How do you mix without reference points.

[prettyherb]

Hey,

I'm starting to mix more and more dark/ minimal drum&bass. Alot of tracks seem to have nothing to refer on in the intro: no rides, no drumpattern, no repeating synth, only some random pads.

I usually forward then some bars till i find something. BUT, sometimes, there is only a drom pattern or so in the main part, but i want to mix it in before the drop starts.

How do you guys do it?

grtz

[theraw]

If there's nothing whatsoever in the intro then it can't really be mixed until there's something to keep the timing with. The only way you can do it really is by getting the beats perfectly in time before you re-cue and start mixing from the beginning but it's pretty risky if there's no hi-hats to go by, you're likely to end up with pots and pans when the beats kick in. I sometimes cue it up from the first drop and start mixing it in with the bass EQ switched off and cross it over into the breakdown, this can work for double dropping as well if both tunes break down at the same time and drop after the same amount of bars

[jashby]

There are some songs which literally have no repeatative pattern during the intro.. But some if you listen closely will have a pretty faint hat to use as a reference. As mentioned, either beatmatch from the drop and recue from the beginning and hope.. Or eq the track and bring it in from the drop.

It also totally depends on ones ability.. Obviously the more experienced dj is gunna find it easier to cue up on a hihat pattern where as others need a kick and snare..

[danwell]

Just cue it at the drop with all faders up. Eq's at 5o'clock. That's when it sounds best IMO. If you can't make that sound good I suggest you practice a bit more

[Papa Jaro]

Eq's at 5o'clock.

Doesn't that mean almost to maximum? Not sure why you'd do that.


I'd get the two tunes in time then queue it from the start again and see if you can pick up a regular sound. Can you give examples of the tunes that cause you problems? Anyway there's something wrong if the bass line can't help you.

[prettyherb]

Doesn't that mean almost to maximum? Not sure why you'd do that.


I'd get the two tunes in time then queue it from the start again and see if you can pick up a regular sound. Can you give examples of the tunes that cause you problems? Anyway there's something wrong if the bass line can't help you.

Like logistics- murderation. In want to bring it in when the vocal 'murda dem, i'm gonna murda dem' starts. Before that, it's really hard to find a reference point.
Or June Miller- Snapcase, the part before the second drop. If i want to double drop that with another tune, i'm near to a fail :p

[Saint]

Murderation and Snapcase both have drums from the start.

In the middle brakedowns its a little different. Murderation can be done from those synth hits if you know what youre doing. Never tried it with Snapcase but mixing just pads can be pretty hard.

[prettyherb]

Murderation and Snapcase both have drums from the start.

In the middle brakedowns its a little different. Murderation can be done from those synth hits if you know what youre doing. Never tried it with Snapcase but mixing just pads can be pretty hard.

Murderation has some, like reeverbed echo-ish drums, but after a while they fade away, just the pads remain. I find it difficult imo :p

Or this new one, bottled, from InsideInfo. It's so damn hard imo to concentrate on a point to mix it in :p

[WhoSayReload?]

Yeah as said cue it from the drop then rewind back to the first beat.

[Harry3]

Just cue it at the drop with all faders up. Eq's at 5o'clock. That's when it sounds best IMO. If you can't make that sound good I suggest you practice a bit more

wat

[t345e]

Snapcase 2nd drop is a toughie man, not much to go on. Make sure it's fully in time, got to have it locked so maybe use a tune with a longer more dj friendly intro to give you some time. If you then make sure you eq the treble down on snapcase so if it comes in slightly out the drum clashes won't sound massively harsh to the ear. Hope that helps mate, there some tunes that we all struggle with cos they are difficult to do, there are times when I'm sure every dj sits and prays that a tough double drop will land perfectly, just practice practice.

[Olllie]

I learned the concept through Virtual DJ. Then got decks and did lots of shit mixes before they started getting better.

Also learning to "ride the pitch" helps a lot.

[D-Jhepz]

how you guy getting to cue point when you have no cue's like on vinyl or cdjs with no usb... is there an easy way or just remember where and wen and practise??

[jashby]

how you guy getting to cue point when you have no cue's like on vinyl or cdjs with no usb... is there an easy way or just remember where and wen and practise??

Know your tunes. Play the track over and over, counting bars for the intro and breakdown. There is no easy way, straight hard graft for that one

[prettyherb]

how you guy getting to cue point when you have no cue's like on vinyl or cdjs with no usb... is there an easy way or just remember where and wen and practise??

Know your tunes mate. When ur bored, just listen to the tunes you mix often and pay attention to when the drop comes, where there are fake drops, where there are parts without bass or without drums, when vocals kick in,...
With all that you can tease alot when mixing and playing more with the elements of the tracks. Much more enjoyable when listening to a mix than when it's just 'mixed' get it ?