Mixing old skool rnb
I want to do a new mix for soundcloud but i find mixing rnb really hard theres no videos on youtube and useless information online. It just sounds a bit messy on my transition but then ill listen to popular mix on soundcloud and they also sound a bit messy not very smooth transitions. is this how it is in rnb mixes ? i think im focusing on to perfect the transition so much like its on a house/dance mix but Im finding it really hard
any tips ?
This is a pretty obvious question, so I apologize if you’ve already considered it, but how is your harmonic compatibility? With RnB, your key isn’t going to be the only concern, either - as a more complex style of music, it’s going to have more harmonic progression, so chord compatibility will probably also be important to consider.
not an obvious question i havnt been djing long but since ive had my decks 9 out 10 times ive been mixing house/garage and hip hop abit ive only really started rnb this week i know im going to be sht at first. what is harmonic compatibility ? I think i have a good understanding of beat matching i can mix a house track quite easy now but I want to expand to other genres
The best place to start is probably Mixed in Key - a very good tool for helping you to identify harmonic compatibility. It’s not free, though, and also has Always-On-DRM, which I personally don’t support, so I don’t use it. I use KeyFinder, which is a Free/OpenSource alternative that is not as accurate, but is still quite accurate - it works for me mixing Funk, which has a lot of the same problems you will face doing RnB.
What it comes down to is - if two songs are in the same key, they are much more likely to mix well together. Pretty straightforward. From there, you have the Camelot Wheel (in that first link, it talks about that) which shows you how you can move from key to key. For example, D minor is a very common key in Funk (and probably also in RnB)… in the Camelot Wheel notation, that’s a 7A. Looking at the wheel, it is generally safe to move from there to 6A (G minor), stay in 7A, or 8A (A minor) or transition to its relative major key, 7B (F major).
When I say that the chord progressions are also an important consideration, this is because chord progressions can change the harmonic feel of a song for each chord change - just because you’re working in F minor doesn’t mean you are always playing an F minor chord… otherwise known as the “I” (one) chord. If your song is playing the “IV” chord for the second quarter of your phrase, then that would make it tend to clash with another song that might be in the same key, but is playing, say, a “III” or “V” chord.
That said, start by identifying the keys of your songs… then, you can trust your ear and experiment. Find the tracks that mix well together. You don’t need to identify every chord being played, that would be far too much work, but if they are at least harmonically compatible in general, you’ll know you’re in the right general area and from there, your ear will help you with the rest.
ok thanks ive got a lot of learning to do and I dont think I will ever use them because I want to learn the proper way no offence. it will just take me time to understand I mean when people was explaning bars and phrases and dropping it in to them I was clueless but now I understand
what type of rnb, year? theres smooth dance and slow type stuff. if its dance, blend on break or last chorus. on slow, try to use am effect like echo then fade in next track, sometimes u dont hav to beat match each track
For what it’s worth, a whole lot of really big names use Mixed in Key… Oakenfold, Sasha, and on and on the list goes. However, I am not trying to convince you, just sayin’.
The alternative is to get yourself a cheap keyboard of some sort that you can bang the keys on, learn the chords, and just start playin’ around until you find the chords that are playin’.
To be honest, RnB wasn’t meant to be mixed (i.e. it has a different structure), so it’s perfectly understandable that you’re having problems, don’t worry if your mixes aren’t flawless.
round the 2000 stuff jar rule mary j blidge 50, akon etc
I had a look on youtube of it and i understand it more it is something i will get in the future, looks like it saves a lot of time. do you think its taking the skill out of djing tho ?
You can also look for extended mixes of rnb tunes that have a proper intro & outro for mixing in & out.
yea would help me alot
Hi maybe consider becoming a member of this dj pool it has a lot of edits in oldschool R&B
It will make your life more easy.
I’m probably not the right person to answer that question for you, I subscribe to the “if your mix sounds great and people like it, I don’t give two bleeps how you did it” school of thought. I still have the scars from fighting in the 8-bit computer wars, I don’t have the energy to be a zealot any more.
That era of RnB is great fun to mix but you need to know the tunes inside out. I would also advise using loops (if u use Dj software) to extend the mix and even using cue points as indicators for your mix (ie start track 2 here mix out track 1 here). Also be careful of bass line/drums clashing use the age old fix of EQing out some bass works well. Another thing is rnb intros are often short so if u have effects like freeze echo they can sound good after a short blend. The tip about mixing with key is a valid one and although you may see it as a shortcut if u know your tunes your often doing without realising. Here’s a mix I did with tunes from a similar era a couple years ago (not 100% perfect or 100% rnb but might give u some inspiration or whatever) this mix is so old it’s when I was before I made the switch to traktor and was using a programme called RPM, anyway I digress:
I would add that as long as your mixes have a nice energy to them and make people catch a vibe don’t get to stuck on perfect transitions. I would also recommend listening to a classic mix like the breakdown megamix which for its time was breathtaking and inspirational and although not 100% rnb was brilliantly creative
yes thats what ive been doing looping and setiing cue points im getting better and better.
Good to hear. I will say that it’s worth looking into harmonic mixing just to add another weapon to your Dj Arsenal. I also forgot to mention that tone play can be a lot of fun with RnB and adds some real flavour to the mix. Good luck leaning and look forward to hearing some mixes in the near future.