To all you wanna be DJs, this is a great education here. I was a night club dj out of NY and MIami from back the days of vinyl. Back in the 80s club djs in New York were extremely creative but we didn't have anything that you have access to today. It was all analog. Megamixes with samples and looping were all done by using recording tape. You take a "Reel to Reel" machine and you would have to cut recording tape from certain parts of the track and splice them together. It was intensive work for just a few seconds of a machine gun effect. TODAY, you guys have it so easy to be as creative as your imagination allows. Any monkey can say they are a DJ by mixing one song to the next(boring), but a true DJ is a creative artist and it can be done by the touch of a button. So don't be a lame dj, learn (like DJ Tech tools), experiment, and be creative. DJs were once the driving force in music, now its been lost to producers who act like DJ. Big difference, time to take back your culture!!
I pay attention to this even when I am walking horses. I walk people's horses a lot, and whenever I hear their hoof beats, I am always paying attention to the timing and phrasing. feeling the 4/4 hoof beats of a thousand pound animal really helps to get this concept locked into my head.
This is something I’m pushing on myself as I’m primarily a bedroom dj who recently started enjoying mixing again, I released a set on Mixcloud and I was complimented on how well it flowed together instead of just mashed up at the words they used. So thank you for the knowledge sharing
Hey ean. Thank you very much for all of your videos. 4 years i follow your TH-cam videos and it’s helping me. Thank you very much and thanks Dj techtools.
Understanding the 32 count is as important as understanding how to beat match. It was one of the first things I was taught when I started and is still key today.
This is the fundamentals for any musician,to know when to step in,do a breack and/or add a new instrument!When we mix,we want it to sound like a new instrument is beeing added to make the transition in the flow!
Great to have you back Ean! Although I'm not new to Djinng, I really enjoy watching these new videos from you, they're really well made and on point! Cheers :)
Its something that's been embedded in my mind for a long time now, Every song that comes on the radio I'm counting the phrases, Every style of music has the 4x4. I'm not listening to music in the same way people usually listen to.
Your videos are really everything I needed and more. Your voice is calm, easy to follow and keeps me interested. Blending in what you are doing in the software helps even more. Thank you for that great content!
Thank you! I’ve always been cognizant of words and drops and buildups and elements of a song that are useful points in transitioning, but I never knew what to call it, and I’ve been learning the craft for a year now! I appreciate your straightforward way of explaining, and it’s nice to see someone who likes doing SEAMLESS blends as opposed to wild effects and fancy tricks. Props to people who do that, that’s fine and all, but sometimes I get flak from my manager for blending too much but I defend it as a seamless music experience... and now I have more tools to keep doing as I like and my DJ style leans towards:)
Thanks Ean. I'd like to learn about managing flow and maintaning energy through choosing the right places/times to to mix in out. Also 'why' those places times would work and how to be creative with it. Finally exlpaining how you might approach it differently for different genres would be the icing on the cake. ;)
Great explanation on a topic I've been really working on. Not in the dj world, but in performing a live modular techno set. It is so easy to get lost on where I am in a phrase with so many variables that i have to manually change. Practice practice.
That did feel right up my alley, only realised you were actually answering me directly at the end. Thanks a lot! That second part of the video was exactly what I was looking for and I'll try to mix it up as soon as I can nail this eyes closed. Excellent to be starting from the very basics so that all can understand though. Would love to see more advanced techniques if you have time in the future. Cheers! PS that dnb transition was pretty dope XD
Lorenzo Leonardi thanks for the question and thanks Ian for the answers! A great video, and I’m definitely going to start triggering 1 bar loops a few phrases before the next drop so that I can improvise build ups during those sections more. It’s so cool that in reality the count is just in your head not in the software!
Absolutely agree there... with all the tools available today, out of key and out of phrasing is in fact, out of the question... We used to count backward the 32 or 16 beats with vinyls during the old ages (in fact you usually knew the song to stop it just in that point for release in phrase with the other one)... today, with multiple cues, colours, and everything available, not doing a proper mix... shame!
