Is there a name for... (AUDIO INSIDE)

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:06 pm

...a style of djing that covers multiple genres and tempos in one set?

Since I started spinning Ive wanted the ability to cross from say, house to dnb or hip hop to breaks to try to capture what a good live band can do. Now I have the tools, but Im wondering is there an audience? Is there enough other dj's in the world that are doing this that there is a forum?

Ive always liked pretty much any music that comes out under umbrella terms of 'Dance Music' or 'Electronic Music', aside from the more fufu Trance and alot of the more 'Progressive' house, but basically, if its funky or makes you wanna dance Im feeling at least a few songs in the style. I love dubstep, dnb, breaks, house and hip hop so why cant I mix them together aside from the obvious reason which is BPM. If the tracks I wanna throw together from said styles all have a similar feel and groove, then why not?

Ive been puting together some sets on the fly that feel like good live jamband sets, and Im working on a mix that feels (to me at least) somewhat like a Phish set. Start off with some groovers from DnB, into say some hip hop, then some breaks, then about where they would go into one of their famous 20 minute jams, blend it into some techno. Something with a heavy groove. From that work the tempo up, building tension, to a huge dubstep drop or some other drastic change, and end it with some more upbeat bangers. All this done on two turntables, with serato for mixing and ableton Live for doing some tempo refixes.

I personally miss the vibe of being taken on a journey, and I feel like hearing a set like how I hope the finished mix will sound could do that, and well. I would love to hear some more variety and to hear the music 'melt' into other styles fluidly.

What do you all think?

And since Ive come to realize that everytime you think you've come up with something new, someone else has already done it, is there a forum or website that anyone knows of that caters to this type of dj?

audiopie · Post by **audiopie** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:54 pm

I personally haven't heard any one throw anything out quite like that. The closest I can think of would be some turntablism stuff, closer to like Mike Relm ( tho he doesn't use much electronic based tracks).

If you get something together, I know I would be interested to hear the out come!
Plug it out!

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:23 pm

Right on homie, Ill post a link in here when I finish it.

I really dont think Im the only one in the world to think like this though, I keep thinking of that little hip hop sample that goes 'everything you did has already been done...'. Im not really too into labels and classifications, but I would like to know if a name has been coined just so I can find the online community, if one exists.

audiopie · Post by **audiopie** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:26 pm

I feel you on that. If I come across anything of the sort I'll toss her up here.

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:27 pm

right on thanks man

kate_ · Post by **kate_** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:37 pm

Freestyle

check Gilles Peterson out. He's the man...

here's a mix I did that's sorta freestyle (it's all from vinyl, and mostly all the same tempo, maybe you'll like it...):

http://download.yousendit.com/2F09453C79AED197

1 - Kool Keith & Hardkiss - Sharks and Mermaids - Astralwerks
2 - LeTigre - new kicks - universal
3 - Fischerspooner - Emerge (Naughty’s Chiefrocker RMX) - Ministry of Sound
4 - Propellerheads - Take California - Wall of Sound
5 - Rebel Crew - ???? - Sunburn test pressing
6 - white label - mash up - ???
7 - Bassbin Twins - BBTwins and a crate of BDP - Astralwerks
8 - Depth Charge - Bounty Killer III ( the Eyes of Johnny Ringo) - DC recordings
9 - The Backstage Sluts - Alpha Boot Street - white label
10 - Crystal Method - Busy Child - City of Angels
11 - Q Burns Abstract Message - He’s a Skull - Astralwerks
12 - Dynamik Bass System - Arabian Dreams - Gigolo
13 - Chaser - Blue Planet (Abacus Blue Planetaria RMX) - Om
14 - Noodles - Gerbil Trouble - Noodles

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:56 pm

Freestyle would kinda work, but if you google it stuff for Freeform Hardcore and Latin Freestyle from the early 90's comes up.

Thanks for the mix Kate, Ill check it out when I get home. Your stuff is always quality.

But... Im looking more for cats that do more drastic tempo changes, 20-30 BPMs at a time or more, through wildly varying genres. Or even if there are records that start as one style and end as another, i.e. starting as Breaks and ending as DnB, not just turning into breaks for the breakdown.

