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Mixing Properly
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| DJ HARN |
OK, so I've been mixing now for only a few years here and there. I'm at the point where I can beat match very well, and I am quite good at eq'ing, but the problem I have is that I don't know where to go from here. I just basically play one track, then about 1.5 to 2 mins before the end, beat match the next track on the next available downbeat and over 40-60secs or so bring in the next tune. Then the same again, and again etc. I know there is more to it than this, but what else can I try? I hope you kind of understand my question because I know what I mean but it's hard to put into words.
Cheers. |
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| Tenshi |
depends on what you spin!
if you spin techno get a FX device
if you spin progressive/trance or whatever try harmonic mixing! |
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| DJRecess |
There's loads of ways to move on from here, but for starters, how about answering this question?
How do you choose what tunes to put together in the mix?
Do you:
1) Put them together in an order that makes each mix sound good?
2) Just throw any tunes together, regardless of genre, pace, energy etc?
3) Think about a 'progression' in the mix?
Yes, I know the last one is a bit wanky, but even though 'Taking the listener on a journey' has become a cliche' - the ability to build up, take down, level off, increase, (and even just start and finish) a set is just as important a part of DJing as beatmatching etc.
If you're just doing the same mix over and over, then you're right - you're stagnating a bit. Give us some more info (genres, total length of a set, - or even better, a demo mix) and I'm sure the answers will start flooding in. |
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| Jarvmeister |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJRecess
There's loads of ways to move on from here, but for starters, how about answering this question?
How do you choose what tunes to put together in the mix?
Do you:
1) Put them together in an order that makes each mix sound good?
2) Just throw any tunes together, regardless of genre, pace, energy etc?
3) Think about a 'progression' in the mix?
Yes, I know the last one is a bit wanky, but even though 'Taking the listener on a journey' has become a cliche' - the ability to build up, take down, level off, increase, (and even just start and finish) a set is just as important a part of DJing as beatmatching etc.
If you're just doing the same mix over and over, then you're right - you're stagnating a bit. Give us some more info (genres, total length of a set, - or even better, a demo mix) and I'm sure the answers will start flooding in. |
Cracking answer! Useful to me - I need to develop my 'journey' taking skills...... |
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| Michael May |
Dipping into alot of other Genres has really made it way more interesting for me. Last weekend when I did a set I was jumping around like a mad man from some Tech House tune I just bought that I fell in love with. So that has made things very interesting. My new Sony mdr-7506's have been fun. Just recently been getting into Harmonic mixing. Just started to mix with the volume faders and not the eq's, and that is taking sometime to get use to but I am enjoying most of the learning experiance. I am going to meet someone at a recording institute and am going to enroll in classes on Tuesday. I am always searching for new tunes that I like, and I love nothing more than to find a tune that becomes my new favorite track. So,,,, if you have not tried some of this stuff, I would suggest giving it a go.
Mike |
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| kingklubz |
| dude just relax and have fun. Having fun will help release some crazy creativy, it might not sound too good at first but just practice a bit and not only are you having fun but then your mixes sound good and are creative too |
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| DJ HARN |
Thanks for the answers guys. Yeh I mostly spin trance, not quite sure sometimes what genres they are, it's basically just 'music that I think is good'. I have hunderds of tracks but here are a few examples:
Thrillseekers
Rank1
Ronski Speed
DJ Tatana
Svenson & Gielen
Tiesto
Armin Van Buuren
Oceanlab
Above & Beyond
M.I.K.E. (plus his other million aliases)
What I was really getting at in the initial question was that surely mixing is more than just blending 2 tracks together over a minute or so. Maybe I'm mixing too late, because when my 2 tracks are playing its always during the part of the tracks where there is little more than just the beat left and perhaps some hi-hats and sometimes a melody (usually between 1:00 and 1:20 left). Something else I do wrong I think, but don't know how/why I should correct it is that I will almost 90% of the time start the new track on it's very first beat instead of later on in the song. Also, I hear people talking about when its time to mix out of that track and into the next, but when do you know when this is? Is it just that you feel that the live track has gone on a bit too long? |
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| Omega_Blue |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ HARN
Thanks for the answers guys. Yeh I mostly spin trance, not quite sure sometimes what genres they are, it's basically just 'music that I think is good'. I have hunderds of tracks but here are a few examples:
Thrillseekers
Rank1
Ronski Speed
DJ Tatana
Svenson & Gielen
Tiesto
Armin Van Buuren
Oceanlab
Above & Beyond
M.I.K.E. (plus his other million aliases)
What I was really getting at in the initial question was that surely mixing is more than just blending 2 tracks together over a minute or so. Maybe I'm mixing too late, because when my 2 tracks are playing its always during the part of the tracks where there is little more than just the beat left and perhaps some hi-hats and sometimes a melody (usually between 1:00 and 1:20 left). Something else I do wrong I think, but don't know how/why I should correct it is that I will almost 90% of the time start the new track on it's very first beat instead of later on in the song. Also, I hear people talking about when its time to mix out of that track and into the next, but when do you know when this is? Is it just that you feel that the live track has gone on a bit too long? |
read the faq about phrasematching that should be stickied at the top of the page.
try mixing up your mixing. mix out of breakdowns, into breakdowns, mix harmonically, fade in and out incoming tracks, sample the hi-hats from a third deck while mixing two other tracks, mashup two tracks in the same key, double up two copies of the same track and swap between the two, etc etc. listen to livesets and check out what the pros are doing. experiment. |
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| theognis1002 |
| How do you know if your pitch is off or u just need to beatmatch? i just got myequipment today and its really hard. I dont know if i need to adjust the pitch or just beatmatch... any help? |
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| Zoso |
| quote: | Originally posted by theognis1002
How do you know if your pitch is off or u just need to beatmatch? i just got myequipment today and its really hard. I dont know if i need to adjust the pitch or just beatmatch... any help? |
This site: http://www.recess.co.uk/html/mixbasics.html will give you a good read on the basics of learning to mix. I've been mixing for just over a year now, and I can sympathize with you - the first few weeks are terribly frustrating. Eventually, though, you'll be pulling off basic mixes, and this success will give you the drive to learn even more. Hang in there. It will come in time. |
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| DJRecess |
Hey,
Thanks for the link to the site Zoso! And theogonis, I'm wondering what you mean by 'the pitch is off, or you just need to beatmatch'. Pitch is a musical thing - beatmatching uses the pitch control to alter the speed of a track (and therefore its pitch) to match the beats of two tunes playing together. The pitch of two tunes can be completely different, yet the beats can be matched perfectly - and the pitch can be exactly the same on both tunes, but one plays at 140bpm, and the other at 130bpm, meaning that when they ARE beatmatched, the pitch will then be completely different.
Keep/get in touch if you need more on this.
John |
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| theognis1002 |
| How do you know if you need to move the pitch up or down or you need to use the jog wheel to align the beats? That's what i dont get |
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