Need tips for mixing 80s track

I see your problem, Martin. Although it’s not a real problem, DJs have been nailing it since … well … since the 80s 😀

To begin with, nobody says you have to wait for the end of a track to mix out. Most 80s dance music has one or more breaks, a great place to start your outtro. If it’s a short break (although it should typically be 32 beats minimum) you can use the miracles of modern technology to hit a loop in that part and presto, you now have an endless break to start mixing your new track into. As the break is typically instrumental, you could even start playing the vocal of the incoming track over this loop, provided you have your beatgridding set correctly and know where the 1 beat is so you can start the vocals in time so that when the beat drops, you can do a quick bass swap and then fade out the old track.

This is (only) one (of many) way(s) of making it a beatmatched transition.

By the same token nobody tells you to start with the vocal bit. You can start the track anywhere you want. Again, looping can be a good friend. Find a bit in the beginning of the track without vocals (could even be the first break) set a loop, mix it in and once you are on the new track, out of the loop and your are good.

Then there is the fact that of almost any serious 80s dance track a remix has been made and often many many more. Those typically have better intros and outros and more and/or longer breaks, giving you far more creative control over where to start your transitions.

Another option is to get audacity and start cutting and pasting and sticking the beat from the break under the opening vocal for example, or even add your own intro.

And then there is all the non-beatmatched transitions involving various FX, drops, etx.

In short, the bag of tricks is almost endless. Experiment, find what works for you and the tracks you want to play and -most importantly- realize there are NO RULEZ! You are the musical painter here, the tracks your paint. You decide how much and what bits of paint you use to paint your picture, nobody else.

Yep, mid 80s more and more synthesized tracks came on the market.

Agree with the remixes comments. Have a look on soundcloud – people like kon and the reflex doing some amazing re-edits that are dj friendly.

The 80’s had plenty of songs remixed. You just have to hunt them down. You just need to get to the bresks. The remix or extended versions (as they called it) of 80’s dance tracks had plenty of room for breaks. Then there are the remixes of 80’s tracks today many of which are EDM-ized

By the way the 80’s and 90’s is my favorite time in music and that is what my main focus is going to be on as I start my career in dj’ing . So all the help in that area would totally help .