Transitions In a Mix
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Transitions In a Mix Posted on: 06.01.2013 by Rosetta Mongelli I have a really hard time switching from song to song in my mixes. All of my transitions sound really weak and not effective. Right now all I am doing is using an EQ3 effect (treble, mids, bass) and lowering the volume as each song ends and bring up the volume of the next track. Could anyone give me some tips on how to transition from song to song? I use Abelton Live Suite with an Akai APC40. The genre I am mixing is house music and around 128bpm. Thank you for all of the help in advance. | |
| Rosetta Mongelli 06.01.2013 | I have a really hard time switching from song to song in my mixes. All of my transitions sound really weak and not effective. Right now all I am doing is using an EQ3 effect (treble, mids, bass) and lowering the volume as each song ends and bring up the volume of the next track. Could anyone give me some tips on how to transition from song to song? I use Abelton Live Suite with an Akai APC40. The genre I am mixing is house music and around 128bpm. Thank you for all of the help in advance. |
| Rosetta Mongelli 07.01.2013 | Thank you both very much. You both helped me out greatly and helped me learn a greater understanding of mixing. You both defiantly answered my questions over and above. Thank you for helping me. |
| Nell Wrolson 06.01.2013 | try and ensure that you're not just beatmatching but also synchronizing the 16/32 bar sections (even if you get it out by 8 bars it'll still sound much better than just dropping the next tune randomly). I would imagine most of the tracks you're mixing go something like this: track starts with a section of just drums or a sparse iteration of the main idea before dropping into the tune properly after 32 or 64 bars, this 16/32 bar pattern is then repeated and expanded upon for a while before there is a break where either the drums drop out or the track simply becomes more sparse in another way, then the main idea repeats after 32 or 64 bars? So, I would recommended figuring out where each 16/32 bar section starts, if this is difficult loop 4/8 bars (on headphones), which should be easy enough to place in an appropriate place, then listen to the two tracks together and it should become obvious where the sections begin. Once you have this figured you can choose the best place to drop in the 2nd track, generally a safe bet is start the intro alongside the break in the first track (this works especially well if the first track has no drums in the break and the intro of the second is largely percussion based), so as the break from the first track ends the main idea of the second kicks in, this would probably be a good point to switch over the second track entirely using the crossfader. (I believe this technique is sometimes referrered to as 'double-dropping' by dnb djs but that could be something else entirely) Of course your mixing would be a bit dull if it consisted entirely of that, and not all tracks are in such a rigid dj-friendly format. I would also recommend placing a track you're mixing in earlier or later to either allow the main idea of the first tune to reappear before crossing over to the entrance of the main idea of the 2nd, or to create a mix which plays straight from one main section into another without a break. If you want to go for some more 'deep' style mixing or simply feel you should start the tune you're mixing in at a place before the ideal mixing point in the currently playing track then just go for some more looping. I would also recommend using the bass eq controls to switch between the bass parts of each track every 8 or so bars. And if you're not using the eq controls in general start using them, you'll get the idea as soon as you mess around. also there are times when two tracks just sound too dissonant together, i find this can usually be remedied by pitching one of them up or down a semitone, although if you really want to make all your mixes completely in key then you'll probably need some key detection software or a very well trained ear. I hope this was useful to you and not too basic/things you've heard before? |
| Cleotilde Dodsworth 06.01.2013 | Hi RobbyM, I'm not a Pro either but I use a couple of ways to transition between songs. I'm using Traktor Pro 2.6 but the technique can be used with any software I guess. First you should do some preparation before you mix such as dropping cue points where you want to transition out of song and start the next. For example, You can switch from a breakdown, There is a video by Ean Golden that explains it well. My way of doing is using EQs to adjust the levels and prepare them for transition, then I use beatmasher effect to create drama then boom I mix it with the second song on the beat. Sometimes you can use delay or echo FX to grab some portion of your song and echo it out into the new song while bringing the volumes up, it doesn't work well if you don't get to practice doing it. Last method is using some effects to transition two songs. Like rolling drum, laser effects, some crazy sweep effect that takes over everything in a second and then you bring in your new one and take the current one out. If you work on Scratching, I saw some DJs using scratching to transition, very effective and works well in most scenarios. Hope it helped. Alex P.S: Here is the link : |
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