1) For deep/tech/techno, you really need to feel the crowd, but in general, you can be more liberal about finding a long break or even part of the track to either loop or just play out if its long enough and slowly mix in the next track. This is where using your HP/LP and EQ is key because you can create natural sounding breaks or mixing points, but doing things like cutting out the lows and/or over emphasizing the highs. But in general, longer gradual blending and mixing here. If a song seems to run long (like if you’re making a demo mix) definitely, feel free to loop or mix after a couple minutes. Here is an example of how I mix underground: https://soundcloud.com/beatsweats/raw-e004-full-blown
2)Know how to mix in key (always important) and know how to utilize the high points of tracks. Think of the climaxes and drops as ways to inject energy into a mix, but know there is a limit to how much energy the crowd really needs. For mainstream prog and big room, the crowd is waiting for drops, but you don’t always gave to give it to them right away. What’s also important is for you to know how to cool things off a bit in order to allow the crowd to rest a bit. A set can’t be all 100%. Allow some tracks to breathe and know good tracks to mix that people recognize so they are still in it, but they know that its a little break. If you’re playing at a club this is especially important because the club isn’t going to make money if no one is buying drinks and just spending all their time dancing, lol. Watching Tomorrowland and other festival clips is great, but remember that those DJs are often playing shorter sets and everyone is already excited to see them. A lot of those acts are prerecorded and even the ones that aren’t, the acts don’t even care anymore for actual mixing. When you play at a club and you’re still making a name for yourself, your crowd reading ability is far more important than your technical mixing skills. Here is an example of how I mix mainstream stuff: https://soundcloud.com/beatsweats/this-is-what-were-waiting-for
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