When I post the mix Im working on right now you'll get a better idea of what Im talking about...

alec.tron · Post by **alec.tron** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:57 pm

I hear you on that one....
Unfortunately this is a really hard thing to pull of properly.
I mean it s one thing to mix a certain genre for about 1 or 2 hours and make it sound as a whole, without taking the easy route and play a single sub genre or a certain sound stamped by a few artists. Which is what made most of the dnb parties I ve been to so incredibly boring over the last 7 to 8 years....
( listen to the first 2 Platinum Breakz compilations on Metalheadz, or the Above The Law or The Beginning of the End ones on Reinforced - which kind of represent the style range back then that you would hear in a single night...)

Mixing various genres, tempos and styles is a totally different game again, but there s quite a lot of people going this route...

To name a few mixes from the top of me head that worked for me...
Modeselektor - The Boomkat Mixtape
Dj Rupture - Gold Teeth Thief @ Violent Turd
and there were some Solid Steel/Coldcut/Ninjatune ones I really enjoyed...

As far as artists and labels go...
Coldcut - and most Ninjatune related guys play a lot of styles in one set...
Si Begg / Noodles Foundation
Aaron Lacrate, Hollertronix, Spank Rock and generally a lot of other mash up stuff like Knifehandchop, DJ C, Alex H and so on and forth...

Anyway, hope you post those sets of yours. Looking forward to hear those...
c.

docdoom · Post by **docdoom** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:06 pm

I'm not very good at mixing but yeah its always fun to mash it up!

How would you mix something with a big tempo drop in it? Just abandon beat matching for a cool 'texture slide' between them?

sand leaper · Post by **sand leaper** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:48 pm

docdoom wrote:How would you mix something with a big tempo drop in it? Just abandon beat matching for a cool 'texture slide' between them?

This can be done, but you have to find a record that fits extremely well in terms of sounds and mood to pull it off properly. I've witnessed a few people who have done this though. One that stands out in particular was when I went to Plex @ Sub Dub last year. One of the resident DJs did this immense blend where he went from Joey Beltram - Metro (harsh, squelchy techno track) over another techno track into Loefah - Rufage and then back up again via Cursor Miner/Blackmass Plastics stuff - mindblowing effort.

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:56 pm

Nah, with the newest version of serato there is a keylock so the pitch doesnt change with the tempo. Using that and the program's internal mode I can go from say breaks at 135 to 160, then mix in a dnb track with keylock on and slowed down to 160. From that I slowly bump the fader up from 160 to say 165 and mix in the next track, then repeat till Im crusing at 175ish. From there I can go into hip hop and start the process again or whatever. On the mix Im working on, I start with some Hip hop or Dubstep and move up to dubstep/breaks into some techno/electro then some dnb and close it out with some more dubstep speed stuff. If I find some good stuff in time I may put some Skweee on in the begining of the set or the end, wherever it fits.

The other way Ive been doing it is to take a dnb track into Ableton ahead of time and either do a tempo curve during the body or a long breakdown and turn it into a breaks track so that the song begins at one tempo and ends at another. I was able to do it that way before the new version of serato, but its not quite as fun as doing it on the fly.

The keylock on Serato is amazing btw, I can speed things up around 30-50 bpm without it sounding too bad and slow down around 20-30 bpm without it sounding too bad either. The algorythm works better speeding things up since its taking elements out and squashing the pieces back together rather than trying extend, but even slowing down sounds way better than most other keylock features ive heard. It blows away the keylock/master tempo on the Technics and the Pioneer CDJs no contest.

I guess there is more multi-genre stuff out there than I gave credit for, but alot of times it seems these mixes are broken-beat hip hop speed with some house thrown in and they have that jazzy, funky vibe, which is dope, but I have yet to hear one with more of a dancefloor vibe to it. Thats what Im looking for. Im going to start producing more varied tempo pieces so I can do it myself more fluidly, but still keeping the same vibe and feel to the tracks. The final performances will always be with turntables though, I need that tactile response.

Oh and the 'texture slide' is a useable way to do it, but it kinda seems like the easy way out. No offense, but I wanna hear it mixed. I want to hear the dj working to go between those tempos, putting some effort into it.

