DJ Mixing Lesson on UK Two Step and Urban Releases CD Pool August 2015

0:00 I'm also doing new releases from CD4

Alright guys, this is a demonstration on mixing genre known as 2-step, also known as UK Garage. I'm also doing new releases from CD4. This new releases video is the urban releases for August 2015. So what do you expect on the urban releases? It's what I would class as your soul, your hip hop, your R&B, your 2-step like this. Quite often they're the short versions, radio edits. Lots of vocals, lots of melody, lots of fun, balloons popping everywhere. But a tune like this is wicked. It's a remix from an old school tune from the 90s I believe and they've updated it for a modern UK style. We're going to do a bit of a mix now. We're going to mix in another track from the Urban releases August 2015. This one here is track 4 from disc number 1. This one here, the next one is track 3 from disc number 2.

Okay, so you get the general idea of the strike. Now again with mixing it's very important to make sure you mix in key and also in beat. If I was to choose one or the other the most important one is to mix in key. If it's slightly offbeat it sounds a bit dodgy but if it's offkey it sounds absolutely terrible. I've done it on the odd occasion and to be quite honest it's embarrassing. We all do it on the odd occasion, even the top DJs do it. Mixing offkey. I'm not on about the... Please. Right, so let's have a listen to track number three from disc number two. Here we go. Also with two-step. If you listen to the beat, it's almost as though there's something missing. It's like... Oh, we'll leave that bit and then we'll go to... And we'll go to... We'll leave the other bit and we'll just have a... Afterwards.

2:05 Actually, it does start on the count of one

Alright, now let's listen to the beginning of this track because it doesn't start as most tracks normally start on the count of one. Actually, it does start on the count of one. I'm sorry, it's just got that added bar. So take that back. It does start on the count of one. One, two, three, four and one, two, three. The only difference is I should have really listened to it properly first. You've got that extra bar. Now, I've done Skype lessons. If you're interested in a Skype lesson by me, by the way, just check out the email and email me. I do one-to-one Skype lessons. But what I have said to a couple of people is on the very, very odd occasion, 0.0001% of the time, you will have dance tracks, EDM tracks, and they'll have an extra bar chucked in for good measure somewhere during the track. In this case...

They've got it at the beginning, so if you have a listen. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. That's where you should start doing the mix. Not at the first bar because if you started it at the first bar then you would somehow be one bar out during the course of the mix. So let's play Pony and... Again, it's very imperative. That you find the beginning end of a phrase. There isn't an end of a phrase, then you have a break and all of a sudden people go for a cup of tea and think, oh let's just wait for 20 minutes and then we'll start again. No. The end of a phrase is the beginning of a phrase. So they're there. They're at the same point. You don't have the end of a phrase and then you have a couple of sort of a bar and stuff and then something else happens. Of course like I said earlier it does happen on the very odd occasion when...

The producer will add that extra one bar, which is really annoying. But most of the time, end of phrase, beginning of phrase, away you go. So I'm going to have a listen from this point here. Three, four, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Two, three, four. One. Okay, now I'm looking here. I'm at the waveform and I'm halfway through a point where there's another tiny break, so it's highly likely that's going to be 16 bars. So I'm going to go to... Right there. There. Alright. Now we've got a similar sound here. Nothing's changed except for that tiny little break there. The same here. So we'll go back to that point there. Let me find the first correct bar in this track here. There. There. There. I'm just going to set a cue point there.

5:25 You need to start counting

Now you notice as well, prior to doing this lesson I thought that's a good idea. Let's have a listen to the beginning of the track again from the exact beginning where they happily put this ridiculously stupid one bar. Sorry about that. I like that sound so I've set hot cue for it with it. Now if I wanted to I could sort of cut that in. Two, three and one. Now this is where you start to not have this regimented timing where it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. You need to start counting... And one, two, three. One, two, three, four. And one, two, three. Because you have accents in music. It's all right. Would you like to hear my accent? No, boyo. There we are. See, I'm from Wales, isn't he? There's my accent. Sorry. Checker accent in music. All right. OK, so we've got that point there. There. So let's go back to our point here. Now, if I go back a bit, this is going to be a rough sort of mix.

