how do you mix dubstep?

[flipmazda]

Hi all,

i was wondering. what kind of techniques do you guys use when mixing dubstep. of course you beatmatch. but what do you guys do with the high, mid and low tones. do you turn the low all the way down when you start mixin a record and turn it back on when the drop of the track arrives? spill your mixin tips and tricks in here

cheers

[dubloke]

normally have everything up (unless theres bass in the intro) until the second tune drops, cut the bass on whichever track and then play around with cuts etc and then fade the highs and mids out when i want to stop the first tune to make it seem smoother. saying that i dont think there is a certain way i mix every tune. sometimes with a vocal tune i like to cut the bass on it when it drops so that I can keep the other tune going. same if there is a really obvious melody that goes well, I like to keep that over the top of another tune (if it sounds right) I just like experimenting really, mixing wouldnt be fun if you use the same technique for every mix!

[daddy mchectic]

normally have everything up

But wouldn't this give you clashing kicks/hats?
I would think the basic rule for mixing all dance is to only have one bass in full at a time (to avoid kick clash, or more obviously bass clash), and then have the highs of one of the tunes low if the hats clash. If you want the synth/vocals of one tune to stand out you cut the mids a bit from the other.

With cutting you listen out for significant aspects of a track (stabs, recognisable percussive elements, vocal bits), and then see how that can be worked into the current track - or even around the significant parts of the current track in order to create almost a live mash-up, but more often than not you'll just be cutting in aspects of the new track in to the old.

[heavy heart]

normally have everything up

But wouldn't this give you clashing kicks/hats?
I would think the basic rule for mixing all dance is to only have one bass in full at a time (to avoid kick clash, or more obviously bass clash), and then have the highs of one of the tunes low if the hats clash. If you want the synth/vocals of one tune to stand out you cut the mids a bit from the other.

With cutting you listen out for significant aspects of a track (stabs, recognisable percussive elements, vocal bits), and then see how that can be worked into the current track - or even around the significant parts of the current track in order to create almost a live mash-up, but more often than not you'll just be cutting in aspects of the new track in to the old.

It's an add / subtract dynamic , with deeper tunes I tend to ease things in a bit more , with a balance of the highs first before blending the mids then switching on the drop ( love the 4 EQs on allen&heath mixers for this ), unless it's straight jump up style switches with little blending then you can generally leave the levels up , and those tunes seem to have a more minimal intro with a build before the drop.

[Preacha]

There are no rules just find your own style

[noam]

if its a tune with very distinctive drums i turn all eq's down a little bit, bass a little bit more, slowly bring them in, hi first then mid then bass

i dont always try n mix the drop either, and never boost the eq past half way, though if im switching b'lines sometimes i get a bit over-zealous!

[antipode]

carefully

[FackOff]

where's youngsta when you need him?imo the best dj in the scene..

[Wolverine]

love the 4 EQs on allen&heath mixers for this

these are well annoying, i try avoid 4 eq mixers where possible

[Shae]

Dunno how you can hate 4 channel mixers, easily the best in my oppinion, can let 2 tracks ride n just play about with the levels... xone all the way

[paistyboy]

There are no rules just find your own style

[crackf]

[abstractsound]

this

[MUT3]

not kidding

fack ur vinyl!

[rinseballs21]

ok i have a question


ok when i mix house, i just start the next track at the beggining of the 4/4kicks, and it stays on time, but when i mix dubstep, i start the tracks at the beginning of the 16bars but the snare on every 8th beat don't match up, can someone explain why?

[Kaneda]

ok i have a question


ok when i mix house, i just start the next track at the beggining of the 4/4kicks, and it stays on time, but when i mix dubstep, i start the tracks at the beginning of the 16bars but the snare on every 8th beat don't match up, can someone explain why?

Unless I'm just being an idiot in my interpretation of your message, what you're saying makes little sense. The snares are always on the 3rd beat....

Could you explain more?

Or just correct me in my utter confusion.

[rinseballs21]

ok i have a question


ok when i mix house, i just start the next track at the beggining of the 4/4kicks, and it stays on time, but when i mix dubstep, i start the tracks at the beginning of the 16bars but the snare on every 8th beat don't match up, can someone explain why?

Unless I'm just being an idiot in my interpretation of your message, what you're saying makes little sense. The snares are always on the 3rd beat....

Could you explain more?

Or just correct me in my utter confusion.

yeah thats what i ment, my bad.

what im saying is when you mix dubstep do you start the next trackon the 3rd beat to match the snares, or on the first beat like house, cuz i can't get the timing right

[daddy mchectic]

ok i have a question


ok when i mix house, i just start the next track at the beggining of the 4/4kicks, and it stays on time, but when i mix dubstep, i start the tracks at the beginning of the 16bars but the snare on every 8th beat don't match up, can someone explain why?

Unless I'm just being an idiot in my interpretation of your message, what you're saying makes little sense. The snares are always on the 3rd beat....

Could you explain more?

Or just correct me in my utter confusion.

yeah thats what i ment, my bad.

what im saying is when you mix dubstep do you start the next trackon the 3rd beat to match the snares, or on the first beat like house, cuz i can't get the timing right

Should always be the first beat. I can't think of an instance where it'd be beneficial to drop it on any other.

[_cheef_]

normally have everything up

But wouldn't this give you clashing kicks/hats?
I would think the basic rule for mixing all dance is to only have one bass in full at a time (to avoid kick clash, or more obviously bass clash), and then have the highs of one of the tunes low if the hats clash. If you want the synth/vocals of one tune to stand out you cut the mids a bit from the other.

I usually have everything up as well and just mix tracks that compliment each other...no clash, all smash.

[noam]

ok i have a question


ok when i mix house, i just start the next track at the beggining of the 4/4kicks, and it stays on time, but when i mix dubstep, i start the tracks at the beginning of the 16bars but the snare on every 8th beat don't match up, can someone explain why?

im trying to work out what you mean and it may be something about house music which im getting wrong but in all honesty, dubstep drum patterns though often with snares on the third dont always work like that, so its just having the tracks beatmatched from the first beat of the bar, usually a kick drum (again not always the case though)

for example with 2-step you get a snare on the 2nd and 4th beat of the bar but you can just as easily mix that into a dubstep track which has the snare on the 3rd. its about getting the tunes at the same speed, with the beats in the right place. So in the example i just used, call the 2-step track A and the Dubstep B and K a Kick drum and S a Snare drum, very simply then you wana be hearing this in one bar.

Beats [1]--[2]--[3]--[4]
A - .. K -- S -- K -- S
B - .. K -- -- -- S --

If its two Dubstep tracks like B you wana see this

Beats [1]--[2]--[3]--[4]
A - .. K -- -- -- S
B - .. K -- -- -- S

House i take it you'd want this

Beats [1]--[2]--[3]--[4]
A - .. K -- K -- K -- K
B - .. K -- K -- K -- K

i still dont really get what you mean but i hope that helps?

edit: fucked up formatting!