DJ Lesson on Adding a Few Notes in Too the Mix Before the Mix

0:00 First of all the demonstration and then the explanation

Right guys, first of all the demonstration and then the explanation. So two tracks I'm using, a track entitled Ain't Nobody, it's the Motive remix and over this side we have KTB, let me just get the CD, where is it? Okay, it is KTB X4 Tet and then Tet X Floating Points. Tracking title Calm Down the Original Mix. It's a really, really good tune. Okay, so what I'm going to do as well is let's imagine we're in sort of the club environment and what you're about to hear on this side will be the sort of thing I'll be hearing on the headphones anyway, but I'll have a mess around first and then I will explain. So. Bear with me, here we go.

1:47 Just going to go towards the latter part of this track

That was wrong.

Just the wrong timing there, I do apologise but sometimes if you make a mistake and you admit you made a mistake that's far better than making a mistake and going, I didn't really do anything wrong then.

Okay, just going to go towards the latter part of this track.

Okay, so this video hopefully I'm going to call it Find the Notes. Now this is where we get from the mixing stage to the musical stage. So, in an ideal world when you construct a set it's got to be musically matched. You've got to have a flow with the tunes. Now, I'm not saying we all do it but I will openly admit on the odd occasion I'll bung in a clangor. I'm only being honest. What's the point in saying, do you know what, I'm the DJ tutor. I'm amazing and I can just pull off anything. Well, you know what, I can't because I'm only human and I make bloody mistakes like we all do. But, to get a good set you need the flow, the vibe, the energy needs to stay there. The worst thing in the world is to have to energy up here and then drop down there.

5:31 The next level to mixing

But not as in drop as in the drop or as in the energy reduces but the flow is at a constant. It's almost that the energy just goes from one type of energy to a completely other type of energy. It's a bit like you're walking into a different room. It's a little bit like being in a big nightclub with five dance areas, not having you or not being in one dance area and then walking through to the other one and then all of a sudden being somewhere else and thinking, oh, this is nice. No, it's being teleported from one straight to the other one and all of a sudden go, oh, new, different, oh, this is strange. So, finding the notes. Now, what we're doing here is this is like this. The next level to mixing. This is where you're choosing a tiny, tiny fraction of a track so much that you're choosing the little bit in that track that just fits in.

It's almost like it's meant to be. Now, what I did there, I had three hot cues. I'll play them for you now. C and B are the count of one but A isn't. See? One, two, three. One, two. That's not even a count of one. This is where your timing must be impeccable. Listen. See? Listen. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. So, what I've done is I found some notes that work perfectly with the other track. So, let's play that track again, the KTB.

Now then. Let's take the bass away. Let's add a bit of echo. We're going to tap in time. Make sure we're on channel two.

Put the volume up.

Try again.

Try again.

Maybe the echo doesn't work. Let's try it without the echo. That's it. It's so subtle. It's like a kiss on the cheek. Big old smacker, full on. Ooh, there you go. Yeah. Sometimes that tiny little wink or a little bit of a wink, or a kiss on the cheek means more than someone just taking their clothes off and saying, shag me. I'm sorry. So, let's incorporate this now a little bit more into the mix, but subtly. I'm going to put my headphones on, get it so it sounds a bit better. Right. So, headphones.

8:30 Let's go right to the beginning in phrase

And tiny part of the track. Then, of course, what I did is I brought in another cue point, which was towards the end of the track. Let's just go back to that break there.

So, I'm playing like the end of this track now over the end of that one. But, another hot cue. Let's go right to the beginning in phrase.

Okay. So, there are a million and one ways of mixing. Now, this one here is we could call it teasing the crowd. We could call it adding a small amount of another track over the track that's playing. What I'm calling it is listen to the track that's playing and go through your collection. This may be better done away from the crowd, you know, in your own sort of toilet or wherever you mix.

I've tried that. Okay. And finding another track that not only works well, but there are a couple of notes that like, you know, you could add to it. It's almost as though you were the producer producing a remix of that track and you were adding your little bit of. Something. Je ne sais quoi to it. All right. I hope that's been a help. Practice and enjoy. Don't forget, check out down there if you're into some Skype lessons by myself. Take it easy. Thanks.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.