Pretty new to djing. Played some dnb on my buddies turntables and thought "I've got to get me some of these". It was a blast. Did a bunch of research and ended up getting some pioneer 800's. Man, it's not quite the same as them tables. You can't just pick up the needle and drop it anywhere you want in a seconds time. It's really hard for me to get into these cdj's. Trance is fine on the cdj's but I swear dnb was made for tables.
Anyway, on to the topic....
A lot of the dnb I have starts out with mostly ambience and maybe a cymbal unlike trance where you got the kick from the get go. Do you guys skip ahead to the first kick and then go back to the beginning once it's matched? I guess I'm just wondering what your methods are. I just need to practice. Dnb's a little trickier than trance.

It depends on the mix.  I try to do it however I think it will sound best.  I think the majority of the time, however, that means mixing beats.  When I spin DnB I like to do a lot of "throwing the faders" as I like to say.  I rarely just do a nice, smooth, drawn-out mix like I would with trance (unless I'm spinning some FM type stuff, I find the fader throwing thing doesn't work as well with the more melodic type of DnB--I mostly spin tech step when I spin DnB, and also a little jump up and/or ragga).  The thing I like about DnB is that you can be much more active and creative in your mixing, doing things that you could never get away with when spinning trance.  So, my advice would be to take some time when you can just let loose and try all sorts of different things and see what you like--develop your own flavor of mixing it up.  Sometimes that will probably mean taking a track all the way to the beginning.  Sometimes that will probably mean skipping a big portion of the beginning of the track (I have one Tech Itch track where almost half the track is an ambient intro--if I don't use it to start the set then I will most likely skip that whole part, or at least most of it).  Change it up.  Get creative.  Develop your taste.  Have fun.

it depends on the song.

sometimes, even when there is no kick, listen for other percussion, things like cymbals or high hats can occur in a pattern, and you can often match the tempo of the previous song just by a perc element. the most common and easiest thing to match for drum n bass is usually the snare drum. the snare is usually very loud and in a regular groove that can be matched easily. listen for that snare! this is how most people mix dnb and breaks because the kick is more difficult to match the tempo with.

so, yeah for some songs, you have to skim ahead a while till you find a solid groove of percussion. you don't always have to take it back to the start either. it all depends on the song. there are no rules officially for mixing.

Well, Im one that listens to all of my tracks about 4-5 times before i ever consider playing them live, in my spare time. Most of them already have a 1-2-3-4 hit or cymbal in the intro, however, some intros dont have that, so I fast forward to the first major hit, and pick up on what the tempo is, then I cue it up at the very beginning of the track....sometimes I only want to use the second part of the track, so I start playing it, once the 2nd part of the first track gets boomin, or figure out how many beat sequences are left until the outro.

so 1) Listen to your tracks in your spare time, to get a feel of them, before you ever play them.
2) after completing #1, you should already have a 4-beat count of the tempo for each of your DnB tracks, making it easier for you to beatmatch.

In my personal opinion anything not 4 beats per measure like say house or trance is going to be harder due to the fact that is not 1-2-3-4. Breaks and Drum&Bass can be tricky but the faster the song the easier it is to not screw up. Since the snare hits more often than say hip hop or breaks you can line them up easier. And if they start going off you will hear it sooner and get it back on. That's my personal opinion     

I can agree with majority of the points mentioned here.

Mixing style wise, cutting the fader, I rarely do unless I'm bout to mess up, but most of the time, you can do a blended mix in drum n bass.  So don't rule that out.

Yes, use the snare, its most used, compare to others as the kick.  Once you get a feel for how drum n bass is made, you can use other elements.  Once that you found the solid groove, beat matched it, you can start at the first and mix during the ambient.  Sometimes though I'll be in the middle of the mix and just want the heavy part of it to continue the momentum that I have going.

Any genre of music, I would listen to my tracks, first starting out, I was always told know your tracks.

Other than that, have fun, use different techniques and create your own.

8)

Cool, thanks guys. All of it.... good advice.

You can do whatever you want.

Some intros are good for overlapping tracks.

a good friend of mine who dj's dnb, fluffypuppy, likes to mix in the ambient track over the track he is mixing out of. He uses the cymbals and other percussion to beatmatch it in his headphones and once he gets it right, he starts the new track over and works it into the mix. pretty sweet stuff right there.

I think if you fast forward to when the beat kicks in, you are cheating your audience of a good experience. It's pretty cool to hear the different melodies and basslines play with each other, as long as they are in the same key, then it just sounds like clashing notes.

I need to get in touch with fluffypuppy for a new mix.

I only skip ahead to find a solid groove to beatmatch to then start over unless I'm in the middle of a mix or high point.


you better ;)  too much good stuff out there.

Like dunamis was saying, I only fast forward to adjust the speed of the track manually in my headphones, then I return it to my que point before I play.

