andrew716
so I have been practicing for about 3 months now with virtual dj. i just recently got a numark mixtrack pro controller and i use vdj le that comes with it..
i am looking for some pointers on breaks, builds, and transitions. I've looked around all over for helpful info on this but it all seems more focused on what to do in front of a crowd rather than how to actually make a decent mix.
i really appreciate any help i can get, thanks.
i am looking for some pointers on breaks, builds, and transitions. I've looked around all over for helpful info on this but it all seems more focused on what to do in front of a crowd rather than how to actually make a decent mix.
i really appreciate any help i can get, thanks.
发表时间 Thu 03 Feb 11 @ 12:58 am
Seana23
Hey hey babes...
Well... the best advice from me is to leave the cross fader alone and use the Equalisers (Hi- Mids-Lows) to mix with as they give a much smoother mix... also, using effects like Flanger or Wahwah to give you the cue to bring in the next tune (press the effect and as it ends, bring in the new tune) this sort ov creates the perfect time for bringing in the new tune...
But the best ting is... (you know what im gona say) Practice, practice practice... and record EVERY mix and listen to it back as you\'ll hear what went right, and what went wrong...
But as i said, smooth transitions are best achieved by blending the mids then swapping from one Bass to the other...
Give it a go and post it up here or on Soundcloud for us to listen to it and give feedback..
hope that helps some.
Seana
XXX
i put my (well blended) mixes up on Soundcloud under the name DJ Genedefekt (CrySis) check it out and get back to me...
XXX
Well... the best advice from me is to leave the cross fader alone and use the Equalisers (Hi- Mids-Lows) to mix with as they give a much smoother mix... also, using effects like Flanger or Wahwah to give you the cue to bring in the next tune (press the effect and as it ends, bring in the new tune) this sort ov creates the perfect time for bringing in the new tune...
But the best ting is... (you know what im gona say) Practice, practice practice... and record EVERY mix and listen to it back as you\'ll hear what went right, and what went wrong...
But as i said, smooth transitions are best achieved by blending the mids then swapping from one Bass to the other...
Give it a go and post it up here or on Soundcloud for us to listen to it and give feedback..
hope that helps some.
Seana
XXX
i put my (well blended) mixes up on Soundcloud under the name DJ Genedefekt (CrySis) check it out and get back to me...
XXX
发表时间 Fri 04 Feb 11 @ 4:08 pm
Blulite
seana can only blend so well because shes a girl and is used to making cakes. lol
JK
i would have to agree with seana on the undermixing (using EQ to blend) as opposed to the fader. with a fader you sometimes end up with with a mismatched high hat or melody or beat level.
with "undermixing" you can balance the equalisation of each channel of the EQ sepertley to give you a better blend.
i would have to say though with the fx mixing what seana is describing sounds to me like "dropping" if you play and effect then start another track at the end of the effect then this is a "drop" not actually an "fx transition". it is a form of fx transitioning but as there are a lot of various techniques then i think i should explain a little more.
an "fx transition" tends to be used more mid bar/track than at the beginning or end.
for example you hit an effect at the first beat and it lasts 6 beats (1 and a half bars), you would either fade or volume mix the next "already playing track" into the transition. if you use fading then the "fx transition" wont require you to pull the other track.
if you use volume, then you will have to increase the volume of the track your bring in, whilst simultaniously reducing the volume of the first track yout taking out. the transition would have to be completed by the time the effect finished to give you the smoothness of transition you need.
this method can be used not ony to mix from one track to the other but it is actually quite a good way to "remix" on the fly as you can transition between the 2 tracks at regular intevals to give a sence of "chopping".
im not trying to out do you here by the way seana my darling, just extend on your wisdom.
ohh bacon buttie?????????? mmmmmmmmmm food!
anyway, where was i?????? erm oh choppi,,,,no fx mixing lol
lemme re read. do di do, do di do..... oh yeah
when you use this fx transition to effectivley "chop" the tracks you can easily create an even better set of transitions by "looping" too. if you "loop and chop, chop and loop" (whatever) (and this is only a tiny part of it) you can set a loop, "fx transition" into the second track, "loop" the next few bars and "fx chop (loop out)" back to first track so you can remix the tracks and put them together as one. once the track is transitioned back over you can cue up your loop ready for it to be repeated back into the first track when necessary.. so you may play 4 bars of the first track, loop in, transition, loop out. transition back and play a few more bars from the first track before thinking "know what? that would sound great if i dropped the same section of track 2 in here.
