DJ lesson 9: How to mix and blend two songs like a champ
You know that moment. When you’re on a dancefloor and you hear the DJ teasing in a new tune. It’s perfectly in time and in perfect harmony to the song that’s playing - and the atmosphere it creates is electric.
Let’s see how to do that ourselves.
When we mix two tunes together – whether it’s house, techno, drum and bass, or just about any other electronic genre – we create a transition where both tunes are playing at the same time.
In an ideal scenario, the new tune comes in at an optimum moment, they sound amazing together when they’re blending, and we fade the old song out at the right time to give the new song its biggest impact. No DJ achieves this magic with every mix, but that’s what – for the most part and most genres – we’re aiming for.
So, to recap. We’re playing track one. We beatmatch track two. Then we bring in the new tune with our crossfader or upfader, make any adjustments to the EQs and tempo during the transition, and fade out at a magic moment.
We can add effects, too, but even without them, we can create serious emotion on the dancefloor when we get things right.
You’ll increase your chances of a beautiful transition and blend if:
- You can beatmatch
- You know your tunes
- You choose the next track because it builds on the previous one. It could continue on the same groove, it could build the energy, or it could bring things down a notch. The tune you choose depends on the people in front of you. What do you need to do to keep them happy and dancing. It might be obvious, but equally, you could choose something brave and surprising. If it goes tits up, at least they’ll remember you!
When you faded in the song you want to play next, both songs will be playing out of the speakers. If you’ve got people dancing in front of you and haven’t DJed in a loud environment before, this can be scary.
But don’t panic.
You’ll be listening to the new tune in your headphones. But once it’s live in the mix you can take your headphones off and mix with the speakers (if you want to).
As soon as your faders are playing the new tune at a higher volume, you should switch your PFL button, so you can hear the song that’s fading out in your headphones. This will help keep things nicely blended and make sure the mix sounds clean until you fade it out.
Remember to get the levels right, too.
You need to make sure the output on the new tune is the same as the one that’s currently playing through the speakers by looking at the lights on the respective channel on your mixer (yes, it’s as simple as that). Just turn the trim knob up or down to make sure it will be the same volume before you start the blend.
Blending options
There are so many different types of mixes and blends you can do. I’ll include some of the most common here, but when you get comfortable with your decks you’ll start to be creative and do stuff that feels right too.
Don’t let any DJ manual restrict your creativity.
Just because everyone else mixes in a certain way doesn’t mean you have to. Sometimes, I’m immersed in a long blend and having fun, but a simpler or faster transition might have an equally powerful (or bigger) impact on the dancefloor.
Don’t forget this important point. The people dancing in front of you just want to have fun. So if you’re a great selector, but a crap mixer, it really doesn’t matter that much.
If you love music, but you can’t blend, get out there and DJ anyway.
That said, here are a few ideas for blends that you might want to try:
1. Kill the bass on your new tune
With this blend, kill the bass EQ on your incoming song. At the start of a phrase (more on this in the next lesson) and on the ‘one’, bring in the new tune. I’ll normally whack this in at full volume.
Because you know your tunes so well (you do, don’t you?), you’ll know when the bassline drops. A couple of beats before that happens, kill the bass on the song that’s playing. Then, on the one, bring in the bass on your new tune. Is that the dancefloor going crazy, or did someone just drop a bomb?
2. Slow and sexy fades
A long blend can be a beautiful thing, but you’ll need long, slow-building tunes (in most cases) to really pull this off. Also, it only really works when songs are in complimentary keys (don’t worry about this too much when you’re starting out though).
Let’s imagine you’re playing a chuggy progressive house tune and you’re going to mix Dark and Long by Underworld into it.
Just like before, you might want to reduce the bass on Dark and Long, before you fade it in. Now, slowly tease it in with the crossfader. Use your EQs to tone down elements if they sound too harsh, or increase them to add more power (ie tease up the high frequencies on a drumroll), and just keep nudging the fader across bit by bit.
If it’s going well you’ll start to panic about how you’re going to fade the old song out without losing all the excitement you’ve generated on the blend. One thing you could do is reduce the volume on both upfaders as you get closer to the final fade out. Then, as you finally fade out the old tune, you can push the fader on the new tune back up to create extra impact.
3. Fast mixing
You don’t need to mix tunes together slowly and meticulously. A quick blend can work well, too. With this style, get your new song beatmatched and cued. And then start it at a good moment. This time, instead of fading it in, we’re going to hold back. Then, as it builds up to a dramatic new moment, rhythm, or bass drop, we’re going to turn down the bass on the old tune and push up the fader on the new one.
Before it hits the ‘one’ on the dramatic drop of the new song, either fade out the old tune, or do something sexy like a spinback.
4. Bring in a familiar vocal or melody
Some songs start with a familiar vocal or melody (or they introduce it at a point that’s perfect for blending). In this case, cue the new tune at the vocal or melody.
Now, start it at a good point in the song that’s playing (ie, the start of a new phrase, after a breakdown, at the start of the outro, etc). Kill the mid-range frequencies on the song that’s playing through the speakers as you fade the new one in. You (and the dancefloor) will hear that magical vocal over the beat of the original song. Fade out the tune that was playing before the big drop or sexy bassline on the new tune kicks on.
Again, spend time learning your tunes, so you can get the maximum impact from any of the techniques above.