This is something I didn’t even know I was struggling with. I always had a hard time understanding why certain transitions sounded much better than others. I’ll need to play around with this a bit more to see how well it works with top 40 and more open format type of music. Thanks!
Great video. Should have maybe just explained that releasing that loop needed to be 8 before the drop to ensure they both dropped at the same time. Other then that some good insight into structure.
Thanks for this tip! Something I am already using in a 'subconscious way' - good to get words on this and have a better structured way of planning ahead a mix :)
So glad your back ;) as said before I really like the series, especially the "advanced" parts as I'm already into DJing for a few years now and already know the basics. Looking forward to more interesting tricks and stuff. Keep it up! :)
as someone who has been rapping for years, when I started mixing techno I didnt even have to think about this. when rapping you just have to know when to come in with your bars (pun intended) on a track, as a verse is usually 16 bars. I would go to clubs and be like ok sick tunes but the dj didnt bring it in at the right time, and it just sounds off. the reason I even came here was cos I was just listening to a certain dj who's meant to be pretty good and I dont think he once paid attention to phrasing, and Its funny cos when I would be like in my head this was when he was meant to drop, a new element in the song would come in as if to say yup, youre right.
So, a phrase here is what I'd think of as a full round of bars... Extremely interesting! Are many people using this term? I never had a term for it myself, but I think I almost always mix like that.
So sorry just one question and I maybe I'm been anal about it but at 7:13 he starts counting for a 32 bar release after at least 8 bars has already gone by so technically he released it on an irregular bar number of 40. SO it doesnt matter massively as long as youre kinda close??
I had listened to certain songs but cannot hear any changes, eg. drumrolls, changes in the song etc. I had listened to that song about five times and cannot hear any change to denotes a phrase. I know about beats, bars, and phrases. I knew some songs changes are subtle. You really have to find when something is added or take away to find a phrase, eg. 8, 16, or 32 beats phrases. Where can I beat match the second song?
That 4-beat loop was redundant... I kept hearing, "This is Redundant." The second one was awesome! That being said, I am trying to master this on a touch screen!
I would really like to get some insights in EQ mixing. when mixing one song from the other i normally kill the bassline of one track, 50% of the mids and 25% of the highs, and then slowly swap them out. But i bet there are better/more creative ways to mix
I’ve just seen a comment on another channel regarding EDM and phrases not only consistent with 8 bars....but also with 4 bars! Which kinda has me worried as im sure I have subconsciously on occasions probably experienced hearing this....ie: 4.2.3.4.5 12.2.3.4.13 24.2.3.4.25 etc They were saying to count 4 bars instead of 8 bars whilst contesting the 99% of the time changes happening every 32 bars theory saying that this is in fact incorrect? So all those cue points I have manually counted/set in traktor ie:on bars 17/33/65....etc are going to fuck up one/several of my transitions at some point in a mix?
With the Traktor Control X1 how to you MOVE LOOP on the controller itself? I can't find any information on this anywhere. Pressing encoder, that will activate loop/deactivate loop. Shift + encoder turn also still beatjumps or moves loop (when in active loop) based on size of loop selector! But to move the loop by 1 or 2 beats I can only this this is I manually do it on the laptop clicking MOVE and the arrow left or right.
Could you show how you use flux and/or freeze in your sets? Those are two things I almost never use. I don’t know anything about them other than what they do, not how to use them well.
Great upload, very helpful... Any chance of an updated tutorial on setting beat grids in traktor pro3 to lock the grids into the correct phrase position? I use vinyl time code so it's not too much of a problem until I switch up to internal mode...i have a hard time with setting up my beat grids correctly, most songs are ok but some are not for me. M
I get the idea of dropping a new track in after the old track's phrase is finished (after the 16 count), but how do you line them up for a smooth mix with some elements coming in first before the bass? Do I need to set a cue point on a track that's 16/32 beats before the new drop?
i'm not familiar with hip hop time, is 6/8 or 4/4 coming from house i rarely encounter 6/8 but i can find the phrase instant, pro tip start on beat 7, then the phrase matches the bar
You started going somewhere with this video but then lost the thread. Specifically you said the audience expects the pattern of a song, intro, verse, chorus, breakdown etc. then didn’t elaborate on how we should be using these sections to logically move from one songs chorus to another songs breakdown or verse whereby keeping the phrase pattern in tact. For example playing only verses wouldn’t be natural.
