seamless mixing of non-EDM type of music

[illstep]

okay now we all know for digital djs it's extremly easy to transition electronic dance music because one genre is usually at the same speed and the song structures are very simple and easy to overlook.

what i (and most djs i heard) totally suck at is mixing non-EDM type of music like rock, reggae or hiphop as soon as the bpm-rates differ more than a few bpm. i cannot ride the pitch fader and can't even beatmatch since i really started out with virtual dj and then traktor pro and never really used an analog mixer.

what is even tougher then that are good transitions between two genres of totally different speed. i know its somewhat easy to mix hiphop with dnb for example (2x the speed), but how do you achive a good transition between a 90bpm reggae tune to some 135bpm breakbeat-ragga tune?

i read alot of good advices in the "how to transition rock songs" track, but it's really not that easy to learn by just reading. so what i would like from you guys is either a link to one of your mixes with descriptions on how you achived the transitions (as detailed as possible) or a video of traktor and/or your controller while youre mixing.

also i would be thankful for any good advice you can give me. examples welcome!

[de_stilj]

2 good tricks
Harmonic mixing: Work really well with different style since the key are not clashing.
Cut up style mixing: You need to find the right spot in the song where there is no lyrics. Like a breakedown or whatever and you cut into the beginning of something more intense this make the transition seemless if mixed on the proper spot. It's hard to explain but with practice this make alot of sense.

[Krilikz]

Dont trying to learn how to mix by reading....

Listen to Mixs, and practice.

[Rumblejazz]

if its that hard there should be a better tune to mix to? i also find tunes just come to you as you are reminded of it by the previous track, your brain is suprisingly good at associating bpms keys and grooves i reckon, obviously sometimes you need to go into something different. just a thought

[djhipnotikk]

i think it's generally a bad idea to jump that far in one transition. try throwing some tracks in between that build up to the desired tempo. if it's a one time jump, you could try the trick of looping, bumping the tempo up slowly while cutting the loop shorter for a nice build of energy and then drop the second track in.

[wrong chris]

i agree with krilikz.

listen to mixes and practice, its the only way to learn properly. get into some good eclectic djs, I recommend checking out solidsteel radio. Check out cats like Strictly Kev+DK, Z-Trip, Coldcut, DJ P etc....