Boat Party on Sydney Harbour, nothing better than Australian sun, music and friends
In this post I want to go over the bread and butter of being a DJ, how to best get your music ready and out there to be heard by friends, family and others who might like your taste in music.
What is the difference between a live and studio DJ mix?
Studio mixes are done on your computer or music device with helpful aids to get your mix lined up and sounding professional. While a live mix is you on a set of decks and can be recorded at home (bedroom mix) or recorded at an event you are playing at. You can find live mixes from professional DJ online, check here and here for reference, these are videos but you get the point :)
When handing our your mixes, it is best to have a mix of studio and live sets ready on your page (soundcloud/mixcloud etc). Promoters often want to hear what you are like when you play live, but studio mixes are great for learning with and creating cohesive mixes for yourself that don't require the live mixing skills that will come later as you progress as a DJ.
What I will be using for this tutorial:
- Ableton Live 9 with standard plugins. If you need a copy of this software they have a free trial
- Basic DJ Template I made for this tutorial here
- Some music you love that you want to mix. DJ friendly music is best found at beatport
First step, set the BPM and import your set list.
For a guide on warping your tracks (getting unruly tracks on beat) get [here]
(https://www.ableton.com/en/pages/the_bridge/tour/lesson/the_fastest_way_to_warp_a_track/)
Here I have laid out my music in the way I would like it to progress in the mix, I use track 3 channel for samples/layering, but lets leave that for another time.
Once I have laid out the music I want I press tab and drag all the music onto the timeline.
From here we will have to drag our music onto the markers we think will turn it into a cohesive mix. When doing this just think and or listen back to it. Two basic concepts are, I either want to make this sound completely seemless from track to track, or I want it to come in like a surprise (a good one :)
Mixing between tracks
When starting out, I would say the best tool to mix tracks between each other is using a filter. There is a lot of types of filters but the ones I have on the template for use can be used as a high pass or low pass filter, basically taking out the low/bass or high/treble sounds while bringing in a track, automating them to bring it more and ensure the mix sounds clean.
If you have had some experience with mixing you might understand the EQ I have added on each track, you can select the mids highs or lows and the automation line will show up accross the track. From there add your points into the automation, as seen int he picture below I have opted for filters raising the level or the highs or lows until the new track comes in.
My mix is finished, sounds great, what now?!
When finished use ableton to export to mp3, don't be afraid to show your friends as they will often (but not always) have some constructive criticism to help you on your way to better mixes.
The best thing about creating studio mixes is you learn so much about the art of DJing without the stress of beatmatching, equipment and crowds. All this will translate to when you next get on a pair of decks, you will have better knowledge of which tracks in your collection.
Here is a video of me quite a number of years ago, its always good to keep videos like this on hand to see how far we have come and have a good laugh at ourselves :D
After a bit of playing around on steem I have decided to selection Pay me 100% in Steem Power, hoping to raise my voting power to help promote good content on the platform.