Mixing Reggae?
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
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!
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
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.
Try checking some of DJ Vadim’s mixes out.
A lot of the transitions are just sound FX with delay and the track slammed in.
We have a reggae show on dice radio and for the most part the transitions are very basic, such as echoe fades and backspins.
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.