Black Friday Sale now live: www.clubreadydjschool.com/club-ready-dj-course/ I added so much new content and bonus material - I have been devoting so much love and energy to it these past few months, hopefully you like :)
Hey man, hopefully you’ll see this. I was one of your students a couple years ago in 2019 and I got my first show at masif on the mainstage this week. Doing your course and working with you early on definitely contributed to where I am today. Everything you taught me was invaluable to say the least. Hope your doing well legend
@taronhaddow3052 I am taking his class now. The first course has really solidified my fundamentals and cleaned up my freestyle mixes. May I ask what other resources you used to help your craft besides him?
When tracks have been bass swapped and the bass suddenly disappears (like at 7:30) it's always a great opportunity to throw in a gradually increasing reverb to create a build up. When the reverb is nice and full, you can then drop the verb and bring the bass back in to create your own "drop" of sorts. Tension and release.
This dude consistently is putting out top notch instructions on every topic of live DJ'ing you could possibly think of. FOR FREE. Incredible what this man does for his community and for the effort of pushing the art forward
bought your full course recently and am loving going through it at my own pace. The little tips and tricks make all the difference.. love your use of the EQ, so so much to learn and you make is so easy to understand. thanks!!!
I notice a lot of breaks songs use this technique to great effect. Short pause then BOOM the bass changes frequency and the melody changes. This video is gold man keep 'em coming
I never get tired of your lessons. Even if it something im already aware of and working on. Just great work all the time from you! And yes, listening back to your mixes is so important. At this point this is what my whole RUclips channel is for. So I can listen to my own mixes. And you can see the progress in my videos. Its a slow progress. I can probably get more aggressive with my practices, but again. Something I wouldnt be aware of if I didnt record my mixes. Still in a pretty simple space in my skillset. And theres so many great DJs its a little bit intimidating but im learning and growing. Thank you for all the tips and lessons!
Great intro to low EQing. A great thing too is to swap bass at a totally unexpected moment, eg. on the 3rd or 4th beat after the drop, when done well and with the appropriate tracks it just boost the energy further more. As you say, the best way is to practice enough so that it becomes a second nature, and then you just can feel in your guts how and when it should be done. Cheers!
When I started out DJing, I was told never to mix bass over one another, and I took it very literally. Not sure wether I was told wrong or I just misunderstood, but I went the longest time thinking mixing the low EQ was a bad idea! Imagine my surprise when I find this video and my mixes end up sounding so much better after integrating it
Progressive DJ’s are the masters of bass swapping and using treble and rhythm from one track layered into bass and kicks from another. The main point is to understand the structure of the tracks being mixed and don’t view mixing as mix in / mix out at start end of a track. It’s important that mids don’t clash - use the filter on first and second cut over, then use bass swop on final and you get some amazing combinations.
Been binging this channel and I’m addicted. I’ve been DJing for a decade or so but just for fun with some friends. Learned a ton from this channel, incredible knowledge and amazing energy.
Recently back into DJing after a break and came across this channel. Absolutely brilliant. Whether you have experience or not anyone can learn something from these videos. I certainly have. It’s helped me build my knowledge after getting my head around the technology. I learnt to mix and it’s vinyl. Check in regularly and always learn something. Great, thanks you ❤👍
I just wanted to to tell you you are great at what you are doing!! Such exceptional educational talent and there is something about your vibe that is just electrifying and calming at the same time. You’re helping a lot of people. I’m actually not a beginner but watch your videos regardless because you are just a bomb dude. keep it up!
I've been using the hard swap for the 'finale' of my sets for a while; it sets the stage to up the energy a bit. So going from a lesser-bass heavy track with good 'groove' and hard swap to a more prominent bass track almost sounds like you're 'adding' some extra oompf. Got great reactions out of it.
The reason the voice sounded muffled was due to it being a pepper male voice. Don't forget to explain how different voice ranges sit in the eq differently. Ty your a killer teacher for real
Interesting timing for you to drop this video. As this is exactly what I recently come to notice that hard swapping doesn't always produce great results and that sometimes more gentle bass EQ-ing is better (depend on the song progression). At this point for me, discovery and experimentations on my own is probably one of the fun aspect of DJ-ing. But I'm still regularly checking in on channels like this to confirm what I have learned on my own is correct. Can't wait for next video to be dropped and keep up the great work of sharing your DJ knowledge 🙏
Wow good tip! Especially when mixing with tracks that you don’t know that good. It gives more safety to a swap when leaving a bit of the bass and not cutting it completely. And also nice to have more variety, even with a simple thing like a Bass Swap
Thank you. A big thing that helped me is the High Pass Filter two bars before a bass swap. Even if you swap at the right time, I found that some swaps just sounded shallow.
Thanks, Bro. I like your Vibe first off. You seem real as hell and I like that. Keep doing that. I recently started getting into eq mixing and you’re right, you need to be flexible. You’re video was very helpful. Thank You for what you do.
