Mixing mobile music

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DJChas

New DJ
Aug 27, 2007
147
0
53
I live in the Bay Area, spin house music with 12 inch records during Peak Hour 128/130BPM in the clubs for many years now. Don't know about other areas, but here, you got guys/girls called "Train Spotters" who stand in front of the DJ booth and stare at you, your hands and listen to your mixes very closely. Your mix has to be flawless! Perfect beat matching and phrase matching. If you don't, you get dirty looks and you suck!

I'm now doing the Mobile thing. I'm just a bit older now and not really into the club thing anymore.

I can mix house very smoothly and can be seemless when I do. However, when it comes to mobile DJing, I find it very very hard to mix top 40 and all the other genres that go along wth Mobile gigs. So, for now I'm a CD push botton DJ. Blah...

I will say, its very weak in my opinon. It's not really exciting at all. I don't get the rush that I was getting when I was mixing house music with records. Well mabe its because I can't mix it?

Thats being said, how do you mix Top 40 and all the other genres? I guess you could get songs together that have similar BPM's? I just feel like I'm just starting out as a DJ again...haha

All this Software now days can do it for you, but thats too easy. Plus I don't use a computer. I just have CD's.

Is there a formula or trick that you mobile pro's have learned over the years to mix this stuff? With house, you beat match with your pitch sliders on the Technics 1200's with he bass drums of the two tracks, tweek your EQ's a bit, and walla.....preaching to the choir I know.

So whats the scoop with mixing Top 40? Like anything, practice??

Any help would be appreciated. THANKS!
 
Top 40 is tough to mix. You can get the extended (intro/outro) versions which helps or the various re-mixes, but in the end, it ain't club. I don't mix anymore (wasn't real good at it anyway), so I spend more time talking to the listeners and drinking (unless it's a formal event).
 
It is easy to make the transition from Vinyl to Cds and then to Computer with Controller. Beat Matching is easy, Slip Cueing and Dry Mixes take more know how! I used to play sets of Rock, C & W, R & B, Hip Hop, Techno, Reggae and Latin all mixed into each other. My audience loved it. Get the rhythm beat right and you should be able to mix any two genres. One of my best overlay mixes was in the early 80s I used to overlay "Fresh" by Kool & Gang with "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan.


 
Hey Nineteen is one of my audio test tracks.
 
steve149 said:
Hey Nineteen is one of my audio test tracks.
Click to expand...
I am glad you like it. Lots of STEREO Effects. Not built for Mono! ;)
Now back to the regular scheduled program.
 
I use it to test dynamics, delay, high/low frequency balance and other things when I run mono ... that it sounds wonderful in stereo is just a plus .. :tritongue:
 
Okay though not always as pronounced most every fun song we include at a mobile gig has a BPM rating. I used to mix Vinyl and in many cases with album cuts not all 12 inch singles and also was known to mix 45's which was even more difficult. Each song has breakdowns within and so I would mix over at those points. Its much more difficult. House and Techno have big instrumental sections as well as breaks which I have always said are the easiest genre to mix. Do it with album tracks and 45's Country, Rock, R&B, Top 40, dance hits etc not to mention my most recent typical mixes with multiple genre and ethnic music. Think what they call today MASHUPS. We were doing this yrs before it had a name.
 
I was raised in Rock radio, so I never learned how to beat mix until recently.
Most mobile gigs like parties and weddings don't need beatmixing...
so all you really need to learn is how to blend one song into another without sounding like a train wreck.
(you know, like not following Celine Dion with AC-DC)
If you're only asking about beatmixing Top 40 dance music into Top 40 dance music...
you can go with extended mixes...
but remixes may not be as well accepted at a wedding as they would in the clubs
mainly because there is a wider range of age groups.
 
Mike unless you throw down Celines rendition of AC DC first then follow with ACDC. In the Bay Area Im thinking its a bit more like Toronto progressive and hip which means that they might expect most any genre to mix. Im from Northern California and know how San Francisco, The bay area and even Sacramento are and they are a bit more liberal and would expect the progression to be as such.
 
bottom line....it's skill and practice. Looping effects, knowing your music and where the breaks are. Mixing is like anything else. You want to try tough mixing......try mixing fast-Country 2 steps at 200-210 bpm range. You get a VERY small window to seemlessly mix the 2 tracks without lyrics jumbling. My tip would be to set up your rig and just mix away.....Practice, practice, practice. Just my .02 cents.
 
or use the "non-mixing" DJ method.

talk over the segue
 
been doing it for years!!!
 
ahoustondj said:
One of my best overlay mixes was in the early 80s I used to overlay "Fresh" by Kool & Gang with "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan.
Click to expand...

Friggin awesome combo Houston. Managed to sync the two vids at once quite by happenstance. Sweet mix.

To offer my 2¢ to DJChas' question:

I did more cold cuts than mixes in my mobile DJ days. Back then I was playing almost all music vids. Tons of talk and extra intros made mixing fairly easy. A lot of added intros and sometimes outtros with music vids.

Back in the day I'd cold cut between 'Otis Day and the Knights: Shout' at the "Now Waaaaaaaaaa-aa-a-a--a--ait a minute!!"
-cold cut to-
'Frank Sinatra: New York New York (studio version)'
-cold cut back to-
"Now Waaaaaaaaaa-aa-a-a--a--ait a minute!! .......YEAH YEAH, YEAH YEAH!!! ........Feel Aaa-aa-aaa-aaallllll Ri-ii-ii-iii-ght Now. Mmmmm hmmm, mmmm hmmmm."

Frat boys and girls loved it.
 
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