If Tracks Are Slightly off Beat You Can Still Mix. Dance November 2018

0:00 Got a couple of tunes here from CDPool Dance November 2018

Alright guys, got a couple of tunes here from CDPool Dance November 2018. There is a link in the description. So, we're going to cover quite a few things here. One is just very basic mixing skills. The other one is a question I get asked time and time again. Can different BPMs mix with different BPMs? Well, yes and no. If you've got something at 60 BPM, that will mix with something at 60 BPM or 120 or 30 for that matter because it's half or double time. But if you've got something at 120 and you've got another track at 120.2, it's not going to beatmatch. It might seem as though it is to begin with but sure enough it will go off. Let me demonstrate. So, the tune I'm using by the way is Love No More. It's the extended mix. Now that is exactly...

The center position on the pitch and it's telling me it's 121 BPM but I haven't analyzed this at all. It's just the basic file. So, what I'm going to do is I'm just going to press play on the other side. Now that is in the center position as well. Same track on the other side. Seems to be working a beat together. They're in time. Okay, so here's an experiment for you. Try this. Try this at home whenever. I'm going to start the left side then I'm going to start the right side after maybe four bars but I'm going to increase the speed very slightly. You see, this is it on the right side. It's saying 121 BPM. On the left, 121.2. So, one good reason actually if you're using very basic MP3 files not to rely solely on the BPM readout as demonstrated here.

2:46 We can hear it definitely going off beat

I'm going to bring the speed up on the left. I'm going to bring the speed up on the right hand side to 121.3. So, even though it's 121.2 and it was 121 on the right side both pitches were in the center position exactly the same track. Let's see what it sounds like now. So, press play after four bars. I'm going to bring in the right-hand side. Two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Two, three, and... There's that phasing sound but the phasing sound frequency is changing which tells me it's going off beat. There you go. Now we can hear it definitely going off beat. We've got a break here now anyway. OK, so we can hear it was off beat. All right, so when can you have a mix or mix two tracks together when they are off beat?

You can actually do it anytime you want to, even if they're offbeat. But the mix has to be very short. Now, there's no sort of rule of thumb here, but it's called using your grey matter. If you feel the one track is very slightly offbeat, you just can't snap it in time for some reason, you can't get it at exactly the same BPM as the other one. Then, if let's say there's a very, very slight difference, then the transition could maybe go on for four or eight bars. But sure enough, after that amount of time, it's going to sound as though it's going to go off. On the other hand, if it's quite a way off, you know, even 0.2 of a BPM off, and that is quite a bit, believe it or not, then you will be able to hear it go off a lot quicker.

So I advise you to let your transition last for maybe only two bars. After that, you will definitely get that sound that we call a train wreck. So I'll demonstrate that now by starting both tracks at the same time. So here we go.

There's that phasing sound.

4:17 Three bars, four bars, and it's sounding horrific

And now we've got that echo.

And now from the echo, we've pretty much got a train wreck. Three bars, four bars, and it's sounding horrific. There you go. That's what you don't want. OK, love no more. Let's find another tune. Let's have a look. Um, Purple Disco Machine. This is a Moose T remix. Encore, or encore. What I like about Purple Disco Machine is he does exactly what it says on the tin. This DJ gives you modern day disco music. Now if you're not familiar with Moose T, this is a guy from the 90s who brought us that wicked track Horny. So you put two classes. You put two classic DJ stroke producers together and you have got a cut to die for. This has got that chic kind of feel in the background. The strings, that pure disco feel with the modern day just vibes immensely.

It's fantastic. It's like, oh my god. Yeah. It's just got it. It's got it. Spin it forward a bit.

Let's have a look. What can we do? Um... Just trying to find something with a similar kind of vibe.

Okay, Paul Walford. Another good DJ.

Okay, a little bit more of an uplift with this next tune. This one, a track entitled Hang Up Your Hang Ups.

Okay, spin this one forward a little bit.

There.

7:47 Try and start it as a phrase

Try and start it as a phrase.

Turn it up a bit. A bit of sweep on the left hand side. That was a quick mix.

On the right, Hang Up Your Hang Ups 121.4. On the left... Intimate featuring Craig David 121.8 now, so they were slightly off, so I could hear them going off beat, so what I tried to do, which hopefully I did correctly is the transition didn't last very long, which in a way proves my point about earlier on not having a long transition if you feel it's going off beat. Try and just snap it in. Okay, we'll do one more.

9:45 Let's see how the last one sounds

So we're in a good position now. Hold up. Okay, here we go again. So let's see how the last one sounds. Okay, so this is a mix of the angels... Angels... Angel... Angel... Angels M22 remix. Okay, finish off with this one. Like I said, Angels M22 remix. There is a link in the description to cdpool.com. Don't forget. Criteria very simple. simple. You've got to be living in and around Europe, and you've got to be a working DJ to be able to get the new releases. And also, they don't just do new releases each month. You've got chart releases, you've got pop releases, radio, and also a back catalogue of classic dance releases. And also, your sort of general kind of music that you'd say be requested at a wedding or a birthday party. You know, your classic tracks from artists

Back in the day. Practice and enjoy.

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