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Mixing rock tips


djdiggla

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I might have a gig coming up that's gonna be mostly rock and pop... whatsmore, it came up that I have a lot of this on 45 and they want me to do that instead of serato. I only messed with mixing rock a few times... Any tips? Seems like just quick blends or drop mixing is best.

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Tips:

 

Don't try and beatmatch/blend at all really, just fade and drop. So as the one songs's coming to the drop point fade it out over say 2 bars so you fade it counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, (by which point it's quite quiet) then drop again on the one and yank the forst song all the way down. It helps obviously if they're similar tempo.

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Another one is the echo blend. Hard stop a track on a punchy note, echo it and then baby in (or just drop in) the new track.

 

As an example if you're playing Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand you can do it on the "out" of the main refrain. Weird example to use but that song's been in my head today...

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I think key progression is the most important thing. I reckon if you have two or three 'secret weapon' mixes per hour, as in songs that are in more or less the same tempo and the same key with a point at which you can do a perfect 'smash and go' drop mix, from like a drum break on track a then switch over to the main riff on track b, and one or two where you're going into a complimentary key and complimentary tempo so that things switch up seamlessly, you can get away with quick blends for the rest of the time as long as you keep things flowing harmonically.

 

I think the 'ultimate mix' is the one where peoples' conscious minds realise the song's changed after their unconscious and motor functions do. If you can nail that changeover so that the tempo goes down by a third and the key goes into the relative minor so people grind their hips for a couple of beats before they even realise they've gone into sleazy mode, you've won at life.

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yeah chris is right. i've also noticed with mixing rock that lots of heads want to listen to the whole track (all 10 minutes of it!), which can mean you have longer to cue up the next one and don't always have to do an uber-mix, you just drop on the final crash or whatever.

 

double copies of tom sawyer, however, is essential.

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Mixing with all 45s is difficult no matter what genre you choose, so good luck. Logical progression, build up and tear down, and minimal blends is all you should worry about unless you practice like crazy beforehand knowing what songs actually blend well together. With rock that's a tall order, you will get really lucky if the blend sounds right because the tempo AND the key is right. Realistically you might wanna just play around with basic slam-ins unless you know the music like the back of your hand. Without practicing for hours and hours using what 45s you have, you might wanna think about it as more of a live mezo-mixed compilation versus a live blend mix.

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Cool. I just wondered if I was bitching out and just sucked cause I wasn't really blending rock for the most part when I played it. Glad to hear it's not just me. Good tips all around too.

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I think the 'ultimate mix' is the one where peoples' conscious minds realise the song's changed after their unconscious and motor functions do. If you can nail that changeover so that the tempo goes down by a third and the key goes into the relative minor so people grind their hips for a couple of beats before they even realise they've gone into sleazy mode, you've won at life.

 

what a great paragraph. Basically you put into words a concept that I have only vaguely tried to sort out up til now. High five

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I've never really mixed rock but they have drum fills right? I always think if you use those to make your drops sound less sudden. So say there's a 4 beat drum fill then it goes in to the song, if you scratch the beat of the song you're bringing in for the first 12 beats of say a chorus, then drop it on the 13, it'll fall on the first beat and you will have more time to fade out the first track. Dunno if that makes sense but i don't have more time to explain!

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Last night I think I mixed one tune in four hours of playing largely rock and pop and it went down very well. One thing I did notice was rock tunes often have quite distinctive outros, finishing on a sustained guitar chord or a big bash of a drum kit which gives you a nice segue into the next tune. Put simply you're just playing songs in sequence and slightyl overlapping them. A child could do it but the skill is in the track selection as usual.

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On Friday the three biggest moments were:

 

3: Me dropping the Killers - Somebody Told Me

2: Me dropping the Killers - Mr. Brightside

2: Me blendling Leona Lewis' - Bleeding Love into Run-DMC - Walk This Way (try it! It was one of those moments Chris talked about in this thread where they don't realise it's playing then BAM those power chords hit)

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