Pre-Mixed Tracks?

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Pre-Mixed Tracks?
Posted on: 01.09.2013 by Branden Coalter
So I came across a dj that plays all the parties at my uni the other day on Soundcloud, and I was kind of surprised to find that in their mixes, about half of the tracks they played were premade mixes. Just two tracks that they'd mixed together and then they played that mix.
Not judging per se, but I personally feel that that's a bit of a cop out, because they're essentially doing half of the mixing necessary. I listened to the mixes and they weren't even intricate mashups that couldn't be done live, they were just moderate length blends with effects.

Has anyone on here seen anything like this/do this/what are your thoughts?
Peace
Eva Scuderi
09.09.2013
Originally Posted by Ozei
That's just awesome. Loving the Lion King part
Thank you
Arielle Goodling
08.09.2013
Originally Posted by likeberty
Playing my mashup track can make my set and performance become more unique. In my area at this period, everyone need to drop Animals or the crowd will be disappointed. So instead of being the same as the other DJ, I drop this

SOUNDCLOUD PLAYER HERE

And to be honest, I can't perfectly do this live. T__T
That's just awesome. Loving the Lion King part
Nelle Maisel
07.09.2013
Originally Posted by tropikel
Yeah I personally would only ever play a mashup that I had made myself, or if I was playing someone else's I'd try and recreate it live rather than playing it outright
I'd still like to do it again live if I recorded it off Traktor but if you needed a DAW to do mix them then yeah I agree with that. And I don't mind taking someone else's mashup and recreating it live because there is a still a difficulty there.
Nelle Maisel
07.09.2013
Originally Posted by ranboggy
so an example....?? they made 3-4 10track basic beatmatch mixes, lets say friday evening , upload it to soundcloud and on saturday during the party played mix 1 straight through and tossed one or two random tracks in at the end, then brought in mix 2 from soundcloud and played straight through again til the end and once again blended another 2-3 random tracks, then dropped in mix 3 from soundcloud.. is that kinda what you meant?
I've seen a bunch of DJs doing that and I can't stand it. I've also seen DJ's mix together "tracks" where they just cut a long mix up and made sections out of it to appear to be mixing. Basically just doing a hard crossfader throw when one "track" ends. Shit kills me. Why even try?

And I personally I avoid mashups mainly because I don't like to take credit for someone else's work (and playing a mashup appears like your mixing them live), but I do have a few in my library and use them sparingly.
Margie Pavell
06.09.2013
Originally Posted by Frank112916
Sometimes tracks blended in a DAW sound better than mixed live. Especially with a lot of the modern electro that has no space in it and 3 band eq's/filters/sweeps aren't quite enough. I have "mashup" tracks, I do play them in mixes. Granted, not every track - usually I like the original better. Sometimes there is some extra flavor in a mashup track you wouldn't get from the original, and sometimes it doesn't make sense to blend say a drop twice, and blending the break from another song twice.

Also, layering an acapella over may not be feasible (or possible if you don't have the acapella - sometimes producers get special promotional kits and such). This is especially true given the way I mix, with (relatively) quick transitions and filter sweeps. I will do my own blends for the most part, but every now and then I hear a mashup track and go "well that is bang on," so why recreate the wheel? Also, what if I don't have three decks available? I don't own an F1 or any controller that would work the remix decks very well, and only have two turntables. Many (pop)club DJ's using serato and two decks don't even have the option of a third deck and the SP-6 sampler is meh at best.

We all have different capabilities and talents. Not everyone can be both a great producer and great DJ (or even a mediocre Produce and mediocre DJ for that matter). Sometimes a DJ's talents really lie in the studio (see: Hardwell). Hardwell isn't a good DJ at all, and his sets are so-so when you compare him to other DJ's in his peer group. Most of his tracks are premixed. However, for the genre of music he produces, he makes some great tracks that have become fairly popular.

