matching phase counting) Once I got used to that I was able to practice the transition. Once again this is my very first EVER successfull transition, so it took me probably about 3-4 times adjusting the bass trim and mixing in the rite phase. But I can beatmatch a track and get a good transition out of it in about 2-3 trys,if I cant get it by then,itsprobably because they do not match..
By the way I'm having a really hard time findind a track that goes good with "oceanof joy"
Thanks alot dude, and I'll wait for your reply |
As far as adjusting the volume goes, you simply turned the volume on the live track down a little too quickly. It really depends on the track for when you transfer over to the next track, but in this case, the incoming track was not quite as much energy as you needed to cut over to that track. As I said, in the original post, the absolute volumes between the tracks were fine, you just cut the first track a little bit too quickly so that it was noticable between 5:15 and 5:27 of your mix that the volumes and bass beat was changing. Don't get me wrong, I'm knit-picking at this point because it was a very good transition. If you listen to the pros do it, then you will notice that they switch over on ONE beat instead of over several beats like you did. The switch-over of bass beats was very subtle during your transition, but it was still noticable to a DJ.
As far as tracks that will mix in with Ocean of Joy, I'll look more, but one that comes to mind is Chakra - Doors (Original Mix). Or Nat Monday - Destiny (Transa Remix). Both tracks would mix increadibly well into Ocean of Joy. Both have very similar bass beats and both would keep up the energy and genre of what I think you want to spin.
I'll look a bit more, but see if you can find those tracks. www.djmr.com should have both of them available for purchase and a lofi MP3 that you can listen too first. If you would like me to look up some more tracks that mix well with this, then I'll be more than happy to. Tell me what you think. |
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| johnbenjamin |
Let me tell you how I mixed them. I used the channel the fader (not the cross fade. I did nothing with track 1 but increased the volume of track 2 into track 1 with the bass cut out, than as i am increaseing the volume of track 2 I am slowly cuttiing out the bassline from track 1 and gaining the bassline from track 2 rite when the vocal "ocean of joy" comes in on track 2 then track 1's bass line stops then track 2 hits.
So are you saying not to to that just let the bass line die out on its own? I was originally not messing with the bass but than when I tried it I noticed that way I could keep the bassline simalir so that when they are both playin its not to much BOOM BOOM BOOM
If you could help me find a good track that mixes well with ocean of joy that would be great. I'm going to check out that link and the tracks you mentioned.
Again, I really appreciate your help. Your really REALLY helping me out alot.
Do you have any mixes I can download? So I can listen to your style.
HEY I just listend to Chakra Doors. Its very vocally do you think mixing one vocal track into annother kinda gives away the mix? Why when I do it It doesnt feel rite? |
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| Dj Flesch |
That sounds like a pretty good mixing technique, I do similar myself. I also use the channel faders instead of the crossfader. I do not however cut the bass on the live track when I bring it in. I find that if you mix the way you are doing it, then you will not have control over the transition as well--here's why: When you cue up the next track, you can listen to the whole intro and therefore you will know when the bass beat changes, whether it stops for a beat and then kicks in again, or if it gets louder after 32 or 64 beats etc. This is easier to pick up on the fly then listening to and remembering the ending of each track and when the bass beat gets killed or softer etc. Therefore, if you keep the bass volume constant on the incoming track, you can adjust the volume of the overall sound with the cue track's channel fader. When you bring in the cue track, then slowly decrease the bass eq on the live track as you bring in the cue. This will give you more control over the transition because you don't need to worry about not having control over the live track's fading bassline because you are killing it yourself--you are taking control of it's change and not just letting it happen on it's own.
This technique is pretty difficult to master so that you have a "perfect transition", but I believe that it is more versital over how you mix, in the long run, becuase you can effectively mix tracks with very different bass beats this way. This works because if you do what I call "incremental mixing" then the bass beat come in phrase all the time.
Incremental mixing is a technique I taught myself to overcome the fact that I wasn't bringing my cue tracks in in-phrase all of the time. The two tracks were in phrase with eachother, but what the audience was hearing wasn't. I.e. Both tracks were in phrase, but the audience would hear the the first beat of the cue track come in as both tracks were on beat 2 or 3 or 4 of the phrasing. So how do you do this? If you move the volume slider up in small increments right before beat 1, then whenever the cue track is loud enough to be heard from the master out, it will always be heard first on beat one because that is when you increased the volume. I have found that mixing this was lends itself to a very smooth bass switchover.
Don't get me wrong however, the way you mix could be better for you if you are looking to do a seamless transition, but if the basslines are not increadible silimar, then you will notice the small switchover. Another thing to note is that anytime you adjust an eq, always do it in phrase also--everything you do, every knob you adjust, every volume slider you slide, ever effect you introduce, should always be done in phrase. And further, I don't meant to tell you that you should change the way you mix, but I am saying that there are certain tracks that you will have to mix in differently than others due to different basslines. Getting a good grip on several different mixing techniques can help you become a very effective Dj.
Another reason that I don't adjust the volume on the cue track's bass is because that is going to be the live track, and so if you need to cut over to it during a trainwreck, or another problem or desire to cut over durig the transition, then that track has no bass line! In addition, the gain set on the cue track is very sensitive to how heavy the bass beat is hitting (by viewing the LEDs anyway) and therefore, if you have your bassline cut even a little, it may be one of those tracks with a bassline that is pretty soft, and therefore will be too loud when you mix it in. It is hard to notice this without the bass beat. If this happens to me, all I do is leave the channel fader at 7 or 8, or whatever the appropriate volume level is. But by bringing in the bassline afterward, if the mids and highs are too loud, then you have to correct for the mistake afterward, versus not making the mistake in the first place.
Anyway, tell me if that helps after you read through it about 5 times and try out this technique ;) I'll go look for other tracks that work well with "Ocean of Joy" As far as mixing two vocal tracks, I don't think it makes that much of a difference as long as you don't mix in the vocals during the transition--unless they work really well together (ie vocals by the same person, or male vocals on one that complement female vocals on another etc.). Most of the time they have instrumental mixes anyway, if the vocals don't go well.
As far as mixes, I have one full length mix from close to a year ago, and I do have one really nice transition between two tracks that I can send you. My ICQ is 218587 and AIM is Djflesch2. If you want me to send them to you, drop me a line. I haven't had much time to mix in the last 6 months. I'm working full time and in school for my Masters in Chemistry too! Thank god it's the summer. Now all I have to do is a lot of home improvements, work on my car and get married! ;) I'll find room to dj in there somewhere, I hope! I don't mind helping at all. I have a bunch of famous long-ass posts here on this board ;) One of them even made it to a sticky thread on the vinyl vs cd sticky at the top! |
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