BETTER BEAT MIXING

When really knowing how to beatmix, you can advance even more, by trying to mix songs by their structure. Now, this really means you gotta have a good ear for music, and know your songs.

This page goes through the SIMPLEST of structures of a song.
It's only here to show people that any tune DOES have a structure, but the structure of each tune can be as individual as a finger-print.

THE STRUCTURE OF A SONG
Dance/house/trance music, you'll find in most cases the time signature is 4/4 this means that there are FOUR CROCHET BEATS to ONE BAR.

In it's simplest form in dance music:-
Beat 1 is a Bass Drum
Beat 2 is a Bass Drum and Snare (or clap)
Beat 3 is a Bass Drum again
Beat 4 is a Bass Drum and Snare Drum (or clap) combined again

You can see here that mixing to songs by “first beat”-mixing, will make both songs have a “clean” bass drum on top of each other, sounding a lot better than if they where not mixed in the first beat logic. Now, lets advance ..

For the purposes of taking you through this, I'm going to talk in terms of Verses and Chorus's. I know that dance music doesn't really have discernible Verses or Chorus's, but they are kind of there, you just have to be imaginative

Ok, the beginning of most tunes is an intro. There are some out there that bang straight into the meat of the song, but they're not very DJ friendly, so I won't mention them.
Realistically, an intro can last as long as you want - hell, some of the tunes, I sometimes wonder if the intro ever stops! But in this case we'll talk in terms of a 8 bar intro (with the most popular lengt

Think of Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone. At the end of its intro, there's a kind of "whee whee WHEEP" thing going on, which lets you know that it's going to bust into newer territory. Or it could be a drop in the beat for one bar, or whatever, the important thing to know is that the intro ends - other wise it'll be a really boring tune! Lol…

After the intro, we'll hit into the meat of the tune, thats going into the verse. You'll notice in most tunes that after 4 bars of the verse (that’s 16 beats), there will be something to mark the progression into the next four bars - which is when a lot of tunes will progress to something a little different (say they'll include more complicated bass or drum pattern - something like that). It'll probably just be a cymbal, or some kind of punctuation, but it's good to listen out for it.

After these 8 bars (2 sets of four - half a verse - 2 phrases), there will be another change. Most likely, there will be a build up of some kind, maybe a big "Whoosh" , a drum roll, a drop in the beat for a bar - a vocal sample… what likely happens is that the energy of the second half of the verse that this leads into (next 2 sets of four bars) will be greater - maybe even more sounds, a more powerful bass line, or another hook line will be introduced or a change of key.

So, that's another 8 bars, with the same kind of break between the sets of four bars as before - giving us 16 bars of the verse - or four phrases. Then we go into the 'chorus' of the tune. Many songs are made almost mechanically like this… I can see them putting the loops into Acid Loop and make music like a recipe for food lol

In summary then, there are 4 sets of four bars ( 4 x phrases) to the verse - with these four phrases split into two sets of two phrases (half a verse).

So now we get into the 'chorus' of the tune. This is more likely to be only 8 bars (2 phrases) in length which could have a nice build up between the phrases and another nice punctuation when coming out.

More often than not in dance stuff, we now encounter the beloved mini BREAKDOWN or bridge. Here, the power of the tune will sometimes drop out - losing the bass drums etc.. anything to set it apart from the rest of the tune. For average every day bridges between the Chorus and the next Verse, these breakdowns will only really last 8 bars - 16 at the most, otherwise the dance floor gets itchy.

In the next verse, the same as before will happen - not necessarily with the sound of the tune, but still with the 4x4 phrase format.

Chorus - kinda the same as before really. Not much new here!
Now (very often) we hit the big breakdown, often lasting for a longer time than the mini-breakdown. After this monster breakdown, “bang!” - we're back into the tune again - most cases it's back into the chorus again, but in some cases it's the verse again.

