Rate of Mixing Songs ( Dubstep )

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Rate of Mixing Songs ( Dubstep )

I am a dubstep Dj, Lately Ive been mixing my songs every 1.5 to 2 minutes, I however have gotten shit from friends lately who dj about it, ( not letting songs play out) I like to start my songs halfway into a transition onto the start of a break down, occasionally i will let 1 or 2 songs play through to the next break, I enjoy the fast rate of mixing, I was wondering if the was any other dubstep people who had any input. Today I made a mix it came out to 67 minutes and 37 tracks. Any input appreciated.

2

my way: simply overlap the intro of the song youre bringing in with the breakdown or whatever of the current song

i usually have the volume fader of the song im bringing in at the 70% mark then bring it up or just leave it at 100%

then on the drop i cut out the first song.

dubstep is repetitive enough. whatever comes after a breakdown is the same as whats before (more or less)

3

All depends really. Think it would be great hearing that many tunes in an hour and at peak time in a club it’d go off but consider too that if you see people locked in a groove on the dancefloor, let them ride it out!

4

There’s really only so much you can do when you’re mixing dubstep when it comes to where you bring in the next song. Just about any dubstep song I’ve heard goes something like this:

Intro - WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB - ‘Breakdown’ that sounds eerily similar to the intro - WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB - done

Not to bash the genre or anything, the song structure is just really simplistic compared to the intro - verse - chorus - verse - chorus - verse - outro of most other genres.

Edit:

On the other hand: this means that you, as a DJ, have to get more creative with the FX, loops, and transitional tricks that you use to bring in or phase out tracks.

5

Depends on how you look at it… On one side.. it makes you seem like you have a low self esteem on your dj skills. Only playing the best parts of a track back to back.. never putting yourself in a situation where you actually have to mix. Dubstep djing is so easy I dont even bring headphones.. Color waveforms are all you need to mix from drop to drop.

Im not knocking dubstep.. I like the genre.. reminds me when ragga jungle first appeared in 1990 and then just got better and better. Anyone that has ever mixed with vinyl knows you can read the breakdowns in the grooves. so if you brought a few crates of records you could essentially mix nonstop breakdowns back to back ..without headphones.
Bigger longer builds and then rewarding them with that drop is alot more effective then burning out people…thats just my opinion… all of the above

6

Hmmm… every 2 minutes can get a bit tiring for the audience… I’m gonna be quickmixing an old-school jungle set during a party next weekend, and I’ll be rinsing about 10 classics in 20 minutes. Thing is; you can do this with tunes everyone recognises, and you can do it for about 20 minutes… then everyone gets too knackered.

7

Exactly!
like dropping in some True Playaz songs gets people back to the era… but they wouldnt need to hear the whole song again… then something else… thats alot of fun to get for a 20-30 minute segment.

8

doesn’t matter what genre you’re playing, you should have more variation in your approach to mixing - this means letting some songs play out longer than a minute or two.

it’s not about playing as many songs as possible, it’s about building up and breaking down energy with your track selection and mixing choices. sometimes this calls for a quick mix, sometimes this calls for letting a song play for it’s full length.

9

Exactly; Ganju Kru, Hype, Die, Q Project, Aphrodite etc… badass!

10

I personally think you should do whatever you want and think works best. Asking for opinions is all well and good, but being a dj is about carving your own style. Theres no point in just conforming and being like everyone else. If you can stand out then people will remember, but make sure your standing out for the right reason and not just because everyone is getting frustrated with you for cutting tracks off too quickly!

11

It depends on the reasons for the quick mix. It can be effective, but if a DJ does it all the time I generally think:

a) they’re off their tits: or
b) they’re really bored of the music they’re playing

It also really annoys me when I hear a track that I know ‘progresses’ as it goes along - and I don’t get to hear the payoff.

12

who in their right mind would mix in a way so that they skip the drop???
:eek:

13

Relevant mix data:

Tracklist:

  1. Indigo – Wanderer [ST Digital]
  2. Gyu – Juice [Dub]
  3. Untold – Palamino [Hemlock]
  4. Distal – Grape Donut [Soul Jazz]
  5. Furesshu – 1993 [Project Squared]
  6. Phaeleh – Low (Sclist mix) [Dub]
  7. Submerse – Never Mine (FortyFour mix) [Dub]
  8. Sharmaji – Break Your Heart [Soul Motive]
  9. Jus Wan – The Crossing [Tube 10]
  10. Joy Orbison – J. Doe [Doldrums]
  11. Forsaken – Taiko Riddim [Dub]
  12. Blawan – Fram [Hessle Audio]
  13. Submerse – Stay [Slime]
  14. Warlock – Full Tilt [Rag & Bone]
  15. Hypno – Nanosecond [Dub]
  16. Wascal – Gum [L2S]
  17. Pangaea – Router [Hessle Audio]
  18. Benga – Amber [Big Apple]
  19. Dom Hz – Space & Time [Subdepth]
  20. Distal – Space Graffitti [Tube 10]
  21. Cosmetics – Ill Kiss [Subdepth]
  22. TRG – Feel for You [Subway]
  23. Sclist – Hollow [Frijsfo]
  24. DJ Madd – Flex’d [Boka]
  25. C.E.O – Quack [Dub]
  26. Diddy & Chico – Sumting New Everyday [Dub]
  27. XxXy – Constant [Mindset]
  28. Pirate Soundsystem – Dub N U
  29. Twisted & Templer – Weird Freeq [Trackdonalds]
  30. KingThing – Bump [Fortified Audio]
  31. Ramadanman – I Beg You [Hessle Audio]
  32. Distal – Notlanta [Tube 10]
  33. XxXy – Silken [Mindset]
  34. June Miller – Brussel North (Wascal mix) [54Music]
  35. Apathesis – Begin [Urban Scrumping]
  36. Skream – If You Know [Tempa]
  37. Hypno – Hubble Dub (20% refix) [Dub]
  38. Wascal – Technique [Dub]
  39. Monky – Drunkerdz (Resketch mix) [Robox Neotech]
  40. Superisk – Find Your Way (Mensah mix) [Punch Drunk]
  41. Wascal – Speechless [L2S]
  42. Sharmaji – How to Move [Davey Jones]
  43. Wascal – Irie [Dub]
  44. JB3 – Beliver [Novamute]
  45. Indigo – Arcane [On The Edge]

1h13m59s // 101mb // 192kbps

14

Personally I hate it when I go out to a club and I hear a DJ constantly “quick mixing.” I also listen to Dubstep a LOT, and enjoy hearing songs played out for the most part. Some you just want to move in for a moment then back out.

Dubstep as a genre is interesting because it’s got that simple kind of layout. I like hearing the looping and playing around with things. Hell, I love hearing a switched up drop once and awhile.

But switching things too fast is no good IMO. It doesn’t let a crowd get into a groove.

15

I quick mix dubstep because its fun to cram as many drops and crazy tracks in my sets as possible. I also do a lot of double drops and mix in accapellas over ‘classic’ dubstep tracks to keep things interesting.

Dubstep is just one of them genres where quick mixing works, the only tracks I play fully are usually remix’s with vocals, skreams remix of in for the kill for instance.