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Thread: Transitioning from high BPM (EDM etc) to Low BPM (Hip-Hop etc)

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    Transitioning from high BPM (EDM etc) to Low BPM (Hip-Hop etc)

    I can beat match, mix, blend songs pretty good….as long as the bpms are matched up. I've always had a hard time transitioning between songs with vastly different bpms, like going from a EDM style dance song that are usually in the 125-130 bpm range, to a much slower paced song, such as a hip-hop track which can vary from 65 bpm to 100 bpm. The much slower hip-hop tracks I can work with. If the bpm of a hip hop track is around 65 bpm, I can beat match it with a 130 bpm song and it usually sounds pretty good. But the majority of hip hop songs can't be mixed like that and I have a hell of a time transitioning from the faster bpm to the slower bpms or vice versa. When I practice, I'll usually have a hell of a time mixing until I start trying to transition from EDM to hip-hop or hip-hop to EDM. I always get discouraged and give up.

    Do I just suck? Why am I having such a hard time with this? Anybody have any advice/pointers for me to improve on this? Usually people just tell me to mix the breaks in the songs or the build up of one song leading into another song etc, but not all songs have these breaks, build ups or build downs.

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    this is probably the least technical answer you'll get and I'm probably going to get slammed down for it but, depending on the song, you may be able to slam the song after a build or find some instrumental that changes bpm. personally i don't mix such varied bpm (never really been a fan of hip hop - before my time). i mix edm and trance so going from edm to trance, i just find some 128 bpm trance and slowly build the tempo up with the trance then back down to 128 for more edm. works for me, but then again, I'm certainly no expert.
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    Quote Originally Posted by DJYamAtree View Post
    this is probably the least technical answer you'll get and I'm probably going to get slammed down for it but, depending on the song, you may be able to slam the song after a build or find some instrumental that changes bpm. personally i don't mix such varied bpm (never really been a fan of hip hop - before my time). i mix edm and trance so going from edm to trance, i just find some 128 bpm trance and slowly build the tempo up with the trance then back down to 128 for more edm. works for me, but then again, I'm certainly no expert.
    I envy you lol. Being a mobile guy, I play the popular tunes, some being hip-hop, some being EDM, and everything in between. The slamming in works with some songs where the bpm ins't TOO different, but with many songs it just sounds to abrupt. It seems like one of those things where there isn't really a right or wrong way to do it, just ways that work and sound good. Unfortunately for me, I'm having a hard time finding out what works and what sounds good.

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    Tricks and tracks, some tracks have natural beat kills that provide that blank to plug in the next tempo just like scratching and backspins. Expend your library to increase the possibility of having in between tracks. Travel within a track at a gradual pace with little jumps during breaks and use a breakbeat style track quick mixed in between if the jump is too far.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mrspyaman View Post
    Tricks and tracks, some tracks have natural beat kills that provide that blank to plug in the next tempo just like scratching and backspins. Expend your library to increase the possibility of having in between tracks. Travel within a track at a gradual pace with little jumps during breaks and use a breakbeat style track quick mixed in between if the jump is too far.
    That's the way I've been trying to do it, but there are such few tracks that work like this, and many of those tracks aren't popular or people just don't like them. It limits the music too much.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Blackdevil77 View Post
    That's the way I've been trying to do it, but there are such few tracks that work like this, and many of those tracks aren't popular or people just don't like them. It limits the music too much.
    Its not always easy to see it, sometimes it's just the same samples present that makes it work or just a natural sound completion on a slam. OHH's are good too when they are close enough.

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    I'll keep practicing and trying. Maybe there are some tricks on my DDJ-SX I can use that I don't even know about yet. I just started getting comfortable with the roll feature.

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    There are a few tricks that would work for club gigs, festivals, stuff like that, but it really doesn't apply to mobile since you're all over the scale. For mobile gigs, I rarely do any mixing because of how much the BPM fluctuates throughout the night.

    I would recommend doing some backspins, hard slams, beat rolls, etc. You SX is feature packed with effects, play around with them for a bit and try something new. Also, Ean Golden from DJTT has some good videos on how to use your effects wisely.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ATrain View Post
    There are a few tricks that would work for club gigs, festivals, stuff like that, but it really doesn't apply to mobile since you're all over the scale. For mobile gigs, I rarely do any mixing because of how much the BPM fluctuates throughout the night.

    I would recommend doing some backspins, hard slams, beat rolls, etc. You SX is feature packed with effects, play around with them for a bit and try something new. Also, Ean Golden from DJTT has some good videos on how to use your effects wisely.
    Cool, thanks. Where can I find his videos?

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    Search him on YouTube. He also runs DJ Tech Tools if you've heard of them.

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