Obviously there are those who can be great producers and DJ's (see: Laidback Luke, or Diplo - although I am not sure if I've ever seen Diplo ACTUALLY DJ - but I know he started out as one and it was how we built his brand) and then there are those that are both poor DJ's and producers (see: Steve Aoki). I mean I guess if you like seeing a guy throw cake...more power to you. Not trying to be a hater either, Aoki has some decent tracks, and his shows are high energy. He's a good showman.

Then those who are God-like at DJing but don't produce, relatively, a whole lot of original content or remixes (See:Carl Cox - he does produce but I'd say compared to the modern producer/dj, popping out singles every month, it doesn't compare, but I'd have carl cox lay down the soundtrack to my life any day of the week).

Then you have great live performance acts (the thread in here recently of a members summer project was amazing) who combine the structure and workflow of production with the dynamism of technical skills of DJing. But again, the member was playing straight tech-house and minimal (I believe...I get confused with all the subgenres), which was groovy as hell, but a different style of mixing than mainstream electro and prog which feature a lot of breakdowns, buildups, and drops.

Laidback Luke is, imo, one of the best technical DJ's in the prog-house/electro scene and I like a lot of his production work (although not lately tbh). He does layering live with 3-4 CDJ's, quick transitions, smooth, and on point. Still, some of his stuff is pre-fabbed in the studio. Just gotta go with what sounds good sometimes.

Anyway - bottom line is - don't hate, just do you, and I'll do me. If It sounds good and the crowd loves it, that's all that matters. If in my day job I worried about people telling me how lazy I am because I write VBA code to complete repetitive tasks or hard to complete tasks, I'd tell them to shove it.

a "mash up" is not a "remix"...you have no idea what you are talking about...before being a sarcastic asshole please know what you are talking about...
Eva Scuderi
09.09.2013
Originally Posted by Ozei
That's just awesome. Loving the Lion King part
Thank you
Arielle Goodling
08.09.2013
Originally Posted by likeberty
Playing my mashup track can make my set and performance become more unique. In my area at this period, everyone need to drop Animals or the crowd will be disappointed. So instead of being the same as the other DJ, I drop this

SOUNDCLOUD PLAYER HERE

And to be honest, I can't perfectly do this live. T__T
That's just awesome. Loving the Lion King part
Eva Scuderi
08.09.2013
Playing my mashup track can make my set and performance become more unique. In my area at this period, everyone need to drop Animals or the crowd will be disappointed. So instead of being the same as the other DJ, I drop this

https://soundcloud.com/iceplosion/animals-of-africa-floor

And to be honest, I can't perfectly do this live. T__T
Brunilda Kora
08.09.2013
I believe we're all missing the important message in this thread...




Originally Posted by dripstep
Whoa Patch! That track is awesome, I really dig that tempo change.
Someone likes one of my tracks!!!
Hayden Raugh
07.09.2013
Me and my mate who dj together use tracks like this...

Mainly when we jump tempo from say 80 to 120 bmp, we need those daw edited tracks to make the transition smooth
Nelle Maisel
07.09.2013
Originally Posted by tropikel
Yeah I personally would only ever play a mashup that I had made myself, or if I was playing someone else's I'd try and recreate it live rather than playing it outright
I'd still like to do it again live if I recorded it off Traktor but if you needed a DAW to do mix them then yeah I agree with that. And I don't mind taking someone else's mashup and recreating it live because there is a still a difficulty there.
Branden Coalter
07.09.2013
Yeah I personally would only ever play a mashup that I had made myself, or if I was playing someone else's I'd try and recreate it live rather than playing it outright
Nelle Maisel
07.09.2013
Originally Posted by ranboggy
so an example....?? they made 3-4 10track basic beatmatch mixes, lets say friday evening , upload it to soundcloud and on saturday during the party played mix 1 straight through and tossed one or two random tracks in at the end, then brought in mix 2 from soundcloud and played straight through again til the end and once again blended another 2-3 random tracks, then dropped in mix 3 from soundcloud.. is that kinda what you meant?
I've seen a bunch of DJs doing that and I can't stand it. I've also seen DJ's mix together "tracks" where they just cut a long mix up and made sections out of it to appear to be mixing. Basically just doing a hard crossfader throw when one "track" ends. Shit kills me. Why even try?

