Techno/minimal looping style of djing a la Richie Hawtin et al

[TiagoAndrade]

u got me wrong when i said "learned everything by copying what other djs made in their sets, and then recreate it at home". I see what they do, recreate it with the same songs, and then do the same technique with songs / loops that i like and i think fits nice. thanks anyway

[wevchild]

I have found that it is easy to fall in to the trap of trying to 'show off' that you have 3-4 decks playing together or maschine playing a clap etc as things start creeping on top of the overall mix. Main thing is to be subtle.

[photojojo]

Prepping is key here, having the loops ready to go and not fidgeting to much with what already sounds good. If you buy ten tracks and then try and play a set without the loops already set in the tracks it will mostly sound like a jumbled mess and not have any cohesion.

Prep your tracks when you buy them and then lock them so that you can tell a track is ready at a glance. Doing it this way ensures that there is some consistency in what you're doing. One way to create this cohesion is to pick a few tracks or a set of four or five loops and play those during the whole set. I think this is mostly what the third deck and Maschine is for the guys you mention. I've never really analyzed the videos to try and figure this out though.

Some other thoughts:

Don't be afraid to do basic A-B mixing with you're loops adding spice to that.
Duplicate A or B into your third deck and play some loops out of it for four or five songs, rinse and repeat.
Don't overdo it. Pick loops that might not be full on by themselves, but will compliment what you're doing on the other decks.
I use mostly just percussive loops or sounds because easier to keep that going for a longer period of time than full on melodies.

[The Pancaker]

Some great tips here so far! A lot of them quite eye opening in different aspects and really give me a place to start off. Thanks a lot to everyone contributing in this thread!

Cheers!

[MYE]

This is my techno set which is inspired by hawtin, liebing and all those guys. I used a lot of loops and i used the maschine a lot which really helps to fill in parts that are missing in a track or mix. Also im 99.99% sure that hawtin mixes in key that's what i did in this mix it helps so much everything just fits together when your mixing in key.

[AllDay]

This is my techno set which is inspired by hawtin, liebing and all those guys. I used a lot of loops and i used the maschine a lot which really helps to fill in parts that are missing in a track or mix. Also im 99.99% sure that hawtin mixes in key that's what i did in this mix it helps so much everything just fits together when your mixing in key.

Good mix, alll I can say is you need more variety, the kick and clap sound the same from 1 min to 15 mins.


Everything else was done really well! way better then I could do.

[lifeloop]

giving it a listen

[VirtualLogic]

I am sorry, maybe i am maybe just a lazy, half assed dj but i play mostly with sync and shit and i only do prep when my beatgrids are really off. I do not go and prep loops and cues. I might have the odd cue set here and there, but nothing major.
I play alot of techno and tech house, and one of the most important things i think is the eqs, u really need to carve your sound out and make alot of room, especially when u are playing 3-4 decks +maschine, i hear way to many techno sets which sound like audio on top of audio on top of audio, and tbh it sounds shit.
Keep in mind i do have loops in a remix deck triggered by a midifighter so thats prob why i dont set loops. I do all that on the fly to create build ups and breakdowns.
Sorry for the shit spelling snd stuff, this was at 3am on my phone

[LanceBlaise]

Recently I bought a kontrol f1 and i can't seem to find many videos of djs using it in their sets, any tips and videos on how to incorporate f1 in my sets?

Personally I think the F1 sucks and wish I still had my second X1. The use of the remix decks just isn't really there. You can't really cue up loops and stuff, I think the theoretical base idea was good, but thats about it. Its not really a great functional piece. I will most likely be selling mine to get something else... Right now I am just using it as a 3rd controller for controlling deck C as a regular deck, and it honestly sucks for that. I am using the maschine a lot more. Being as I am legally blind I was really hoping the F1 would have done a lot for me since it has a lot of pretty lights and all, but those remix decks really suck. Maschine is more functional for me not being able to see anything, I already know where my set sounds are and the step sequencing is just far superior to what the F1 and remix decks can accomplish for me.

[ThinkAboutIt]

Also im 99.99% sure that hawtin mixes in key

Are you sure? I was checking some of his sets and the tracks weren't arranged by it's keys, can't remember which though

Edit: This one for example:

http://www.1001tracklists.com/trackl...011-12-29.html

5A - 10B - 7A - 3A - 8A...

I took the keys from BP don't have the MIK