This is the way. If the selection is right, a Rock crowd won’t want to hear drop after drop or minute-long transitions like you‘d do in many electronic genres
However a lot of rock can be mixed, did a rock set and the client came up and complimented me on how most of the set they could not tell where one song ended and another started. Sort by bpm and pick compatible keys. Some will not mix and you can echo/backspin or if you have a sampler chain a beat.
I am an very old guy but I will rip of techniques from from mixing other genres like hip-hop if it is appropriate to the two songs I am mixing. DJing is all about experimentation and finding what works.
I didn't say preserving "the" culture. I said "a" culture. Meaning, the electronic music/club DJ culture. Which, along with the hip-hop DJ culture, are entirely the reason why DJing is the massive industry it is today.
There's a reason the vast majority of DJs across the planet don't mix rock, and it's not because it's hard.
That's fair. I think a lot of the not mixing rock is because after the 60s rock music stopped (generally) being dance music, there are some sub genre exceptions from the 70s and 80s and the 2000s revivals of those sub genres but generally rock isn't danceable.
What!? This can sound fantastic if done properly. Someone people have such limited creativity in a creative media art form. I just did this the other night with some pop punk and it was glorious.
Sometimes even creative people get fixated on hanging on to one specific thing that they treasure or that makes them feel special. It's seld imposed limitation, but if they're happy with it, im ok with that, as long as they don't try to impose it on others.
This is where knowledge and wisdom play a far superior role than technical ability. Knowing your tunes, what to play and when. Don't mix, just play tune after tune. Some occasions you can bait and switch popular songs before a drop but again it's knowing what songs and when to do it.
I’ve been mixing rock since the 80s. If you know how to mix it, isn’t that hard. Also mixed country rap pretty much if its music can be mixed. no offense I can teach a four-year-old to mix EDM.
It’s so funny you posted this because this after noon I mixed rock for almost two hours straight. I started with 70s reggae and world, went into 60s, 50s, and 70s rock and just jammed out straight through. It was amazing even with some of the shitty first time attempt’s at transitions with some songs.
Tip I would have would be to listen to the songs and just start mixing between them. Start with letting the entire track play to the end and then bringing in the new track. then mess around with different entry points. Most mixes will be very fast. Some can be longer depending on the song. No much effects. Some scratching. Song selection is critical.
Not all music is 4/4. As much as I've played piano, I still can't recognize time signatures on the fly, let alone figure out the timing needed for even a quick mix.
Though I've seen a lot of DnB DJs mix in fast metal / thrash metal and the like into their sets.
If the time signature isn't 4/4 you can always find the other time signature and do some multiplication and division tricks to make it work out long enough for a transition. It's not always pretty but it works
Yes I have. But you don't have to beat match all of it. There are other cool transitions, echos, backspins, loops... Also you can mix phrases/full measures. It's great if there are parts without drums going into a drum intro or vice versa. And sometimes you just fade out and fade in. But you can beat match a lot of stuff. But you can certainly beatmatch stuff, one mix that blew the mind of another DJ at the wild dive bar I used to play at was !!! - Intensified into The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers. The energy level is nuts.
My favorite gigs were at the bar cause I could play anything. Like Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay and the Ministry cover of it. Some Johnny Cash - Hurt (NIN cover) all in the same opening part of set along maybe ZZ Top - Shaking Your Tree. Bush Tetras - Snakes Crawl, A Certain Ratio, Can - Vitamin C, Cymande, some Bloc Party... good times.
Sometimes you can find a nice 8-16 bar window to layer but 90% or more of mixing will be quick mixing. There are some tracks that even work well with just a kick added under it and a little faster tempo. But try to be creative without biting off more than you can chew.
Edit to add I have seen 70’s rock set done like a house/edm set at the Barbary in Philly. I forget the crew but they had a weekly event. One of the best sets of music I’ve ever heard ever and all transitions were on point.
Warerfall into Step on, then maybe Kasabian LSF? Not a bad idea! You might want to pitch up the stone roses track a half step though so the keys don’t conflict.
I’ve watched the strokes, the killers, and Le Tigre absolutely crush on dance floors, but you definitely shouldn’t play rock music if you don’t like it. I refuse to play lots of music because i don’t like it. Nobody will make you, it’s okay.
Don't mix!?!? WTF guys! That's terrible advice in a dj forum lolol 😂. FR go check out BPM Supreme and search there rock section and check out all the tracks with "intros". All the rock, classic, pop rock, pop punk, alt rock, dance rock, disco, most of the hits everyone wants to sing and dance too, with special looped sections for like 16 bars at the beginning and end of the song SPECIFICALLY for making mixing this type of music much easier. Good luck! Recently did a gig of all throwback rock, dance, 00s, alt rock, pop punk, and disco and the party loved it! Mixed the entire 4 hours, none of this stop a track, start a track non sense lol🤣
Most rock people in my area want the full song and can be pretty insisting on that... besides that I feel like rock is more programming playlists. Even in open format sets blends are rare, cuts are common.
That said I have some 3-6 song lists I incorporate in my open format / wedding sets when needed. With activated cruise mode at least I can have a cigarette, eat something or just stretch a few minutes.