And I personally I avoid mashups mainly because I don't like to take credit for someone else's work (and playing a mashup appears like your mixing them live), but I do have a few in my library and use them sparingly.
Margie Pavell
06.09.2013
Originally Posted by Frank112916
Sometimes tracks blended in a DAW sound better than mixed live. Especially with a lot of the modern electro that has no space in it and 3 band eq's/filters/sweeps aren't quite enough. I have "mashup" tracks, I do play them in mixes. Granted, not every track - usually I like the original better. Sometimes there is some extra flavor in a mashup track you wouldn't get from the original, and sometimes it doesn't make sense to blend say a drop twice, and blending the break from another song twice.

Also, layering an acapella over may not be feasible (or possible if you don't have the acapella - sometimes producers get special promotional kits and such). This is especially true given the way I mix, with (relatively) quick transitions and filter sweeps. I will do my own blends for the most part, but every now and then I hear a mashup track and go "well that is bang on," so why recreate the wheel? Also, what if I don't have three decks available? I don't own an F1 or any controller that would work the remix decks very well, and only have two turntables. Many (pop)club DJ's using serato and two decks don't even have the option of a third deck and the SP-6 sampler is meh at best.

We all have different capabilities and talents. Not everyone can be both a great producer and great DJ (or even a mediocre Produce and mediocre DJ for that matter). Sometimes a DJ's talents really lie in the studio (see: Hardwell). Hardwell isn't a good DJ at all, and his sets are so-so when you compare him to other DJ's in his peer group. Most of his tracks are premixed. However, for the genre of music he produces, he makes some great tracks that have become fairly popular.

Obviously there are those who can be great producers and DJ's (see: Laidback Luke, or Diplo - although I am not sure if I've ever seen Diplo ACTUALLY DJ - but I know he started out as one and it was how we built his brand) and then there are those that are both poor DJ's and producers (see: Steve Aoki). I mean I guess if you like seeing a guy throw cake...more power to you. Not trying to be a hater either, Aoki has some decent tracks, and his shows are high energy. He's a good showman.

Then those who are God-like at DJing but don't produce, relatively, a whole lot of original content or remixes (See:Carl Cox - he does produce but I'd say compared to the modern producer/dj, popping out singles every month, it doesn't compare, but I'd have carl cox lay down the soundtrack to my life any day of the week).

Then you have great live performance acts (the thread in here recently of a members summer project was amazing) who combine the structure and workflow of production with the dynamism of technical skills of DJing. But again, the member was playing straight tech-house and minimal (I believe...I get confused with all the subgenres), which was groovy as hell, but a different style of mixing than mainstream electro and prog which feature a lot of breakdowns, buildups, and drops.

Laidback Luke is, imo, one of the best technical DJ's in the prog-house/electro scene and I like a lot of his production work (although not lately tbh). He does layering live with 3-4 CDJ's, quick transitions, smooth, and on point. Still, some of his stuff is pre-fabbed in the studio. Just gotta go with what sounds good sometimes.

Anyway - bottom line is - don't hate, just do you, and I'll do me. If It sounds good and the crowd loves it, that's all that matters. If in my day job I worried about people telling me how lazy I am because I write VBA code to complete repetitive tasks or hard to complete tasks, I'd tell them to shove it.

a "mash up" is not a "remix"...you have no idea what you are talking about...before being a sarcastic asshole please know what you are talking about...
Delena Katherman
06.09.2013
No. He's saying that you would just make a basic beat match mix of 2 songs that you would blend into your set. You would still need to blend into and out of the 2 song mix, but that's it. If you have a bunch of 2 song mixes, you would only be blending live every other song.
Jacelyn Turkson
06.09.2013
so an example....?? they made 3-4 10track basic beatmatch mixes, lets say friday evening , upload it to soundcloud and on saturday during the party played mix 1 straight through and tossed one or two random tracks in at the end, then brought in mix 2 from soundcloud and played straight through again til the end and once again blended another 2-3 random tracks, then dropped in mix 3 from soundcloud.. is that kinda what you meant?
Branden Coalter
05.09.2013
I believe that there is possibly some confusion here. As I've said, if you're making mashups/mixes that you wouldn't for logistical reasons be able to play live, that's great, you go girl, play those tracks.