For any sort of DnB with synths, melodies, etc. in it, starting at the beginning is usually what I like best.  For DnB that literally is mostly just drums and bass (a lot of tech step, like I usually spin), then there are so many different ways to do it that just starting at the beginning and fading the next track in is just being lazy IMO.  Though, many times I will do a lot of cuts in such a way that I'm playing off the phrasing of each track, and then take it back to the beginning for the actual mix.  When done tastefully it adds a very nice touch.  When I get my next mixer (current mixer is fried), I'll have to do a short mix and post it on my xStreamist page for you all to hear.

There are some excellent suggestions here!   8)

You can't go wrong with this advice, but ultimately I think it depends the most on the mood/situation/song etc.

Find some good DnB mixes by DJ's that you like and listen for some the different elements that everyone suggested here. Once you have the ear it'l be second nature for you.  8)

On that note, you might want to just go see some DnB DJs and just sort of sit & watch and take some mental notes as they work.  I've found that with DnB more than probably any other genre the mix CDs put out by the heavy hitters never sound like they do live, with the one exception I have found being AK1200's Mixed Live CD with MC Navigator.  If you can find that baby, BUY it--in fact buy 2 and I'll buy one off you because mine got scratched to much to play now.  Anyways, I'm just saying that the way the DJs mix live is often much more creative and active than what you'll hear on any CD you buy.

I believe I have that, it was burnt by a friend though, not the actual cd.

How you mix your tracks is as much what makes you an individual as the tracks themselves. Technically you have a few choices in the methods you use though as with any genre. Wherever possible the tempo should be matched during the mix though. The key of the tracks being mixed is just as important as the tempo, unintential key clashes can spoil the flidity of a mix. I have a freind who can't beatmatch very well but he has done some awesome mixes simply blending the ambient/breakdown sections in tracks with complimentary chord structures.

For Drum and Bass, Personally I like "throwing faders" (great phrase by the way Reborn, I might have to get that on a T-Shirt) wherever I can't beatmix intros. "throwing faders" also sounds great pre mix to intoduce or even tease the crowd with a track before bringing it in. I used to drop in a bar or two of a big crowd pleaser a few times many mixes prior to playing it in full much later on in the set.

nice.... I like all this stuff. Looks like I'll be locked away in my room for awhile.

use the snares on two & four. bob your head. look cool.  And learn to match phrases not just beats.

Phrase matching is uberimportant in any genre.

But don't just use the snares.  When you get your two tracks close in BPM especially, listen to the entire drum loop (could be 2 bars, could be 4 bars, whatever it is).  The snares are often the easiest if you want to just pick out one sound, but using the whole drum loop help you beat match the more difficult ones easier (you know, like when the snares aren't super crisp).  If you're a noob to beatmatching, you may need to stick with just the snares for a little while, but it is oddly more frequent that you'd think that the snares can sound on and the kicks just aren't quite together or vice versa.

the snares are almost always on two and four so it's easy to tell where you are at in each measure. this guy asking is a noob to mixing dnb right?

Some of the best advice I ever received from an accomplished DJ when I was a noob was to not just listen to the snares when mixing anything breakbeat (which is exactly what I was doing then), but to use the snares to get them close and then listen to the entire loop.  Using that tactic, I quickly began to excel in beatmatching all things breakbeat related.

If the snares are matched everything else should be also.  2 & 4 trainwreck no more!  :laugh:

That's true.  However, especially when talking about broken beat tracks where the kick drums of each track in the mix run different pattterns, it can happen where the snares sound like they're matched, but the kicks still sound a little muddy.  This is because the snares are off just a little bit--not so much that a newbie can pick it out, but enough to ruin the mix--especially if you EQ a lot in your mixing because then you won't even realize how far off the kicks really are until you bring the lows up and then voila - bad mix.  If you don't remember this happening to you I'm guessing you're either not a noob and haven't been for a while, or you probably spin house, maybe even trace, but most likely nothing with a broken beat.  Listening to the whole loop helps newbies train their ears so as to avoid those embarrassing moments.  Besides, listening to every other beat is just not good practice--especially for newbies.

not a noob. spin everything. from hip hop,dnb,florida breaks,electro,techno,and on and on.  I was just trying to give him something easy that he can pick up quick.  You know to get that ah-hah moment.  I taught my wife to beat match in like 45 min.  But she has a  music/dance background so counting and rhythm was already established.

Dude, I wasn't trying to imply that you're a noob.  Nor was I attempting to diss your skills in any way--I'm sure you're a great DJ & DJ teacher.  Just saying, that's the best advice I ever received for beatmatching break beat genres.  It helped me a lot, so I figure it could help someone else, too.  I've done it both ways.  One way ultimatley results in less pitch bends during a mix--for me at least.

It's all good man! No offense taken. :hug: