Transitions when DJing

[Gagi]

DJs of TranceFix! How do you do your transitions for different styles of music (let's say uplifting trance, progressive old-school trance, house, techno and their subgenres etc)? How does it differ?

I feel that the uplifting tracks are easier to mix. Introduce the other track via volume (EQ-ing the low end out) at around 30 seconds in, and when the full minute comes, I EQ the low end of the first track out and immediately bring back the low end EQ of the 2nd track to its normal level. Works fine most of the time.

I do things more or less the same for everything, but sometimes it doesn't sound as good. The transitions can sound very muddy and loud in some cases, and in others it just doesn't sound very natural. Especially when both tracks are very melodic, almost all the time. For instance, some Airwave's old tracks have melodies almost from the start. What do you do then?

Assume I'm talking about live DJ-ing, and not in Ableton or a DAW, and I use mostly the volume faders and the EQ. But any tips help.

I have some years of experience DJing on my own and a few mixes (in my signature), I feel I have a good ear for track selection, and I love good transitions that keep the energy or atmosphere of the mix. But sometimes it's hard to make them right.

So what (and how) do you do it? As many examples as you possibly can.

[Katadunkass]

Like you say, it really depends on the genre. I've been mixing for close to 10 years now and I've tried mixing anything from uplifting to psy, goa, ambient, downtempo, house, progressive and so on and so far the easiest to mix was definitely uplifting. You pretty much just had to beat match it and fix the EQ a bit and then you had it. The transitions were rarely longer than 45 seconds, but it became pretty dull pretty fast tbh. Goa was pretty much the same thing for me, but the transitions could be longer, close to a minute, without interrupting the flow of the mix. The most fun I've ever had mixing a set was a goa set I did some years ago for Afterhours.FM - the pure power in each track was a joy to mix with!

Right now I'm mixing mostly deep house, as you know, and the transitions can be close to 2 minutes if you pick the right tracks. They can also be pretty fast, 30 seconds or so, and that's what makes this genre pretty fun to play with imo. It can be hard to know when exactly you want to start the transition - sometimes if a track have a very long intro filled with subtle effects I try starting the transition pretty early on and let it run for a long time. That's something I do pretty rarely though as you don't want the transition to become dull and without any energy.

The longest transition I've ever done was actually in the first episode of Singularity between Traumer's Triade and Time by Pachanga Boys. Because each track have a pretty specific in- and outro and are both extremely long tracks you can make the transition run for a very long time - I think the final transition ran for close to 3 minutes in total.