What I'm talking about is one step away from pre-recording an entire set and then standing in front of a crowd and pretending to twist some knobs.
Yong Aptekar
05.09.2013
Originally Posted by Patch;647343
See my own "England Story":

[url
https://soundcloud.com/dj-patch-3/yt-vs-e-z-rollers-england[/url]

Starts off as the original by YT, then after a bit of cool vocal looping, it launches into a hell-fire D n' B mash-up of the original.

I'm really proud of it...
Whoa Patch! That track is awesome, I really dig that tempo change.

OP, I've mixed tracks together, recorded them and used it in mixes, i dont see anything wrong with that. I found the tracks, i mixed them together, and then I mix in and out of it, what's the big deal here?

Now, if I took someone else's bootlegs or remixes and tried to pass them off as my talent, that's where the problem is.
Dino Hapgood
05.09.2013
No wonder I've seen you guys on a bunch of festival bills...wait....

Oh Kaskade is another great example of production work over pure technical Dj skill. He puts on a great live set but a lot of his sets are remixes of his songs played in full. Not saying he doesn't blend live but he's not a super technical DJ.
Margie Pavell
04.09.2013
Originally Posted by johney
^nah
double that...
Branden Coalter
04.09.2013
Originally Posted by johney
^nah
qft
Augustine Mitzen
04.09.2013
^nah
Dino Hapgood
04.09.2013
Originally Posted by tropikel
Yes...But what I'm saying is its just a blend between two songs, something that you'd just do live. But recorded.
Sometimes tracks blended in a DAW sound better than mixed live. Especially with a lot of the modern electro that has no space in it and 3 band eq's/filters/sweeps aren't quite enough. I have "mashup" tracks, I do play them in mixes. Granted, not every track - usually I like the original better. Sometimes there is some extra flavor in a mashup track you wouldn't get from the original, and sometimes it doesn't make sense to blend say a drop twice, and blending the break from another song twice.

Also, layering an acapella over may not be feasible (or possible if you don't have the acapella - sometimes producers get special promotional kits and such). This is especially true given the way I mix, with (relatively) quick transitions and filter sweeps. I will do my own blends for the most part, but every now and then I hear a mashup track and go "well that is bang on," so why recreate the wheel? Also, what if I don't have three decks available? I don't own an F1 or any controller that would work the remix decks very well, and only have two turntables. Many (pop)club DJ's using serato and two decks don't even have the option of a third deck and the SP-6 sampler is meh at best.

We all have different capabilities and talents. Not everyone can be both a great producer and great DJ (or even a mediocre Produce and mediocre DJ for that matter). Sometimes a DJ's talents really lie in the studio (see: Hardwell). Hardwell isn't a good DJ at all, and his sets are so-so when you compare him to other DJ's in his peer group. Most of his tracks are premixed. However, for the genre of music he produces, he makes some great tracks that have become fairly popular.

Obviously there are those who can be great producers and DJ's (see: Laidback Luke, or Diplo - although I am not sure if I've ever seen Diplo ACTUALLY DJ - but I know he started out as one and it was how we built his brand) and then there are those that are both poor DJ's and producers (see: Steve Aoki). I mean I guess if you like seeing a guy throw cake...more power to you. Not trying to be a hater either, Aoki has some decent tracks, and his shows are high energy. He's a good showman.

Then those who are God-like at DJing but don't produce, relatively, a whole lot of original content or remixes (See:Carl Cox - he does produce but I'd say compared to the modern producer/dj, popping out singles every month, it doesn't compare, but I'd have carl cox lay down the soundtrack to my life any day of the week).

Then you have great live performance acts (the thread in here recently of a members summer project was amazing) who combine the structure and workflow of production with the dynamism of technical skills of DJing. But again, the member was playing straight tech-house and minimal (I believe...I get confused with all the subgenres), which was groovy as hell, but a different style of mixing than mainstream electro and prog which feature a lot of breakdowns, buildups, and drops.

