Mixing Reggae?

[deflits980]

Hi all!

Stupid silly question on mixing reggae... how should I count this music? With house music it is easy, kick drum on the 1, 2, 3 and 4. With reggae I'm sort of lost and find it real hard to count/beatmatch (I play vinyl).

What should I do to practice this?

Thanks,

Kind regards,
Jordi

[ken808]

It may seem different at first, but most Reggae and Dancehall is still a 4/4 beat. I usually mix in on the first beat, usually a kick drum, unless the tune is a one drop beat. If so, it can be a little tricky to find the first beat, as it is a downbeat. Kinda hard to describe, but the feel will come over time. I spin Reggae & Dancehall, but usually using DVS, so I have my cue points set on the first beat of the measure. Here's a link to one of my practice mixes. Best of luck! https://soundcloud.com/uptownhifi/up...fi-tuesday-mix

[P4ULSON]

Mixing Reggae isn't to hard the secret is you need a "MIC" just back spin really fast grab the mic yell "PULL UP" and slam the next track in ;P. use the snare and work with that. thats the real secret, and beats are counted in 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. where the and is the up beat... good luck

[teknik1200]

instead of looking for a kick to mix with try looking for something like a 2 4 snare or clap. those come in handy with most 4/4 music and tend to be easier to follow than the kick in things like house music as well.

[UncleFunky]

Try checking some of DJ Vadim's mixes out.

http://www.mixcloud.com/DJVadim/

https://soundcloud.com/dj-vadim

A lot of the transitions are just sound FX with delay and the track slammed in.

[Jester]

We have a reggae show on dice radio and for the most part the transitions are very basic, such as echoe fades and backspins.

[Mabonzo]

Reggae is particular because of one drop drumming, but there are ways of getting around. I am crazy about back spins and excessive sound FX. So I have learned to be use quick cuts on the drop or create edits that allow me to mix the difficult. Mixing in Key could help a great deal if you are into that sort of thing.