Also see: How to DJ.
First off you need a basic mixing
set-up. This usually consists of two
turntables and a pair of
headphones plugged into a
mixer and then through to an
amp and finally a set of
speakers. If you're new to mixing then I suggest you start with two
records which have a very strong
beat.
Hard house is especially good for this but most
house music falls into this
category.
- Start by playing record one with the fader all the way across to the channel that corresponds to that particular turntable.
- Towards the end of the track start the second record and select it so that the sound is coming out of the headphones only.
- Unless you're incredibly lucky you'll notice that the songs are at different beats per minute. Listen to the beat of the record playing through the speakers and then to the beat of the one playing through the headphones. Tapping your foot or nodding your head usually helps.
- Now adjust the pitch of the second record until the two records are playing at the same speed. It's preferable to speed up records rather than slowing them down but it can't always be helped. Luckily most house music is at around 140 beats per minute so you shouldn't need to change the speed too much.
- Once you've got the pitches matched you need to match the beats. Usually you'll want to match the two down beats. If you listen carefully, you'll notice that a song can be divided up into series of beats, usually 8 or 16. The first beat of each series is referred to as the down beat.
- To match the two down beats, nudge the second record either forward or backwards. Matching the down beats is probably the hardest part of mixing and takes time to master. Don't give up if you find it impossibly hard at first.
- Wait for a good place to introduce the second record and then move the fader across.
- Repeat steps 1-7.
This is only the
bare basics and there's many other
techniques for mixing two records.
DJing should be an enjoyable experience and not just seen as a way to look
cool and to make lots of
money. Whatever you do, have fun!