[Q&A] For a Beginner

Hello everybody
I've been around the forum for a week or so, that is since I started taking an interest into mixing (which was directly influenced after Pedro Winter's session last friday ) So anyways, as a beginner, I invevitably have some questions or cliches and I've been looking to post this thread for some time now but never really took the time.

I'd like if possible to use this thread to ask questions and encourage others in the same position to do the same

First thing that comes to my mind is that until now, I really used to listen to literally all kinds of music, hence, a fairly large music library on iTunes, but since I was pulled into DJing, I just couldn't handle all the information, most of them unecessary for my genre of mixing on Traktor (I am into Electro sounds : especially french-touch-Ed Banger, dim mak, etc.) so having Journey, Marvin Gaye and cie wasn't really helpful, although great musicians they are (were) so I decided to create another iTunes library, in which I exclusively put my electro and even some trance, house musics. However, I realize I miss some tunes of my past library (thing is, you can't use both simultaneously, whether iTunes or Traktor)

And I was wondering how are you guys coping with this : Do you have different libraries, or even different computers ? My main computer is an iMac all by itself (told you I'm a beginner ; no hardware yet) which isnt the best "on-the-go" solution ... Thanks !

PS : I guess one big factor that made me do this was my iPod touch which can only hold 32Gigs. Not only was I already way-more than maxed out with my initial library, DJing put me in a place to discover a lot of songs, at a quite decent speed (=more place needed) And so came the idea to split the library (in addition to the "over-information-digestion") I guess ...

I just realized how long I take to ask just one question ... damn ! sorry and Sayonara !

Polo

 

Hey everybody, It's been awhile and since the last time, I've got some questions that needs some clearing, so feel free to give me some advices. Thanks a lot !


Alright first. I see a lot of pro. DJs with CD cases around. Now they also have laptops they carry around. Since they mostly use CDJs, that explains why, but why not use directly content stored on the laptop, instead of having to swap CDs all the time ? Now my guess would be for the security, I mean you probably have more chances that your laptop screws up than corrupting the CD. Quality wise, I don't think there's much of a problem if you have good quality tunes.

Talking of quality, I generally use 192kbps minimum and I don't have any "problem" but will there be a difference if I use a professional audio set ? I mean does the quality lower with the volume or some settings like that ?

Now for the second question (or third) I recently did a mixtape I was quite proud of at some parts but unfortunately, the "good" moments also tend to be too fast (BPM) which was regrettable 'cause they really could've been great.
Then I remarked that Traktor displays one of the Essential Mixes I have that lasts 1h30 "129BPM".
Now at first, I thought the software automatically calculated the average BPM throughout those 1h30. However, as I realized how great and poor my mixes were at some moments (due to a "drastic" change of BPM and poor transitions) I asked myself "Maybe I'm supposed to stick to a "Master BPM" that will be the model for all the songs during all the session.
So that's my question, which could sound cheesy but I'd like some precision on that.

Merci !
Polo

 

You can do that if you want, but there are a lot more options. having a master bpm might not always be there best choice depending on the music you will be playing during your 1.5hr mix. as for

. there are plenty of song that work well with drastic bpm drops. its a matter of how you make it happen. i personally like how i mixed a 138bpm song with a 129 (Jochen Miller's - Alive -into- Tiesto's - Feel it in my Bones).
Work on it =D, i beleive in you!

 

Yeah I agree with you, thats why I sometimes leave with the "Bounce..." 'climax" moment of Guetta's Toyfriend but okay, thanks for the precision

 

To make it short

To you, is mixing more about improvising or planing in advance ? (whether it be playlists, or even songs, like ones you've never or barely heard)

To me, it was the first option, however, as I become more and more familiar, I feel I definitely need to keep repeating some stuff, such as a particular transition between two songs, etc.

How is it for more experienced persons though ?

 

well im not part of "the more experienced" but i do like planning, it give the crowed a better time. Setting up cues and know what to do where helps alot for me.

 

I can't predict people's mood way before, I'm not a Jukebox either, so to me some playlist as "guideline" for new stuff or say "most played / top charts" and then plug-in my antenna to reach/tune people's brain, then fine tune my brain to their, then work on this. There's no real 'How To' guide for this, just experience. Definatly 100% improvisation.. euh say 80-90%