When I sat down to ponder some of the key things that make up a good technical mix, three things came to mind; they are phrasing, EQ’ing, and Volume/Energy level.  There are other things that come into play when you construct top notch mixes as well, but these three are some fundamentals that are often missed by new DJ’s.

Let’s begin with “phrasing”, what this relates to is the fact that your tracks may be together on beat, but are not flowing as well as possible.  When this happens, you get a feeling that something is “just not right” no matter how spot on the beats are.  This is because music is composed of phrases.  According to Wikipedia.com (2005), “In music a phrase (Greek φράση, sentence, expression, see also strophe) is a section of music that is relatively self contained and coherent over a medium time scale. In common practice phrases are often four and most often eight bars, or measures, long.”  So what this means is that you need to get the two tracks blending together so the rise and fall (phrase) of each song is working in harmony. 

The next area that shows the difference between beginner and pro is the use of the equalizer on each channel.  Before you mix the tracks together, try several different ways of adjusting the lows, midrange and highs in your headphones to see what will sound best.  Sometimes a mix reminds me of an episode of “When Good Pets Go Bad!”  The mix may just need a little adjustment to sound buttery smooth, or to give you that indescribable feeling of energy that grabs a hold of you and drives you out on the dance floor.  Try “pulling” out the bass on the track you are bringing in for a subtle mix of vocals or tribal sounds, and try pulling out both midrange and highs and swapping the bass-line of the two tracks to make a whole new sound.  The possibilities are endless really.  Remember that you are EQUALIZING, going overboard can ruin the experience or worse yet do serious damage to costly equipment.

Finally we need to address the volume / energy level of the mix.  Nothing kills the mood on the dance floor faster than a mix that decreases noticeably in volume when the new track comes in.  This is not as simple as watching the VU meter on your mixer.  The meter can be deceptive because of a poor vinyl pressing, but the driving portion of the music will sound quieter to the ear.  You need to pay close attention to this phenomenon in your headphones when you cue and be ready to boost the gain on the next record if necessary.  If you neglect this important technique, you may deliver an anemic mix worthy of a clear dance floor.  Don’t give up though, with another good mix or two, you will have the dance floor packed tighter than a jar of peanut butter at a squirrel convention.

Till next time, keep rockin’ the dance floors and stay blessed.

DJ Dvyne®