When I’m at a club and I hear top40 music mixed in with electronic/house music it makes me wonder how the DJ is doing it, obviously they could just be playing a premixed song but I’m sure there are people who mix it live and it makes me wonder how. Do most people just use acapellas of Top40 songs and then use electronic music as the backing or are they somehow mixing the regular versions of the songs with electronic music, if that’s the case how can you do that without making it sound awful. Sorry if this is kind of a vague questions, I can try to clarify if you don’t get any parts of what I’m asking. Thanks for your time!
A lot of top40 I’ve heard (stuff like lmfao, rhianna etc.) Is 128-130bpm. Kill the most of the bass and some of the highs and throw some house in, and you are set. Or grab the accapellas and toss some edm in for good taste.
[quote=“dripstep, post:2, topic:40935, username:dripstep”]
A lot of top40 I’ve heard (stuff like lmfao, rhianna etc.) Is 128-130bpm. Kill the most of the bass and some of the highs and throw some house in, and you are set. Or grab the accapellas and toss some edm in for good taste.
[/quote] Ahh, alright, that’s pretty much exactly what I was wondering! thanks!
All the methods above work but it you want to try your hand I have an advance method that destroys most dance floors
This takes practice but here is how it works.
Take a the EDM song and cue up the drop.
While playing your top 40 song set a loop on a key word or phrase.
Start uping the BPM to match the EDM song while cutting the loop 1 beat
Start working in the filter or reverb (what ever transition effect you use) slowly
When you reach 1/4 or 1/8 beat drop the loop and filter all the way up
Cut to the EDM drop.
Here is how that will sound . Top 40 Adele set fire. EDM song internet friends
I loop on the chorus when she says set fire so its saying FIRE FIRE FIRE
I start bringing up the BPM and start cutting beats so now it sounds like high pitched FIRE Fir Fir Fi Fi FFFFFFFFFFF and the filter creates that swoosh sound.
When I reach my peak in this build up I cut to the Drop
You blocked me on Face Book now your going to die.
Watch as the crowd lose their minds and goes crazy.
Just keep at it though and remember the BPM does not have to match exactly. You are using the loop, increasing BPM and the filter to create your build up. You can also use the technique in reverse as well lowering the BPM of a EDM song and using a time stretch and then echo out to bring in another song.
Also when mixing EDM with top 40 some genres go well together like moombahton and hip hop. Pop works well with House and soulful music works well with dubstep sometimes.
I play, or should I say, I use to play at an open format club. Todays Top40 is actually just watered down house and/or electro. There are also plenty of Top40 remixes out there, which is what I use most of the times. There are a few Top40’s where I have acapellas of, but I mainly use those in my sample banks for transitions and such to lower BPMs.
I don’t know if its popular but I know alot of Dj’s who mix various genres and they use that technique to transition between different BPM’s. The technique also build lots of energy on the dance floor and can be used to lower the energy on the dance floor.
I use it like that in my sets . Lets say I’m playing mid energy songs and the dance floor is loving it use this technique to create tension and exploded into high energy songs that destory the dance floor when I see the crowd starting to lull I lower to BPM to a mid energy song .
This technique makes people feel like they are riding a wave that is being controlled by the music and its tempo.
so your pretty much looping a vocal increasing it to the correct bpm so you can mix a track with from a different genre? its not on the fly remixing, even tho your holding the loop for an extended time and cutting it. its just a simple transition. pretty standard. or on the flip side your just talking about sampling a vocal over a track that is missing something. like every dj is sampling 212 over bingo player rattle at the moment.
to the op!!! if 2 tracks aren’t a million miles away bpm wise then you can mix them, using breakdown and outtros if your a beginner. easy. practice makes perfect. there is some many different styles of mixing, check them out and utilise as many when playing live. look at chuckie, he plays dutch house and hip hop and mixes in a hybrid style of both genres…
nothing is magic or unique. its all about practice and having the view to recognise it will.work.
To Micky I never said that the technique was live remixing. But I did say that it is advance for the reason that you are using a loop changing the BPM and filtering in such a way that it creates a building tension before cutting to the drop of a higher tempo song. I agree that it takes practice as you have to learn to modulate the loop the BPM and filter in such a way that it creates a single effect that is very musical.
There are usually several remixes of Top 40 songs. remixed by a slew of different producers, I think that is what you are talking about, they don’t just take the acapella over EDM, its an entire remix of the song. Not to say that you can’t take the acapella but i think what you are describing is just a remix EDM house version
I’ve been working on a top40 in 40 set or have in my head but haven’t had time to give it a go. Will post if get to it tonight.
Also i will mix alot of top 40 mixes mostly original extended but not allways. I will use some tracks from my prog house selection to create a new backing beat sometimes will have 3 decks going. But when it comes to house mixes I rarely have less then 2 tracks playing at once for more then. Minute house Im very comfortable with it.
Big thing when doing a live mash up is you have to be comfortable to the songs or doing or have good cue points.
Most the time wen doing top40 I just use promo releases or mixes and such but beware a lot of them are crap with very basic house elements backing them. I strongly recommended previewing them
Before purchasing you will find alot are almost too trashy to use. Ex. Lots of horns and sirens and only glorified bootleg.
Short mix using top 40 and some housey tracks
Cover Drive - Sparks (Alias Club Mix)
Usher - Climax (Dan Clare Mix)
Rihanna - Where Have You Been (Hardwell Club Mix)
Bob Sinclar Ft. Pitbull, Dragonfly & Fatman Scoop - Rock The Boat (Club Mix)
David Guetta Ft. Sia - Titanium (Orignal Mix)
Cosmic Gate & Jes - Flying Blind (Norin & Rad Mix)
Cascada - Summer Of Love (Michael Mind Project Mix)
Skrillex & The Doors - Breakn 'A Sweat (Zedd Mix)
Afrojack - Fatility (Orignal Mix)
If 2 songs are completely different tempos, then I’d cut in in (not scratch it in like a hip hop DJ, although this depends on how drunk I am . As long as you cut it in at the right point, it sounds sublime. So if thats at the end of a chorus or just as the vocal finishes. As long as the next song is at a recognisable point, which most chart / radio edits are anyway, its a good way.
Or if 2 tracks are of similar BPM, but not enough to mix them without 1 being a lot slower or faster, then at a good point in the song playing, I’d hit play on the next one where its cued to the first kickdrum, then fade the other out within about 3 seconds, before the beats go out. Simple and effective.
If a song has an intro thats not got a kick to it or any noticable timeline, then I’d play this song say 10 - 15 seconds before the one playing finishes and you can filter it out (or in) or fade it out.
If a song finishes, get on the mic and shout some shizzle about whatever you’ve gotta say then play next track.
Looping it is a good way, but then if you do the whole set like this, it will sound very samey. Its good to mix and match.
. As long as you cut it in at the right point, it sounds sublime. So if thats at the end of a chorus or just as the vocal finishes. As long as the next song is at a recognisable point, which most chart / radio edits are anyway, its a good way.