This is a great point - Breaking phrases can be really powerful , when it's done intentionally, but people do need to understand them first. Know the rules well and then break them creatively. Look at picasso's work, it's a great example of the principle.
What i dont understand: lets say you have only one track and you make 4-beat loop in a 4 bars break to stretch the break. Now isnt it also important, that u stretch the break only by 4 bars chunks? Because if you would release the loop after only 3 repeats, it would break the musicality of the track, because you now made a 7 bars break.
It doesn't. This doesn't come to most new people that want to get into DJ'ing naturally, and that's alright - people learn this kind of stuff along the way.
KaltaBFH I work 2 residencies and do wedding and private parties on the side. I’ve seen people come and go. If you’re not knowing this stuff long before you even touch platters, you have no business being in an industry that is 100% driven on passion and ambition.
@@edmontontech2008 You're way too focused on DJ'ing being an industry - there's so many people that just DJ because it's their hobby, not because they want to make any hobby out of it.
Because everyone and their momma thinks they are a dj these days. They expect their computer software to do all the work while they themselves have zero ability, knowledge of music, or creativity to actually be a DJ.
dude. you dont mix hio hop like u mix house or edm. you gotta really be manual with hip hop. really u need at least a 3rd deck for juggling etc. but this is all basic stuff for the novice out there. if u a pro u know
Not at all true. You can also mix hop hop just like house. Been doing it since digital came out. I was mixing hip hop old school way on 1210s for 15 years before. But this is another technique that works and yes I used to have 3 1210s back then. I learned manually first though, juggling breaks to extend intros. Now I have more tools at my disposal.
I think that you have to focus on what is happening now, like Tech House music, Techno, House etc... idk if the hip hop content is a interesting thing to this kind of guide
To all you wanna be DJs, this is a great education here. I was a night club dj out of NY and MIami from back the days of vinyl. Back in the 80s club djs in New York were extremely creative but we didn't have anything that you have access to today. It was all analog. Megamixes with samples and looping were all done by using recording tape. You take a "Reel to Reel" machine and you would have to cut recording tape from certain parts of the track and splice them together. It was intensive work for just a few seconds of a machine gun effect. TODAY, you guys have it so easy to be as creative as your imagination allows. Any monkey can say they are a DJ by mixing one song to the next(boring), but a true DJ is a creative artist and it can be done by the touch of a button. So don't be a lame dj, learn (like DJ Tech tools), experiment, and be creative. DJs were once the driving force in music, now its been lost to producers who act like DJ. Big difference, time to take back your culture!!
Being someone who always is inspired by being different and applying my creative methods that are outside the norms, I enjoyed seeing this comment.
SO, SO True. !!!!!👍👍👍
I pay attention to this even when I am walking horses. I walk people's horses a lot, and whenever I hear their hoof beats, I am always paying attention to the timing and phrasing. feeling the 4/4 hoof beats of a thousand pound animal really helps to get this concept locked into my head.
Good to see you teaching this.
I've been to way too many clubs where the DJ is not aware of these simple rules. 👍
Djs that make millions?
This is something I’m pushing on myself as I’m primarily a bedroom dj who recently started enjoying mixing again, I released a set on Mixcloud and I was complimented on how well it flowed together instead of just mashed up at the words they used. So thank you for the knowledge sharing
What's the mix. Plug yourself.
Ean rules. Whole reason I even decided to give it a shot 12 years ago. That VCI 100 BABY! ❤️
Love Ean's expression at 7:30 when he's digging his transition. Loving the music even whilst teaching.
This is good stuff, I like to see a video on counting bars and phrases of an acapella track. Now that to me is advanced phrasing.
i teach a dj class and i struggled a bit explaining how phrasing works, thanks for this ean!