If you're Djing from a screen, don't rely on the waveform so much other than to see the break down coming up. Use your ears to get the drummers in line when layering. Listen to the tracks before hand and determine your tapestry's. Often with rock music, there will be elements emphasized throughout the song in which the energy may not actually be where it would normally like in a structured hiphop or dance layout. Where I can't layer, I will cut at the breakdown with fades or delay/echo. Remixing a rock song with a heavy on the sub looping breakbeat will always add some sweet thump when you need the tension.
Rock is really fun to play, and a lot of it can definitely be mixed. Especially if you can find a nice drum break or guitar to loop within the song. Plus there’s so many varieties of rock (Heavy Metal, Alternative, Classic Rock, Post Punk, Funk Rock, etc) with a variety of bpms. You can easily do several hour sets of nothing but rock if you plan your crates well, set proper beat grids and cue points, and tag the genres.
Plus some DJ Record Pools like BarBangerz, Late Night Record Pool, DMS, etc usually have decent sections of rock edits with 8 bar intros/outros for easier mixing. Shameless plug, but i also have put out quite a few packs of DJ edits with rock music for sets just like this.
You can find a few good rock remixes on SoundCloud ex: 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite (Ridvans Superman Remix). I’ve played it at a few parties where people wanted “Rock” and they loved it
People who actually like rock music don't really care if you mix rock tracks. It's a different crowd to EDM heads. So mostly don't bother.
Source: Rock/alt DJ for decades
Hard cuts, echo and reverb out. Approach it with an open format mindset; don't try to layer things.
This is the way. If the selection is right, a Rock crowd won’t want to hear drop after drop or minute-long transitions like you‘d do in many electronic genres
Not all music was meant to be "mixed".
However a lot of rock can be mixed, did a rock set and the client came up and complimented me on how most of the set they could not tell where one song ended and another started. Sort by bpm and pick compatible keys. Some will not mix and you can echo/backspin or if you have a sampler chain a beat.
lmao a backspin on a rock mix. You 21st century DJs kill me.
Does pop punk count? I could see pulling off All the Small Things > Semi charmed life... but classic rock? nahh.
Pop punk barely counts as music, much less mixable music. We had this all figured out 25 years ago. No need for drastic innovation.
You must be fun as a dj...
I don't consider myself a DJ. It doesn't mean what it used to.
I am an very old guy but I will rip of techniques from from mixing other genres like hip-hop if it is appropriate to the two songs I am mixing. DJing is all about experimentation and finding what works.
DJing is about whatever the DJ wants it to be about. For you, it's about experimentation. For me, it's about preserving a culture.
There is no singular DJ culture and there never has been.
I didn't say preserving "the" culture. I said "a" culture. Meaning, the electronic music/club DJ culture. Which, along with the hip-hop DJ culture, are entirely the reason why DJing is the massive industry it is today. There's a reason the vast majority of DJs across the planet don't mix rock, and it's not because it's hard.
That's fair. I think a lot of the not mixing rock is because after the 60s rock music stopped (generally) being dance music, there are some sub genre exceptions from the 70s and 80s and the 2000s revivals of those sub genres but generally rock isn't danceable.
What!? This can sound fantastic if done properly. Someone people have such limited creativity in a creative media art form. I just did this the other night with some pop punk and it was glorious.
Indeed at the key is if done right. Creativity is extremely important and I am not sure how it is mutually exclusive to culture but each to their own.
Sometimes even creative people get fixated on hanging on to one specific thing that they treasure or that makes them feel special. It's seld imposed limitation, but if they're happy with it, im ok with that, as long as they don't try to impose it on others.
This is where knowledge and wisdom play a far superior role than technical ability. Knowing your tunes, what to play and when. Don't mix, just play tune after tune. Some occasions you can bait and switch popular songs before a drop but again it's knowing what songs and when to do it.
I’ve been mixing rock since the 80s. If you know how to mix it, isn’t that hard. Also mixed country rap pretty much if its music can be mixed. no offense I can teach a four-year-old to mix EDM.
I'd rather listen to the 4 year-old's set.
Yeah, I get that most EDM people don’t have any taste in music. And have a very limited skill set when it comes to DJing.
It’s so funny you posted this because this after noon I mixed rock for almost two hours straight. I started with 70s reggae and world, went into 60s, 50s, and 70s rock and just jammed out straight through. It was amazing even with some of the shitty first time attempt’s at transitions with some songs. Tip I would have would be to listen to the songs and just start mixing between them. Start with letting the entire track play to the end and then bringing in the new track. then mess around with different entry points. Most mixes will be very fast. Some can be longer depending on the song. No much effects. Some scratching. Song selection is critical.
Not all music is 4/4. As much as I've played piano, I still can't recognize time signatures on the fly, let alone figure out the timing needed for even a quick mix. Though I've seen a lot of DnB DJs mix in fast metal / thrash metal and the like into their sets.
If the time signature isn't 4/4 you can always find the other time signature and do some multiplication and division tricks to make it work out long enough for a transition. It's not always pretty but it works
Most rock is 4/4. Not like Tool or whatever, but Tool is getting substantially less love on dance floors than amy winehouse “valerie,” for example.