Great topic again! As you said at the beginning, there is time for either, hard or soft swap. I like both. I believe you have to feel which one is right at a certain moment. I love a hard swap, when playing techno, in the middle of the phrase after the main break, while the outgoing track is still kicking and the incoming track is already kicking too (i.e. beyond intro). When the tracks have a totally different tonality. It shifts the playing track to a different mood... Yet again, there is a moment for that too. There is not a dogma saying what and when.
Love this, I also find using high pass filter on both channels over 8 or 16 bar can be a great way to switch the bass over whilst adding a nice build up and transition into the new track! Keep providing the best dj content around 👏
Totally agree, that’s what I’ve been doing - hit the HPF 40-50% on both, kill the bass on both and then on phase bring the bass in on track 2 whilst removing the HPF fully on track 2 but leaving it on 10-20% on track 1 then gradually EQing out. Works well with house tracks if you prefer longer transitions like I do 😊
One of my fave things to do when there's, say, a bar, or half a bar, even, of fill with no kick, is bring the bass in on the incoming track and kill the outgoing channel fader simultaneously at that bar or half bar point, then kill the bass of the outgoing track before slamming the channel fader back up. It sounds like a lot but it's actually really simple, and it saves you having to turn two nobs in opposite directions simultaneously.
Great great great video. Was working on this last night and you’re so on point with maintaining warmth. And through the mid bass too. Where I feel like I need to improve is managing highs across the blend particularly where you get different high hat/share patterns
One of the things I stress with people I am teaching to DJ is that bass is one of the most important things to pay attention to. I usually add memory cues to each track (it's time intensive but worth it) the most important two cue points IMHO are the exiting tracks "wind down" (this usually comes 64 to 128 beats after the drop) now at this point there is still a bassline, I have one more cue point after that one that I call "outro" this 90% of the time is the last 64 to 128 beats that have no bassline and just a beat. As well I want to know where the incoming track's bassline kicks in, for lack of a better term I call this cue point "bass change" and it is 90% of the time after a 64 or 128-beat intro which is usually just a kick and snare where the new bassline starts. With these points added to each track, I can feel more comfortable mixing two tracks I have never mixed together before and timing the bass swap. The algorithm is pretty simple. Has the first track's wind-down period started, if so, where does the bass change happen on the incoming track, I will typically perform the bass swap on that bass change or before the outgoing track reaches its outro. This method works well more than 90% of the time and I also need to be cognizant of the genre, and the energy in these tracks and as you said if leaving the outgoing track playing have we cut out the bass so much that it feels empty (bang-on advice). Like you said not every mix requires a hard bass swap. But I am a huge proponent of marking these special moments and color coding them when I have the time or they are tracks I play a lot. Of course I know them well, I could probably do a decent job without cue points, but why not. Finally I love tools like mix-in-key and platinum notes. Mixing to a complimentary key can be a good tool to help find another track to match and ensuring that all of your tracks have a similar volume always makes a better mix, riding the trim and remember which track is lower or higher in volume is nearly impossible.
100 this ⬆️. If you’re mixing genres with a very uniform structure like house, this is the way to go. Hot cues are so useful in my opinion, I use a traffic light system of 4 hot cue points creating a ‘mix in’ section and a ‘mix out’ section for each track, each 16 bars. The green light is when the bass kicks in proper, and where I do my bass swap and then mix out the previous track from there. The red light is when the track’s outro phase starts and most of the ‘meat’ of the track disappears. What I’ll typically do is loop the last 32 beats up until this red cue to extend the track and allow for more drawn out gradual transitions, which is super helpful if you get tracks that are only 3-4 mins and end abruptly. Better yet, you can set up active loops in record box beforehand that will work on almost all CDJs and save you having to worry about the track running away from you at the end. Totally agree with mixing in key too, it really makes a big difference and gives that seamless feel 👌🏼
Hi, thanks for your comment as it’s super helpful. I’m buying my first pair of decks this week. Can I please clarify your 4 traffic light system cue points? 🙏🏽
Hey Andrew, great vid educational as always! I think however you overlooked one production aspect: not using a recording from the mixer for the audio of the tracks. As it's all recorded through your overhead mic, the bass sounds quite flat and is almost a bit indistinguishable, if the volume isn't cranked. I think for a video about bass, using the recordings from the channel outputs would be much more beneficial for the listener, as it would be easier to understand the "feel" of the bass that you refer to. Of course that means a little bit more production in post, but it's only a short video. Keep up the great content
Your videos are gold Andrew. These videos are the perfect supplement after having taken the course 👌 I love the refined, deeply fundamental style of everything you teach. You can be a really badass DJ without all the flashy tricks and overly technical style. Simple and professional for good sound 😎🤘
Can you do a video on making space for the drop like you said please. All different tactics to exit a bar or two bars before the drop, what to mix in and where, (build ups etc) It really is a powerful thing pulling out a bar before then the big drop hitting and catching the crowd out on quick ones, but I’d love to have this skill down to a tea. I’d love to know the best ways around this and the best ways to blend leading up etc if that makes sense. And great advice on using bass here as always buddy, love how you show us your thought process it helps massively .
If you've done a hard swap and it sounds wrong there is no reason you can't try bringing it back, maybe after one or two bars so it keeps the timing and even do it a couple more times so it sounds intentional, it might event line up with the new track kicking for the final swap. In the first example it sounded good when you bought the bass back which gave me this idea.
