Battle mixer VS different mixers

[Walters9515]

Whats the difference between a Battle mixer VS a trance mixer used for tecno the crossfading or mixing is different?

 

I heard their is different mixers for different styles of music like rap mixers VS a tecno mixer is different why is that? whats different please?

[Monkey Mouse]

As long as a mixer has a crossfader that is changable (curve-wise), you can use a mixer to do both.

 

Keep in mind with a low end mixer, the curve is fixed. Also keep in mind that low end mixers are throw aways and are meant to be replaced often - they are not of high build or component quality.

[Manipulate]

 

Whats the difference between a Battle mixer VS a trance mixer used for tecno the crossfading or mixing is different? I heard their is different mixers for different styles of music like rap mixers VS a tecno mixer is different why is that? whats different please?

 

 

Battle mixers are usually small, 10 inch wide, two channel mixers. They have very uncluttered faces and the faders are slick, smooth, and made for lots of heavy use. The faders have sharp cut in points or adjustments that allow you to choose the sharpness of the cut-in. They have simple/clean layouts because you don't want to accidentally hit a bunch of buttons while you're trying to scratch or beat-juggle. Some of the more pricey battle mixers have magnetic cross faders that don't wear out. This is important for scratching because most faders will start to bleed, or break after months of hard scratching. More pricey battle mixers also have extra channels and effects loops added to allow you more options.

 

Your traditional mixer may be 19 inches wide and have many different channels. They're more likely to have effects loops and detailed EQ settings and monitoring choices. The faders are usually stiffer and wear out quickly if you use them for scratching.

 

Its getting to a point where there a lot of hybrid mixers out there. The battle mixers are staying simple in layout, but the top half of the mixer will have all types of stuff that was traditionally reserved to bigger mixers. The normal mixers are adding upgraded cross-faders to allow for scratching.

 

If you want to scratch, there is no question that you should invest in a battle/scratch mixer. The Rane TTM-56, the Vestax 08, or the Ecler Hak 360/380 are the most common choices these days. These are battle mixers that have a lot of extra features.

 

Don't get fooled by product liturature and lists of features. There is a ton of crappy equiment out there that claims to be able to do all types of stuff but falls way short in actuality. If it claims to be better, and costs less, don't buy it, it will be a piece of {censored}.

[Walters9515]

Thanks alot Manipulate for the help

 

I seem trance tecno DJs don't use the crossfader to mix do u know how they mix or crossfade without using the crossfader?

 

What mixing techniques is there mostly ?

 

Mostly i seen DJs cue up the tempos of 2 different records or they take 2 of the "same" record with the same song on there and they just alternate back and forth

 

But trance DJs try to LAYER records sounds ontop of eachother so they take like 3 or more records,cds,audio files and i guess CUE up the tempos so everything layers together right and loops right

 

Looping:

they take 2 of the "same" record with the same song on there and they just alternate back and forth

 

I see Dj's do this to create a loop effect

 

How do u guys create a LOOP with a record being a DJ?

 

Hand editing:

they take 2 of the "same" record with the same song on there and they just alternate back and forth

 

How do u guys do editing effects with a record?

[Manipulate]

 

Thanks alot Manipulate for the help I seem trance tecno DJs don't use the crossfader to mix do u know how they mix or crossfade without using the crossfader? What mixing techniques is there mostly ? Mostly i seen DJs cue up the tempos of 2 different records or they take 2 of the "same" record with the same song on there and they just alternate back and forth But trance DJs try to LAYER records sounds ontop of eachother so they take like 3 or more records,cds,audio files and i guess CUE up the tempos so everything layers together right and loops right Looping: they take 2 of the "same" record with the same song on there and they just alternate back and forth I see Dj's do this to create a loop effect How do u guys create a LOOP with a record being a DJ? Hand editing: they take 2 of the "same" record with the same song on there and they just alternate back and forth How do u guys do editing effects with a record?

 

 

Manual looping of records was one of the foundations of hip hop. It basically made hip hop what it is. Back in the day there were no "hip hop" records so you had to create your own "hip hop" sound by looping up the "breaks" in jazz, soul, rock records, etc. You take two copies of the same record and extend the "break" by going back and forth between the two copies. The longer the "break" is the easier it is to do this because you have lots of time to cue up the other record while the break is playing. Samplers and sequencers and drum machines replaced a lot of the manual looping in hip hop because the machines are more exact. So a lot of the drum loops you hear on records today are done in the studio rather than live on turntables.

 

As time went by, this manual looping became more and more complex. At first it was just doing shorter loops (2 or 3 seconds as opposed to 15 seconds). But then "beat juggling" evolved where you're getting into some really complex techniques that are better to learn by watching than having me explain it. The basic idea is to take the existing record and create a new beat by manually looping and rearranging the structure. Here you go. This video is a little dated but you'll get the picture.

 

 

Mixing is something that's been around since before hip hop and it was prevalent in discos. It started out taking two different records and matching the BPMs by changing the original speed/pitch of the records. Just because you have tempos matched doesn't mean its going to sound good. The sounds on the records have to match as well. Sometimes the basslines clash, or the midrange or high end clashes and sounds bad. One way to fix this is to use the EQs on your mixers. For instance, you can cut out the bass frequency on one record to make the mix work. As mixing has progressed you see more DJs making fine EQ adjustments to finetune the overall sound of the mix. You can also keep layering more and more sounds into the mix if you have more than two sound sources. As long as all the tempos are matched and the sounds work well together you can add as many layers as you can handle. Some DJs use loopers to make the process easier than using 3 or 4 turntables (the looper makes easy to keep everything on the same tempo if its recorded right the first time, you don't have to constantly adjust the pitch to keep the tempo matched.)

 

For mixing, learning how to match the pitch yourself is important and learning what works and what doesn't is important. These programs that match the pitch for you automatically just end up making you lazy and you'll never understand why certain mixes work and certain ones don't.

 

The most basic way to mix and loop is with the crossfader, but you can use the upfaders or the eqs as well. All that matters is that you have a way to add and remove the sound from the records on the turntables. The crossfader is the fastest method, but the EQs are the most subtle and give you more control over the sound.

 

There's all types of different mixing, looping, and beat juggling techniques (phasing, chasing, etc. etc. etc.). The idea is to be creative in the way you put the sounds together and come up with something new.