Wen learning to mix

[connor]

wot is the best style to learn with?

my mate says i should do it wiv hard house as its easiest to get a beat match to and jus gernerally easy to mix... but i really aint the biggest lover of hard house at all....

i love hardcore and hardstyle and started buyin those records... but he suggested i learn wiv hardhouse as sum times i struggle to get a beat match and bring it in at the right place...

or perhaps mixing is jus not for me who knows....

[EmotionComplex]

well idealy you want to be learning with the styles of music you are into, sure learning how to beatmatch will probobly be simplified with 2 simple dance tracks but your not learning anything other then beatmatching there.

i say if your around your mates or something then have a little practise with there music but at home stick to the music you want to mix for if you get me, as that way you will be picking up the beatmatching skills you need but at the same time learning how to bring together the music you are into and how to structure your sets etc :).

[DJTrubass]

if you learn to mix with harder to mix tunes, then you will only benifit from it..

[Yoshimitsu]

if you like hardstyle, why not buy some hard trance as thats usually fairly simple in structure to mix and is easier to learn than hardstyle where your gettin stitched up all over the place

[basslinejunkie]

just learn with the music you like,no point learning with hard house when you dont even like it like you said,poinless really m8 ;) just keep buyin the stuff you like,practice as much as you can and youl be beatmatching in no time

[Voorheez]

I disagree, I'd recommend some normal uplifting trance to begin with, even if you only use the same 5 records or so. It's the easiest genre if you ask me as it's a nice speed (house is a little slow which makes it a bit harder to learn) and there are no complicated structures. Learning to mix with hardstyle would be virtually impossible if you ask me, the structures are just all over the place, and the basslines are unforgiving.

[Evil G]

it doesn't matter what style you start with. whatever style you play, figure out what the key sounds are, and focus on listening for those in the mix, and ignoring everything else.

mixing the kick drum can actually be difficult if the kicks of the two records sound alike, especially with slower, fatter beats, like house, because your beats will have to go waaaay off before the kicks stop overlapping and you notice the difference.

in breakbeat or drum & bass, it's easiest to mix if you listen for the snare drum on the back beat. in 4/4 styles the ride cymbol is usually pretty easy to pick out.

basically, for each mix, pick a sound that you can easily identify from each record, then listen like crazy to keep track of those two sounds. really try to keep them seperated in your head, even when they are coming out of the speakers together. the more you practice, the more you can listen for without getting lost in the mix.

[Voorheez]

Am I really the only one who finds bass size, speed and sequences a lot different throughout genres? I think it matters a great deal, I sure as hell wouldn't want to learn to mix with drum n bass or gabber, because you're just making it far more difficult for yourself.

[Yoshimitsu]

Am I really the only one who finds bass size, speed and sequences a lot different throughout genres? I think it matters a great deal, I sure as hell wouldn't want to learn to mix with drum n bass or gabber, because you're just making it far more difficult for yourself.

no i agree with that. definitely would be harder to learn with hardstyle for ecample

[Evil G]

as long as there are clear and distinct sounds you can pick out a record is a record. if one record is 250ms behind the other, you have to adjust it by the same amount, no matter what the tempo of the music is.

[Yoshimitsu]

as long as there are clear and distinct sounds you can pick out a record is a record. if one record is 250ms behind the other, you have to adjust it by the same amount, no matter what the tempo of the music is.

yeh thats just for beatmatching. wot about the different structures of tunes in hardstlye?

[Evil G]

some genres use very predicatable formulas, some don't, but i think it's better to know your individual records inside out. there is always a range within each genre anyway. instead of grabbing two records at random, and then discovering in the mix that the basslines clobber each other and the changes don't line up, you can do things like mix a simple beat with a complex one. you should really have an idea of what it's going to sound like before you even put the record on the platter. place your sounds intentionally instead of mashing them together and hoping for the best.

i've seen lots of drum & bass dj's do that. two rollers together would be a nightmare, but two steppers together is boring, so they will mix a roller and a stepper, and magic happens.

[piginabush]

I would say definately learn with Hard Trance..... the natural progression from that is to go to Hardstyle so should be a doddle

[connor]

hmmm sum of the points u guyz made there where a bit to deep and i got a bit lost.... guess i'll jus keep practising and eventually it might come to me....

i ave enough problem workin out whther to speed a record up or down.... i think its jus me i wasnt invented to be a multi tasker

[DJ SPUDIE]

hmmm sum of the points u guyz made there where a bit to deep and i got a bit lost.... guess i'll jus keep practising and eventually it might come to me....

i ave enough problem workin out whther to speed a record up or down.... i think its jus me i wasnt invented to be a multi tasker

Nah m8 everyone that has just started to mix would of had that problem, I know that I did. Keep at it m8.

[connor]

yeah i will do... its jus nice to do wen at hoem bored and play sum choons...

plus at afterparties then u decide wot choons get played ;) :lol:

i aint ever lookin to take it serious or anythin its jus summit i'd liek to be able to do

[DJ SPUDIE]

yeah i will do... its jus nice to do wen at hoem bored and play sum choons...

plus at afterparties then u decide wot choons get played ;) :lol:

i aint ever lookin to take it serious or anythin its jus summit i'd liek to be able to do

Once youve started theres no stopping. Been mixing around 1yr 1/2 - 2 yrs and there is no way im giving it up

[Voorheez]

some genres use very predicatable formulas, some don't, but i think it's better to know your individual records inside out. there is always a range within each genre anyway. instead of grabbing two records at random, and then discovering in the mix that the basslines clobber each other and the changes don't line up, you can do things like mix a simple beat with a complex one. you should really have an idea of what it's going to sound like before you even put the record on the platter. place your sounds intentionally instead of mashing them together and hoping for the best.

i've seen lots of drum & bass dj's do that. two rollers together would be a nightmare, but two steppers together is boring, so they will mix a roller and a stepper, and magic happens.

I think you need to keep in mind that this is for someone to learn the bare basics only. As Connor himself says, it's all gone a bit above his head for the level he's at now.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should play music they don't necessarily like, i'm just saying that it makes sense to use simple records for say the first fortnight after buying decks, just to get the basics of beatmatching learnt, and in my opinion trance is the best for that.

After the basics are there, then you can go on to discover sequences of the genre you want to play.

[DJ SPUDIE]

some genres use very predicatable formulas, some don't, but i think it's better to know your individual records inside out. there is always a range within each genre anyway. instead of grabbing two records at random, and then discovering in the mix that the basslines clobber each other and the changes don't line up, you can do things like mix a simple beat with a complex one. you should really have an idea of what it's going to sound like before you even put the record on the platter. place your sounds intentionally instead of mashing them together and hoping for the best.

i've seen lots of drum & bass dj's do that. two rollers together would be a nightmare, but two steppers together is boring, so they will mix a roller and a stepper, and magic happens.

I think you need to keep in mind that this is for someone to learn the bare basics only. As Connor himself says, it's all gone a bit above his head for the level he's at now.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should play music they don't necessarily like, i'm just saying that it makes sense to use simple records for say the first fortnight after buying decks, just to get the basics of beatmatching learnt, and in my opinion trance is the best for that.

After the basics are there, then you can go on to discover sequences of the genre you want to play.

Yeah trance is the easyist to mix, then go up to the hard trance, and then hard style. imo
But dont do what people tell you to just discover what you wont for yourself ;)

[connor]

hmm well not had a mix for a a week or so now as i left me choons at a mates house ****in miles away and cant get em back as he on holiday lol....

but ill keep practisin i guess itll come eventually.... jus the beat matchin i still sturgle wiv even though its like the most basic thing