Hey ean. Thank you very much for all of your videos. 4 years i follow your TH-cam videos and it’s helping me. Thank you very much and thanks Dj techtools.
Understanding the 32 count is as important as understanding how to beat match. It was one of the first things I was taught when I started and is still key today.
This is the fundamentals for any musician,to know when to step in,do a breack and/or add a new instrument!When we mix,we want it to sound like a new instrument is beeing added to make the transition in the flow!
Great to have you back Ean! Although I'm not new to Djinng, I really enjoy watching these new videos from you, they're really well made and on point! Cheers :)
Super good tut.. I really like the D&B example you used... I lost myself for a second there
Its something that's been embedded in my mind for a long time now,
Every song that comes on the radio I'm counting the phrases,
Every style of music has the 4x4.
I'm not listening to music in the same way people usually listen to.
Your videos are really everything I needed and more. Your voice is calm, easy to follow and keeps me interested. Blending in what you are doing in the software helps even more. Thank you for that great content!
Voll deiner Meinung
Thank you! I’ve always been cognizant of words and drops and buildups and elements of a song that are useful points in transitioning, but I never knew what to call it, and I’ve been learning the craft for a year now! I appreciate your straightforward way of explaining, and it’s nice to see someone who likes doing SEAMLESS blends as opposed to wild effects and fancy tricks. Props to people who do that, that’s fine and all, but sometimes I get flak from my manager for blending too much but I defend it as a seamless music experience... and now I have more tools to keep doing as I like and my DJ style leans towards:)
@7:23 airborne-drop smile - feeling all that white space!
Appreciate this. Cleans up what I’m doing almost unconsciously.
Thanks Ean. I'd like to learn about managing flow and maintaning energy through choosing the right places/times to to mix in out. Also 'why' those places times would work and how to be creative with it. Finally exlpaining how you might approach it differently for different genres would be the icing on the cake. ;)
This is incredibly helpful for me as I'm working on mixing across genres. I would like to see your take on open format transitions.
Lol, I love the satisfied smile at 7:23. Fun!
Great explanation on a topic I've been really working on. Not in the dj world, but in performing a live modular techno set. It is so easy to get lost on where I am in a phrase with so many variables that i have to manually change. Practice practice.
Big ups for using sfam's track in the video! They're the homies!
That did feel right up my alley, only realised you were actually answering me directly at the end. Thanks a lot! That second part of the video was exactly what I was looking for and I'll try to mix it up as soon as I can nail this eyes closed. Excellent to be starting from the very basics so that all can understand though. Would love to see more advanced techniques if you have time in the future. Cheers!
PS that dnb transition was pretty dope XD
Lorenzo Leonardi thanks for the question and thanks Ian for the answers!
A great video, and I’m definitely going to start triggering 1 bar loops a few phrases before the next drop so that I can improvise build ups during those sections more.
It’s so cool that in reality the count is just in your head not in the software!
Absolutely agree there... with all the tools available today, out of key and out of phrasing is in fact, out of the question... We used to count backward the 32 or 16 beats with vinyls during the old ages (in fact you usually knew the song to stop it just in that point for release in phrase with the other one)... today, with multiple cues, colours, and everything available, not doing a proper mix... shame!
This is something I didn’t even know I was struggling with. I always had a hard time understanding why certain transitions sounded much better than others. I’ll need to play around with this a bit more to see how well it works with top 40 and more open format type of music. Thanks!
top 40, open format music.
This mix doesnt match
This is video is soo simple and awesome!!! thanks for posting!!!!
Ean you are doing great job!!!! digging deep into traktor's possibilities!
Good to have the videos back!
Please don’t stop making videos!
Such an important aspect of djing, makes the world of difference! Great video
Great video. Should have maybe just explained that releasing that loop needed to be 8 before the drop to ensure they both dropped at the same time. Other then that some good insight into structure.
Liked how you are so easy to follow in the videos you do. Well explained and very informative. Thank you.
