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Topic: Hip Hop Beat Matching - Page: 1

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Hi Everyone......I have been practicing my beatmatching to Hip Hop songs, this is hard, but Im determined to perfect this, my question is this....

I have several songs that I got to blend perfectly togeter making a smooth transition on the dance floor but in order to mix things up from one set to another I need to take those songs and swapt them around, in other words I dont want to play the same tracks over and over again.......some songs just dont go with other songs, I have tried and tried, but even with the same BPM, it just sounds terrible........any suggestions of perfecting my tranitions from one Hip Hop song to the next without making it sound like a train wreck??

THANKS.....
 
Posted Fri 10 Mar 06 @ 2:06 pm
Try dropping the bass down on the outro track before you make your fade.
 
Mixing hip hop is not easy to do if you are not used to it. You kinda have to have an ear for it.

One thing you can do is listen to other hip hop dj's and hear what they do and how they do it. Try to imitate some of their mixes (I can't believe I just said that). Once you learn to mix some songs, you will pick up other mixes on your own.

Also, you should listen to the hip hop dj's on Virtual DJ Radio. I am one of them. I play every Mon, Tue, Wed, and Sat at 7:00pm est / 19h -5GMT

Another thing to keep in mind with spinning hip hop is how the song starts and how many beats (bars/measures) there are before the lyrics start.

It is ALWAYS good to KNOW your music, know where the hooks are, know where the breaks are, know how they start and how they end. That way you know how to bring in a song and how to exit one.

Hope this helps ya
 
Thanks....I will certainly listen, Im playing around with this for the past couple of hours and I have one more question.....Is it common to "loop" the beginning of one song so you can make an easy transition from the exiting song to the next one?

I tried this and it seemed to work, but now I wind up doing ot for all my tracks, I was just wondering if this is a common practice, for example:

50 Cent - In the Club playing
Akon - Locked up, playing loop over and over in the beginning of the track before the lryics start,then get the phasing to match and eventually fade out 50 Cent to Akon......release the loop and let the song play.

It seemed to work for me, but not sure there is a wrong or right way to do it.....I guess I will have to listen and see, I have a good ear for it, so I guess I have to keep practicing....

I never thought of the Bass thing......sweet!!

Thanks for the tips and advise.....good stuff!!
 
Looping is a very cool tool to apply with Urban mixing, especially with radio edits where intro beats are minimal or often non existent, as long as the loop is seamless/clean and counted in it can work perfectly, but on some occasions it's good to use the loops to extremes to create an effect.

I suggest you use 12" versions or "Funkymixes" so you can mix like the turntablists, with good clean intro and outro beats.

Because of the beat sequence in Urban some beats overlayed do sound bad as you said, but killing the bass or avoiding overlap can work, after some practice you'll know instantly what will and wont work with what.

Lastly, what goes without saying, don't apply the same method to every mix, learn different techniques and keep it interesting, although you'll always have your style, your trademark mix.
 
I will give you one very important tip. Just like djcity said, you have to have the ear for it. Always look for a beat that sounds familiar on both tracks and let your ears do the rest.
 
Good advice here, hip-hop mixing is hard! And using loops every time gets boring and eventually i think sounds like you have no other skills......

Sometimes i match the songs together using the hits, as hip-hop usallys has quite strong/sharp claps/hits........using a rather fast crossfade on beat usally works great, when the party is rolling.(even if the beats arnt totally matched, or dont sound any good when matched.
 
Great advice...thanks everyone :)

I will be practicing, practicing and prcticiing.....

I posted another topic in the music forum about this website for Hip Hop remix cd-'s, does anyone use this service? This is kind of indirectly related:

http://www.mixflavas.com/
 
@mzack

You have to realize that you don’t have to beat mix every song to transition from one song to another. If I want to mix a song that clashes harmonically with another song, I use other transition methods. A simple transition method is to echo out the song that you are playing and then start the other song. Another method is to scratch the other song into the mix and fade the other song out. Furthermore, there are other transition methods you can use as well. I recommend that you practice different transition methods so that you can add variety to your mixing. This will also prevent your mixing from sounding mundane and make you a better DJ.
 
As for me I use alot of 12" Extended Mixes for a smooth beat match mix. Another method that I use is acapellas and instrumentals as well. For example...as My Humps song is ending on deck A, loop the last 8 bars of music. Then bring in an acapella of Pussy cat Doll's song Don't Cha on deck B over the loop. As both play, record a loop in your Sample slot of My Humps. Activate it to replace your looping deck A. Then load Don't Cha full version on deck A. At any time crossover from deck B to deck A and deactivate your sample before the transition...


