Tom Watkins
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Tom Watkins
ParticipantAnd thank you for making my day, Dustin!
ParticipantThis is one of the things I spend most time on when making a mixtape.
Most tracks work in a range of bpm’s, eg. a certain track with a bpm of 118 can work between 116 and 123 bpm. So if you’re playing one genre and the tracks in your playlist are in the same bpm range (eg. 117-127) you should focus more on the intensity of the tracks and which tracks sound right together, and less on the original bpm values.
Having said that, starting with mellow tracks and building up the intensity should go hand in hand with increasing the bpm’s, but for me the intensity is primary and the bpm is secondary.
If you mix multi-genre and the genres have very different bpm ranges things get more challenging. The easiest method is to separate the genres and find a good bridge between them.
And then you can take it to the next level by taking the tracks’ key into the consideration…
But those are just rules – it’s when you’re breaking them and you’re just playing around while practicing that the magic connections happen!
ParticipantThanks for the feedback!
The concept was simple enough – I wanted to make a mixtape that was true to the time and place, like a bootleg recording of a club night in New York in 1980.I collected toghether a cohesive set of tracks from 1979 and 1980, and because I had few of them on vinyl, I had to use a traditional/modern setup. So I connected two 1210’s with control vinyl to my DDJ-SZ for a super-wide setup (160 cm with the 1210’s in battle position).
I wanted to record the whole thing in one take, but had to give up in the end because the breaks section in the middle was so hard to get right. Ended up recording three sections separately (pre-breaks, breaks and post-breaks) and splicing them together. All in all an enjoyable mixtape to make, but right now I’m happy about using the SZ to its potential again, and mixing tracks with stable bpm’s for my next mixtape.
I’ll check out your mixtapes on mixcloud and tell you what I think about them. Thanks again for the comments!
ParticipantHey, Juliano. Had a listen to your vol5 mixtape. Some really good mixes – my favourites were into Hey Hey and into The Way We See The World. Really pro mixes. The two first tracks sound like they could mix well, but personally I would prefer to start the second track a bit further into the buildup to avoid losing energy.
You got me looking up some of the artists on youtube and spotify to hear more of them. And that must be one of the best seals of approval from one DJ to another! Looking forward to your next mix. Cheers!
ParticipantThanks for your input, it’s really appreciated!
Yeah, I’ve crossed over to digital, playing around on a DDJ-SZ. But once I get some more space I will hook up my 1210’s too. Best of both worlds 🙂
One of the big advantages of digital to me is how easy it is to get the bpm and key of tracks. I check the keys to find candidates, but leave the rest to my ears.
The intro was done live with scratching, but it really took a lot(!) of takes to get it right. Lots of timing issues with samples, scratching and fx.
I get that multigenre isn’t for all. It’s just my style I guess. But maybe I should try some bass drops for effect. The mixtape I’m working on now is an old-old-old school mix with two turntables with music ca. 1980 (disco, funk, hip hop) roughly as it would have been played out back then, so no bass drops there I guess 😉
Will check out your mixes and come back to you with some thoughts. Again, thanks for taking the time!
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