tone-def wrote:I said there are no BUSY musical sections in MOST tunes
meaning most tune (not all tunes) are percussion and bass. yeah there is a bit of melody and some chord stabs maybe even some pads and textures from time to time. then you just wait for the less busy sections before mixing.
the best parts to mix is during the melody or when there isn't even any beats! the best djs do this and do not necessarily wait for anything. they dictate when the mixes happen not when the track tells them to.
Also by never mixing during busy sections of a song you are completely closing yourself to the possibility of having 2 songs 'talk' to each other during the mix.
Mixing should be fluid and organic, don't think, just do. And practice, practice, practice. You think great DJ's just roll out of bed and strut to the club, throw down some tunes and go home? Most DJs I know spend at least a couple of hours a week running through new material, testing it with old, trying out some new things here and there, maybe something daring and bold, and then take all of that acquired knowledge and employ it in the booth.
And to everyone who says they don't plan anything for their set, I call your bluff. By the mere action of practicing and listening to your songs you have prepared something, by merely putting records in a box to bring to the club you've prepared something. The mere action of knowing the tunes in our box means you have prepared for the moment before you. So to everyone who says they don't plan their sets ever, I call total BS.
If you were just some person in the crowd and someone thrust a box of records upon you and said 'make it happen', that's unprepared. By the mere action of calling ourselves DJ's and listening to music and pondering the possibilities we have prepared ourselves, so don't pat yourself on the back and say 'I do this off the top of my head', because you don't. None of us do.
mixing in key is great... as long as you dont limit yourself to ONLY picking tunes because they are in key... like many trance djs do..
i have a number of tracks which fit perfectly but yet are totally out of key..
sure, i used my ear for years, and most of the time got it right.. but when you get that perfect key change mix, and the entire crowd starts to cheer while your in the mix before youve even dropped the next track, because of all the harmonics... then you know its worthwhile...
DirkD wrote:
If you were just some person in the crowd and someone thrust a box of records upon you and said 'make it happen', that's unprepared. By the mere action of calling ourselves DJ's and listening to music and pondering the possibilities we have prepared ourselves, so don't pat yourself on the back and say 'I do this off the top of my head', because you don't. None of us do.
though i agree with you, two of my dj buddies often will buy and burn a track a couple hours before a gig and the first time they hear it completely is when they are playing it out...obviously they are mixing other tracks they know by heart but these new ones are mixed without knowing how they go...once you learn the structure of tracks i don't think its that hard to do
b-ran wrote:.once you learn the structure of tracks i don't think its that hard to do
perhaps... but when that synth comes in too early and collides with the other! the mix is over, send the dj home.
filters and eq's are your friends! using them properly will avoid these collisions. if you've heard them spin before you wouldn't have made that remark
b-ran wrote:filters and eq's are your friends! using them properly will avoid these collisions. if you've heard them spin before you wouldn't have made that remark
oh i'm sure they sound good... and i do the same thing... purchase a whole gang of tracks before going out and playing. And my best sets have come that way... but same goes for my worst and I want to send myself home
I just know that I'm more consistant when i've got some good experience with the records in my bag.
the best djs do this and do not necessarily wait for anything. they dictate when the mixes happen not when the track tells them to.