I love your uploads, Extremly helpful, right to the point, warm and easy to understand for all skill sets. Thing about EQ mixing is that it can be almost as unique as you are as a human, it's your style, your way, pretty much the same as when to fade in and out. But yeah there are some soft boundries with it so you don't loose energy in your transitions. Not many would be happy with going from full hands up to a repetative boring intro :D. Keep these uploads coming, your helping pave the path of people dreams. 💯👌👍🙌🙌🎧
Thanks for the advice. I still consider myself a beginner because I keep making the same mistake of not just lowering the bass too much of the finishing track but the mids and highs as well. It sounds fine when I'm mixing but when I listen to the mix again I hear the music drop too much. I need to remember not to go down too low so as to make a more seamless dope mix.
Great video as always. Question: with all the swapping of the bass especially when one track is dropping out how do we allow for some periods in our mixes when there is no bass Eg. if a track is dropping out can't we enjoy the bass-less part instead of adding bass to make up for it not being there? I'm talking about the 'tension and release' aspect of dj'ing. Andrew could you do a video about this providing ideas on how we get less and more energy in our sets/mixes. When are good times to break it down?
Great question imo! For my style (old school house) the 'lulls' are probably (generally, not always) more important than keeping the bass going. It's a different way of mixing, but when the bass comes back in on the new tune it gets folk moving again all fresh and excited again after a moment or two to chill a bit.
A good way to do this is to bring your filters up slightly with the filter button off, then for 8-16 beats before you do your swap, turn on the filter button, do your swap gradually behind it, then at the point you'd normally do your hard swap turn your filter off
Thank you for another very good and usefull lesson!!! When playing live I still sometimes do mistakes in this. And once I can hear it, it is already late... And thank you for your positive hope that we can learn it 😁
Hi Andrew, inspirational vid again, makes you think. I also notice a loss of energy with classics after a more recent track, where the bass has much less pounding power, so you can't swop well. Sometimes I try to solve that by looping the bass of the current track, but that's the only solution I know... Great bass tips! Thnx.
My biggest issue is the phrasing and mixing in the new song at the right point, unless I practice and prepare the transition. I find it really hard to get it right when I am just jamming
Would you do a video of how to transition between Djs at the club (with not knowing the song the dj is playing/different genre bpms?) I have my first show coming up, love your videos man!
You're an awesome teacher man, long time listening. Appreciate the work you put it. Also I'd love the track ID for second to last track (with the sirens)?
Depend of the genres too. With Afro House I like to slowly move the eq 'cos the tracks have mostly same rhythm. With Tech House is more quick but you need a powerful track so it doesn't sound weird. Unless you want to change the music to a different genres.
Thank you. We've learned so much from your tips. This is high quality information. I'd like to add some extra info though: On a dj set hot bass swaps are great when you are building the atmosphere for the crowd. It's the time that people are packed and are having their first or second drink. Their feet won't stop moving because of the consistency of the bass between the tracks. So you know that you are in right way to play some good tracks before the party blasters and the jams. Don't overdo it though because people can get tired. Also the context of tech house tracks varies from one to another. When it's time to play the big jams do a drop transition or mix the beginning (or the bridge part) of the track at the end of the other. That way, the lack of bass and the vocal (or the lead) will create space for anticipation. Ηope I've helped some of you.
Basically knowing your music and subsequently your trackselection is the key when Djing. Back in the days when you mixed proper records you'd know your music, you were attached to them and you felt them. Your transition comes from the feeling of the music. There's no real do's don'ts. These days quite a few DJs pop in a stick and fiddle through their 1000 odd mp3 tracks hardly giving themselves time to get acquainted to music. They're just tracks, often the hottest tracks most other DJs are playing as well to be discarded as soon as new stuff is out. So if you're not as gifted, and importantly, not putting in the time and effort, you'll need someone telling you how to handle poor track selection and little musical feeling by rescueing yourself. I guess your tutorial is valuable for many but imho there's so much more and depending on the style there's a lot of space for your personal approach. But again, track selection comes first. Always.
Good evening, very nice video, I wanted to ask a question that may be unrelated, but could you recommend a relatively cheap speaker to connect to my Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 DJ Controller and maybe you could tell me what cables I need like usb, rca to connect them because I've seen a lot of videos and I can't find someone to explain them in detail, I also don't know if the computer plays a role but I have a macbook air, thank you very much for your patience🙂
I'm a customer of yours and love the content. I have not found however should I be using the isolator or eq mode? I'm mixing techno and also groovier techno 125-130 bmp like dubfire style.
Hi man, I love what you are doing on this channel. It is really helpful because it seems like your advice can be really be used in an event because we see you mixing without preparation. I love to mix house and techno and when I am practicing. I often have the same problem. Both track does not have the same keys. If there is only the kick and the snare the mix sounds quite good but when the bassline and the melody are mixed it is really awful. So now when there is one tone of difference between the two tracks I use the key shift. But I don't find a cool way to change back the good key at the end of my mix. Do you have some tips to mix track with differents keys ?
