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Thread: Lack of Variety in My Mixing...

  1. #1
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    Lack of Variety in My Mixing...

    Hey guys

    So my mixes are getting a bit stale and the same. I primarily do 140bpm Dubstep so it just tends to go

    Beat Match (most already 140) - Start track 2 when track 1 starts a new phrase - slowly EQ in track 2 around 8 bar mark - bring down track A when track B is about to drop / swap bass on last beat.

    Generally thats how it goes for every track in my mix.

    Im looking for more transitions I can do that will still sound good because whenever i cut mid phrase it sounds poor. I dont have controllers for loops, I have some dicers i could try and use but I tend to stay away from all effects (im using serato) but im willing to learn to use them to make things more interesting.

    Also in terms of tracks how would you guys advise transitioning around genre? I Intend to listen to some top DJ mixes with multi genre to hear how its done but generally all i can manage is if theres a really quiet no beat breakdown in a track ill just crossfade slowly into the intro of the new genre track pretty fast as i cant beatmatch 140 to 127 for example.

    Cheers for any tips, im using a TTM57, CDJ800's and Serato or 1200's with dicers if i get them out the cupboard.

  2. #2
    New Member
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    Upload a 15 minute mix of 3 songs so that we can get an idea of what it sounds like. 90% of the time when DJs are looking for variety they actually need to tone down the fancy part of DJing. When in doubt, 1 minute mixes. Additionally, dubstep is a very stagnant genre. Songs have that same wobble all the way through, then you have to mix the wobbles without it sounding bad. To ease that process you have the line up the drops. How are you going to get fancy following those guidelines without using effects?

    For the record, I am not much of a fan of effects.

  3. #3
    Well, effects are for one, and then if you can depending on the crowd though, you could try and throw in some other genres as a small surprise. Just have to find a good spot to throw in something like that. 140bpm is 'quite' high for a house track, but if you don't want to drop the bpm to 120 or something (high to low bpm mixing, or low to high), then you could try to fit in Happy Hardcore, Hard Dance or anything else that goes in the 140bpm area.

  4. #4
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    Cross fader - to bounce back and forth between the two tracks, or just turn one song off for a little bit.
    Bump the song in right off the bat, don't fade it in - put it in at full volume.
    Bring down the playing song before dropping in the new song.
    Play some bits of the new song way before you plan on mixing it it. Give hints/tease with the hook.
    Stop the record that is playing on count 3 - and then start the next one on count 1.
    Back spin (remember to turn down the level)
    swoop the played record backwards slowly while cutting over to it with the crossfader.

    There are a few that don't touch the eq or effects.

  5. #5
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    In my opinion, your variety should come within your music and as far as transitions and blends go, you will learn more tricks as you continue to learn the craft or djing. There have been so many tricks I have learn't on the fly, giving them no thought. They come with experience, determination and an open mind.

  6. #6
    mix grime into dub step. it works!

    once you've got a grime tune playing you can cut over to hip hop.

  7. #7
    Sometimes the best thing to do to find interesting new techniques is just to experiment wildly in the privacy of your own bedroom, not worrying about sounding bad. You'll find that certain songs play well on top of each other, or that you can play drops or bass-heavy sections (sorry, not a dubstep guy so not sure of the lingo) of 2 songs concurrently and make rapid crossfader switches every bar or so creating a cool "mashup" of only one song at a time. Experiment!

    Also, there are such things as "transition" tracks that DJs have edited to help get you from one BPM to another. Here's a great resource for a lot of those, you should be able to find some in your genre! http://www.fromdjs4djs.com/dj-tools/transition-songs/
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