• From: Zurich
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,164

Topic: a question about mixing

I'm curious about something, when you are mixing, are you speeding up or down a song while is playing? I think is necessary to move your mix from general slow songs to general fast ones (for example), but I find it always a scary move, how would the crowd feel about it? well, how you do it you expert djs.

a. you don't beat match
b. you only do mixes that have a generally equal bpm
c. you beat match only some songs (same bpm) and some not.
d. you secretly speed up and slow down songs while they're playing hoping the crowd would not realize.
e. you do some magic and everything works flawless.

  • zora
  • robette f.t. ☆ ☆
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  • From: a vanished galaxy
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
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Re: a question about mixing

id prefer e), but im not a dj big_smile

.."this world`s a bubble"..

3 Reply by jonny five (edited by jonny five 2008-07-15 11:20:30)

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
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Re: a question about mixing

all of the above, depends on what is best for the two records you are mixing.

  • From: Zurich
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,164

Re: a question about mixing

zora wrote:

id prefer e), but im not a dj big_smile

I'm definitely a crappy one.

f) can you beat match the song which you are mixing out with the one you are getting in, in a sort of inverted mix?

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
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Re: a question about mixing

quite a popular disco mixing technique used by people like jim burgess was to speed or slow down the record playing and the one to be mixed in so they met in the middle.

6 Reply by Mr. Maximal (edited by Mr. Maximal 2008-07-15 11:36:50)

  • From: East of A.
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,628

Re: a question about mixing

C and d. Parts without melodies can be pitched up quite a lot without people noticing if you do it right. Stopping a record and the coming in with a new groove at a new tempo can work pretty good aswell. Especially if your doing a more eclectic mix.

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  • yoof
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Re: a question about mixing

I quite like using a beatless piece of music or a sample to act as the bridge between two records of differing speeds. It's good not to stick to the same technique all the time, so I also like the subtle speeding up of a bit which has beats but no melody (like Mr. Maximal mentioned).

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  • From: Zurich
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,164

Re: a question about mixing

jonny five wrote:

quite a popular disco mixing technique used by people like jim burgess was to speed or slow down the record playing and the one to be mixed in so they met in the middle.

but then it means you know perfectly the bpm of both songs... to beat match live I don't think is for me (not cueing in the headphones)... it can only be a great mess, not yet at least

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
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Re: a question about mixing

you don't have to know all the bpms of all the records - although knowing some might help when starting out, just practice a lot and you can do it by ear.

10 Reply by YAS

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  • From: Disco Panonia
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Re: a question about mixing

most complicated robot wrote:

d. you secretly speed up and slow down songs while they're playing hoping the crowd would not realize.

i don't think there is a problem with a gradual speeding up or slowing down tunes while playing them. this is quite a normal thing to do in a set...particularly if doing eclectic sets.

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  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 440

Re: a question about mixing

yeah, it's normal, just have to know when in a song you can do it, eg. altering the pitch in the middle of a melody or vocal can sound a bit bad.

12 Reply by Starborough

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Re: a question about mixing

jonny five wrote:

yeah, it's normal, just have to know when in a song you can do it, eg. altering the pitch in the middle of a melody or vocal can sound a bit bad.

http://www.skratchworx.com/images/Pioneer/cdj400/cdj400_pitch2.jpg

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  • r2dj
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Re: a question about mixing

most complicated robot wrote:

d. you secretly speed up and slow down songs while they're playing hoping the crowd would not realize.

I try to do it in increments, at the end of each eight bar section

  • From: Zurich
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,164

Re: a question about mixing

jonny five wrote:

yeah, it's normal, just have to know when in a song you can do it, eg. altering the pitch in the middle of a melody or vocal can sound a bit bad.

italo is all about vocal and melodies smile

you know, I asked cos I was amazed at one echelot mix, I don't remember which one, but it changes the speed greatly in the process and i haven't realized it at first. It was very well done.

  • From: melbourne
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
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Re: a question about mixing

yoof wrote:

I quite like using a beatless piece of music or a sample to act as the bridge between two records of differing speeds. It's good not to stick to the same technique all the time, so I also like the subtle speeding up of a bit which has beats but no melody (like Mr. Maximal mentioned).

