Want some mixing inspiration? Carlo Atendido has turned in another typically high octane DJ Skill Sessions mix for us this week, that you can copy on pretty much any controller/software combo. Starting with a mix of Camila Cabello (you’ll notice he uses a lot of remixes – DJ download pools are a good place to get these), he crams a lot into this routine.
Here are a few skills and tricks to look out for:
- Brake effect plus Slip mode – by engaging Slip mode and using a brake effect, Carlo produces the “vinyl stopping” sound without losing his place in the track when he hits “play” again
- Keymixing – Especially the first mix, the fact that the tracks are in a compatible key (the same key, actually) means they sound great together, which serves Carlo well for the next learning point…
- Dropping in a vocal snippet – He takes a tiny snippet of Camila Cabello’s vocal from a loop and drops it in several times, which smooths the mix between the first two tracks
- Turning a tiny, “non-musical” loop into a feature – When you repeatedly press the “loop half” button on a loop, you get the classic “loop roll” effect, but eventually it starts to sound unmusical. Carlo deliberately does this later on in the mix, to give a sound that is more like a mobile phone interfering with your PA system than something nice! But by adding a bit of echo, dropping the sound in intermittently, and “spinning” back to add a high-pitched variant, he turns it into a live EDM instrument that works well in the mix
Remember, even an award-winning DJ like Carlo needs to practise these routines hard, so give yourself time to learn a trick or two from here.
Also remember that in a typical DJ set you won’t be cramming all this stuff into three minute; if you can master a trick or two each week from our technique videos and sprinkle your DJ sets with a few of them, you’ll be making real progress.
If you enjoyed this routine, please share, follow, subscribe and/or like it to help us spread the word – and let us know how you got on with it in the comments. Thanks!