Beginner DJ Lesson on Cutting and Mixing

0:00 Another new releases for you from CDpool

Alright guys, another new releases for you from CDpool. Also this is a tutorial video. Tracks we're using are from the Urban releases from CDpool October 2014. This is track 1 from disc number 1. In this tutorial we're going to be concentrating on chopping from one track to the other with different BPMs. Also if you are part and parcel of a secondary school in the United Kingdom, a pupil or a teacher and you would like some free DJ kit in January 2015, then go and check out the video in the description down there and follow all the instructions and your school could get a load of free DJ kit including some loops as well that I will explain in other videos. So anyway, a lot going on. This track here, track 1 from disc number 1 and I'd say this is around about the 110 BPM-ish. And if we have a listen to this track, it's a lot faster.

1:58 The end and the beginning of a phrase is exactly at the same point

If I was to try and beat match these at those speeds, it would be impossible because they're different speeds. Of course I could use the pitch but what I can do is I can chop from one to the other. So this is at the count of 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. So let's go. Let's go back to the first track. By the way, the track on the right hand side is track 1 from disc number 2. So I'm just going to move this track forward slightly. Well, towards the end really. I was going to try and make sure I'm in time with phrasing, with the phrases of the track itself. So we've got a phrase here that hopefully will finish there. OK. That was sort of the end and the beginning of a phrase. The end and the beginning of a phrase is exactly at the same point.

1, 2, 3, 4. OK. So we've gone to the next track. Let's just have a listen to this track as well because, you know, you want to get an idea of how the tracks sound as well. If you like the tracks, let me know. If you don't like them, let me know. A bit of UKG here. No, UK two-step garage. All right. Listen. Hold on. There. Just having a bit of fun there, what I was trying to do is try and find a sound that was similar with the track that was playing. All right. I'm experimenting. Whenever I do videos, quite often I experiment as well which is exactly what you should do as well. Don't stick to a continual routine. You need to try and think outside the box all the time. OK. Let's play this track again. This is track one from disc number two.

4:48 By the way, the players I'm using are the CS 2900s

Let's have a listen to some of the other songs and also try and do some mixing but more chopping from one to the other, not beat mixing. Again, a very simple chop. Just bang from one straight to the other. If you are finding it difficult to beat match then this could be the answer. So long as you make sure they work musically, they sound good together. And also when you chop from one to the other, you are in time with bars and phrasing. Timing is so important here. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. And so on. OK. This one here is track number three from disc number one. Make sure the key adjuster's on there. I don't know if you heard but the key lock wasn't on and when I moved the pitch not only the speed started to increase

But the key of the track started to rise. Have a listen. Put it back to the beginning. Listen. Eww! OK. Let's put the key adjuster on. By the way, the players I'm using are the CS 2900s. There. OK. We keep the key adjuster on. Just going to pause that. OK. So I've sort of beat matched these two. I'm going to do a chop but then I'm going to do some sort of a mix as well. The introduction to this is quite good. You've got quite a long intro so if we have a play. OK. Play Kate Tempest again. So let's go towards the end of the track or wait until we've got some sort of break in between vocals starting and finishing. There's a lot going on here. Can you imagine trying to beat match this track into another track with a load of vocals?

It would be very difficult. So... But what I tried to do there was chop it. Well, what I did there was chop it at a point where the vocals finished a certain phrase. Now if you imagine a rhyme, a nursery rhyme. A nursery rhyme has lines and at the end of a line it's sort of the end of a part of that nursery rhyme. So what I'm trying to do is work out a point in the rap that's the end of a line if it was a nursery rhyme. And start the other one there. OK, we've come into track two from disc number two. Let's go back to this one again. Let's go towards the end of the track. We're going to have a listen to it now. We're coming on to the last sort of 40 seconds.

7:54 We've got the beginnings of a chorus

Now there... OK, we've got the beginnings of a chorus. I'm pretty sure it's a chorus but then again this is the first time I've ever heard this track. So...

OK, what's the best mix in the entire world? What I tried to do is make sure I brought this one in at the end of maybe a chorus, maybe a verse. Maybe something, the end of some part of that track so the structure of the mix worked. This one here is track two from disc number two. Let's have another one from disc number one. Now again, I'm sort of experimenting here. And this is the sort of thing you should do. When you're stuck in your room by yourself. Make mistakes and experiment.

Turn the delay off. By the way, the mixer is the Denon DNX1600 And the players are the Denon SC2900s, OK?

OK, so if we listen there, we come towards the end of what I class... It's a little bit of a break in the track and then we go into another verse. Have a listen. Oh no, that's a chorus isn't it?

So what I'm going to do, I'm going to have a delay at the end of that break. Bring in track four from disc number one.

10:35 Time indication on both tracks

Alright, now it's sort of worked but again if I was maybe getting this mix ready for a set I would spend a lot more time and also I'd look... Time is the key here. I'd look at the time indication on both tracks. And then I would work at that... I'd write down on a piece of paper perhaps. Say this was track two, that was track three. What I put down on a piece of paper is track two at 2 minutes 20 seconds mix in track three. But track three may not be at the beginning. Track three I may want to mix in at 10 seconds into the track. So I would write down track three must be at 10 seconds in two. So I'm writing down my mix so I'll remember it a lot easier. This here is track four from disc number one. We'll find another one from disc number two.

Not that I don't like it, I'm just trying to get the word.

12:04 I'm trying to find something that will sort of match musically

I'm trying to find something that will sort of match musically. Walk amongst yourself.

Actually this tune here is pretty wicked. This is track eleven. Insomniac with a K. I'm going to play this anyway because I like this actually.

Take the delay off. Okay, we'll just put this on anyway. Like I said at the beginning of the video this is a demonstration, bit of a tutorial. But also it's just some random stuff. You know what I mean? Calm down.

You know that's another point actually. When you listen to tracks, new songs that you've never heard before.

That's good. Sometimes what I find is I'll listen to a song for the first time and there will be something in it. I'll go yes. And you just know it's like... It's dropped big time. This does. I like that.

Reminds me of that...

This is track number eleven from disc number two which is Insomniac featuring JC001. Done the business. Lightwork UKG remix. It's going to break, isn't it?

Liking it. Right. Don't forget. Check out the link in the description down in this video that will take you to the video I made showing you or giving you information on how a school in the UK can get a load of free DJ kit for their school. Over one and a half thousand pounds worth of kit for free. No... There's nothing. You don't have to give anything, nothing at all. All you've got to do is put a comment underneath this video, the other video as to why your school should get the kit. Practice and enjoy. I like this. Boom!

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.