Dj's United > Mixing it up

Dj's United > STARTING OUT > Getting Started

thePlinth

Oct 27 2003, 08:26 AM

Hi there,

The other night (quite late) I was listening to the radio in my car. They have late on a Friday night, what you might call a club mix. Ummm, a never-ending mix of a beat, mixed in with bits of well known songs. Like a club DJ I think you might call it. I hope you know what I mean… anyway, the fact of the matter is, I really quite enjoyed it! I wanted to know a little more about it.

Is this what DJ’s in clubs do? (As opposed to my skill full dual CD changing

)!

Is this typically a turntable only practice?
Or can I do it using CD decks?
How about using a computer for the ‘beat’ generation?

Does anyone here do it?

What do I need to get into it?

I guess it takes quite a bit of practice!?

I don’t know much about this (as seen above!!) But I really had a feel for the music and would like to give it a shot!

Where is this music typically played? Obviously a common disco wouldn’t appreciate it as much.

Cheers

Gary

Oct 27 2003, 09:25 AM

Hmmm tricky to define it exactly...non-stop music, with no mic work for hours on end is certainly "cluby".

Within "club" music however there are various (sub)genres, or styles of music, such as Trance (echoy trumptets in a warehouse sort of sound), House (all sorts of sub-genres of House too), and many more.

I was listening to Radio one this morning (all through the night) and whatever they were playing between 3 and 4am was best described as a 3 legged donkey running whilst wearing tin cans on two of its feet

. Some of the tunes had a quite average first 20 seconds, which then repeated that over and over and over again.

Certainly no sort of mix is "only" achievable with record decks, in fact, quite the reverse, CD-decks will do everything a record deck can, and a lot, lot more besides.

johnnyb

Oct 27 2003, 05:15 PM

QUOTE

what you might call a club mix. Ummm, a never-ending mix of a beat, mixed in with bits of well known songs. Like a club DJ I think you might call it.

Basically what you are talking about is 'beatmixing'. It is normally associated with club djs but i have always thought that it is a really useful skill to have. I can beatmix and i find that even if i am not doing it, it makes my normal 'fade mixing' (or whatever you want to call it) better.

All you need to start is either a couple of turntables or cd players (or a twin cd player) and a mixer. Try and find two similar dance tunes that you have extended mixes of (normally 5-7 mins long each, and with just beats at the start and end). Get one of them playing, and in your headphones start playing the other on the beat. Use the pitch bend buttons and the overall pitch slider to try and get the two tracks running together in time (if it goes wrong, stop the second track and try again). When you are happy that they are in time, slowly increase the volume on the second track so they are both playing together. Then slowly reduce the volume of the first so you are left with just the second one playing.

There is no quick and easy way to learn to beatmix, it just takes lots of practise and persistance.

C.S

Oct 27 2003, 05:28 PM

A lot of us mix,i do when doing club work and with most kinds of music, i dont mix as much when doing mobile work and tend to use the mic more.In the starting out part of the forum Shaun hadwritten a good thread on how to do this,Check it out

Dj SBD

Oct 27 2003, 07:43 PM

QUOTE

Is this what DJ’s in clubs do? (As opposed to my skill full dual CD changing )!

Yes

QUOTE

Is this typically a turntable only practice?
Or can I do it using CD decks?

You can mix on either cd or vinyl, as long as the players have a pitch/tempo control, search and a cue.

QUOTE

Does anyone here do it?

Yes I mix, and so do many members on this forum.

QUOTE

What do I need to get into it?

Nothing major, just cd decks or turntables (with above), and lots of practice. Also see the post on how to mix, in the "mix and scrach" section of the forum.

QUOTE

I guess it takes quite a bit of practice!?

Some people take ages and some people could mix two tunes together in a couple of days, but to perfect the skill does take a lot of practice and alot of time and dedication.

QUOTE

I don’t know much about this (as seen above!!) But I really had a feel for the music and would like to give it a shot!

You can mix any type of music, most mixing involves, dance, garage, D+B, in clubs. But you could add party mixing for your mobile show (their is a topic on mixing part tunes somewhere

QUOTE

Where is this music typically played? Obviously a common disco wouldn’t appreciate it as much.

Mostly beatmixing is in clubs, but I do some in my mobile disco with party tunes. But also the younger parties (15-25) for mixing the clubbier stuff.

Dj_Kray

Oct 27 2003, 07:51 PM

QUOTE

Is it me, or, is Kray's spelling getting better?

no its just ive started using dragon natural speak to type for me some of the time so i just say the words but i am working on my spelling but

to you.

Dj SBD

Oct 27 2003, 08:03 PM

QUOTE (Dj_Kray @ Oct 27 2003, 08:51 PM)

QUOTE

Is it me, or, is Kray's spelling getting better?

no its just ive started using dragon natural speak to type for me some of the time so i just say the words but i am working on my spelling but

to you.

talk about being lazy!!!

think I'll look for that

Dj_Kray

Oct 27 2003, 08:05 PM

QUOTE (Dj SBD @ Oct 27 2003, 09:03 PM)

QUOTE (Dj_Kray @ Oct 27 2003, 08:51 PM)

QUOTE

Is it me, or, is Kray's spelling getting better?

no its just ive started using dragon natural speak to type for me some of the time so i just say the words but i am working on my spelling but

to you.

talk about being lazy!!!

think I'll look for that

yep lazy but it is good

Eskie

Oct 27 2003, 10:45 PM

QUOTE

QUOTE

QUOTE

Is this typically a turntable only practice?
Or can I do it using CD decks?

You can mix on either cd or vinyl, as long as the players have a pitch/tempo control, search and a cue.

You can also mix using mp3's. It's exactly the same theory as mixing CD's or vinyl, and many mp3 systems will use a controller identical to a DJ CD player.

thePlinth

Oct 28 2003, 01:13 AM

Ok, so you call it beatmixing, and its basicially just mixing two songs together that have similar beats, thus giving the impression of continuous track.

For some reason the thought I had in my mind was quite different. I thought it would be more "created on the fly". Using a device to create the beats, then mixing in parts of other songs, in loops etc. Rather than just crossfading between already 'arranged' pieces. Is this soemthing different?

Cheers

Gary

Oct 28 2003, 01:35 AM

Well, depending on how creative/original you want to be, you could use a Drum Machine, to set up drum patterns of your choosing, and mix tunes over the top of your pre-programmed (or live) drumming.

I've used a Yamaha RX7 drum machine for many years on the show, mainly at 18ths/21sts were alot of tunes with wishy washy beatless breakdowns are featured.

Using the drum machine to keep the beat going.

As I dont do many 18th birthdays anymore, I dont tend to use the RX7 much now, but it was a lot of fun. Especially setting up a drum loop at the same tempo as the current song, and then adding and removing drum beats to/from that pattern.

At a much simpler level, you can get a looping sampler device, called Cycloops, which records in a short sample of a tune and plays it back in a loop. However, the sound quality is not very good, so can only effectively be played over the top of a running track, rather than as the only source playing at any one time.

thePlinth

Oct 28 2003, 01:49 AM

You never know...
I could be the next fatboy slim in the making

C.S

Oct 28 2003, 08:22 AM

QUOTE

I could be the next fatboy slim in the making

You mean they are going to mass produce Fat Boy Slim?

Look Shaun i managed a quote !this is because a nice member of the forum sent me a pm telling me how to do it before the weekend.Watch out for the foot and mouth!

paula

Oct 28 2003, 08:27 AM

QUOTE

I've used a Yamaha RX7 drum machine for many years on the show,

I had a mazda RX7

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