so you could repeat it and then maybe end the loop so track 2 plays a few bars while you cue up another track or maybe even, cue point or loop the first track again to play from a certain point ready for another transition.
theres so much you can possibly learn and you honestly will never stop learning. lets list 5 techniques
harmonic mixing
melodic mixing
fx transitions
scratch
sampling
now some might see there, a list of 5 techniques, but i see a lot more due to the fact you can use more than one technique at a time
how does a
harmonic, fx transition while sampling a scratch
sound to you????? because believe me, its possible. you can take your techniques, jumble em up, work them out, put them together and even re create them to improve your performance as a dj.
you want to learn to mix???? my suggestion is google dj techniques, turntableism, dj theory and anything else you think might give you that extra bit of knowlege.
then read! read! read! read! read!
then practice! practice! practice!
record and play back your sets, vids, practices etc.. and work out where you go wrong. then practice some more. then get some food, practice some more. toss and turn half the night with your head full of new knowlege. wake up the next day and do it all over again.
basically you need to be researching and practicing every spare waking moment you have to truly learn the abilities you wish to posess.
anyway that bacon wont cook itself.
peace!
JK
i would have to agree with seana on the undermixing (using EQ to blend) as opposed to the fader. with a fader you sometimes end up with with a mismatched high hat or melody or beat level.
with "undermixing" you can balance the equalisation of each channel of the EQ sepertley to give you a better blend.
i would have to say though with the fx mixing what seana is describing sounds to me like "dropping" if you play and effect then start another track at the end of the effect then this is a "drop" not actually an "fx transition". it is a form of fx transitioning but as there are a lot of various techniques then i think i should explain a little more.
an "fx transition" tends to be used more mid bar/track than at the beginning or end.
for example you hit an effect at the first beat and it lasts 6 beats (1 and a half bars), you would either fade or volume mix the next "already playing track" into the transition. if you use fading then the "fx transition" wont require you to pull the other track.
if you use volume, then you will have to increase the volume of the track your bring in, whilst simultaniously reducing the volume of the first track yout taking out. the transition would have to be completed by the time the effect finished to give you the smoothness of transition you need.
this method can be used not ony to mix from one track to the other but it is actually quite a good way to "remix" on the fly as you can transition between the 2 tracks at regular intevals to give a sence of "chopping".
im not trying to out do you here by the way seana my darling, just extend on your wisdom.
ohh bacon buttie?????????? mmmmmmmmmm food!
anyway, where was i?????? erm oh choppi,,,,no fx mixing lol
lemme re read. do di do, do di do..... oh yeah
when you use this fx transition to effectivley "chop" the tracks you can easily create an even better set of transitions by "looping" too. if you "loop and chop, chop and loop" (whatever) (and this is only a tiny part of it) you can set a loop, "fx transition" into the second track, "loop" the next few bars and "fx chop (loop out)" back to first track so you can remix the tracks and put them together as one. once the track is transitioned back over you can cue up your loop ready for it to be repeated back into the first track when necessary.. so you may play 4 bars of the first track, loop in, transition, loop out. transition back and play a few more bars from the first track before thinking "know what? that would sound great if i dropped the same section of track 2 in here.
so you could repeat it and then maybe end the loop so track 2 plays a few bars while you cue up another track or maybe even, cue point or loop the first track again to play from a certain point ready for another transition.
theres so much you can possibly learn and you honestly will never stop learning. lets list 5 techniques
harmonic mixing
melodic mixing
fx transitions
scratch
sampling
now some might see there, a list of 5 techniques, but i see a lot more due to the fact you can use more than one technique at a time
how does a
harmonic, fx transition while sampling a scratch
sound to you????? because believe me, its possible. you can take your techniques, jumble em up, work them out, put them together and even re create them to improve your performance as a dj.
you want to learn to mix???? my suggestion is google dj techniques, turntableism, dj theory and anything else you think might give you that extra bit of knowlege.
then read! read! read! read! read!
then practice! practice! practice!
record and play back your sets, vids, practices etc.. and work out where you go wrong. then practice some more. then get some food, practice some more. toss and turn half the night with your head full of new knowlege. wake up the next day and do it all over again.
basically you need to be researching and practicing every spare waking moment you have to truly learn the abilities you wish to posess.
anyway that bacon wont cook itself.
peace!
