The Importance of DJ Mixing in Key Dance CD Pool April 2019

0:00 Beam me up, Scotty

Beam me up, Scotty. Beam me up, Scotty. A lot about mixing is about the vibe and the feel of the transition. So if you want to keep the vibe and the energy in the room, it's about making sure that the transition or the track one into track two, they complement each other. There are many ways of doing this. There's the right way. There's the up way, the down way and the wrong way. The right way is by making sure the tracks are very similar in key and in feel and in energy. The up way is if you increase the vibe and energy. The down way is if you decrease the vibe and energy. The wrong way is if you just go tits up really. So, right, okay, I'm using some tunes here from CD Paul. They are the dance releases from April 2019. We have Velvet and Therese, Heart of Glass.

Yes, it's an old Debbie Harry tune. Let's press play here. It's got a lot of good energy to it. Now, what I'm going to do as well is on, I think it was the first track, Purple Disco Machine, Body Funk. So before I carry on playing that, if we go back to the 80s, you had a kind of a feel of music. Where did that come from? If you think about it, let's imagine, let me give you an analogy. You walk into a supermarket and in your town there is only one supermarket where you can buy stuff. And you buy stuff from that supermarket. And your next door neighbour buys stuff from that supermarket. In fact the whole town buy stuff from that supermarket. Now even though you might buy different stuff...

2:23 Oh no, I'll start again

There will be certain people in your town that will have exactly what you've got because you may have slightly different tastes, but you may have the same taste. But you've all got stuff from that one supermarket. Now let's take that analogy to music. In the 80s there were a certain amount of drum sounds, there were a certain amount of drum machines. So even though people used the drum machines in different ways, they were still using the same kind of machines because you only had a certain amount.

Now, as time moves on, there's more and more and more drum machines coming out. Sadly, the reason why the top 40 is so shit at the moment is because everyone's using the same sample packs and it just sounds crap. But we've got a more of a choice now. So back in the day you can... Oh no, I'll start again. If you listen to tracks now that were made back in the day, you can pretty much pigeonhole them into when they were made. So a couple of tracks here, this one here, Heart of Glass and also Purple Disco Machine. They've taken sounds from back in the day and revamped them for modern day kind of, or for a modern day kind of feel. So I'm going to do a couple of mixing using the Heart of Glass into a couple of different tunes. This one here is track 1 from disc number 1 and the Body Funk is track 1 from disc number 2. So let's just put this forward a bit.

4:52 I think it was because I was messing around earlier on

In fact, let's go to about there. Nice long introduction. Purple Disco Machine. Hit and face that. Okay, there you go. So what we've done here, we've got a transition that's almost based on old school sounds with new tracks. It's given it like a mix from back in the day but from today. Play a little bit of this.

Okay, so I think it was because I was messing around earlier on. Is it track three? Yeah, I think it was this one here. So let's go back to the Heart of Glass tune. Go towards the end and spin it forward. Back there. So these mixes have got good feel, good energy, good vibe. They seem to flow quite nicely. Alright, now... When forming some form of transition, what we need to definitely stay clear of is that one with a step. That kind of, oh shit, that didn't sound right. More often than not, that's because you're mixing out of key or you're mixing tracks with keys that just do not work. Now, I've done that many times where I've gone, oh, I shouldn't have done that, oh dear, and just smiled and gone, I'm so sorry. Not like literally, I'm so sorry when I go like...

7:07 Wave format, you should have seen

Oh dear, but then shit happens. Okay, this one here is track number three from disc number two and don't forget these videos on the CD pool releases are, yes, demonstrating what to expect on the CDs, but also it's a bit of an insight and there's tips and tricks here as well. Let's find another tune from disc number one. Give me a number, go on. Seven, good, well done, well done. Good on ya. You see, I'm listening.

Oh, okay. Okay, I've put this forward a bit. I'm going to go towards the end of this and see if this will work. You may be thinking, ah, well you just knew you were going to play track 7. I actually didn't. Then if you rewind the video and look at the wave format, you should have seen the wave format appear. If I'd have played that track earlier... The way the format would have already been there, if that makes any sense. Okay, this one here is Handmade Heaven, the Crystal Clear Remix. And once again, please come along to the BPM show that's happening this year towards the latter part of the year. I will give info in the description. CDPool will be there and I'll be DJing for them. We'll do some live streaming. It's not just going to be me. If you're a CDPool member, then by all means come along and have a go with their tracks.

10:20 Hands in the air, this is the stuff

Maybe you want to know something about the underground series. Maybe you want to know something about the club series. Maybe you want to know something about the old school catalogue that they've got. Well, by all means, come along and there will be kit there that you can use and have a listen to the tracks and make up your own mind whether you want to delve into the classics and get some modern day tunes. Alternatively, just walk away and go and buy an LED. Thank you. Right. Okay, let's find another one here. See, no wave format. Nope. That will mix harmonically. Nope. We can put this one forward a bit.

Now again, the dance releases, they're very like happy, cheesy, lots of vocals, spangly, spangly in your face. Ideal tracks to play in a fun bar before people go out to a nightclub. In other words, you're playing in a bar in the middle of a city where people come in and out all the time, there's always cocktails and promotions, handbags and shenanigans on the dance floor. Hands in the air, this is the stuff. Okay, track number nine from disc number two, Ellie Goulding. This one's probably going to get booted off YouTube, definitely going to get a copyright. Oh, you're playing copyrighted music? Aren't you naughty? Always me! Oh dear. This is the Tiesto, definitely. Oh God, it might as well say, taken away, blocked, blocked, sod off, go and chop your balls off and you're never going to play music again.

12:28 This has got shit, man

Sorry. Right, okay, so let's find one more on this side. In fact, I'm just going to quickly put this on here. Okay, this is actually the original speed, 120 BPM. Now, to you this may sound very slow, and it is in a way, it is quite slow, but if we go back, back, back in the day to original house music, this was sort of the BPM, 120 BPM with house music, and it actually does sound quite slow now. Okay, this one here is Be Happy. The Decline, or by Decline, the Avon Stringer Remix. Track number 9, disc 1. I'm liking this, man. I'm liking this vibe. This one, ah! Do you know what? This is a tune, man. Yeah! This is giving me... I'm loving it, man. Yeah! Just got that night, that chug. It just makes you want to do this, you know?

He's a filter. Liking it. Alright, now this has got shit, man. This has got it. How can we make this better? How can we make a track like that better? Very simple. I'm at plus or minus 16. I'm going to bring this all the way up to 135 BPM. Now then, let's just put that back to the beginning. Now have a listen. See what I mean? I've just given this some serious vibe. You know, I can't play any more tunes now because it's spoiler. I'm not saying that the other tracks on the dance releases for April aren't any good. I want to leave it with this. Do you hear that? Man, that is so much better. It's got that Robin S Show Me Love kind of vibe to it as well, you know? Okay, don't forget any info on CD4 releases, check out the link in the description. CD4.com, love you, practice and enjoy. Thank you.

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