Sounds complicated...but it's not.


MS
 
Very good transition tip maddsound.

OO
 
Thanks to everyone for all the tips :)

I realize I can use many different ways to transition one song to another, practicing is the best exerience! I found out that matching BPM does not mean the songs sound good together, you deffinetly need to listen very carefully to the songs and match them up.....fun stuff though, truly enjoying this program!!

Thanks again.....
 
You have the best software on the planet for making creative transitions while mixing.

OO
 
for now what u need to do like djcity says is listen to hiphop mixes. listen to how other djs are doing their thing and get ur library growing with what u hear and whats out.

record the mixes if u have to and study them.

Go out to the club (if ur old enough). a good club with a dj who knows his sh1t.


Its gonna take a while before u really understand what this rap ish is all about. a long while. some ppl are just born to dj. some to rap. some to produce etc....
This might not be as easy and getting a dj software and stacking ur hard drive with music and auto syncing the dj program. It takes a long while to make a legitmate mix of a genre. Well, if u want to please the 3%--the "real" heads. Then again u can just please the 97% and ur fine.

(i think) it takes about 10 years to be a "real" hiphop head/dj.
---------
 
@Double O (or anyone else who knows the answer!)

"A simple transition method is to echo out the song that you are playing and then start the other song."

Can you explain how to do that? I don't see a way. You can turn on the 'echo' effect but if you flip the crossfader the echo disappears. I tried echoing a brake but it seems the platter needs to be turning to continue the echo? How can I take the last word of a verse, cut the song, and just echo that last word while another song starts playing?
 
If you get the full version of VDJ, I believe there's a plugin available that does just that.

But really, easiest way I guess would be to just loop any measure of beats you want and either move the volume fader gradually or X% for every repetition until silence.
 
huh.. i love rap..mostly chicano rap(meaning mexican american rap)im ganna start doing some mixes with it..and this whole you have to have an ear for it..im sorry but its BS..if u really try and you really wanna learn then you van do it..
 
mzack wrote :
Hi Everyone......I have been practicing my beatmatching to Hip Hop songs, this is hard, but Im determined to perfect this, my question is this....

I have several songs that I got to blend perfectly togeter making a smooth transition on the dance floor but in order to mix things up from one set to another I need to take those songs and swapt them around, in other words I dont want to play the same tracks over and over again.......some songs just dont go with other songs, I have tried and tried, but even with the same BPM, it just sounds terrible........any suggestions of perfecting my tranitions from one Hip Hop song to the next without making it sound like a train wreck??

THANKS.....


Do a radio style seque, a slam mix, a cut mix, etc.......there is no law that says you need to beat mix every single song. In my humble opinion this is where most new (and a lot of old) Djs lose it is because they worry about the "skillz" instead of keeping the crowd happy......your customers should ALWAYS come first as nobody except you and other Djs really care about your skillz, the customers just want to hear the best (i.e. their favoite) music in a timely and appropriately programmed manner. Always remember WHAT you play and WHEN you play it is SOOOOOOOO much more important that how you play it.
 
dj-e-lectric wrote :
mzack wrote :
Hi Everyone......I have been practicing my beatmatching to Hip Hop songs, this is hard, but Im determined to perfect this, my question is this....

I have several songs that I got to blend perfectly togeter making a smooth transition on the dance floor but in order to mix things up from one set to another I need to take those songs and swapt them around, in other words I dont want to play the same tracks over and over again.......some songs just dont go with other songs, I have tried and tried, but even with the same BPM, it just sounds terrible........any suggestions of perfecting my tranitions from one Hip Hop song to the next without making it sound like a train wreck??

THANKS.....


Do a radio style seque, a slam mix, a cut mix, etc.......there is no law that says you need to beat mix every single song. In my humble opinion this is where most new (and a lot of old) Djs lose it is because they worry about the "skillz" instead of keeping the crowd happy......your customers should ALWAYS come first as nobody except you and other Djs really care about your skillz, the customers joust want to here the best (i.e. their favoite) music in a timely and appropriately programmed manner. Always remember WHAT you play and WHEN you play it is SOOOOOOOO much more important that how you play it.


THATS RIGHT HOMIE..
 
i agree!!! it's what and when you play a song. you can play your best stuff too early and burn out. u have to know how to read people, beatmixing is a small part of it. most people don't know when you're doing it anyway if you do it right. the purpose is to get from one song to another and keep 75% on the floor. (can't keep em all) you'll learn in time what works for your particular style.
 
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