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kickassDJ25
06-15-2012, 06:41 PM
Hey

I've been mixing for a while now and recently I've been looking to get a tighter, cleaner mix. Yes I can beatmatch, but its not good enough in my opinion. My EQ work has been awful and my mixing has clashes of frequencies, and in general sounding rather 'muddy', if u get me.

Also, I don't use the crossfader, I do however use the upfaders, how do u guys use these when mixing? just slowly increase the fader on the track coming in? or do u 'suddenly' bring it up up?

Finally, I'm kinda sick of the same mixing technique, waiting for track A to go to the outro, bringing track B in then, killing the lows on the incoming track and gradually increasing while I decrease the lows on the out going track and fade out, anyone got any other technique? style?

so any advice/help would be grateful

thanks

Vhos
06-15-2012, 06:51 PM
You ever try double drops or build up swaps?

kickassDJ25
06-15-2012, 06:53 PM
You ever try double drops or build up swaps?

Whats that dude?

noize_unit
06-15-2012, 07:26 PM
Whats that dude?

just what it sounds like, swap a build up from track a with build up from track B, or cueing up track b and drop that build up at the same time as track a starts its buildup (more or less), the latter you have to make sure both builds have the same amount of bars or use some loops to keep em together

sephi
06-15-2012, 08:14 PM
There are several other techniques. For some stuff, I just cut back and forth between the two tracks (works well for hardcore, hardstyle, and breaks). Others, I bring the next track in (or take the previous track out) with an effect and/or filter instead of fader/EQ. Some tracks I just drop in, either when the outgoing track ends, or by cutting it off at the end of a buildup (I almost never do this on a mix, but I do it more often live). Another thing I do is use the fader or a filter to cut in/out parts of the incoming/outgoing track - momentarily and on the beat, sort of like I'm "playing" the track as a crude instrument - to spice up an otherwise straightforward mix.

You might also try different EQing techniques. Sometimes I mix with only the EQ. I beatmatch the tracks, but then I kill all the EQ and put the fader all the way up. Then I can bring in each band as I see fit, usually swapping basslines or bringing in a lead.

BurntToast
06-19-2012, 01:26 PM
is there an "advanced transitions" thread or anything like that around here?

DJ Sunshine
06-30-2012, 07:22 PM
Bring in the new track, with the bass killed.
Adjust any additional clashing frequencies in the mids/highs by taking something out. Don't have any obnoxiously overpowering snares/cymbals/etc.
Swap basslines (kill the bass of the old track while bringing the bass of the new track).

That's pretty much how I do it anyways.

kickassDJ25
07-09-2012, 06:11 PM
anyone have anything else to add on this?

Waterbeat
07-10-2012, 06:36 AM
If you are mixing genres of House, here's something to try. For this to work, it is important to mix on phrase.

Put the new track's fader down. Adjust the high EQ on the new track to around the 10 or 11 o'clock position. Turn the mids and lows down to at least below 9 o'clock. Pick a point on the old track at the beginning of a phrase where you will start the new track. Start the new track at this point and use the first phrase of the new track to beatmatch. At the beginning of the second phrase, put the fader full up. The highs should be audible on the monitors. During the phrase, increase the highs while backing off the highs on the old track. At the beginning of the third phrase, repeat what you did on the first phrase but with the mids. At the beginning of the fourth phrase repeat the process again with the lows, or instead, swap the lows fast (timing for the lows will depend on the tracks and when the new track's bassline drops).

The above is kind of mechanical and an over simplification, but it's a way to start and experiment with variations. You can introduce elements over more than one phrase to make a more drawn out mix, you can sneak elements in gradually or bring them in hard, or you can bring in the mids first - it all depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Timing and EQing for other EDM, genres may be different, but I think it's important to do it on phrase boundaries.

Austin GoGreen
07-10-2012, 10:54 AM
Scratch in or use a cue point to drop in song b with the bass at 12. Instantly after you drop track b, cut most of track a's bass. Swap bass again, then use the upfader for track b to cut it's sound completely. EQ mids and highs according by ear. Of course mixing in key helps too. But that cutting out of the track you just dropped sounds dope and can confuse the shit out of people! Push yourself to do things differently, that sounds good to me... I like bouncing tracks back and forth too. A really good DnB dj taught me this method.

Use this method with an acapella (track b) and drop the beat from track a using it's upfader. Also, very dope. acapella intro tracks are the stuff.