发表时间 Sun 06 Feb 11 @ 3:54 pm
Seana23
yeah..... what he said!!!
Seana
yeah, i was gona say that...
XXX
Seana
yeah, i was gona say that...
XXX
发表时间 Sun 06 Feb 11 @ 5:25 pm
andrew716
thanks a lot for you guys' advice believe it or not this is the first time i have found anything relatively useful on transitioning and the different ways to do that.
You guys have anything for breaks or builds?
and here is a link to a rough mix i did about a month ago (since i just got a new numark mixtrack pro and have been getting a hold on that)
some constructive criticism would be nice. thanks again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXgdJv0aUfA
how many decks do you guys usually use?
You guys have anything for breaks or builds?
and here is a link to a rough mix i did about a month ago (since i just got a new numark mixtrack pro and have been getting a hold on that)
some constructive criticism would be nice. thanks again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXgdJv0aUfA
how many decks do you guys usually use?
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 12:15 am
andrew716
thanks a lot for you guys' advice believe it or not this is the first time i have found anything relatively useful on transitioning and the different ways to do that.
You guys have anything for breaks or builds?
and here is a link to a rough mix i did about a month ago (since i just got a new numark mixtrack pro and have been getting a hold on that)
some constructive criticism would be nice. thanks again.
Actually here is my first mix done with the table. Hope you like it. http://soundcloud.com/user1241526/mix-02-08-11
how many decks do you guys usually use?
You guys have anything for breaks or builds?
and here is a link to a rough mix i did about a month ago (since i just got a new numark mixtrack pro and have been getting a hold on that)
some constructive criticism would be nice. thanks again.
Actually here is my first mix done with the table. Hope you like it. http://soundcloud.com/user1241526/mix-02-08-11
how many decks do you guys usually use?
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 2:45 am
andrew716
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 10:10 am
Blulite
i use 2 decks. theres not much point in me using 4 at the moment but i plan to start in maybe a few months. ive used 4 decks in the past 2cdj and 2 TT with a 4 channel mixer but even then i only seemed to use 2 at a time. or 3 on the odd occasion. but never rally found a use for all 4 except when people bring you a cd to mix into your vinyl.
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 1:23 pm
Blulite
breaks and builds personally i never really think of much. i try to keep the beat going through a break by implementing the next track for a few bars. as for builds you can use a good loop and some clever use of volume and eq to......................................oh shit food hold on
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 1:26 pm
Blulite
to build a track back up. it doesnt stop there though, you canuse a break to give you chance to regain composure, scratch or play a string of samples or even a personal drop.
eq killing works great for a build if you are relitivley familiar with a track. i sometimes use this example in my harmonic mixing,
when a break comes in on track one let it play for a couple of bars. then with track 2 volume set to max and all eq channels killed i would bring in a low volume basslineso the break gets a bit of pae going. i would then bring up the mid and high gradually so it integrates with the melody of track one (you need the key to be the same on both tracks). as the break from the first track plays further, the more you bring up the mid and high on track 2. you need to also simultaniously lower the eq on track one to get a good balance. if you have your timeing good enough you should be able to get your mid and high built up to full volume by the time the break on track one is finished.
now heres what i like to think is the important bit ((for me). as you get to the last few bars of the break and your track 2 is running at full volume or just below on the mid and high, what i do is this. crank the bass up on beat 1 and then 3. bring it back to a low setting imediatly. then crank it on beat 1, 2, 3 and 4. so you get a well placed kick. on the third bar i would drop in a beatgrid, double flip, or some other fastish drum beat. and end the last 2 beats with a flanger before cranking the bass up to its true volume and pulling track one completely just before the first beat of the next bar of track 2 hits.
its relitivley easy to create a build if you get clever with volume and eq. samples can come a little later.
another way would be to harmonically mix two breaks. the first would bring the breakdown and the second would contain the build into the next track. melodic harmonic mixing is great for transitioning in a break and build fashion.
if your wondering what melodic harmonic mixing is, well i would describe it like this.
