DJing is all about playing music seamlessly. It’s about exercising complete control over the energy levels on the dance floor. Whether you need them to be high or low, one thing is consistent: you need to mix the songs smoothly. In mixing two (or more) tracks together, you curate a special, unique moment. No two mixes are ever the same. So get back to the basics of professional DJing and check out this reminder on the basics of DJ mixing.
The humble crossfade
The most common mistake in crossfading is doing it too fast. For a standard mix between two house tracks running at 120bpm, you should take at least 15-20 seconds to make the transition. It can even take up to a few minutes. Zipping over in 5 seconds or less tends to disorient the listener. Our aim is to remove any friction from the mix. Also avoid dips in volume. The volume of the incoming track should be matched before, not during the transition. Use your headphones to cue the correct volumes, but take them off during the transition. You’ll want to hear what the crowd is hearing.
The bass cut
A more interesting way to transition is the bass cut mix. The main advantage is that by cutting the bass during your transition, you avoid having two kicks play at once. Nothing wrong with that, but can lead to clipping and phasing. Not ideal. So first, cut the bass on your incoming track. Then start to fade it in. Leave both tracks playing together for a while. Then start fading down the bass on your current track while raising the bass on the incoming track. Control your bass!
The effect cut
Effects are a cool way to get from one track to another. Reverb allows you to create huge washes of sound. Slowly apply reverb to your current track while fading in the incoming track. It sounds like your track is disappearing into a hole, while something fresh and new replaces it. The results are awesome. But be careful with effects. Using them too much is a rookie error. Also cut the bass when using reverb. Reverb and bass aren’t best friends, and can make the whole mix sound muddy.
Using filters, EQ, and effects are the most common ways to transition between tracks while DJing. If your aim is to get into any sort of professional DJing, you’ll want to have all of these mix tricks solidly in the bag. And don’t forget to check out some of the excellent DJ courses offered by the tutors at DJ Courses Online today.
John Bartmann is a music producer and DJ.