The song either keep going until the end (Dj unfriendly fade out) or there will be 16 bars of just beats or something to help out the Dj when it comes to mixing the next tune.
In summary, my simplistic (and over simplified) dance song will look like this:

INTRO - 16 Bars
VERSE 1 - 16 bars (4 phrases)
CHORUS 1 - 8 Bars (2 phrases)
BRIDGE - 8 Bars
VERSE 2 - 16 bars (4 phrases)
CHORUS 2 - 8 Bars (2 phrases)
BIG BREAKDOWN - 16 Bars
CHORUS 3 - 8 Bars (2 phrases)
VERSE 3 - 16 Bars (4 phrases)
CHORUS 4 - 8 Bars (2 phrases)
CHORUS 5 - 8 Bars (2 phrases)
END - 16 Bars

Now… what is the point in all this structure blah blah ???? lol
well.. its all about PLACEMENT of mix…. And the smoothness and flow of a mix!

For a really really pro mix, you should mix by those first 4 beats in a bar, in both songs, to make it the smoothest possible mix, with the correct flow to it.

So, that the song you are trying to mix in follows the same flow as the song playing. That it kinda continues the song that you are fading out. Now, this often happened by itself or by “accident”, or maybe you even do it already, but don’t know why… just because it sounds better! And that’s the exact point! There IS a better way of mixing, than just fade in song nr 2 like dead weight into song1. But as songs are often build the same way, you may already do this by instinct.

But maybe fine-tune it a little more? Try listen hard to the song, so that those first phrases in song2 fits perfectly the rhythm of song1.. try counting 1-2-3-FOUR, and u will see the FORTH beat is a different one (not easy to detect, but if u aligned CBG’s right, VDJ will help you with this by showing you the cbg’s and if the BIG cbg’s are aligned, the songs mix like pro’s )… after song1 has finished its “downbeat” (forth beat) – the next beat in the song should be song2’s “upbeat” (FIRST beat of phrase/pattern – the BIG cgb square..

IF you don’t get what I’m talking about, shoot me! Lol.. because its really hard to explain in words. Its all about having a good sense of music. And explaining it would be kinda like explain in a post here how do dance… first you move right leg to the left, then… lol…

The major point here is to have the whole mix in the same structure as a song is.. that song nr 2 starts where song1 stops, in the same structure as song1. Bring in song 2 in the logic of the song almost, so that the mix sounds like a nice loooooog song This will make your mix sound so much smoother!

NOW – mixing just with crossfader, is just not gonna cut it.. (no pun..lol).. You need to work those EQ knobs as well, or you will end up with strange (sometimes cool) unintended effects like to sets of bass drums making a kinda flanger effect, a phasing in high hats etc .. It can really make your mix sound fuzzy if you don’t remove some frequencies of one of the songs, because having 2 songs with to slamming bassdrums on top of each other is almost never going to sound right…

(1) OUTRO/INTRO MIXING
The most obvious one is using the outro/intro of song 1 and 2 to mix them.
Simply start the intro of tune two when the outro of tune one begins.. on beat
Use the crossfader from deck1 to deck 2 to make the transition. To make it perfect, make it sound like deck2 goes into build up into the “main tune” (the mix) just when deck1 fades out.
It does take perfect timing to be really great, but it can be…. And works best with an intro that does not have no or not loud bass drums.

(2) KILL BASS MIX – FADE OR QUICK OPTION
Lets say both songs have a clear beat in intro/outro. Start song 2 when the some beats before the outro starts 1. Kill bass, and beat match with song1, and loop by 8 beats. Bring fader towards middle, removing some of the high (eq high) at song1, adding some high at song 2.
Now, when song nr 1 hits the outro part, at that last beat, turn bass on song 2 up to normal position… next, either kill bass on song1 and leave it for 4 beats, or QUICK move the crossfader all the way to song2 on that beat.

