Acapella Mixing

[kickassDJ25]

Hey Guys and Dolls!

Acapella mixing, is it tough to do? any tips?

What acapellas work best with what tunes?

:)

k

[Nick Bike]

no it's not.

get ahold of some and try it out yourself. no point in people spoonfeeding specific tracks to mix together, that spoils the whole experience.

[funkyfresh]

no it's not.

get ahold of some and try it out yourself. no point in people spoonfeeding specific tracks to mix together, that spoils the whole experience.


Totally agree! It comes with the territory.

[130R]

no it's not.

get ahold of some and try it out yourself. no point in people spoonfeeding specific tracks to mix together, that spoils the whole experience.

This.

Dont be scared to experiment and try things out for yourself.

[Sigma]

Acapella mixing is pretty much as easy as mixing a track with a beat once you get used to it. In fact, it can be more forgiving, because if an acapella drifts slightly you don't get that offset of the percussive elements that you get when both tracks have drums and start to drift out of line.

It's all about having a kind of "internal metronome". If you play a track with a beat, you can count "1, 2, 3, 4" etc. in time with the beat. Take the beat away though and you can still do that, so you can still beatmatch the acapella to the other track/beat you're playing.

The other thing to consider is the timing and how the lyrics will map to the song/beat you're playing. When you mix two tracks with beats, you usually focus on the "1" - the first kick in a bar. Not always, but either way, it's usually always very easy to get the 2 tracks lined up so that they're not out of step. When you have just some singing, the singer may not start to sing on the 1 - they may come in a bit earlier or a bit later. I usually just kind of "sing" the acapella in my head over the beat that's playing so I can tell how the 2 will line up, then it's usually easy from there.

[DJ Special K]

Try it out. Just make sure the levels are about the same.

[kickassDJ25]

I gave this a go yesterday, the acapella really didn't work with any of the tunes I used and it really didn't feel like "one track"

[Dj_4-$hure]

Try, try, try again. I love acapellas because you can always scratch with them.

[Jason Cerna]

What acapellas work best with what tunes?


use your imagination

[dj daywalker]

Well if the acapella and the track are compatible keys that will obviously help a lot. Also if you are using a acapella from an song that has a verse and a chorus, you probably want the verse to be during the build up and the chorus to start with the drop. Also make sure its not too loud that will make it sound like crap. I sometimes turn the treble eq down on the acapella especially if its a girls voice. I find it helps it blend a little better

[twiztedshane]

Well, you could mix an acapella of Florida's "Good Feeling with "Avicii's Levels".. Just use your imagination, mix around, experiment and go crazy..

[twiztedshane]

..and also make sure it's in the same key. Imagine a band and singer sings off key, it would totally ruin the vibe..

[Austin GoGreen]

So I just started to play out live with some acap blends. Mostly with my own edits, which make it a bit easier to get in/out of a mix. My method works for the two or three blends I have now. But I'm curious to see how you guys are getting in/out of these types of mixes on TWO decks?

Most of the tracks I use out have INtro's/Outro's now. Are you using these to your advantage or are you mixing acap with instrumentals?

I'm looking to find out the tricks behind the tables that CLUB DJ's use in their sets? I hear a lot of live mashups but I can't quite seem to figure out what they're doing. I'm assuming its all Serato tricks (Play from first Cue, Play from start) and mapping out the Rane 57 for best results... See this video and explain what's going on with two decks:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpRo0TkpnKM

[tekno_violet]

What he did was he cued up a couple lines before going on stage.

That man knows his tracks though.
Im just guessing here but I think he is using a really long continuous Acapella that he's made at home then switching in the cued instrumentals all quick like....

Or im just wrong.

I do know the face down ass up part was the highlight of my night though.

[DJArmani]

acapella mixing is just called a mashup.. if you want to vocal mix lyrics such as " we found love vs. now that we found love" you could do that too

[Austin GoGreen]

BUT how do you make the transition to the next track sound just as dope (using TWO decks)? You either gotta kill the Instrumental or the Acap before loading the next track.

