At one point I myself had only partial insight into the limits of pure
beat mixing (its pretty obvious that cutting & scratching has alot of
wild possibilities), until I met someone who spun exclusively, IDM. He'd
phase the songs together, on the right measure, close to the beginning
of the song, if not BOTH RECORDS at the beginning of each song! He'd
point out how the songs "where meant for eachother", and would proceed
to keep the mix going for MOST of the song before switching records,
fading a little quicker, until it was time to go into the next long
phase mix. Its pretty hard to pull off without at least minimal whine
from pitch-microadjustment (theres a product from Vinyl Touch
distributed by Stanton that supposedly will adjust the frequency to tune
out all the pitch whine, which sounds like it would be an excellent
device if you plan on performing such ultra-long mixes) Never the less,
the results of these long mixes was one of the most mind altering
experiences I've ever had listening to music. A good mix DJ will bring
about those uncanny extrasensory perceptions in the audience, although a
crowd capable of tolerating crunchy IDM beats is hard to find.
I, at one time, challenged my friend by saying: " your music is fucking
great dude, your mixing is like no live party-DJ's that I've seen... but
what would you spin on the mainfloor?? this IDM stuff is too hard or
too slow for alot of people". He then ever so assertively slapped SKA
005 Bola - "Krak Jakomo" - on to the platter, and said (not so humbly)
"tell me what you'd think if you heard this on the mainfloor"... I just
smiled at the thought... There'd no doubt be a body pop or three!
"Theres no excuse for not staying true to the style" - was my friends
final rebuttal. I'm putting together my own New Years Eve set, as hope
to throw in as much IDM as possible (dont ask me how but I found my own
copy of ska005!), while including some more ethereal "eye-shuddering
breaks" later on for the E crowd. I've since learned to do the same long
style of mixing on my own Technics, which will provide the precision
needed if you wish to take mixing to the extreme I've just discussed.
Make sure your needles are fresh and transmitting perfect sound. Invest
in the cleanest sounding Studio Monitors / Amp / Headphones you can
afford, you will need them. Electro and trance dont require such a
refined sound system, but with IDM you must be able to notice wether the
beats are "fitting together" perfectly, its sounds so amazing when
you've got two crisp, complex beats right on point, with sine waves
reflecting and shimmering all over the room! Ambient string sounds and
such also build up together, combine, and resonate oh so beautifully at
times.
The effect of using IDM music to learn how to DJ cannot be understated.
DJing effectively requires you learn to pay attention to the full
measure of the beat, so the songs weave in and out of each other and
break at the same time. At first this may seem difficult, but you'll
eventually develop a sixth sense for it and you'll just know when to
bring in the other beat, your audience will be amazed at how you got the
songs to "talk to each other", or break down/build up as one. Another
phenomena, is that by not always having obvious cues such as a snare on
the three count or non-stop high hat, you'll learn to tune in to a
"deeper rhythym". You'll later find that both locating tracks with
compatible BPMs and mixing "normal" electro/trance got whole alot easier
all of the sudden.
I could go on, but I'll stop here... forgive the lengthy response, but
this is interesting!
Any other seasoned DJs or Wannabe's please add or comment!
Phred
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p s y l e n c e ~
http://www.eternalmoment.com/psy/