In this video we're going to have an in-depth look at mixing house and techno music.
Typically the transition between two tracks of this genre is a very long blend. This is unlike scratching or mixing hip-hop where it's a lot finer and there's more cutting between tracks.
We're going to slowly transition two tracks together, and work the EQ and filters to make the blend really smooth.
So the first thing to think about when looking at mixing house is the phrasing and structure of the track.
Typically you're going to have an 8 or a 16 bar phrase which means that every 8 or 16 bars a new element is added or taken away.
The beginning of the track is going to start off very simple and then will slowly build up more and more elements.
At the end of the track there's an outro section where it will go from every element playing to gradually removing each element. These parts will be taken away every 8 or 16 bars.
So when we're mixing house music the idea is to match up two tracks so that as an element comes away on a track we're mixing out from, a new element will be introduced on the track we're mixing into.
If we think about the structure of a track looking like a block diagram, two of them will match together, meaning they will fit perfectly and there will never be a dead or silent part in that mix.
When you're about to begin your mix, if you're about to bring a track in you want to start it in a certain position just so it doesn't sound too heavy when you first slowly start to fade it in.
A good way to do it is if we have our track playing out on the left and we want to bring the track in on the right, we'll always start by taking the bass down a bit, just so it isn't too heavy.
Then when we begin our mix it is going to sound a lot more natural and have a more gradual blend.
As the mix progresses we're going to slowly bring the fader across to the centre, and then we're going to work the two bass controls so we can smoothly swap between the bassline of one track to the bassline of another.
So, all you're going to do is just turn one bass control down, while you're turning the other one up.
I'm now going to give you a demonstration of how to mix two house tracks together.
On the track playing out, I'm going to think about where the outro is going to start and where I can start to bring in my new track.
So I'm going to think about the phrasing of the track and the beats and bars.
With the track I'm going to bring in, I need too prepare so it is ready for the mix. I'm going to start with the bass low so it won't be muddy when I start to bring it into the mix.
When I first bring in the crossfader, I'm going to bring it just in slightly so it's not too loud, and then gradually I'm going to work it further and further across until we're at the centre.
Then, once we're at the centre, I'm going to use the bass EQ controls to slowly swap those so that the track on the right, which is the new track, takes over the track on the left.
I'm going to do that in time with when the bass drops on the new track, which is at about roughly one minute.
Typically with house, there is usually one minute for the intro and one minute for the outro. This is where the bass is taken out and where it starts again on the new track.
So, that was a brief look at how to mix house music.
Obviously the same applies to any sort of 4/4 electronic music, whether it's techno or trance.
It's all done in the same way - long blends with gradual transitions and working the EQ to make it sound as smooth as possible.
We've also got another video showing you how to mix hip-hop and a little bit of scratching as well.