Transitions and mixes in general are ‘boring’
I’m in the process of doing my ‘flagship’ mix and it feels like it’s nothing special, just layering 2 tracks in the drops, cuts after buildups, with a bit of FX thrown in etcetc
I mix DnB so it’s difficult to just layer 2 tracks ontop of eachother, it just feels like it’s extremely boring and generic. Do you have any tips on how I can ‘spice’ my mixes up?
Thanks
Try playing with loops and maybe do some quick cuts during tracks to mix it up a bit. You could try finding some unusual/old tracks to overlay over your DnB.
Also having a friend that will give your draft mixes a listen can be great, for me at least. When I spend too long working on a mix it becomes hard to distance myself from it and listen to it objectively.
Samples, samples, samples
When I was younger we would do lots of cuts/drops and mash ups with Jungle. It works really well.
Should I be treating it more like a ‘live remix’ than a mix then? I’ve sorted an intro which is pretty cool with some fast cuts and double drops but after that it’s the same old transitions.
Live REMIX!!!
Well if just track selection and straight 1-to-1 mixes aren’t doing it for ya then why not
Because it’s very hard and time consuming, I’m not in a good way at the moment so plucking up the motivation/inspiration to do some mixing is something itself.
EDIT: I know that sounds really bad but whenever I attempt a mix I just put myself down and think that it’s really crap so then I can’t be bothered.
I know the way it goes man, it can be easy to get mired in “how it sounds”. Can I suggest getting some friends to listen to your mixes? As I said it can be easy to lose your objectivity when you spend so much time on something and you might be surprised at how they react.
It sounds like you need to get the enjoyment back, it seems you’ve become a bit lost in producing good mixes as opposed to enjoying mixing and being proud when you get it right.
This.
For inspiration I look I look at videos of other artists and try to learn something new. When I see something I don’t know how to to do, or have never thought of it sparks creativity…I’ll go try something I just saw and once I get it down, it leads me to think of something else and before I know i’ve got something pretty good together. I treat a mix in segements or groups of songs and will get that portion set-up, marked and then work on another part. Once I have it all layed out I play it and record it. i notice that as I add things to my mix it gets better through out the set.
Lately I’ve been adding vocal samples, dropping acapella’s and playing them around build ups and drops of songs, then re introducing the “hook” later in the mix. I’ll tease the intro beat of a song that I’m going to play 3 songs later, and then sample it again 2-3 songs later.
For most of the songs I keep it simple…transitions layered over each other and work on my samples. Then the occastion transition that is not a generic layering of songs has that much more effect.
+1
I only use 2 decks so it’s hard to incorporate samples.
you’re going to be hard pressed to find ways of making more interesting mixes if you are afraid of attempting challenging techniques like 3 & 4 deck mixing.
you are on traktor right?
After I record a mix…and listen to it immediately…i also think…damn…i did a shitty job.
Then i listen to it the next day…fresh…and i am usually surprised.
It is better than i thought!
I also find that if I have laid out my CUE’s correctly…I can easily tease and re arrange the track coming in. Make it your own!
Stimulants! I will normally make huge cup of expresso… and chug it… a few minutes later I click into the leaning forward mode and start bouncing. At this point I feel the same tension i may feel when Im in a club. Having a friend who is there when you mix can be a bonus because you have a bit more pressure to not screw around.
Yeah…having a mate there is cool…but i feel bad for em after i have not spoken to them for 45mins…
I always think they must be FUCKING bored…while i am having a WHALE of a time.
If you’re getting bored with blending tracks end to end you have clearly not explored fist pumping and Jesus posing yet.