Takes some practice, and timing here too… but sounds great

(3) EQ MIXING
now, this is a bit like the basic beatmixing, but on time and WITH eq buttons
When song1 is about 16 beats from its outro, release song nr2 (cued, and beat matched).
Try “swapping” the high (eq) by removing some at song one, adding some at song2.
Even the middle (eg) – if that sounds good (swaps lyric line)

And then bass… so that song nr2 kinda “takes” over song nr1. By smoothly taking each frequency of the eq. So that song2 is on its normal EQ when song 1 hits its outro.
You can either just kill song 1, or let the outro fade out.

You can try different variations of this, by just killing/swapping bass, or treble etc.
Practice, and have them as variations. After a while u will learn what is best for what songs, what mixes etc Play around with crossfader, trying to make them have a smooth transition into eachother, and if using a skin with eq-crossfader, these are really nice to get the mix I’m talking about here.

again, takes practice, and timing and knowing your songs, and their structure

(4) “RISKY VERSION”
Sometimes, it's cool NOT to follow the 8 bar / 16 bar format of the intro. By doing it that way, the mixing can become pretty predictable!! So, u need variations!

This last one is a bit risky, but with home-practice, you can make it work like a charm at a live gig (w/ risk). The risk is running out of time.

Do the same as above, but with only a 4 beat loop of the intro beat of song2. So when you have heard 4 beats of the outro on song 1 (giving the crowd a bit of a break, and some anticipation in that calmer part of song1) – then mix song2 on beat fast in, fading or killing song1

(5) ADVANCE EVEN MORE (breakdown mixing) :
Practice on there different techiquest (1-3), and when u feel comfortable, the next level is to not wait for the outro of the song, but do it in the BIG BREAKDOWN part of song1, giving u about 16 beats to do cool mixing stuff That will not play songs from start to end, but give a “faster” mixing, playing about 2-3 mins of each song, and not be so much of a “radio show” playing from start to end.
The basic idea is to get a nice smoothness and flow to your mixing. In a matter that the actual mix sounds and are build kinda the same way as a song is. When the breakdown part ends, the new verse starts in a song… when mixing, after the breakdown ends, a new verse in a NEW song starts.. giving the mix the smoothness it needs, and sounding logic.
If you wanna fine tune to the highest level, you really need a good ear for music. You need then try to hear the difference in those 4x4 beats (a bar), to realize that the first bar in the 2 bars of a verse is not exactly the same. By mixing not only by first beat of a bar, but also by first bar of a verse, you are really mixing like a pro!! If you did not understand this last part, don’t worry. Most people can’t really tell the difference, you need a great ear for music to distinguish a bar from another bar in a song, and most people on the dancefloor can’t tell the difference too, and will not hear. But if you for example did a remix of a song to be released on an album, you had to follow this logic, because sitting at home sober, at a hi-fi stereo, u really can tell the difference between a dj mixing like this, and a dj that doesn’t

ALTERNATIVE “MIXING” :
Now, every now and then, beatmixing is not the answer..
Or you just want some variation. Here is a cpl of good variation techniques that are really easy to apply (some even found as plugin effects for vdj):
-backspin… when using one of the teqniques above, do a backspin instead of a fadeout or kill. Sounds cool for some songs, but don’t do this to often, will only leave people to think u do this because you cant beatmix.
-Break-beat/vinyl-stop : stop the record in stead of fading out, with a vinyl stop.. that don’t kill instantly, but kills over a second.
-Dead stop : just kill song 1 as the beat-start at song2 on the same beat (cued, crossfader middle) – can work cool for hiphop etc. Clue here is to really switch the first beat of the pattern from deck1 to deck2, by killing after the last beat of pattern on deck1, and start deck2 where the next (first) beat should be on deck1…
-Crossfader on beat-mix. Almost the same as above. After a 4 beat pattern on desk1, on beat move the crossfader to the aligned song on deck2.. w/ practice and the right songs, this can make a great mix (especially hiphop etc)

as always, happy mixing practice make king