Christopher A Johnson, post: 20520, member: 157 wrote: Hey guys, long time since I’ve posted. I’ve seen a variety of mixing in Chicago clubs and would like some input on this. I was at a club Saturday that focused solidly on radio hits and remixes. One DJ was blending and beat matching fairly well, despite my dislike of a lot of the songs. The second DJ continued w/ radio hits but was doing more hard slamming from one song to the next. I noticed more R&B and Hip Hop songs were slammed but the club hits 4-4 songs were matched. It was an interesting style.
Im a musician but I can honestly say I don’t consciously notice when keys match between songs. Maybe thats the point but a lot of emphasis is placed on mixing in key and I wonder if the average club person notices. So after last weekend out, Im thinking of putting less emphasis on beat matching Hip Hop and just match tempo.
4-4 House is easy to match manually or using Sync so thats not my question. What do you focus more attention on; beat matching or key?
In a trendy club, most patrons won’t care if the DJ is using long solid blends or short bursts…they only care if they hear their favorite tunes.
They won’t care if you cleverly remixed from a nice beat outro to an accapella and then flawlessly moved it into the normal tune. They’re only caring if you’re playing Rihanna, Guetta, Katy Perry, etc.
I know it sucks for those playing mainstream spots…but I’ve barely ever seen a crowd in those locations that cared about the quality of mixing. They’re more about the actual tunes. Long blends and harmonic mixing are only more appreciated in the underground spots and especially in pre-recorded mixes you download or get on CD.
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