Thanks for this tip! Something I am already using in a 'subconscious way' - good to get words on this and have a better structured way of planning ahead a mix :)
Looks like the time off did you a world of good. Keep up the good work!💪🏾
So glad your back ;) as said before I really like the series, especially the "advanced" parts as I'm already into DJing for a few years now and already know the basics. Looking forward to more interesting tricks and stuff. Keep it up! :)
Good to see you back Ean
I like the way how you explain those rules. I already know the content, however, i had a problem make it easy to understand during teaching people :)
great video
the legend is back
as someone who has been rapping for years, when I started mixing techno I didnt even have to think about this. when rapping you just have to know when to come in with your bars (pun intended) on a track, as a verse is usually 16 bars. I would go to clubs and be like ok sick tunes but the dj didnt bring it in at the right time, and it just sounds off. the reason I even came here was cos I was just listening to a certain dj who's meant to be pretty good and I dont think he once paid attention to phrasing, and Its funny cos when I would be like in my head this was when he was meant to drop, a new element in the song would come in as if to say yup, youre right.
So, a phrase here is what I'd think of as a full round of bars... Extremely interesting! Are many people using this term? I never had a term for it myself, but I think I almost always mix like that.
Hi Ean thanks for the video I learned something today
awesome tutorial! what's the d&b song name at 5:55? Thanks!
It's Dutta - Return To Dominos
Great Vid as usual Mr. G.
what program is he using to demonstrate?
ecellent video amigo
Previously your video has similar content, but it doesn't matter, the old method is always worked.
Great video.
Magic Ean Golden!!
So sorry just one question and I maybe I'm been anal about it but at 7:13 he starts counting for a 32 bar release after at least 8 bars has already gone by so technically he released it on an irregular bar number of 40. SO it doesnt matter massively as long as youre kinda close??
These are great lessons, thanks.
I had listened to certain songs but cannot hear any changes, eg. drumrolls, changes in the song etc. I had listened to that song about five times and cannot hear any change to denotes a phrase. I know about beats, bars, and phrases. I knew some songs changes are subtle. You really have to find when something is added or take away to find a phrase, eg. 8, 16, or 32 beats phrases. Where can I beat match the second song?
That 4-beat loop was redundant... I kept hearing, "This is Redundant." The second one was awesome! That being said, I am trying to master this on a touch screen!
Do you have any video's on using the auto gain or not?
So your count start at the first beat of the song ?
I would really like to get some insights in EQ mixing. when mixing one song from the other i normally kill the bassline of one track, 50% of the mids and 25% of the highs, and then slowly swap them out. But i bet there are better/more creative ways to mix
I found a good video about equalizer mixing.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to share here.
@@rizlagold I don´t see why not. You can just give me the name, not the direct link to it
@@rexxxar123 th-cam.com/video/70E9C7LF0CY/w-d-xo.html
thank you
Any chance of a tutorial on setting beat grids in Rekordbox and a vid on Libary Management
I’ve just seen a comment on another channel regarding EDM and phrases not only consistent with 8 bars....but also with 4 bars!
Which kinda has me worried as im sure I have subconsciously on occasions probably experienced hearing this....ie: 4.2.3.4.5 12.2.3.4.13 24.2.3.4.25 etc
They were saying to count 4 bars instead of 8 bars whilst contesting the 99% of the time changes happening every 32 bars theory saying that this is in fact incorrect?
So all those cue points I have manually counted/set in traktor ie:on bars 17/33/65....etc are going to fuck up one/several of my transitions at some point in a mix?
Yes! This is what need 😄🙏! Thanks Want!
Hello! Nice video!
How would you work with a song that has phrases with different BPM?
What software is that/
Thanks bro
More like this! And more advanced takes on what subtle EQing can do for a mix. What about programming a whole set?
Great video, keep it up
With the Traktor Control X1 how to you MOVE LOOP on the controller itself? I can't find any information on this anywhere. Pressing encoder, that will activate loop/deactivate loop. Shift + encoder turn also still beatjumps or moves loop (when in active loop) based on size of loop selector! But to move the loop by 1 or 2 beats I can only this this is I manually do it on the laptop clicking MOVE and the arrow left or right.