Long time coming with this response!! I have one for you, though I’m sure you’ve already figured it out. Key shifts are a fundamental part of my mixing; but here’s the key- I’m not key matching. Often times key match throws the song wayyy out of key so it sound terrible. I actually key shift so they are harmonically similar! Ie; key shift so you are within 1 harmonic range of the other song! Usually it only takes one to two key shifts to get in range!!
It's true- on the swap you have to be careful about taking the bass all the way out of the track (especially if not much else is going on). Also, I would not swap if the out going track has a vocal on it, swap right after the vocal ends (or eq the vocal down first to lessen its impact). Great video! I have a question I have been meaning to ask- I just bought the Xone 96, it has four band eq. How do you handle that with the eq tree? I have been rolling them in one by one (depending on ear) but that takes a bit of time and makes it difficult to pull off a quicker mix. Between the four band eq and the powerful filter on that mixer, I have barely been using effects in my mixes at all. I fell like they are not needed so much, since I have so much control to sculpt the sound. How do you handle the tree with the four band? Thanks!
Vids always good, why I got your course.. In this one I'm a bit confused with the phrasing. You start the intro of B track at the verse of A track, which then goes into a breakdown when B is starting a verse. I'm I seeing this right? Is that still "correct" song phrasing? Thanks man
Hey man. To be honest I'm having a hard time hearing the actual music while you are giving the nice examples. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like you are talking louder because of your speaker in your room. But then the microphone picks up your voice harder than the speaker output in the room. A way to fix that is to overlay the recorded output of the mixer on top of your microphone pick that picks up your voice? Then you can play with the volume of the recorded audio output to find a nice spot where you can hear both the music and your voice comfortably :) I got a JBL Partybox 300, so it's not like I'm using simple plasticky laptop speakers ;)
If you knew more about phase cancellation and how serious it usually is in low end, you'd probably never recommend slow/soft bass EQ swapping with bass mixing between two records. You can easily create an unstable, phasing, ugly mess of two kickdrums (and basslines) layered on top of each other and unpredictably canceling each other. (except situations where there's not much bass at all in one of the tracks). Sometimes maybe slight highpass filtering (to leave some vocal warmth etc. in the mix, but get rid of subbass) would work better than playing with low shelf EQ
It's weird, I start filming and I immediately get into it, I feel like it's me doing my thing, comes naturally but learnt o let go of perfectionism a long time ago - my videos are far from perfect, but they get the message across :)
TOP TIP! - Dude hello, how are u?!, I have the same CDJ 900nxs and i can't see the hot cue points created in rekordbox... u have any video tutorial o can u tell me plz how do you do it plz?, cheers from Argentina :)
Black Friday Sale now live: www.clubreadydjschool.com/club-ready-dj-course/
I added so much new content and bonus material - I have been devoting so much love and energy to it these past few months, hopefully you like :)
Hey man, hopefully you’ll see this. I was one of your students a couple years ago in 2019 and I got my first show at masif on the mainstage this week. Doing your course and working with you early on definitely contributed to where I am today. Everything you taught me was invaluable to say the least. Hope your doing well legend
Congratulations!!!! That's amazing.
@taronhaddow3052 I am taking his class now. The first course has really solidified my fundamentals and cleaned up my freestyle mixes. May I ask what other resources you used to help your craft besides him?
🎉🎉🎉
@@averygartner6516what course did you take
When tracks have been bass swapped and the bass suddenly disappears (like at 7:30) it's always a great opportunity to throw in a gradually increasing reverb to create a build up. When the reverb is nice and full, you can then drop the verb and bring the bass back in to create your own "drop" of sorts. Tension and release.
Nice, thank you!
Facts
This dude consistently is putting out top notch instructions on every topic of live DJ'ing you could possibly think of. FOR FREE. Incredible what this man does for his community and for the effort of pushing the art forward
Agreed, his passion is genuinely inspiring!
Man your positive energy is absolutely infectious!!
bought your full course recently and am loving going through it at my own pace. The little tips and tricks make all the difference.. love your use of the EQ, so so much to learn and you make is so easy to understand. thanks!!!
I notice a lot of breaks songs use this technique to great effect. Short pause then BOOM the bass changes frequency and the melody changes. This video is gold man keep 'em coming
Bought your course a couple of weeks ago! This was the one thing I needed a little more help on. Appreciate you Andrew
I never get tired of your lessons. Even if it something im already aware of and working on. Just great work all the time from you! And yes, listening back to your mixes is so important. At this point this is what my whole RUclips channel is for. So I can listen to my own mixes. And you can see the progress in my videos. Its a slow progress. I can probably get more aggressive with my practices, but again. Something I wouldnt be aware of if I didnt record my mixes. Still in a pretty simple space in my skillset. And theres so many great DJs its a little bit intimidating but im learning and growing.
Thank you for all the tips and lessons!
What a humble and talented man is Fisher... Keeps killin it on festivals and now we have these nice tutorials. Cheers m8 🎣
Great intro to low EQing. A great thing too is to swap bass at a totally unexpected moment, eg. on the 3rd or 4th beat after the drop, when done well and with the appropriate tracks it just boost the energy further more. As you say, the best way is to practice enough so that it becomes a second nature, and then you just can feel in your guts how and when it should be done. Cheers!