melodic mixing is the technique used to mix the melody of 2 tracks together.
harmonic mixing is the technique used to mix songs of a compatible key tone..
so therefore melodic harmonic is the technique of mixing melodys of a compatible key range to accomplish a transition. there might be another name for this apart from melodic harmonic but if there is i dont know it. i am after all speaking from my mind how i do things.
if you want to implement a break when you feel ther needs to be one i find the best way out is again an fx. backspin, beatgrid ond even a flanger at the correct monent followed by a drop of a track 2 break down works really well. a decent drum effect is always a winner to transition into a break.
research and practice is all you need. the more research you do and the better knowlege you have of various techniques you have the easier you will find it to implement them into your mixes.
eq killing works great for a build if you are relitivley familiar with a track. i sometimes use this example in my harmonic mixing,
when a break comes in on track one let it play for a couple of bars. then with track 2 volume set to max and all eq channels killed i would bring in a low volume basslineso the break gets a bit of pae going. i would then bring up the mid and high gradually so it integrates with the melody of track one (you need the key to be the same on both tracks). as the break from the first track plays further, the more you bring up the mid and high on track 2. you need to also simultaniously lower the eq on track one to get a good balance. if you have your timeing good enough you should be able to get your mid and high built up to full volume by the time the break on track one is finished.
now heres what i like to think is the important bit ((for me). as you get to the last few bars of the break and your track 2 is running at full volume or just below on the mid and high, what i do is this. crank the bass up on beat 1 and then 3. bring it back to a low setting imediatly. then crank it on beat 1, 2, 3 and 4. so you get a well placed kick. on the third bar i would drop in a beatgrid, double flip, or some other fastish drum beat. and end the last 2 beats with a flanger before cranking the bass up to its true volume and pulling track one completely just before the first beat of the next bar of track 2 hits.
its relitivley easy to create a build if you get clever with volume and eq. samples can come a little later.
another way would be to harmonically mix two breaks. the first would bring the breakdown and the second would contain the build into the next track. melodic harmonic mixing is great for transitioning in a break and build fashion.
if your wondering what melodic harmonic mixing is, well i would describe it like this.
melodic mixing is the technique used to mix the melody of 2 tracks together.
harmonic mixing is the technique used to mix songs of a compatible key tone..
so therefore melodic harmonic is the technique of mixing melodys of a compatible key range to accomplish a transition. there might be another name for this apart from melodic harmonic but if there is i dont know it. i am after all speaking from my mind how i do things.
if you want to implement a break when you feel ther needs to be one i find the best way out is again an fx. backspin, beatgrid ond even a flanger at the correct monent followed by a drop of a track 2 break down works really well. a decent drum effect is always a winner to transition into a break.
research and practice is all you need. the more research you do and the better knowlege you have of various techniques you have the easier you will find it to implement them into your mixes.
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 3:09 pm
Blulite
in regards to your mix, the timing is slightly out and the track structure clashes in a couple of places but other than that not bad.
发表时间 Tue 08 Feb 11 @ 3:15 pm
andrew716
Thanks a lot for all of this it's really helpful.
I have done soo much research (or tried anyway..) but this is far more useful than anything i've found yet.
Thanks for the feedback on the mix, anything specific you want you point out? it took me about 3 hours to do that and reviewing it myself i realized a few things i could switch up to give it a better flow but compared to the one i linked before i would say definitely better. Do you have any mixes up I could check out?
and is there any sites you would recommend to look to for more advice on mixing?
I have done soo much research (or tried anyway..) but this is far more useful than anything i've found yet.
Thanks for the feedback on the mix, anything specific you want you point out? it took me about 3 hours to do that and reviewing it myself i realized a few things i could switch up to give it a better flow but compared to the one i linked before i would say definitely better. Do you have any mixes up I could check out?
and is there any sites you would recommend to look to for more advice on mixing?
发表时间 Wed 09 Feb 11 @ 1:25 am
Blulite
http://www.divshare.com/download/13949315-ae0
there is a couple of mistakes in that one somewhere along the lines of 43 - 50 mins. itll show that everyone makes mistakes at times.
there is a couple of mistakes in that one somewhere along the lines of 43 - 50 mins. itll show that everyone makes mistakes at times.
发表时间 Wed 09 Feb 11 @ 4:40 am