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Can DJs take anything besides 8 bar phrase length?
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| Beatflux |
I'm trying to mix things up with how I write songs, and one of the ideas I had was to use an odd phrase length. I decided on 6 bars for this song I'm working on, with a 8 bar phrasing for the intro and outro to make it easier for DJs to mix in and out of. Plus, it makes for a nice distinction when the track switches to 6 bars.
I'm not expecting this song to be amazing or anything, but I was just wondering what DJs thought in general about this kind of thing. |
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| Teezdalien |
| you can't do that.. who the do you think you are? :p |
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| Fledz |
| Of course, though it does help to make the intro and outro standard. I mean a DJ should know his tracks well enough anyway but you might alienate some if they find it difficult to mix in/out. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| i think most djs would be able to parse 16 bars, 32 bars, but 6 , well lets face it half won't care but those that do will just have to give the track a test run. If the track is worth playing, i don't think something like that will stop anyone. But ask yourself if that metric scheme adds anything and is it worth the risk of alienating djs because their mixes don't line up, they don't know why and just end up not playing. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
cool track
You can do it and just sort of overlay it on top of a 32 bar scheme. So you still get that neat offset and still be dj friendly. I found it had this cool sort of weirdness that nobody would notice as most aren't counting bars and the composer isn't being obvious on the phrase start and beginnings.
And since it won't line up unless it is 64 bars, the breakdown will really be unexoected. But you will have a gang of fist pumping douche bags all confused. But that is a reason in itself. I love it when like that guy with no shirt is like clapping and is so ing sure of the drop and just misses it and like does this crazy jump and ..... oh not there yet. Oh and he is of course clapping on 1 and 3. I like it when djs have elements that are say on the off beat but there is no reference and because people don't really have that sort of hearing to know that it isnn't on the beat and like one guy starts clapping , then like everyone starts clapping add whistles and then ..... lol
I once had to mix in a beat so that the people clapping would at least clap on the quarter note. I should of stopped it. if you are going to clap, only on 2 and 4, you have to be wearing a shirt, and whistles are only aloud like the last 2 bars leading up to the main drop. Alright, lets have fun gang, |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| It's an interesting idea, but you will have to make the intro/outro extremely DJ-friendly because the bulk of the track cannot be phrase-matched with 99.9% of other dance music and so the options to the DJ are very, very limited. |
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| Vector A |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
And since it won't line up unless it is 64 bars, the breakdown will really be unexoected. But you will have a gang of fist pumping douche bags all confused. But that is a reason in itself. I love it when like that guy with no shirt is like clapping and is so ing sure of the drop and just misses it and like does this crazy jump and ..... oh not there yet. |
:stongue: |
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
But ask yourself if that metric scheme adds anything and is it worth the risk of alienating djs because their mixes don't line up, they don't know why and just end up not playing. |
I think it does, especially when a listener has already experienced 4 8 bar phrases. When the phrase ends it adds a bit of urgency. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
that track posted definitely added and it is very subtle. Most djs won't notice. Just don't have obvious markers wth crashes and i think most djs will just roll with it because most get their phrasing from those obvious markers like a crash or a new element. The breakdown, I would make it 24. So it is somewhat compatible. But like everything else, i think you could do it and make a cool track that won't confuse djs too much. It also depends on the type of dj. This style of music is usually mixed with less obvious cuts where as certain styles , the dj wants you to know when a new song is starting so those 8 bar phrases are important to them.
I think the trick is just being very subtle. It sounds , man i honestly cant' think of a word other than trippy which i just won't use. Um it trippy. People will feel a little disassociated but not know why. But it won't work if like you have a crash every 6 bars, new elements every 6 bars. the fact that it is subtle is what makes it work. |
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| MSZ |
hmm i suppose you would be restricting the dj to only mixing outro and intros, there are a lot of people that dont wait till then, mix in sooner, find correct points etc.
can djs take it? ofcourse, beatflux if you dont dj i think you should not only is it fun, but you'll get a better understanding of making your tracks to be better structurally and youll figure things out for your productions im sure. |
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| Vector A |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
I think the trick is just being very subtle. It sounds , man i honestly cant' think of a word other than trippy which i just won't use. Um it trippy. People will feel a little disassociated but not know why. But it won't work if like you have a crash every 6 bars, new elements every 6 bars. the fact that it is subtle is what makes it work. |
Yeah, found that track in 2006 and always felt there was something odd about it but didn't know why. Then one day I paid more attention to the phrasing and thought, "Ohhh!"
And if you had a crash every six bars it would not only be obvious to everybody but also may sound quite silly against a track with crashes every eight bars.
:p |
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