When I started out DJing, I was told never to mix bass over one another, and I took it very literally. Not sure wether I was told wrong or I just misunderstood, but I went the longest time thinking mixing the low EQ was a bad idea! Imagine my surprise when I find this video and my mixes end up sounding so much better after integrating it
@@Merlijn83I was told to leave the highs alone in trance. Bullshit. I use them loads when I mix😊
Progressive DJ’s are the masters of bass swapping and using treble and rhythm from one track layered into bass and kicks from another. The main point is to understand the structure of the tracks being mixed and don’t view mixing as mix in / mix out at start end of a track. It’s important that mids don’t clash - use the filter on first and second cut over, then use bass swop on final and you get some amazing combinations.
Been binging this channel and I’m addicted. I’ve been DJing for a decade or so but just for fun with some friends. Learned a ton from this channel, incredible knowledge and amazing energy.
Recently back into DJing after a break and came across this channel. Absolutely brilliant. Whether you have experience or not anyone can learn something from these videos. I certainly have. It’s helped me build my knowledge after getting my head around the technology. I learnt to mix and it’s vinyl. Check in regularly and always learn something. Great, thanks you ❤👍
I just wanted to to tell you you are great at what you are doing!! Such exceptional educational talent and there is something about your vibe that is just electrifying and calming at the same time. You’re helping a lot of people. I’m actually not a beginner but watch your videos regardless because you are just a bomb dude. keep it up!
you seem like a really genuinely positive person. hats off to you!
I've been using the hard swap for the 'finale' of my sets for a while; it sets the stage to up the energy a bit. So going from a lesser-bass heavy track with good 'groove' and hard swap to a more prominent bass track almost sounds like you're 'adding' some extra oompf. Got great reactions out of it.
Glad to see you back Andy. First the floods then COVID. I learned everything I know from you so I'm glad to see you've bounced back!
The reason the voice sounded muffled was due to it being a pepper male voice. Don't forget to explain how different voice ranges sit in the eq differently. Ty your a killer teacher for real
Bro looks so happy to share this information with us
Interesting timing for you to drop this video. As this is exactly what I recently come to notice that hard swapping doesn't always produce great results and that sometimes more gentle bass EQ-ing is better (depend on the song progression).
At this point for me, discovery and experimentations on my own is probably one of the fun aspect of DJ-ing. But I'm still regularly checking in on channels like this to confirm what I have learned on my own is correct. Can't wait for next video to be dropped and keep up the great work of sharing your DJ knowledge 🙏
Wow good tip! Especially when mixing with tracks that you don’t know that good. It gives more safety to a swap when leaving a bit of the bass and not cutting it completely. And also nice to have more variety, even with a simple thing like a Bass Swap
Thank you. A big thing that helped me is the High Pass Filter two bars before a bass swap. Even if you swap at the right time, I found that some swaps just sounded shallow.
Thanks, Bro. I like your Vibe first off. You seem real as hell and I like that. Keep doing that. I recently started getting into eq mixing and you’re right, you need to be flexible. You’re video was very helpful. Thank You for what you do.
I literally, was just trying to figure out how to do better bass swapping cause I haven't been so strong in it. Thank you so much!
Great topic again! As you said at the beginning, there is time for either, hard or soft swap. I like both. I believe you have to feel which one is right at a certain moment. I love a hard swap, when playing techno, in the middle of the phrase after the main break, while the outgoing track is still kicking and the incoming track is already kicking too (i.e. beyond intro). When the tracks have a totally different tonality. It shifts the playing track to a different mood... Yet again, there is a moment for that too. There is not a dogma saying what and when.
Heard you playing sorry I’m late by kollektiv turmstrasse and I smiled instantly, that song is golden
Love this, I also find using high pass filter on both channels over 8 or 16 bar can be a great way to switch the bass over whilst adding a nice build up and transition into the new track! Keep providing the best dj content around 👏
Totally agree, that’s what I’ve been doing - hit the HPF 40-50% on both, kill the bass on both and then on phase bring the bass in on track 2 whilst removing the HPF fully on track 2 but leaving it on 10-20% on track 1 then gradually EQing out. Works well with house tracks if you prefer longer transitions like I do 😊
I love your style of teaching 💕 you're so chilled and explain things in such a way that it's so easy to follow 😊 I have your full course and love it!!
Thanks so much I really appreciate this
Dude I love your positive energy and just wanted to complement you on your awesome teaching skills. Awesome stuff
Awesome! Thank you!
Your videos are always informative. Keep it up bro
One of my fave things to do when there's, say, a bar, or half a bar, even, of fill with no kick, is bring the bass in on the incoming track and kill the outgoing channel fader simultaneously at that bar or half bar point, then kill the bass of the outgoing track before slamming the channel fader back up. It sounds like a lot but it's actually really simple, and it saves you having to turn two nobs in opposite directions simultaneously.