Laidback Luke is, imo, one of the best technical DJ's in the prog-house/electro scene and I like a lot of his production work (although not lately tbh). He does layering live with 3-4 CDJ's, quick transitions, smooth, and on point. Still, some of his stuff is pre-fabbed in the studio. Just gotta go with what sounds good sometimes.

Anyway - bottom line is - don't hate, just do you, and I'll do me. If It sounds good and the crowd loves it, that's all that matters. If in my day job I worried about people telling me how lazy I am because I write VBA code to complete repetitive tasks or hard to complete tasks, I'd tell them to shove it.
Branden Coalter
03.09.2013
Yes...But what I'm saying is its just a blend between two songs, something that you'd just do live. But recorded.
Many Farnsley
03.09.2013
so hes like taking pre mixes of more then one song basically is what you are saying
Branden Coalter
03.09.2013
How so? Not mixed eq wise. I mean two songs that have been mixed together, end-start.
Many Farnsley
03.09.2013
Aren't the majority of songs on dj pools already mixed? Im not sure what you are saying
Augustine Mitzen
02.09.2013
Originally Posted by keithace
is it lazy? or lack of confidence?
Lazy and lame
Hellen Mindrup
03.09.2013
So they get to skip out on every other blend? I don't believe I quite follow.
Chet Gatts
03.09.2013
I'm trying to envision what you're saying. So the Dj plays tracks that are actually two tracks that have been blended together already instead of just blending it himself live. Lazy? I dunno, the DJ spent the time to pre mix it. Just takes away from the Live feel and creativity that comes with DJing.
But if you're talking about someone who uses Bootlegs and mashups from Soundcloud. I don't see a problem. i download remixes and from Soundcloud from aspiring Producers and Djs. Sometimes their remixes are better than the original song(rare). Back in the day and maybe even now you can find Bootleg Vinyl with singles that have 8/16bar intros which help when some songs that drop on the first bar.
Lazy, I guess so. Boring, INDEED!
Nedra Fresneda
02.09.2013
Originally Posted by tropikel
No, I mean the way that you would take the end of song a and the start of song b and blending them.
A bootleg is an uncleared remix/mashup. This is just being lazy.
Margie Pavell
02.09.2013
is it lazy? or lack of confidence?
Brunilda Kora
02.09.2013
This does sound lazy to me - but it depends how much they are actually DOING to the 2 different tracks. If it's just intro over outro, then yes, that is just lazy - but if they are doing much more (see some of my own tracks on Soundcloud) then that is probably considered to be a bootleg/mash-up.

See my own "England Story":

https://soundcloud.com/dj-patch-3/yt...ollers-england

Starts off as the original by YT, then after a bit of cool vocal looping, it launches into a hell-fire D n' B mash-up of the original.

I'm really proud of it...
Branden Coalter
02.09.2013
No, I mean the way that you would take the end of song a and the start of song b and blending them.
Augustine Mitzen
02.09.2013
do you mean an acapella over an instrumental from a different tune?
Branden Coalter
01.09.2013
It wasn't a style that I enjoy, but the mixing was done cleanly.
Obviously making the crowd happy is priority #1, but ethically and on principle I just don't agree with it.
Izola Larose
01.09.2013
did it sound good? because that's the only thing i believe that really matters
Branden Coalter
01.09.2013
Furthermore, since it's less work to do live, it makes it look like your doing nothing when there's a mix going on. Suss af.
Antonetta Wikel
01.09.2013
Yeah, that's totally lame especially since the invention of the "sync" button.
Branden Coalter
01.09.2013
Yeah, but I wouldn't class them as bootlegs. I'm all for playing your own remixes or whatever, for sure, but these are just a-b mixing between tracks and then labeled as a bootleg. Just seems lazy/cheating.

And see I would say that that is fine, if it's something that can't be done live then do it yeah, but simple mixing between tracks seems a bit iffy to me

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