hey DJ's welcome back it's Jamie Hartley
here from crossfader
today's video is a little bit different
and this goes off the back of a lot of
requests that I get specifically in the
comments section on the YouTube Sunday
skills videos that we create one of the
biggest questions a lot of DJ's are
asking me is how do you come up with the
routines that you create where do you
start
how would you come up with the ideas
specifically in the routines but also in
extended mixes for in clubs and parties
as well so this video I'm going to break
down five different ways that I would
potentially approach a mini mix or
routine style video and these are
different ways you could use them as
starting points for your next mix you
could decide to combine some of these
different tips and ideas all into one
mix to create an overall creative DJ
routine you could even just choose one
of them as a starting point and base
your mix around that one technique now
don't get me wrong there are more than
five ways for you to start or approach
any mix whether it be something as short
as a routine that you're going to video
or as long as a five-hour Club set but
these are five ways that I would
particularly look at my library and my
music and my skill set and how I would
approach creating something like one of
us Sunday DJ skills routines before we
start just remember to Like comment
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to help us keep making videos like this
okay number one the first thing I would
do is think about the music that I want
to play and analyze it analyze it with
your ears not with your eyes listen to
as much music as possible listen through
the music that you want to incorporate
into your sets there's no point trying
to create a mix if you haven't already
listened to some of the music you want
to put in it we need to listen to music
spend the time whether you are just
walking to work on a commute headphones
in and just listen to the music you
don't have to play with it or do
anything with it we're just there to
analyze it and what happens the more you
listen to music the more you start to
remember certain parts of certain tracks
now what parts would I be listening out
for when I'm analyzing the music this is
quite an important one I'm always
listening out in pieces of music for
things that are isolated that by
themselves whether it be a vocal that
doesn't have much backing track around
it whether it be
really nice melody that sits in the
track but it doesn't have the bass line
all the drums surrounding it maybe it's
just a drum break something that is
really percussive but there is room to
sit something else either on top of it
or in it and that's where DJing and
mixing comes in what we can do is take
the top line of one track and layer it
over the base line of another track I'd
be listening maybe I've got a really
cool drum break in one track and a nice
vocal in another can I sandwich and
piece them two pieces together there's
no point trying to take two really nice
clean pieces of melody and then fitting
them together because it doesn't
necessarily work in the music spectrum
or frequency range so think about it
look at your controller look at your
mixer we have three different EQ s on
nearly all mixers and controllers the
highs mids and lows think about your mix
in this way the mix the blend the
transition it needs to cover those three
different frequency ranges the low
frequencies middle frequencies and high
frequencies if you've got a piece of
music that has a lot of low frequency
but not much high frequency then there
is room there there is space in the mix
to add something in over the top this
especially works for mashup mixing where
you're going to be blending tracks
together constantly rather than just
mixing from one track to the next track
it's a case of submerging and piecing
tracks on top of each other
and that's something I listen out for a
lot when it comes to my music when I
find those pieces I will either save
loops set hot cues and prepare my music
so that I can access that point in the
track when I want it that's one of my
biggest tips for you straight away it's
a great starting point is to listen to
your music analyze the spaces in the
music where is the room to add something
else in where is the room to add that
over something else save those points if
you want to see this in practice and
hear it in practice then I've added
loads of different reference material
and tutorial videos within a link that
I'll tell you at the end of the video
another starting point for me would be
mixing in key let me quickly break down
what mixing in key is a key is a bunch
of notes on a piano scale when played
together it sounds right and it sounds
nice when someone's producing a piece of
music they don't new
all the notes on that piano scale
they'll only use a certain amount of
them and those certain ones will
determine what key the track is in now
without getting too technical if one
track he is using say five notes on the
piano and another track is using the
same five notes on the piano then they
all harmonically mix together because
they're using the same notes on the
piano scale however some tracks might be
using a certain five notes and another
track might be using a total different
five notes harmonically they won't sound
nice when they're played together so
mixing in key is a really good way to
think about your mixes and especially a
good starting point because you can take
one track as your starting track and
think okay what in my library will
mixing key with this track does it give
me any ideas of where to go next
now the DJ software in 2018 nearly every
