Learning to DJ - Dubstep edition

the nut · Post by **the nut** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:56 pm

I've found Pioneers surprisingly usable. Dont feel like technics, but still do kinda what you tell them.
Expect it to feel like djing on beltdrives or something.

gutter · Post by **gutter** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:59 pm

the nut wrote:
Expect it to feel like djing on beltdrives or something.

well I know all about djing on beltdrives, so that sounds encouraging!

andythetwig · Post by **andythetwig** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:01 pm

or take your laptop and a copy of ableton

zefa · Post by **zefa** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 1:54 pm

at first i found mixing some dubstep sounds a bit tricky as id only been playing techno and roots tunes. 4/4 is easy and gives you time to build a good set...however mixing some of the half step stuff, you can get some really nice mixes going different basses and hats etc...i love halfstep in the mix really gets going...

blackdown · Post by **blackdown** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:18 pm

if you're wanting to learn to mix, i'd say house or non-breaky d&b are easiest.

basically at first you want tunes with simple, clear drum patterns to learn how to listen for the parts of the beat (usually the kick or snare) that tell you if they're mixed.

the greatest hits of squarepusher might not be the best place to start

rickyricardo · Post by **rickyricardo** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:05 pm

If you're going to mix dubstep, you should definitly *know* your tunes. This is true to a degree w/ any genre, but it seems to be moreso w/ dubstep since the beats can vary so much, and some tunes, no matter how much you try, just aren't going to sound good together.

What I usually try to do is, listen to the song playing and then mentally mix the song I'm trying to bring in. If the mix sounds like ass in your head, then it's probably gonna sound like ass on the decks

Good luck!!

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:20 pm

tbh id advise you to get a couple of cheap straightforward d&b records or something aswell as dubstep just so you can get your head around beatmatching first without getting too frustrated, as soon as you get a feel for beathmatching you can pretty much mix anything of the same tempo (aslong as its a fairly normal time signiture) but I can imagine some dubstep giving you a pretty nasty headache if you're trying to learn to beatmeatch with it..

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:35 pm

Yeah, I'm learning to mix at the mo' - and all of my DJ mates (house, tech, hip hop, DnB) reckon I've jumped right in the deep end!

I'd been getting really frustrated - but then I played my tunes to a few mates (DJing for over 10 yrs), and they all all agreed that dubstep is pretty hard to mix.

Dubstep and breakbeat-driven DnB (Paradox, Amit etc) are probably going to bit a lot more challenging than house or trance, for example.

Fubars suggestion is sound - buy two old Full Cycle tunes made within a year of each other (95, 96, 97). Krust, Die Bill Riley etc. All very similar BPM and patterns - very easy to mix, and will build your confidence up.

letitia · Post by **letitia** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:53 pm

i just got my decks, been buying records for a year or so and have been wanting to mix them so much but now i am very very happy!
i dont know about mixing other genres but i find dubstep really fun to mix, so go for it!

letitia · Post by **letitia** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:54 pm

i just got my decks, been buying records for a year or so and have been wanting to mix them so much but now i am very very happy!
i dont know about mixing other genres but i find dubstep really fun to mix, so go for it!

subframe · Post by **subframe** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:38 pm

DJ $hy wrote:The slower the music the harder it is to mix it.

Absolutely true!

Dubstep is pretty hard to mix, in my opinion. Much harder than DnB or house. Techno can be difficult as well, but that's more due to structure, for me, than actual difficulty of beatmatching.

I've been playing records for 10 years, now, and I can barely match a lot of my dubstep tunes.

But damn, it's a lot of fun trying

triac · Post by **triac** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:00 pm

The only real problem I find with beatmatching dubstep is that sometimes two tunes use really quite different grooves (or quantisation), say with different amounts of swing... So they can be completely in time, but it just doesn't sound right. But once you know what mixes work and what don't, it's not that hard (though since I started mixing dubstep, my dnb mixes work sooooo much quicker).

So if you want to learn to beatmatch with dubstep (and there is definitely no point learning to mix records you don't want to listen to) is to buy two records by the same artist, or that you've heard mixed well by someone else, preferably with an obvious groove, and concentrate on that mix until you get the hang of it... Someone told me to mix two copies of the same record, which kind of makes sense, but I found it was harder to tell which record is out of time because they both have the same beats.

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:47 pm

gutter · Post by **gutter** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:37 pm

UFO over easy wrote:
[b]racket wrote:^^^

That cant be helped at times....its either that or clang the fuck out of the mix. I know which one i would rather hear...i can deal with a little bit of platter push.
If you're good, you won't be doing any of that I think this is a problem most forms of music based on dubplate culture have - when we go out, we see people who are mainly producers rather than DJs. They have all the dubs that people want to hear... but a lot of the time their mixing is sub standard.

Maybe, but I like all the platter-pushing! Listening to a raw, live mix with all the blood, sweat and tears is far more exciting to me than a seamless perfect mixdown.

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 12:06 am

Fair play, but listening to youngsta mix is raw and exciting, and that guy just doesn't make beatmatching mistakes... I haven't heard him clang ever, even once, and there's no obvious platter pushing either.

pra3torian · Post by **pra3torian** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:21 pm

RickyRicardo's comment about knowing your tracks helping alot when spinning dubstep is spot on.

With DNB, I can pretty much just pull almost any track out of my crate, basically whatever I want to hear, and throw it on the platter and mix it in. Beats, drums, etc tend to be the same, and easily mixable.

But, with Dubstep, with the time signatures and beats being all over the place, I've found that I really need to know which tracks will go with which. I've even begun cataloguing my tracks according to which ones go together well.

But, like someone else said, since the tracks are so minimal and sparse, I've found that I can get some great blends, able to ride for a minute or two, cutting basslines, etc. Never possible when I spin DNB, im usually in and out of the mix.

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:35 am

citizen · Post by **citizen** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 7:05 am

Maybe this should be a sticky thread?

OR

There should be a Production AND DJing forum.

Anyway, it's good to see everyone helping each other with good advice - a fresh change from forums where nOObs are slain mercilessly.

mr peach · Post by **mr peach** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:19 am

this forum is amazing.

i have never got a response as good as this without being an established member of a forum, ever.

i really want decks now but i have suddenly realised i dont have the room for them. bah!

point-blanc · Post by **point-blanc** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:29 pm

Peachy, peachy. There's ALWAYS room for decks.

triac wrote: Someone told me to mix two copies of the same record, which kind of makes sense, but I found it was harder to tell which record is out of time because they both have the same beats.

Don't ever do this. Your two records wll be in phase and in theory if you got them perfectly in time they would cancel eachother out (to a point - vinyl cutting is an imperfect process). Basically the ounds you are listening to will suddenly dissapera or turn very 'hollow'.

If you want to learn about phase cancellation then this is a good place to start. If you want to learn to DJ, try two tunes with a similar beat (I always start people off with Warhead which i beatmatch for them and let them learn where to mix and what to listen for. truss) NOT the same tune.

Learning to DJ - Dubstep edition

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