Definitely good advice.. or to use a track which has a long ambient intro, then when the beat kicks in, it's a different thing altogether and keeps the audience on their toes a little bit (or wakes them up).
Subtle speeding is good too.

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  • Registered: 2008-07-08
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Re: a question about mixing

fucking hotmix.. duh

  • From: +3170
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 1,220

Re: a question about mixing

speeding up or down can also be done just before a tonal bridge in a song

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18 Reply by Echolot (edited by Echolot 2008-07-15 15:37:07)

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
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Re: a question about mixing

most complicated robot wrote:
jonny five wrote:

yeah, it's normal, just have to know when in a song you can do it, eg. altering the pitch in the middle of a melody or vocal can sound a bit bad.

italo is all about vocal and melodies smile

you know, I asked cos I was amazed at one echelot mix, I don't remember which one, but it changes the speed greatly in the process and i haven't realized it at first. It was very well done.

hey thanks.. it was the "give me a lot of music mix" i guess! i speeded it up quite a bit in the first half to get to "average" tempo from the incantations track... cool you say you didn't realize because sometimes when i listen to it it really bugs me.. espiacally during the beginning of "under the ice" it can be heard imo..

but to stay on topic.. i mostly try to gradually alter the speed over a few tracks to get to another "tempo range". if the track has breaks, even just a small piece of silence before a new pattern comes you can just pull the pitch thingy a bit in that moment.. or during no melody/vox parts as others said. but thera are a lot of diffrent methods .. depends on the tracks and the situation wich one suits best i guess

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19 Reply by Echolot (edited by Echolot 2008-07-15 15:41:22)

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 387

Re: a question about mixing

if two records you want to mix just don't fit together tempo wise, and can't be matched in the 8% range, you sometimes have to put your fingers in the middle of the table and spin manualy on the desired speed.. (but with motor on of course) but that can be quite tricky.. i regularly mess up when doing this big_smile

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  • From: Zurich
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,164

Re: a question about mixing

first sorry I spelt your name wrong...
second after listening to it ten times, and knowing it!, I can hear it
third you did it, and as I think is for me I hear all my mistakes that others might not hear so promptly
four is a super mix.

I tried once to slow it down manually, more than minus 8, it was orrible...

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 387

Re: a question about mixing

first sorry I spelt your name wrong...
-no problem smile
..
third you did it, and as I think is for me I hear all my mistakes that others might not hear so promptly
-yeah i also always tend to dislike stuff i made seeing (or hearing) all diffrent mistakes in it.. that others don't see or care about. but thats ok i guess because if you're overall happy with your doing there won't be any more progress.. because you don't feel you need to get better (maybe..)
four is a super mix.
-thanks for the nice words!

I tried once to slow it down manually, more than minus 8, it was orrible...
-yes with speeding up it's more easy, but keeping it below -8% .. pfff.. horrible

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  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 440

Re: a question about mixing

to be honest, if you have two records that don't fit together in a +/-8% range (if you are using technics) you should maybe think about mixing the records a different way.

or get the screwdriver out and set them to +/-16%.

  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 387

Re: a question about mixing

i know.. i just do this at home.. if i'm too lazy to use head phones and just want to mix something in
i have the numark ttx's they can do more than 8 anyway. but i rarely use it

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  • From: High above the City
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 232

Re: a question about mixing

How to do DJ? Beatmatch? Have a good set?

Practice Practice Practice

A good DJ should have an arsenal of mixing tactics.

I agreed with many of the forums suggestions but nothing is more important that practicing to find ones own style.

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  • From: Kiel - Northern Germany
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 290

Re: a question about mixing

generally: a good cut is better than a bad mix and a good cross fader is actually a fukin great thing.
nearly noone will notice if tempo changes are made rhythmically, in the right moment with not too much change at once and a comparable amount of each change.
never underestimate the start/stop key nor the on/off wheel, derrick may used to switch off one record while another was playing without reducing the bass eq of that running out record. sounded unusual but noone got hurt.
ron hardy forgot removing some dust and we all know what happened but people thought he wanted it like that. EVERYTHING can be done in a way that sounds cool.
it's all about being into that fukin groove, listen to your copy of suburban knight 'the groove' - that's what i mean...:)

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