I have a quick question for anyone who cares to answer it. I’ve only been DJing for about 4 months now and still have a few key things that I feel I am missing. This past weekend I went to a club in Ft.Lauderdale and was blown away by what the DJ was doing. My question is, how is it that as a DJ, you keep the energy level constant from one song to another? It was non-stop bumping in that club, with your usual peaks and buildups/dropoffs, but it seemed almost like the DJ was using loops over the songs perhaps? Maybe dropping the bass out of the hip hop song and using a 4/4 drum loop to keep a constant beat throughout the set? Not sure if that makes sense. It was mostly Hip Hop music which generally (unless you’re kanye west..haha) isn’t a 4/4 beat..but all (or MOST) of these were steady 4/4’s. What it did for the set was amazing to me.. (Yeah I know, newb..) no matter which song he went in to, it seemed to just be non stop bumpage I did notice that the DJ was using one laptop, and traktor…so there was no live remixing in ableton as far as I could see.. so would my solution be to use bass drum loops over hip hop songs with the bass EQ’d out? ..Or would it be to buy remixed tracks of the particular songs I want and use that to mix with? I definately would prefer to do it all myself..but is this possible with Traktor - On The Fly?
Well I’m not really concerned with the song selection aspect of it as far as mixing in key..I have a firm grasp on that..it’s more of the consistent bass drum sound throughout the mix that kept me dancing steadily. It must have been re-edits. Is it as simple as just removing the bass frequencies from the original and adding your own drums?
well, no, because the low eq isnt just the bass, youll find that takeing that out all the way can ruin most male vocals and make the song sound a bit off
so to fix that you can use the 1 o’ clock rule (dont go past the 11 o clock or 1 o clock positions on the eq) but being at 11 still has too much bass, and if you go past that you will probably run in to problems
If you can find two songs that are in key and have a somewhat matching chorus, then it can have more energy then the songs by themselves. It’s pretty hard to find a good combination though.
I’d suggest just playing around with songs and try to come up with something unique. If you try at it long enough you’ll find a nice transition in there somewhere. Also, if you are in traktor make use of the loop/beat jumping, it’s like having your own club mix but better.
Ok, so if they are making these remixes…are they only possible with stems? Say for instance… If I wanted to make a KoRn track into a dance song..no way to do this live without already having a remix on my HDD for this?
I know that is a vague question, but I’m just trying to get a grasp on this because it’s something that I really would like to do.. (not just rock/metal tracks… just in general)
It’s going to be a long and constant learning process: using a lot of your own ideas, figuring out how to do things with what equipment and software you have lying around, and the technical advice of people who know more than you do. This forum is a nice starting point.
Eventually you’ll teach yourself how to make edits out of necessity for your DJ purposes. The next logical step is using what you’ve learned there until one day you realize your latest ‘edit’ project has completely transformed the track into a full-blown remix.
track selection and timing - that’s all there is to it. work on dropping the right track at the right position and time and you’ve got this by the ass.
//edit: for most people it’s gonna take a bit longer than 4 months to figure it out, don’t push yourself too hard.
One thing to remember is that filters aren’t just there for really big “woosh” effects…you don’t have to always peg out the knobs…To give you some ideas on filtering basslines out..
i find a good way to learn and its on one of eans tutorial vids is the most basic form of mixing.cutting a new track in at the right time.alot of djs just want to beatmatch 1 track with the next but never really practise the basics which taught me alot and made me more comfortable and confident with when to mix in the next track.im still learning myself though using a vci 100.looking forward to getting the firmware upgrade so hopefully i can scratch in the drop in a jazzy jeff style(sort of)
I know the sound you’re talking about, I’ve heard a radio DJ here do that. It really does seem like there’s either a 4/4 drum loop going through the entire performance. I tried this with a 808 loop I made myself, didn’t quite end up the same way. Maybe they are playing remixes all from the same source? (Or custom remixes) Like all songs from wicked mix? (This approach is lame, I refuse to do this.)
You can keep the energy up with good timing, dropping in another song at the peak of the currently playing song. It’s not the same tight effect though.
What hip-hop isn’t generally in 4/4? It might not be “4 on the floor” (i.e. the bass drum may not hit on every single beat), but hip-hop is almost always in 4/4 time.
Yeah…thanks for adding that..you know what I meant ;/ even if I didn’t. Anyhow, thank you all for your advice..it seems to help a bit with my comprehension, but I’m still convinced that you are not understanding what I mean by the constant (identical?) drum loops throughout. Timing comes natural to me…I know about peaks buildups/drops and I can feel when it is best to drop a new tune (it’s almost like anxiety…I can feel the tension about to be released, lol)…and I can make a decent playlist, or so I like to think. I’ll just have to lock myself up in the room for a bit and see if I can replicate what I heard..probably the best approach anyhow. Once again, thanks all!!!
I know what you’re talking about, not sure everyone posting here read the OP. I really think it’s custom mixes because a background loop doesn’t sound the same. I knew a guy that did mixes in Sony Acid semi-live. He’d play a pre done one about 30 minutes long while he put together another one, play that one, etc. He had a special peak hour one he would drop in at the appropriate point…
There’s always Mixmeister, the way I think DJing will be done in 20 years.
I did notice that the DJ was using one laptop, and traktor…so there was no live remixing in ableton as far as I could see.. so would my solution be to use bass drum loops over hip hop songs with the bass EQ’d out? ..Or would it be to buy remixed tracks of the particular songs I want and use that to mix with? I definately would prefer to do it all myself..but is this possible with Traktor - On The Fly?