Time to get your set together! Right, where to begin. Well, uh… wait a minute, how does that track go again? Where did this batch come from? That’s right. The very first thing is knowing your music backwards. Like, loving it to death even though you’ve heard it 100 times. Listen to your favorites every day. Then you’re ready to start putting together a proper mix routine and implementing some of your DJ tips and tricks.
Mix the isolated parts
Listen out for parts that are isolated. Examples might be a vocal acapella, a drum break or a melody line that stands alone in the mix when the beat and bass have dropped out. These are usually good transition points. Mix the isolated part of one track with the bass and beat from another. Hey presto! You’ve got a unique mix that nobody else has thought of!
Highs, mids, lows
Frequency bands are how DJs think about a track and its mix potential. A good mix will aim to cover all three ranges by using the highs of one track with the mids and lows of another, for example. Play just the mids from one track with the highs and lows of another. This is all basic stuff, but learning to DJ comes easier when principles are clear. Create a new fusion out of two previously separate parts by interleaving the three frequency bands of two separate tracks like a sandwich.
Mixing in key
Without getting too much into music theory, mixing in key is a great way to control the flow of your set and the energy of the crowd. In the same way that you’re able to beatmatch, you’re able to keymatch. Keymatching is simply choosing songs to blend into each other that share a similar position in the musical spectrum of keys. The key of C major, for example, works well with A minor or even F major and G major. This is because they’re related. Check out some more on the circle of fifths for theory about which keys to use.
You have to know your music. Spend the time listening to the music. Headphones in while walking to work. On the bus. While working. This habit really goes to the heart of DJing, and your love for music will carry you through when you’re tired of hearing the same track again and again. But do it anyway. Upskill your party curation with the Advanced DJ Techniques course DJ Courses Online today.
John Bartmann is a music producer and DJ.