single piece of DJ software offers up
what it thinks the key of the tracker
and I'll show you in the link at the end
of the video just how you can find out
what the key of your music is and your
DJ software and then some tips for how
to combine and mix different tracks in
key so starting point number three for
me would be to try and take some of the
performance features that I have on the
controller or the equipment in front of
me and show them off to showcase them to
their full potential try and apply some
creative techniques to those different
performance features that you have
available right in front of you so
rather than trying to do the same mix
every time and do something interesting
just using the hot keys and maybe
approach to mix by thinking okay this
mix I'm going to try and use the slicer
more so my mix will be built around how
can I use the slicer and show up show
off the slicer showcase it to its full
potential and I would just practice just
with that performance feature but then
the next thing would be okay I want to
use the sampler how can I use the
sampler to its full potential and do
something creative with it and I would
just spend time playing with that one
performance feature and experimenting
with it then combining these different
performance features together to create
a more extended mix on DJ routine that's
another way of approaching your mix
rather than thinking about necessarily
the music that you have you think about
the performance features you have and
then try and take the music and use them
in the performance features this is
something that takes a lot of X
Banting a lot of trial and error and a
lot of practice and it's something that
we teach a lot in our online DJ courses
is how to use your controllers and your
equipment to its full potential really
how to dive deep into those performance
features and do more than just maybe
Mixtrack A to B which there's nothing
wrong with but there is so much fun to
be had on the equipment that we have
access to nowadays so it would be a
shame not to make use of it okay the
fourth way that I would approach a mix
or a routine would be to think about
cross pollinating different genres so
that's cross mixing between maybe hip
hop and house our house and Drum & Bass
or even three or four different genres
by approaching a mix thinking this mix I
want to achieve something that is going
to transition between a few different
genres this then takes the energy level
of the mix up and down it allows you to
control the vibe of the night of the mix
of the energy level that you are putting
across in your DJ set this is something
that I would set out on maybe before I
even start playing I think the challenge
in this mix and the thing I want to
overcome is being able to mix from house
to hip-hop play a few hip-hop tracks and
then remix hip hop into a drum and bass
track that's something that I would
challenge myself and then set out and go
try and do on my equipment there are
loads of examples of this in our online
DJ courses specifically their advanced
versions of the courses so you can check
them out in the links but it's just a
way of thinking about your next DJ stay
if you are someone that wants to create
more mashup style mixing then cross
pollinating between genres is the best
way to start thinking like that this is
a quick bonus tip before we move on to
number five seasons were talking about
cross pollinating between genres a
really good way to introduce this
technique is to think about finding
different remixes of the same tracks can
you find a certain track take the
original maybe there might be a house
remix a drum and bass remix a pop remap
there might be so many different remixes
of it but then try and mix between those
different remixes and that straightaway
starts to move between different genres
and energy levels so that's a good way
of starting out mixing between different
genres take a track and mix into the all
the different remixes okay tip number
five and I've saved the easiest one for
last so do not worry
this is super simple everybody can do it
and this is probably the best way that
you're going to come up with ideas are
you ready tip number five is just mix
spend hours and hours and days and weeks
and months just mixing enjoying what you
do enjoying just being a DJ playing with
music and mixing music is one of the
best ways to come up with new ideas the
more you do something the more that
you'll start to think of new ways to do
it and interesting ways to do it so
spend time practicing on your equipment
practicing with your music and just
mixing okay I hope these five ideas have
given you new ways to either start your
mix new ways to get creative in your
mixes it's got you thinking about how
you want to plan your next DJ routine or
when you maybe play your next club set
or party the way you want to approach it
like I said these aren't the only five
ways to do this I'd love to know if
you've learned anything from this video
please drop it in the comments below and
remember we've got some online DJ
courses that teach loads of specific
skills using your pieces of DJ equipment
or controller but if you want to learn
more from this video from these five
tips i've pulled loads of resources
together three DJ lessons and free
content for you to check out and deeper
dive into some of these techniques I've
posted the link on the screen and also
in the card in the description so go
check that out I hope I hope I hope that
you've got some insight and value from
this video please remember to thumbs up
share comment subscribe do all that good
stuff and I'll see you in another video
like this very soon