I do that too depending on what I'm playing 🎉
Great great great video. Was working on this last night and you’re so on point with maintaining warmth. And through the mid bass too. Where I feel like I need to improve is managing highs across the blend particularly where you get different high hat/share patterns
One of the things I stress with people I am teaching to DJ is that bass is one of the most important things to pay attention to. I usually add memory cues to each track (it's time intensive but worth it) the most important two cue points IMHO are the exiting tracks "wind down" (this usually comes 64 to 128 beats after the drop) now at this point there is still a bassline, I have one more cue point after that one that I call "outro" this 90% of the time is the last 64 to 128 beats that have no bassline and just a beat. As well I want to know where the incoming track's bassline kicks in, for lack of a better term I call this cue point "bass change" and it is 90% of the time after a 64 or 128-beat intro which is usually just a kick and snare where the new bassline starts. With these points added to each track, I can feel more comfortable mixing two tracks I have never mixed together before and timing the bass swap. The algorithm is pretty simple. Has the first track's wind-down period started, if so, where does the bass change happen on the incoming track, I will typically perform the bass swap on that bass change or before the outgoing track reaches its outro. This method works well more than 90% of the time and I also need to be cognizant of the genre, and the energy in these tracks and as you said if leaving the outgoing track playing have we cut out the bass so much that it feels empty (bang-on advice). Like you said not every mix requires a hard bass swap. But I am a huge proponent of marking these special moments and color coding them when I have the time or they are tracks I play a lot. Of course I know them well, I could probably do a decent job without cue points, but why not. Finally I love tools like mix-in-key and platinum notes. Mixing to a complimentary key can be a good tool to help find another track to match and ensuring that all of your tracks have a similar volume always makes a better mix, riding the trim and remember which track is lower or higher in volume is nearly impossible.
100 this ⬆️. If you’re mixing genres with a very uniform structure like house, this is the way to go. Hot cues are so useful in my opinion, I use a traffic light system of 4 hot cue points creating a ‘mix in’ section and a ‘mix out’ section for each track, each 16 bars. The green light is when the bass kicks in proper, and where I do my bass swap and then mix out the previous track from there. The red light is when the track’s outro phase starts and most of the ‘meat’ of the track disappears. What I’ll typically do is loop the last 32 beats up until this red cue to extend the track and allow for more drawn out gradual transitions, which is super helpful if you get tracks that are only 3-4 mins and end abruptly. Better yet, you can set up active loops in record box beforehand that will work on almost all CDJs and save you having to worry about the track running away from you at the end. Totally agree with mixing in key too, it really makes a big difference and gives that seamless feel 👌🏼
Hi, thanks for your comment as it’s super helpful. I’m buying my first pair of decks this week. Can I please clarify your 4 traffic light system cue points? 🙏🏽
Hey Andrew, great vid educational as always! I think however you overlooked one production aspect: not using a recording from the mixer for the audio of the tracks. As it's all recorded through your overhead mic, the bass sounds quite flat and is almost a bit indistinguishable, if the volume isn't cranked. I think for a video about bass, using the recordings from the channel outputs would be much more beneficial for the listener, as it would be easier to understand the "feel" of the bass that you refer to. Of course that means a little bit more production in post, but it's only a short video. Keep up the great content
totally agree with this, thanks for the video!
such a good tip to keep some low eq in there, I wondered why it sounds so empty and robotic, far more energy now! Thanks :)
Your videos are gold Andrew. These videos are the perfect supplement after having taken the course 👌
I love the refined, deeply fundamental style of everything you teach. You can be a really badass DJ without all the flashy tricks and overly technical style.
Simple and professional for good sound 😎🤘
Can you do a video on making space for the drop like you said please. All different tactics to exit a bar or two bars before the drop, what to mix in and where, (build ups etc) It really is a powerful thing pulling out a bar before then the big drop hitting and catching the crowd out on quick ones, but I’d love to have this skill down to a tea. I’d love to know the best ways around this and the best ways to blend leading up etc if that makes sense.
And great advice on using bass here as always buddy, love how you show us your thought process it helps massively .
If you've done a hard swap and it sounds wrong there is no reason you can't try bringing it back, maybe after one or two bars so it keeps the timing and even do it a couple more times so it sounds intentional, it might event line up with the new track kicking for the final swap. In the first example it sounded good when you bought the bass back which gave me this idea.
Big up Andrew I took your course almost two years ago and I still check in always a well explained 👊
The only thing about *not* doing hard swaps is that the tracks have to be in key for it to work, or at least in complementary keys.
No necesariamente amigo. Esa es la magia del hard swaps ✨
@@sergiocamacho9510 mmm i think they need to be in key amigo. Bassline should always be in key with the melody and drums:)
I love your uploads, Extremly helpful, right to the point, warm and easy to understand for all skill sets. Thing about EQ mixing is that it can be almost as unique as you are as a human, it's your style, your way, pretty much the same as when to fade in and out. But yeah there are some soft boundries with it so you don't loose energy in your transitions. Not many would be happy with going from full hands up to a repetative boring intro :D.
