Question from a Newb on Mixing technique...

[William Gibson]

Hello DJTTF,

Quick introduction.

I started Producing about 4 months ago. I got bit by the bug hard and have been reading and watching videos night and day. Soon after I realized that you could actually DJ through ableton as well so I got an APC40 around the holidays. That being said, I am very new to all things producing and DJing...

Now that that has been said, here is my question. I have been reading as much as I can about the ways you can mix from one song to the other. 99% of the tutorials on mixing all focused on finding 2 songs that you can match the BPM on, finding the right spot in the song and then just working the crossfader. Easy enough it seemed. Then I was actually watching an Ill.Gates youtube video on his APC40 template and he quickly mentions how DJs mix and how they cut either the highs and lows out of one song, the opposite from the other song that will soon be fading in and then once the new song is in and the old one is out the EQs are all back up creating a "bandpass". What is this technique called because I cant find any other mention of it online?

Thanks for any help!

[Sambo]

The technique has no name, it's just EQing. Basically track A is playing, and you start track B and you get the beat matched, then you fade the volume in. You don't have to take the bass out for some songs, but the majority, it causes the kick drum to double up and this causes distortion or wobbly beats, since not all kicks peak on the beat, and correcting it can cause your hi-hats and snare to fall out of time.

[soundinmotiondj]

I use the filter to remove the mid/highs from one track (playing the bass only), and to remove the lows from another (playing the mid/highs only)...and then blend them together. I will often set a loop on the track with the bass....that makes the final product sound cleaner. The loop might be 4 or 8 beats...or if the grid is stable, I might go as long as 32 beats.

I refer to the technique as "swapping basslines"...but that's something I made up to describe the technique to people who ask. I have no idea if there is another or more descriptive name for the technique.

[DJKyleHughes]

eh, EQ swaps? Bass swaps? I just call it EQing

[William Gibson]

Awsome, thanks for all the input guys. Im just having a hard time with understanding how you do 3 things with only 2 hands. High pass on one track, low pass on the other track and crossfading between the 2 tracks all at once? What am I missing?

[dripstep]

The track coming in should have the bass down, the track playing has it up. As you bring in track B, everything should mesh well if you have beatmatched properly. At a good time, kill the bass on track A, and bring up track B bass. That's it!
I call it EQing or swapping basslines as well. Check out DJ angelo, or Ellaskins on youtube, I faintly remember a video about EQing.

[squidot]

Awsome, thanks for all the input guys. Im just having a hard time with understanding how you do 3 things with only 2 hands. High pass on one track, low pass on the other track and crossfading between the 2 tracks all at once? What am I missing?

try using the faders since they are closer to the eqs. you should be able to eq mulitple knobs at once, two decks at a time. bounce down to your faders as needed. you can also do quick micro adjustments moving from knob to knob. do what feels best for you and practice.

most people don't blend songs using the crossfader, but it works for some. i don't even use it when i do standard mixing.

[DJKyleHughes]

Awsome, thanks for all the input guys. Im just having a hard time with understanding how you do 3 things with only 2 hands. High pass on one track, low pass on the other track and crossfading between the 2 tracks all at once? What am I missing?

BASICALLY-

Start track a
start track b
Beat match the two tracks(If you use sync you worship the devil and everyone thinks you smell bad)
cut the bass in track b
lower the mids and highs in track b
slowly bring in track b with the channel fader
Now- increase mids on b, decrease mids on a. (do this for all of them)
fade out track A when all of your EQs are even

A good way to think of it is to imagine that the two tracks playing create a certain amount of space, when you decrease something on A, it allows you to increase something on B. and Vice Versa.

EDIT* Obviously it's not a standard black and white technique. It varies from track to track but that's the basis of it.

[William Gibson]

You guys rock. Thanks so much. Off to the lab to try this after I get the little ones to bed...

[soundinmotiondj]

eh, EQ swaps? Bass swaps? I just call it EQing

I am ever curious about how people think about their work flow.

When a 3 band EQ was the only tool I had available to me, I did use the "low" EQ to remove the bassline from songs for transitions. It felt "OK" at best to me - but that is probably just my own bias.

I find that the filter (which is a high/low pass filter) is MUCH more effective at isolating sounds than the EQ. Not every board has a "full kill" EQ. And even with a full kill EQ....the EQ frequencies are fixed. The filter allows the specific "crossover" point between the two songs to be adjusted...and even overlapped when appropriate. Today, I often tweak the EQ on a track...but mostly it is to adjust the sound "within" a track.