Fundamentals of Mixing for Beginners

Mixing is THE most important technique a DJ can acquire. For beginners who're struggling with this basic approach to playing music, here's a little video I put together I think you might find helpful. Below, I wrote out all the steps too. Good luck!

Fundamentals of Mixing for Beginners:

Step 1 - Cue the beginning of the next song in your headphones and manually locate the "1" (i.e., Down Beat or first KICK).

Step 2 - Drop the "1" of the new song where the "1" starts of the song playing outside of the speakers. Again, this is all happening in your headphones for now.

Step 3 - Decide if the song playing in your headphones is slower or faster than the song playing outside of the speakers by listening to the SNARES. If the SNARES in your headphones land after the SNARES of the song your audience is listening to, the song in your headphones is too slow. If the SNARES in your headphones land before the SNARES of the song your audience is listening to, the song in your headphones is too fast. The goal is for both SNARES to land at exactly the same time.

Step 4a - If the song you've cued up in your headphones is slower, speed up the turntable's pitch control by one notch. So if the pitch is at 0, move it to +1. Go back to the start point. Cue up the "1" and drop it on the "1" again and listen. If it's still too slow, move the pitch to +2 and so on and so forth. This method allows you to reduce the gap between the speeds of song A & B incrementally until they're exactly the same.

Step 4b - If the song you've cued up in your headphones is faster, slow down the turntable's pitch control by one notch. So it it's at 0, move it to -1. Go back to the start point. Cue up the "1" and drop it on the "1" again and listen. If it's still too fast, move the pitch to -2 and so on and so forth. Again, your reducing the gap between the speeds of song A&B incrementally until they're exactly the same.

GET IT?

GOT IT?

GOOD LUCK!