DJ Phrase Mixing Demonstration on Constructing a Mix

0:00 First of all the demonstration, then of course the explanation

Alright guys, first of all the demonstration, then of course the explanation. The track I'm using here is Bot Tony Quattro. Let's just make sure we've got it. It's Balut, B-A-L-U-T. So Tony Quattro and then B-A-L-U-T, Balut. It's quite a funky tune so let's bung that on. It'll be explained at the end of the video so don't panic.

5:28 You've got maybe five tracks so you played one, two, three, four, five

What's going on? Right, first of all I did three different mixes using three different tracks. All in key and also I brought the three tracks in at the same point, not same time, same point on the Tony Quattro track. So what I want you to tell me is which one did you think was the better track to bring in with the Tom Quattro and why? So leave a comment. Now, why am I doing something like this? Well, let's imagine you're constructing your set. You've got maybe five tracks so you played one, two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five. Tom is the fifth track. Sorry, Tom, Tony. Oh God, I've got a memory like one of those things. Yeah. Okay, get the joke. Right, so you've got that track playing and then you bring in the next one. Now, the objective here is to choose the right track that works with the mix. So there's a lot going on. It's not just as easy as let's find a tracks in the same key.

Same BPM. It's EDM. Yeah, both EDM. Chuck them together. Jobs are good. No, they may not complement each other correctly. For example, you may have an EDM track. You may go into a future house track. They may sound okay, but they may not complement each other. Now, I personally thought the second track worked better. You had a nice bouncy kind of feel with the track on the left track on the right. Then came the next one.

It came with more of a mellow vibe. The third mix was a little bit rough. The bass line came in too soon. There wasn't much of a transition. The first track was okay, but I personally prefer the second mix. Now again, what I was doing as well, I was using the filter. I was trying to almost use the filter like a wave up and down, up and down in time.

Now, if I'd have played the first or second track and left the Tony track fade out completely, it would have been perfectly in phrase, which is what you want for a good transition. Now, this is a beginning and end mix. So after trying the beginning and end mix, what I could then do is try and bring these tunes closer together. Bring them in the middle, not just beginning and end. Here's the track. My hand is the entire track. On the left, left hand, right hand, entire track on the right. Instead of doing that, why don't we do something like that where the tips of my fingers are by my knuckles on? So tips of my fingers on the right hand, on my right hand or on the knuckles on my left. I'm explaining this just for you partially sighted. And then, of course, the tips of my fingers on the left hand are underneath my right hand, but directly below the knuckles on my right hand. So I'm doing that.

8:05 Break again

So we're doing more of a mix that's inside the track. So let's try that now. So let's just go back a little bit to the with the Tony Quattro track. I'm going to go towards the break. Okay, we're getting there now. I feel I can do this. I can get this even better. So let's go to the break again. Okay, so what I'm feeling now is why don't we try and get this set up? So the melody of the track on the right starts when the break starts with the track on the left. Let's see if we can do that now. Okay. Also, doing a mix like this means I don't have to bring the one in on the right straight away. So for example, if you're not brilliant at beat matching and you're not one of these people who gawp at the BPM all the time, you like to use your ears.

Well done. Then it means that you've got the phrase before the break comes in to beat match it, get it beat matched, bang it straight in. Hopefully the melody comes in same time as the break. Here we go.

Okay. Both are working together, but one on the right for my headphones. I'm going to slam it in as soon as the break starts. Okay, so we're still out of time there. Again. Yeah. Hold on. It's all right. Don't panic. This is where timing comes in. Okay, so we've got eight bars there. We've got 16 over there. Very simple. What do we do? We count eight here. One, one, two, three. Two, one, two, three. Two, one, two, three. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, five. One, two, three, six. One, two, three, seven. One, two, three, eight. One, two, three. Oh, it started there. I wonder what went wrong there. I must be going mad. You know what? I'm not going to edit this video. It just shows how it doesn't always go to plan. All right.

Let's just count how many bars we've got on this side here.

I must have done something stupidly wrong. That's the beginning of my fray, so I'm going to start counting the bars there. I'm just going to set a hot cue so I know where I am. And don't get me wrong. This is the sort of thing DJs will do to make sure their mixes are perfectly in phrase. So there. One, one, two, three, two. One, two, three, three. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, five. One, two, three, six. One, two, three, seven. One, two, three, eight. One, two, three, nine. One, two, three, ten. Five. One, two, three, six. One, two, three, seven. One, two, three, eight. One, two, three. All right. I'm not going to stop the video and rewind. Did I press the right hot cue? Oh, God knows. There. Right. Okay. So let's do this again.

Let's go back a little bit. Okay. I've just gone back a couple of bars. And that's my count in. So I want to hit C. No, I don't because that's the beginning anyway. So there's eight bars there. Okay. So here we go. This should work. One, two, three, four. It's the wrong track. Sorry about that. The gate is actually letting part of the track in. Okay. Yeah. I do apologize. Yes. Rewind back and I hit the wrong hot cue. Okay. So hopefully this video will inspire you into trying to construct your mix. Try to construct your mixes more by phrase mixing. It is one of the keys to a very good mix. Well, that's Pinky Ella, the original Pinky Ella if you're wondering what that is. And this little lady is my daughter's Ella or Ella should I say is my daughter and that's

Where Ella Skins comes from. And Pinky Ella has been all over the world haven't you? Yes. Yes, I have. Well, talk properly. Okay. That's better. Pinky Ella where have you been? I've been to Germany. I've been to Ibiza. I have been to France. I have been to Spain. I have been to America. I've been to Las Vegas. I've also been to Borth. Borth? Get the frig out of here! Yep. That's Pinky Ella and you'll see a lot more of that fluffy little TY very soon. Practice and enjoy. Thank you very much. By the way, Ryan and Ella. Dad loves you millions. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

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