Ill throw something together tonite, even if its not the finished product I have in my head so you all can hear what I mean. Its a lot easier than me trying to explain it. That way I can get a little feedback too!

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:03 pm

Other way Ive often thought about, but never been able to pull off because of the extreme musical math needed to get it right is to beatmatch something at around 175ish with something at 135ish. It is possible, but doesnt sound right because almost all dance music is in 4/4 time, making the measures start and end at different times and generally clashing. The math is there. I just havent thought about it long enough to figure out what time signatures would make that work.
There is a track by Stampede I think with this crazy ass little house breakdown, that if you count it out is in 4/4 but ends on like the 3rd beat of the 5th measure or something like that and allows for dnb track to be mixed straight through the house breakdown, but its too short to use it for a transition. One day when I have enough time to really work it out I may just to figure it out, but I dont really know if its practical for the dancefloor.

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:48 pm

Ok, so I did a mix last night kinda like what Im talking about. I did this all off the top of my head, so the flow isnt necessarily how I want it yet, but I think it came out pretty good for not being planned and not really practiced yet. When I get my tracks more organized in a manner that lends itself to doing this a little more quickly on the fly.

I dont have a tracklist cause it was so uploaded quickly last night before bed and Im at work now, but if there is interest Ill post it, although this mix was meant more as a demo to help find more djs out there that spin like this and to get an opinion.

Tempo-Chango

Feedback and comments encouraged and appreciated!

selector.dub.u · Post by **selector.dub.u** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:42 am

Will check out your work kidlogic.
I also screw around with varying genre's in the mix.

check out my sets on subfm:

http://archive.subfm.com/index.php?o=2& ... q=selector

there are quiet a few people on the forum who are experimenting with varying genre's in the mix.
off the top of my head
Blip
UFO over easy
Emcee Child
Sek
Staypuft
Conspira
Deville and Skunkrock
Bob Bok
LL Cool Dj
Kid Kameleon
Dj Shiva
Dj Marsyas
Siah Alan

eventualdecline · Post by **eventualdecline** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:34 am

I've heard the term wildstyle to describe sets that encompass different sorts of genres/tempos.

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:52 pm

right on, Im going to go google 'wildstyle'

I know theres quite a few cats that do multi-genres, and well, I guess Im looking more for multi-tempo stuff. I have yet to ever hear anyone drop dnb and house in the same set, even though there are deffo tracks that would work in that way.

Im really looking for a term, as much as I hate labeling styles of music, that will help me find more dj's doing the multiple tempo thing. I can see using multiple tempos and styles having an amazing effect on a crowd if done right.

Oh and excuse the sloppyness of that mix, like I said I threw it together late night style.

@ Selector.dub.u - good stuff man, Ive already checked a few of your mixes from the station Im digin your stuff. You gonna make it up to the Joe Nice show?

staypuft · Post by **staypuft** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:29 pm

the variety is my bag, baby!
yeh warren keeps it real with the dubstep/hiphop mashups, and overall variety in sound... I must stress that you check out KID KAMELEON's mixes.. works of art they are:
http://www.kidkameleon.com/2004/12/shoc ... ckoff.html

funny ting, I've just finished a mix along such lines (I've never peeked in this forum before - no joke)..
link is in sig!

cheers!

kidlogic · Post by **kidlogic** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:36 pm

yo - staypuft I will for sure be checkin yours out, I dig your style for sure. Ive been meaning to get at you about something along these lines, ill hit you up soon with my idea, I think you'll dig it...

staypuft · Post by **staypuft** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:39 pm

you could call it 'weirdcore'

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:34 pm

Sounds really interesting. I'm shite at beat-matching but got plenty of records so I generally go for a play the tune through and continue the mood sort of vibe. Had a friend of mine who does perfect beat-matching and couldn't figure out how I did it lol.

To be honest, most ravers I chat do are more into good selection than good mixing, so maybe if you get a Sunday after the night before crowd, they're generally pretty open to hearing loads of different stuff. Think this was how the Chemical Brothers kicked off the Heavenly Sunday Social and it influenced some mates of mine to do the same to good results.

Would like to hear a mix done like this, really don't have the technical skills myself.

Is there a name for... (AUDIO INSIDE)

Is there a name for... (AUDIO INSIDE)

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