Could you show how you use flux and/or freeze in your sets? Those are two things I almost never use. I don’t know anything about them other than what they do, not how to use them well.
Your video isn’t loading 😢
Great upload, very helpful...
Any chance of an updated tutorial on setting beat grids in traktor pro3 to lock the grids into the correct phrase position?
I use vinyl time code so it's not too much of a problem until I switch up to internal mode...i have a hard time with setting up my beat grids correctly, most songs are ok but some are not for me. M
I get the idea of dropping a new track in after the old track's phrase is finished (after the 16 count), but how do you line them up for a smooth mix with some elements coming in first before the bass? Do I need to set a cue point on a track that's 16/32 beats before the new drop?
Awesome!
i'm not familiar with hip hop time, is 6/8 or 4/4 coming from house i rarely encounter 6/8 but i can find the phrase instant, pro tip start on beat 7, then the phrase matches the bar
Good one
Which software is this?
It's called "Traktor Pro".
Love!
🖤
thx
This man is beautiful!
You started going somewhere with this video but then lost the thread. Specifically you said the audience expects the pattern of a song, intro, verse, chorus, breakdown etc. then didn’t elaborate on how we should be using these sections to logically move from one songs chorus to another songs breakdown or verse whereby keeping the phrase pattern in tact. For example playing only verses wouldn’t be natural.
Songs? How about tracks?
Feel weird ? Sven Vath breaking phrases on every transitions. That's why hi is unique.
This reminds me of people I played in punk bands with who thought being out of tune was "punk rock." No, it was just out of tune.
This is a great point - Breaking phrases can be really powerful , when it's done intentionally, but people do need to understand them first. Know the rules well and then break them creatively. Look at picasso's work, it's a great example of the principle.
Eh just know your songs for your set some of this stuff is good but main thing is just know your songs and do what ever sound's good!!!
thank you
What i dont understand: lets say you have only one track and you make 4-beat loop in a 4 bars break to stretch the break. Now isnt it also important, that u stretch the break only by 4 bars chunks? Because if you would release the loop after only 3 repeats, it would break the musicality of the track, because you now made a 7 bars break.
Watched this on ketamine d-(^ ‿ ^ )z
Figured out phrasing and how human consciousness works from this video. Thanks!
🙏🏻🖤
THE DNB KNOCKS!
Except for the total chaos it sounded like Girl Talk
The fact that this needs to be taught says so much about where DJ'ing is at.
It doesn't. This doesn't come to most new people that want to get into DJ'ing naturally, and that's alright - people learn this kind of stuff along the way.
KaltaBFH I work 2 residencies and do wedding and private parties on the side. I’ve seen people come and go.
If you’re not knowing this stuff long before you even touch platters, you have no business being in an industry that is 100% driven on passion and ambition.
@@edmontontech2008 You're way too focused on DJ'ing being an industry - there's so many people that just DJ because it's their hobby, not because they want to make any hobby out of it.
KaltaBFH what’s the point if you’re not performing? Even on cam.
Because everyone and their momma thinks they are a dj these days. They expect their computer software to do all the work while they themselves have zero ability, knowledge of music, or creativity to actually be a DJ.
Actually .... the basics
lol
dude. you dont mix hio hop like u mix house or edm. you gotta really be manual with hip hop. really u need at least a 3rd deck for juggling etc. but this is all basic stuff for the novice out there. if u a pro u know
Okay go and be pro and stop commenting lmao
Not at all true. You can also mix hop hop just like house. Been doing it since digital came out. I was mixing hip hop old school way on 1210s for 15 years before. But this is another technique that works and yes I used to have 3 1210s back then. I learned manually first though, juggling breaks to extend intros. Now I have more tools at my disposal.
Cool work man keep going
I think that you have to focus on what is happening now, like Tech House music, Techno, House etc... idk if the hip hop content is a interesting thing to this kind of guide
Of course it is, as if R&B / Hip hop clubs don't exist. There are literally clubs for every genre, some more prominent than others.
great video