so i usually mix drum and bass at 170 odd bpm and i want to start adding other genres to my sets. like breaks (130bpm-ish), electro(120bpm-ish), and dubstep (140bpm-ish) also some crazy 100bpm bigbeat. does anyone know any sweet tricks for changing genres while mixing? other than simply starting a gig with the slowest genre and slowly mixing thru the genres one by one, getting faster and faster? i wanna chop and change without trainwrecking or destroying the positve magical dance energies
One good idea is to dig around for the offtempo tracks. So, you have DnB that can build to 180bpm… take that and drop that’s half tempo at about 90 (for bigbeat/triphop). Now build that up a little, or down, depending. If you build the tempo slower, down to maybe 70 you can then mix at 140 and just slowly blend up and down, back up to the drum and bass.
There is also a trick I learned from one of my favorite DJs.
It’s a scary trick. but extremely useful. Using dead air to make the mix.
very rarely I like to let a song that ends on a soft note, play out as it ends. give just a breath (the musical term, breath) and drop the next track on a downbeat. It’s a really amazing effect, and one that is emotionally and psychologically satisfying to the listener.
Maaany DJs disagree with the technique as a copout. I say it’s one of the hardest mixes to pull off, but if you do, the effect is AMAZING.
the second track has to hit hard. but its an amazing way to change the energy of a mix. (also make sure you go up 1-2 semitones with the mix)
for me: I started DJing like a year ago - that was enough time to learn the genre of DnB well (not perfect, but well for playing it)… and now i want to spice up my mixes with some oddities from different genres (ye… Ean’s inspiring multigenring digital DJing are in it too).
I got as far as to mix DnB with it’s exact 50% speed brother: -hip hop. Ok i might be totaly wrong there, but the other day i talked to this beatbox MC and he told me the only difference between hip hop and DnB is that DnB is twice faster.
Then i got real good inspiration out of producer called Mutt. Here is some nfo
his track typically starts as slow one (seems to me as hip hop tempo), then drops the beats full speed at the core of the track and sometimes it fades out to hip hop afterwards as well (of course not actualy this one though). Right now i am experimenting with some of those tracks together with some goodness from DJ Krush… that is my idea at the moment, now i am off to polish it little bit.
Edit: lol my post did too long, that those gyus posted their responses as well… well i dunno i actualy have a hard time understanding of what are you guys up to.
DVS said: So, you have DnB that can build to 180bpm… take that and drop that’s half tempo at about 90
so you mean literaly drop the track by 50% pitch on the fly? hmmm…
and Monike: well, i am totaly lost in brazillian village in there, so… can i ask you for example?
When I switch gerne of music I either do a brake stop or beatmasher + fade out out going track & scratch or cue/pause 2x or 3x for the first beat the I play the song. TAP (CUE/PAUSE 2x) then TAP (PLAY)
there’s also a really simple mix… just pick a slower song with a more ambient introduction, drop it over a track that fades out and when the rhythm becomes incomprehensible in the old track the new beat should drop. Just fade it on over.
I can mix one down tomorrow evening. i wont have time today. but i can do a short little demo mix where i do that. (maybe i can squeeze it in at lunch)
thats an intersting one…
im not sure what a “breath” is, i guess a pause of silence the length of which depends on the bpm of the tracks im using to mix?
and what do you mean by going up semi-tones? my musical theory language is heavily rusty, is this like the key? so the track after the breath is in a higher key to maintain energy?
i can see how this would be BOOMingly awesome, however its not something one could use constantly, like maybe once per gig?
while hiphop would work its just not my style, too vocally focused-not enough production in the bass(from my limited knowledge) whereas im usually looking for a dark heavy bassline something along the lines an oil rig farting in a tomb of zombies. but i have some krush so ill take another look
im supposed to be working cheers for all the ideas, some interesting ones, im sure that with a blend of these ideas i should be able to cook up somethng pretty fancy. please if anyone else has some lightbulb share them!
Then dig around for other tracks. Some tracks sound even better sped up. SOme tracks sound better slowed down. Keep in mind I’m not saying to play the faster track at half tempo. Keep it at its regular tempo and just fade in the half-tempo track at the right time. It takes a lot of planning of your sets, but with a little work it can be done.
No, I’m saying have a second track cue’d up at half tempo. They’ll match perfectly and with some creative blending/effects it can create a really interesting feeling. Although, I agree with Moniker, that the breath technique is really hard, and if silence can be used right the energy can make the crowd explode
One word… Trip Hop (or chillout, lounge, dub whatever). A lot of different bpm’s and you can mix in classics like gorillaz and portishead. If that slow stuff kills the vibe to hard you could look into Tricky or maybe some DJ Shadow or Plump DJ’s. It also mixes well into slower dubstep.
Quick note, Portishead - Only You is 120 bpm… great track to mix from slower styles into faster straight up dancey stuff… I’m debating on doing an electro mashup of it with something else… hehe
i am definately gonna look into the trip hop/hip hop deal cos it might just be that missing link that im lookin for thanks for the artist names thats extra helpful
cheers for all the ideas, some interesting ones, im sure that with a blend of these ideas i should be able to cook up somethng pretty fancy. please if anyone else has some lightbulb share them!