Keep these uploads coming, your helping pave the path of people dreams. 💯👌👍🙌🙌🎧
Best vibe on dj tutorials on youtube, or even tutorials in general!! 🙌
Been looking to get more creative with low-end EQ mixing. Thanks for this! Another great video :)
GREAT STUFF MAN I've really been learning a lot off your videos. Just started, I'm moving Into learning Beat matching x Transitions now.
I think a big thing to mention here also is using EQ in isolator mode or not. Those eq knobs become way more sensitive
Thanks for the advice. I still consider myself a beginner because I keep making the same mistake of not just lowering the bass too much of the finishing track but the mids and highs as well. It sounds fine when I'm mixing but when I listen to the mix again I hear the music drop too much. I need to remember not to go down too low so as to make a more seamless dope mix.
Thanx man that was hepful af finally someone tells when to use what not just how to use it answers many of my questions
Great video as always. Question: with all the swapping of the bass especially when one track is dropping out how do we allow for some periods in our mixes when there is no bass Eg. if a track is dropping out can't we enjoy the bass-less part instead of adding bass to make up for it not being there? I'm talking about the 'tension and release' aspect of dj'ing. Andrew could you do a video about this providing ideas on how we get less and more energy in our sets/mixes. When are good times to break it down?
Great question imo! For my style (old school house) the 'lulls' are probably (generally, not always) more important than keeping the bass going. It's a different way of mixing, but when the bass comes back in on the new tune it gets folk moving again all fresh and excited again after a moment or two to chill a bit.
Just search 'Limmy DJ high pass filter' hehehe
I’ll sometimes take the bass out then add the low end of the new track after 2 bars
A good way to do this is to bring your filters up slightly with the filter button off, then for 8-16 beats before you do your swap, turn on the filter button, do your swap gradually behind it, then at the point you'd normally do your hard swap turn your filter off
You're amazing, man! Great enregy! Thanks for all the support!
Absolutely love your personable style and infectious giddiness about DJing. Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks. 🙂
Always had these questions about the EQs. Thank you for sharing.
Hello, I am very impressed with your mixing techniques and music selection. Could i ask you if you could post the titles and artists as well. Thanks
Thank you for another very good and usefull lesson!!! When playing live I still sometimes do mistakes in this. And once I can hear it, it is already late...
And thank you for your positive hope that we can learn it 😁
The king is back !!!!!
Hi Andrew, inspirational vid again, makes you think. I also notice a loss of energy with classics after a more recent track, where the bass has much less pounding power, so you can't swop well.
Sometimes I try to solve that by looping the bass of the current track, but that's the only solution I know... Great bass tips! Thnx.
What a really engaging teacher. ❤
Awwww this is encouraging to hear thanks man
You are such and sweet kind soul. Had to subscribe. You’re informative and really inspiring!!
Love all these videos and has helped me endlessly. Thankyou for you efforts brother
Thank you so so much I really appreciate this :)
Love all of your videos mate! absolute smashing it, keep em coming 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Legend!
I love how he's always smiling. Love watching vedeeyos~!
just stumbled on your videos, and absolutely loving it!!
Love your bubbly energy and explanations
My biggest issue is the phrasing and mixing in the new song at the right point, unless I practice and prepare the transition. I find it really hard to get it right when I am just jamming
Hey Andrew, could you put the songs of your videos in the description? That would be amazing thank you!!
Man, you are always so positive) I like the way you do it))
I would 100 Percent recommend this course
Love your vids and energy! Going to buy your course soon!
That'd be awesome for you and me ;)
Always providing good lessons legend! Thank you so much. Cheers
Would you do a video of how to transition between Djs at the club (with not knowing the song the dj is playing/different genre bpms?) I have my first show coming up, love your videos man!
You are extremely good at explaining things … thanks
You're an awesome teacher man, long time listening. Appreciate the work you put it.
Also I'd love the track ID for second to last track (with the sirens)?
Dom Dolla - San Frandisco
Depend of the genres too. With Afro House I like to slowly move the eq 'cos the tracks have mostly same rhythm. With Tech House is more quick but you need a powerful track so it doesn't sound weird. Unless you want to change the music to a different genres.
Thank you. We've learned so much from your tips. This is high quality information. I'd like to add some extra info though:
On a dj set hot bass swaps are great when you are building the atmosphere for the crowd. It's the time that people are packed and are having their first or second drink. Their feet won't stop moving because of the consistency of the bass between the tracks. So you know that you are in right way to play some good tracks before the party blasters and the jams. Don't overdo it though because people can get tired. Also the context of tech house tracks varies from one to another. When it's time to play the big jams do a drop transition or mix the beginning (or the bridge part) of the track at the end of the other. That way, the lack of bass and the vocal (or the lead) will create space for anticipation.
Ηope I've helped some of you.
Basically knowing your music and subsequently your trackselection is the key when Djing. Back in the days when you mixed proper records you'd know your music, you were attached to them and you felt them. Your transition comes from the feeling of the music. There's no real do's don'ts. These days quite a few DJs pop in a stick and fiddle through their 1000 odd mp3 tracks hardly giving themselves time to get acquainted to music. They're just tracks, often the hottest tracks most other DJs are playing as well to be discarded as soon as new stuff is out. So if you're not as gifted, and importantly, not putting in the time and effort, you'll need someone telling you how to handle poor track selection and little musical feeling by rescueing yourself. I guess your tutorial is valuable for many but imho there's so much more and depending on the style there's a lot of space for your personal approach. But again, track selection comes first. Always.
