Sometimes it’s best to get out of the way.
Usually when I post DJ transitions they’re dramatic, typically with cuts from side-to-side as I introduce the next track. There is a place for these but there is a lot to be said for smooth transitions.
Often the audience just wants to hear the music speak for itself. Nothing to tricky, no effects, just a blend from one track to another. Phrasing is key.
This is my version of such a transition and before I describe it I should point out that:
(a) I am mixing these on the fly having never listened to either in its entirety
(b) I haven’t prepared them either with Intros, Outros, and Hot Cues
(c) My DJ software Mixxx doesn’t support markers in its current version so I have to improvise
This free form approach is quite fun. When I’m curating new music I like to do all of the track preparation (like setting hot cues) while I’m actually mixing. I have an idea of where things might occur but I don’t know, it’s a journey of discovery.
I set really long Intros and Outros because I don’t have markers, extending them beyond the second or third phrase where I’d ordinarily place them so I know when the track proper commences with something, like a vocal. I also enabled a countdown until the next cue point with could be a the end of the Intro the start of Outro or a Hot Cue You can see these numbers on the display and both of the key numbers is 128. 128 happens to be the number of beat I set for the Outro of the playing track and the Intro of the track coming in, which makes phrase alignment a cinch.
128 beats = 32 bars. Let’s break down how I mixed them. Track A is playing, Track B is coming in:
128-96 (32 beats - 8 bars) Fading in the mids and the highs from Track B. The bass of Track A is dominant.
96-32 (64 beats - 16 bars) The bass has come in orn Track B but it’s still building. This would be a great opportunity for some side-to-side cuts but instead I faded the bass between the two tracks to make Track B’s slowly bass dominant.
32 - 0 (32 beats - 8 bars) Track B’s bass is absent for the final phrase before the track proper commences, so I bring the bass back from Track A to carry the rhythm.
-1 Track A has finished and Track B has dropped.
This is about as simple as mixing gets. All I’ve had to do is align the phrases and adjust the bass a couple of times. The tracks themselves have done all the work.