6:55 Check out the link in the description down there to cdpool.com

Not using headphones, two volumes up, it'll give you an idea of how that will work in the mix. It would work better if it was done correctly, of course, but this is a demonstration and I'm doing the new releases urban August 2015. Check out the link in the description down there to cdpool.com. So... Oh gosh, this is so funny. Let's go back a bit. I need more timing. More counting in. 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. 2, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3. So I can hear it? Okay. You see, this is the way it is here. We have a pussycat. Would you like to say hello, pussycat? Are you being a good pussycat? Yeah? What have you just had? What have you just eaten? Some what? Some chuh? No, chocolate. Yes, exactly. He's just had a bit of chocolate. Okay, so. Right, now I've got help. Careful, this is a good boy. Careful.

9:44 I'm gonna do that with the track that's coming in this time

Listen, would you do me a favour? Would you go out there and Daddy be with you in five minutes, yeah? No. No? Alright, would you sit there and just watch and listen, yeah? Yeah? I'm going to see Wee-Wee. You don't want to? Well, alright, good boy. Okay, good lad. Alright, so, let's go back to this. Now, if I just press Q there. What was happening there, apart from it going off because I'm doing some sort of demonstration, I'm not trying to... Well, I should really do this perfectly but it's very difficult when you've got to look after three children as well. Right, so what was happening is in that mix there were two melodies going on and there wasn't so much a clash but maybe there was too much happening there. So what I could have done...

Is bring down, which I did towards the latter part of that mix, the mid down on either-either the track that was going out or the track that's coming in. So I'm gonna do that with the track that's coming in this time. I'm also gonna have my headphones on and I'm also going to start this track on the count of one, not the count of four-one. Not here, there, but I'm gonna bring it in there. There. What I'm going to do as well, during the transition, I am going to increase the mid on the track that's coming in and decrease the mid on the track that's going out. Now again, with two-step, there isn't that steady kick, bang, bang, bang, fall to the floor. So there isn't that much of a need of taking away the bass because by taking away the bass you're probably taking away a good two-thirds of the overall volume of the track.

12:16 This is track number three from disc number two

But there's a lot more melody, so maybe we should play with the mid and top. Right, let's give it a go. So we'll go back to the point there. I'm going to go back a bit. OK, mid out here. It shouldn't sound so much of a mess now. Much more of a cleaner mix. So this could be a eureka moment for you. It's not always the bass out. Sometimes the mid. Very rarely though, sometimes the top. But here in this case, it's the mid. This is track number three from disc number two. As you can see, my life is entirely full and when the kids come in, they don't know what I'm doing. For all they know, they want to play with me and have chocolate and run a riot, which is actually what I do. Okay. Let's find something else from disc number one. Put them in there.

14:02 You just got old school with new

Track 7 is about the Urban Releases. This is what the Urban Releases are all about. It's giving you that sort of old school hip hop soulful vibe. Now this one here, it's like an old school sort of early 80s bass line mashed up with some modern day twists. You know, it's a little bit like, if this was an Indian meal, this would be some old grandad Indian guy who was perfect at making the best madras in your life. And all of a sudden his grandson's come along from a local restaurant and he knows the new school and they've put themselves together and they've made some beautiful cuisine, some fantastic meal. That's what's happened here. You just got old school with new. It's a wonderful track. It's track number seven from disc number one. Let's find something from disc number two. Nah, I'm not mixing in that one. Okay, this here is track number five from disc number two. Now this proves the point. With the Urban releases it's not all about hip-hop, R&B and soul. You do get the house vibe as well in there. It's not a mishmash, it's just more of a soulful feel. And again, this is like

Three and a half minutes, so you know, you're looking at the radio version, so if you are a mobile DJ and you don't like playing extended five and a half hour long tracks then possibly The Urban Stereo.

Alright, I tell you what, we're going to finish it off with track number 8 from disc number 1. Don't forget these are the Urban releases from CDPool, check out the link in the description. And if you're into your soul, your R&B, a bit of hip-hop, loads of spoken word, loads of vocals, 3 and a half minutes to 4 minutes is the occasional track that's a lot longer then check out the Urban. This one here, track number 8 from disc number 1. It's got that kind of African sort of vibe. Don't forget as well, this is August 2015, Urban Releases and if you're into CDPool in a big way, go to the NEC in Birmingham this September. Check out underneath here, I'll put a link to... Visit bpm.com, CDpool will be there. If you talk nicely to them, you might get some discount. Practice and enjoy. Thank you.

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