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DJ Mixing Without A Crossfader? Potential Problems To Watch Out For…

When two sound waves of a similar frequency coincide, a phenomenon called reinforcement occurs. Basically, the two waveforms combine to create a new waveform that is far greater in amplitude than either. Greater amplitude means it gets louder – a lot louder. If you’re a DJ, this may be a problem, because you’ve just gone to great lengths to ensure that your two records are playing in sync – and there’s a good chance that a lot of similar frequencies are being put out at exactly the same time.

So How Do I Fix My Mix?

Well, you’re going to get pretty sick of me saying this, but the only way to get the hang of this is by practicing. However, being aware of the problem is half the battle – some DJs don’t even know that fluctuating sound levels are an issue.

However, to be a really top DJ you need to have a great understanding and control of the sound you’re putting out – not just in terms of levels, volume and amplitude, but within the sound itself as well. By this, I mean that you’ll need to have a solid knowledge of equalization – what it is, how it works, how to identify EQ problems and how to use your equipment to rectify them. But we’ll go into this in more detail later on.

Back to the Mixing…

Now, because of waveform reinforcement, you shouldn’t just wallop your cued record up to 100% and then bring the live channel down. This will cause a surge in levels that may be bad for the PA.

Some amplification and mixing systems have a sound compressor feature, which smooths out level surges like this – but it’s better not to have to rely on this.

If you do mix by bringing both channels to 100%, it’s probably not going to be a disaster – but it’s better to learn best DJ mixing practices from the beginning, rather than having to unlearn later.

So what you need to do is bring up your cued record until you can hear it under your live record. Then, you can start to bring down the live record while simultaneously bringing up the cued record. Once the cued record hits 100%, you can continue fading out the other record until the transition is complete.

The timing with which you do all this will depend on the two tracks you’re mixing; but two crucial points here are that you should fade up the cued record before fading down the live record, and the two channel faders should not be fully up at the same time.

Well, this second point depends on the tracks in question – if they are both loud stomping tracks with fairly constant levels then the point is true. However, if you’re performing a mix across the breakdown of a track, then the levels will be naturally lower on that section, so you can easily come straight in with a kicking beat at full volume there… again, experience will show you when you can bend the rules, and when you can break them.

DJ Foley is a DJ and Music Producer with over ten years’ experience in the music industry. If you’re looking for some DJ advice, the DJ tips site features plenty of tips and tricks, as well as some useful DJ mixing techniques to get you started.

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