[tekno_violet]

Do you get what I was saying though about 1 side just playing one continuous long acapella track that hes edited (no splits) ..so he doesn't need to mix, just bring in the instrumentals on the other side when he wants. He's pretty good at it.

Any other thoughts?

[RINIFLeX]

Well, you could mix an acapella of Florida's "Good Feeling with "Avicii's Levels".. Just use your imagination, mix around, experiment and go crazy..

Errrmmmmmmm, well yeah they are the exact same track :facepalm: Flo-Rida, damn plagarizer.


So I just started to play out live with some acap blends. Mostly with my own edits, which make it a bit easier to get in/out of a mix. My method works for the two or three blends I have now. But I'm curious to see how you guys are getting in/out of these types of mixes on TWO decks?

Most of the tracks I use out have INtro's/Outro's now. Are you using these to your advantage or are you mixing acap with instrumentals?

I'm looking to find out the tricks behind the tables that CLUB DJ's use in their sets? I hear a lot of live mashups but I can't quite seem to figure out what they're doing. I'm assuming its all Serato tricks (Play from first Cue, Play from start) and mapping out the Rane 57 for best results... See this video and explain what's going on with two decks:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpRo0TkpnKM

I don't really see much that is complicated in this mix at all. It is waaayyy boring for a 3style competitor. What specifically in the mix are you having trouble figuring out? I have a good ear for this type of thing, if you give me some specifics I think I can help you. You can also shoot me a PM if you need some overly specific info (not appropriate for this thread). Let me know.

EDIT: sorry OP forgot about ya on my original post


Hey Guys and Dolls!

Acapella mixing, is it tough to do? any tips?

What acapellas work best with what tunes?

I agree with Nick, but some helpful info when exploring this concept for yourself:

As a rule of thumb you should obviously not drop an acca over vocals (dur). Also, you need to make sure the vocals don't clash with any frequencies, usually always high end frequencies, of the track your dropping the acca over.

Don't forget to match the tempos and phrase match the accapella and the baseline (not bassline) track. The tempo/"beat" matching tends to be tricky for beginner DJ's who have not grasped standard beat matching yet. As far as beat/tempo matching goes I feel this subject is considered advanced. If you are using software to detect bpm, it will NOT detect the bpm of an accapella accurately, as there is no beat(it wont even be close, so dont waste your time). If you are not going to match the tempos by ear, you should check the tempo of the original track to give you an idea of where you are at.

However, I don't suggest doing this, it hampers you progress as a DJ. Learning by ear is extremely important, regardless if you "need" to or not. It teaches a lot of aspects of DJ'ing which come about as important bi-products of training your ears.

[mrkleen]

I don't really see much that is complicated in this mix at all. It is waaayyy boring for a 3style competitor.

Completely agree. Might as well just play a mix you recorded at home, he isnt even moving the pitch or doing anything.

He simply took 10 (or however many) acapellas - pitch shifted them to the same BPM - and then keep them playing on the left. On the right he cuts out the last half bar of every transition and then cues up a new instrumental. ZZZZ

[vubees]

This is one of my favorite techniques. Acapellas can be used to transition from song to song or color the current song even more. This is what I like to do:

Transitioning:
- loop an acapella in when you're preparing to transition over the beat.
- with the acapella still playing, transition the next part in, leaving the bass out
- finish the transition and take out the acapella

Coloring buildups
- during the breakdown I like to add an acapella (that is in the same key)
- start looping a bar during the buildup and gradually decrease the size of the loop as it builds
- take the acapella out right before the drop!
- boom!
- (you can continue cutting the acapella in and out after the drop too for more flavor)

This is what I like to do, I hope it gives you an idea of some possibilities!

[DjDisArm]

^ good post

[DGrindM.M.]

Where Are Some Good Sites or Record Pools to Get Up To Date Acapellas??? Even The Record Pool Im Affiliated With Doesn't Get Too Many In.

[DjDisArm]

question... if an acapella is in key 12A does the instrumental have to be in the same key or can it go up a key like 1A or 12B? or does it have to be 12A all around?