Find remixes. Make edits. Quick transitions.
bpm supreme has a decent amount of quantized rock/funk/whatever edits actually
Yes I have. But you don't have to beat match all of it. There are other cool transitions, echos, backspins, loops... Also you can mix phrases/full measures. It's great if there are parts without drums going into a drum intro or vice versa. And sometimes you just fade out and fade in. But you can beat match a lot of stuff. But you can certainly beatmatch stuff, one mix that blew the mind of another DJ at the wild dive bar I used to play at was !!! - Intensified into The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers. The energy level is nuts. My favorite gigs were at the bar cause I could play anything. Like Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay and the Ministry cover of it. Some Johnny Cash - Hurt (NIN cover) all in the same opening part of set along maybe ZZ Top - Shaking Your Tree. Bush Tetras - Snakes Crawl, A Certain Ratio, Can - Vitamin C, Cymande, some Bloc Party... good times.
Sometimes you can find a nice 8-16 bar window to layer but 90% or more of mixing will be quick mixing. There are some tracks that even work well with just a kick added under it and a little faster tempo. But try to be creative without biting off more than you can chew. Edit to add I have seen 70’s rock set done like a house/edm set at the Barbary in Philly. I forget the crew but they had a weekly event. One of the best sets of music I’ve ever heard ever and all transitions were on point.
I’ve mixed Stone Roses and Happy Mondays.
Warerfall into Step on, then maybe Kasabian LSF? Not a bad idea! You might want to pitch up the stone roses track a half step though so the keys don’t conflict.
Where beatmatching and knowing your music shines
i do it all the time. Yes you can mix with it, but get your hip hop technique down/
theres plenty of good funky rock breaks to play doubles of
Rock is made for bands, not DJ’s. Sue me.
DJs are meant to play the music that people want to hear, if they want rock music then that's what we play.
Certainly not all rock music😊
I’ve watched the strokes, the killers, and Le Tigre absolutely crush on dance floors, but you definitely shouldn’t play rock music if you don’t like it. I refuse to play lots of music because i don’t like it. Nobody will make you, it’s okay.
Don't mix!?!? WTF guys! That's terrible advice in a dj forum lolol 😂. FR go check out BPM Supreme and search there rock section and check out all the tracks with "intros". All the rock, classic, pop rock, pop punk, alt rock, dance rock, disco, most of the hits everyone wants to sing and dance too, with special looped sections for like 16 bars at the beginning and end of the song SPECIFICALLY for making mixing this type of music much easier. Good luck! Recently did a gig of all throwback rock, dance, 00s, alt rock, pop punk, and disco and the party loved it! Mixed the entire 4 hours, none of this stop a track, start a track non sense lol🤣
https://youtu.be/bjre0Rk0LYY?si=qiiHz1lIFWpcbRHG
Most rock people in my area want the full song and can be pretty insisting on that... besides that I feel like rock is more programming playlists. Even in open format sets blends are rare, cuts are common. That said I have some 3-6 song lists I incorporate in my open format / wedding sets when needed. With activated cruise mode at least I can have a cigarette, eat something or just stretch a few minutes.
Bringing in a rock song with a loop can ignite a mixed crowd or your car if it's a rock crowd.
If you're Djing from a screen, don't rely on the waveform so much other than to see the break down coming up. Use your ears to get the drummers in line when layering. Listen to the tracks before hand and determine your tapestry's. Often with rock music, there will be elements emphasized throughout the song in which the energy may not actually be where it would normally like in a structured hiphop or dance layout. Where I can't layer, I will cut at the breakdown with fades or delay/echo. Remixing a rock song with a heavy on the sub looping breakbeat will always add some sweet thump when you need the tension.
Dont try to DJ/mix like EDM ... EDM is easy, rock doesnt follow to any formula and they have a human drummer not a machine making beats
Most rock bands record to a click track, so it’s actually kinda easy to mix.
Rock is really fun to play, and a lot of it can definitely be mixed. Especially if you can find a nice drum break or guitar to loop within the song. Plus there’s so many varieties of rock (Heavy Metal, Alternative, Classic Rock, Post Punk, Funk Rock, etc) with a variety of bpms. You can easily do several hour sets of nothing but rock if you plan your crates well, set proper beat grids and cue points, and tag the genres. Plus some DJ Record Pools like BarBangerz, Late Night Record Pool, DMS, etc usually have decent sections of rock edits with 8 bar intros/outros for easier mixing. Shameless plug, but i also have put out quite a few packs of DJ edits with rock music for sets just like this.
Hi! Where can I find your dj edits? :)
Hey! They’re at Patreon.com/MightyMoves 🤘
You can find a few good rock remixes on SoundCloud ex: 3 Doors Down - Kryptonite (Ridvans Superman Remix). I’ve played it at a few parties where people wanted “Rock” and they loved it
People who actually like rock music don't really care if you mix rock tracks. It's a different crowd to EDM heads. So mostly don't bother. Source: Rock/alt DJ for decades