Good evening, very nice video, I wanted to ask a question that may be unrelated, but could you recommend a relatively cheap speaker to connect to my Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 DJ Controller and maybe you could tell me what cables I need like usb, rca to connect them because I've seen a lot of videos and I can't find someone to explain them in detail, I also don't know if the computer plays a role but I have a macbook air, thank you very much for your patience🙂
I should do a video on this.. kind of hard to explain here..
Can you i.d. the first two tracks you used? Thanks !
I'm a customer of yours and love the content. I have not found however should I be using the isolator or eq mode? I'm mixing techno and also groovier techno 125-130 bmp like dubfire style.
I recently did a short on my channel called ISO VS EQ, check it out as it answers better than I can here :)
Hi man, I love what you are doing on this channel. It is really helpful because it seems like your advice can be really be used in an event because we see you mixing without preparation.
I love to mix house and techno and when I am practicing. I often have the same problem. Both track does not have the same keys. If there is only the kick and the snare the mix sounds quite good but when the bassline and the melody are mixed it is really awful. So now when there is one tone of difference between the two tracks I use the key shift. But I don't find a cool way to change back the good key at the end of my mix. Do you have some tips to mix track with differents keys ?
Long time coming with this response!! I have one for you, though I’m sure you’ve already figured it out. Key shifts are a fundamental part of my mixing; but here’s the key- I’m not key matching. Often times key match throws the song wayyy out of key so it sound terrible. I actually key shift so they are harmonically similar! Ie; key shift so you are within 1 harmonic range of the other song! Usually it only takes one to two key shifts to get in range!!
Right on. I’m definitely guilty of this here and there 😐😬
Wow!
Imagine if we had this help back in the late eighties early nineties ❤
Hi. Would you consider making a video like How to mix psytrance?
Thanks! Great video as always!
Love your work. Thanks 👊
It's true- on the swap you have to be careful about taking the bass all the way out of the track (especially if not much else is going on). Also, I would not swap if the out going track has a vocal on it, swap right after the vocal ends (or eq the vocal down first to lessen its impact). Great video!
I have a question I have been meaning to ask- I just bought the Xone 96, it has four band eq. How do you handle that with the eq tree? I have been rolling them in one by one (depending on ear) but that takes a bit of time and makes it difficult to pull off a quicker mix. Between the four band eq and the powerful filter on that mixer, I have barely been using effects in my mixes at all. I fell like they are not needed so much, since I have so much control to sculpt the sound. How do you handle the tree with the four band? Thanks!
Vids always good, why I got your course..
In this one I'm a bit confused with the phrasing. You start the intro of B track at the verse of A track, which then goes into a breakdown when B is starting a verse. I'm I seeing this right? Is that still "correct" song phrasing?
Thanks man
u need to boost the whole level on ur uploads.
My fav video so far
Amazing glad your better ❤
Hey man. To be honest I'm having a hard time hearing the actual music while you are giving the nice examples. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like you are talking louder because of your speaker in your room. But then the microphone picks up your voice harder than the speaker output in the room. A way to fix that is to overlay the recorded output of the mixer on top of your microphone pick that picks up your voice? Then you can play with the volume of the recorded audio output to find a nice spot where you can hear both the music and your voice comfortably :)
I got a JBL Partybox 300, so it's not like I'm using simple plasticky laptop speakers ;)
Good stuff man.some points to work on,cheers xxxx
If you knew more about phase cancellation and how serious it usually is in low end, you'd probably never recommend slow/soft bass EQ swapping with bass mixing between two records.
You can easily create an unstable, phasing, ugly mess of two kickdrums (and basslines) layered on top of each other and unpredictably canceling each other. (except situations where there's not much bass at all in one of the tracks).
Sometimes maybe slight highpass filtering (to leave some vocal warmth etc. in the mix, but get rid of subbass) would work better than playing with low shelf EQ
We are our own biggest critics, lol. Good upload today
Your the best Andrew!!!
Awesome video 🔥 is like advanced tree advanced! wonder what you could do with a 4-band eq
I wish I had a Permanent-GRIN like yours in most/all your videos 😃
It's weird, I start filming and I immediately get into it, I feel like it's me doing my thing, comes naturally but learnt o let go of perfectionism a long time ago - my videos are far from perfect, but they get the message across :)
Nice stuff I'm new to the channel trying to keep up a bit much little confusion what do I find 101 help
TOP TIP! - Dude hello, how are u?!, I have the same CDJ 900nxs and i can't see the hot cue points created in rekordbox... u have any video tutorial o can u tell me plz how do you do it plz?, cheers from Argentina :)
The CDJ900NXS don't display hot cues, memory cues only. This is ok, it makes mixing more about parts than showing off! More traditional style mixing
she gives some valuable information!
when you want to do a subtle bass transition, would you beat match the kick in phase or out when the track kicks are similar?
Always mix in phrase :)