3:53
Hip hop tracks that are not at the same BPM
On YouTube this video is called DJ Lesson on Mixing Hip hop tunes that are not at the same BPM By Ellaskins The DJ Tutor
What this lesson teaches
A short lesson with a transition technique in it that solves a real problem.
The problem
Two tracks, one considerably faster than the other. He demonstrates mixing them straight and the result is, as he says, an absolute nightmare.
This is the everyday version of the previous lesson's question: the records are good, they belong in the same set, and they will not beatmatch.
The technique
Echo.
He drops the volume on the incoming channel, taps the beat button in time with the outgoing track so the effect knows the tempo, puts echo on that channel, and lets the echo run as the track ends.
The echo keeps repeating the last of the old record while the new one comes up. Then it decays, and you are in the new track at its own tempo.
Why it works
Worth understanding rather than copying, because the principle generalises.
The difficulty with an unmatched transition is that the ear has nothing continuous to hold on to. One pulse stops and a different pulse starts, and the gap between them is where the mix falls apart.
An echo is a rhythmic element that belongs to neither track. It carries the old tempo forward into the space where the new record arrives, so the ear is never without a pulse - and because an echo is expected to decay, the listener accepts it disappearing in a way they would not accept a drum pattern simply stopping.
He also notes that it slightly slows things down as it fades, which smooths the step between the two speeds.
Counting hip hop
An aside that connects to the drum and bass lessons: he points out you could count this material as 5-6-7-8 or as 1-2-3-4 - that is, at half or full rate.
Same ambiguity, same answer: pick one and be consistent, because a tempo figure only means something if you know which rate produced it.
When to reach for this
Any time two records you want to play will not sit at a common tempo. It is not a substitute for beatmatching and it is a perfectly respectable way to get from one place to another.
Contents of the video
0:01 And I hope you'll follow me
Alright ladies and gentlemen, a bit of a demonstration stroke tutorial for you. A lot going to happen here, a little bit to explain and I hope you'll follow me. Two tracks here from the Urban releases August 2013 from CDPool. On the right hand deck is track 2 from disc number 2, on the left hand deck is track 6 from disc 1. Track 2 is DJ Fresh vs Depot featuring Dominique Young, Unique, God what a bloody name, Earthquake, pretty good cut actually. Track on this side sorry is track number 6 which is Max Marshall. I mean come on you know, Max, how easy is that? Don't trip. So what I'm going to do is I want to try and mix that one in with this one, in time and then drop that one out. The trouble is though, one is a lot faster than the other so how can we mix it in? First of all I'll give you an idea of speed, have a listen.
Now we could count this in two ways, 5 6 7 8 or 1 2 3 4.
Alright that's that, this is this. Now you can hear that's a lot slower.
Let's first of all try and mix them in and see what happens.
Nightmare, absolute nightmare. But watch this, what I'm going to do and again you can do this if you have an echo feature. So volume down on the track 6 over here and what I'm going to do now, I'm going to press play here. Now I'm going to tap the beat button here in time with that, have a listen. Ok we're on channel 2, channel 2 is the track on the left, we're on echo, have a listen.
2:44 Practice enjoy
As you can imagine this one's finishing, have a quick listen to it though.
It's really good cut this is, banging.
So we're coming towards the end of this track now, this is what we do, by echo into that track. So we've almost kept the BPM going smoothly but we've slightly sort of started to slow it down alright. Again another quick and easy transition, another tip and a trick for you, practice and enjoy. By the way, if you want any info on the Urban releases this is August 2013 from CDPool. Check out the hyperlink in the description it will take you directly to their website, practice and enjoy. Thank you very much. Ok.
This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.
