How to Drop Mix Using Different BPM Demonstration

0:00 These kinds of transitions are normally done say if you're a mobile DJ

All right ladies and gentlemen this video is going to be all about the drop, dropping in the next cut. So to prove a point what I'm going to do I'm going to set the pitches to the center position. Now these kinds of transitions are normally done say if you're a mobile DJ. Now some people may agree or disagree again you know it's entirely up to you but generally if you're a mobile DJ and you're playing the seven inch version of a track three and a half minutes by the way these are the extended versions but I will explain during the course of the video. There's very little time to mix in the next track because the phrasing is a lot smaller, shorter than extended versions. Phrasing in three and a half minute tracks is two bars maybe four if you're lucky. On the other hand the extended version phrasing will be more like eight bars 16 sometimes 24 or 32. So pitches are dead center so the tracks

Speed. Let's burn something else on. So let's have a listen to this. This is Take It Up. Got some extended mix and sounds a bit like this. All right so all I'm going to do I'm going to find the next track. All right so this is Take It Up. On the right hand side a track entitled Never See Me Cry 7th Heaven Club Mix. So have a listen just very quickly.

Skip it forward. All right so what you're about to hear now on the right hand side is something that you would say be listening to on your headphones. So I'm going to go to sort of a drop in the track where it's the beginning of a new phrase but just maybe the vocals start the chorus or the verse. Maybe there. Okay that's not too bad. This is a typical track. This is quite difficult because it's sort of very flowing. The vocals are flowing from chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse. That you doubt. You haven't got to define kind of stop and

Boom in with a drop. So not yet anyway.

2:55 Got a hot cue, similar kind of thing

Okay let's just try that bit then. I'm just going to rewind a little bit.

Okay so I've paused it there. Got a hot cue, similar kind of thing.

4:19 Master tempo, tempo disengaged, speed

I'm going to do two mixes here because there's a definite difference between the BPM. One is 10 BPM faster which is quite a difference. Just checking my levels so they're both same. Okay you can tell definitely there is a difference in BPM. You're going from quite slow track to a faster track. So I'll just reverse what I said earlier on about keeping the pitches in the same position. I'm going to speed the one on the left up and I'm going to slow a little bit the one on the right down. Now very quickly as well because master tempo is engaged what that means is that even if I speed or slow the the tracks up or down, the key will stay the same. If I don't have Master Tempo disengaged what will happen is not only will the track speed up but the music tends to sort of, it

Sounds as though it's rising if you speed it up or it sounds like on the right hand side if I had Master Tempo disengaged it would sound like it's dipping, like the keys almost like diving which is what you don't want because they may end up being out of key so let's just rewind it a bit. Now again they're actually not the same BPM, one on the left is 128.7 and one on the right is 132.7 but at least they're a bit closer. Let's go back a bit more. Now let's try a different place, much better, a little bit more of a flow there and there was less of a kind of a jump from a slow track to a faster track. Okay let's kick this one on and I'm just going to put that volume down while we search through the other tracks. Let's have a listen to this so let's just pause that up. Now I'm not trying

7:07 A drop in phrase, that's what it's about

To beat match or anything there, yeah so just pause that. This is Work It, sorry Workout Song. Drop. Okay let's go back to Never See Me Cry. What I need to do here is go more down. Okay so a drop in phrase, that's what it's about. This one here is entitled Workout Song. Okay let's try something else. Okay just carry on and let that play in the background. There it is but you can't hear it. Okay I can definitely tell straight away this is a lot slower. Maybe not, let's have a listen to something else. See again how long is this track? It's about just over four minutes so it's a little bit longer than the radio version but any track that's anything from sort of three and a half minutes to about four and a half minutes you'll find that the phrasing is probably a lot smaller than your

9:48 We'll bring that volume down

Extended version. So I'm pretty much, I can't guarantee but I would say you know your chorus verse, chorus verse is probably going to be about four bars, four bars, four bars, four bars and so on. Straight into another track. How would you know the extended mix? Okay so we'll bring that volume down. Let's have a listen to something else. We'll try Cigarette the Danny Dove Club Edit. So now I think I'll do that one, we'll try something else. Dance Floor Powerhouse Extended. Again extended over seven minutes. What is it? Seven minutes twenty-nine. So you can have a lot of phrase, not a lot of phrasing of course. The phrasing is longer so guaranteed pretty much to have eight bars and maybe sixteen, sometimes twenty-four

11:38 Just have a go, have a mess around, try something

Which gives you more time to do a longer transition but that's what this video, this video sorry isn't about that. It's about just dropping a tune in. So let's find a good drop point in this track for example the beginning of the chorus, the beginning of the verse or maybe at the end of a break when the proper drop comes in. And again from an energy point view, from a feeling of vibe this seems to be a little bit lower. It's like more kind of chugging away whereas the how do you know tune has got a little bit more energy. Now I don't think I'm going to do that actually. Let's go somewhere else and have a look. Work out song. And this is how transitions should be you know. It's like being a chef and all of a sudden deciding to make a cake but use new ingredients.

You know it's experimenting, that's the key okay. Just have a go, have a mess around, try something. If it doesn't work, try something else. So we'll go from there maybe. No I'll leave for pitches. Right I missed that drop there. All that phrasing should I say. There you go. Okay so straight from one track into the other. This one here is workout. So you know, this is a tip for you that is fantastic. I mean this is something that you will know but practically every single other person in the room will not know. The track on the right here was at 124 BPM. The track on the left was at 128. So not only if you get the correct timing, phrasing and keys that work. If you can drop the next beat, then you're

Going to be able to do it. And that's what we're going to do. So let's go back to the first track in. But just speed it up very slightly. You know, just 5 BPM, 4, 3, 6 maybe. What you're doing is you're giving the track that's coming in that extra boost of energy by increasing the BPM. Now so long as you drop in time in phrase. You know 1, 2, 3, 4 on the one track to 1, 2, 3, 4 on the left. So long as you keep in phrase, you can't go wrong because people dancing won't notice. They're still going to be dancing and they're going to be dancing 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. But the difference is when they get to the next 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, their movements will be slightly faster. They don't know what's going on. You do, but they feel more energized, right? Hope that's been a help. Check out

The link in the description for more information on these tracks. Practice and enjoy. Thank you very much.

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