newb DJ needs help/ideas

[maylortaylor]

So i have my first DJ set coming up and the mix of music will be chill(think emancipator) with electro-funk(boombox/daftpunk)...if you have any band ideas, please let me know.

But what i'm hear for is to ask your help with transition ideas. I'm using Mixed In Key for my songs, so i have the hamonic mixing codes and the Bpm on each song, very helpful, but i am having trouble finding ways to smoothly transition between songs.

I have 3 sends - reverb, simple delay, ping pong delay - obviously throwing delay on my track to fade it out + using 'fade to grey' helps a lot but i need more variety.

On my two tracks (A & B) i have a high pass and low pass filter assigned, and a low and hi cut assigned. So i have all the tools..just need tips.

Most videos that i've seen dont give me a good enough idea of what to do. Share all your knowledge please!

[maylortaylor]

Some more info about my set...

Track 1 = Midi Drum Group
> Group = Kick,Snare,Hats,Cymbal(audio file)
..this track is pretty standard but i'm curious what your thoughts are on separating the kick,snar,hats,etc into separate tracks, or should i just build a single drum rack for the set? pros / cons?
______________________
Track 2 = Audio drum
> just audio loops such as bongos, and shakers and such that all have follow actions

___________________________
Track 3 = Track A
> this is obvious, dj style track A
____________________________
Track 4 = Track B
>this is obvious, dj style track b

____________________________
Track 5-8 = midi instruments
> i use these to play live along to the tracks using my launchpad and the amazing launchpad95 script.


Any critiques or suggestions would be helpful.

[mikb]

You create smooth passages from one song to another by, taking the phrasing from the track sections being played into account as much as key, beat mixing these in such a way that you "present" the new track on top of the playing track by fade in, in a musical fashion (phrasing), and then fading out the older track at some point.

I usually do 30 seconds to 2-3 minutes transitions, sometimes looping a part of one of the tracks and/or removing bass with EQ and using only bass form the next track on top of the current. I always try and let the music tell me what I want to hear next and I play around.

It all depends what makes sense musically for you of course.

I'd suggest that you do not use effects on transitions unless you truly feel musically motivated to do that. While I can imagine using effects such as delays and reverbs or whatever on material at some point also on transitions I feel the chances for effects messing up the otherwise good music is quite high.

I should also mention I don't use Live for DJing, rather I use Traktor (or just decks). But I'm looking into using both mixed via the hardware mixer from 2 different machines. Either manually synced or with Live as master (as it sucks being a sync slave).

[mikb]

Some more info about my set...

Track 1 = Midi Drum Group
> Group = Kick,Snare,Hats,Cymbal(audio file)
..this track is pretty standard but i'm curious what your thoughts are on separating the kick,snar,hats,etc into separate tracks, or should i just build a single drum rack for the set? pros / cons?.

Well, with these parts of your own you need to think and as a producer, mixing all your parts live. If you feel you can control all the parts fine on different tracks, then make sure you make them work together vs the other audio tracks by subbing them and using some compressor, like the Glue compressor, make them work together as on unit also when you play around a bit muting and unmuting different drums. A bit like mixing live played music, if you do that.

Just let your creativity guide you and have fun. And practice just like if you're in a band. When you really know your stuff it's even more fun for everyone.