Transitioning smoothly between tracks as a DJ is one of the most fundamental skills you need in your arsenal when it comes to playing great sets. I’ve seen it happen countless times before, a DJ makes a mistake during a transition and you can feel the dancefloor collectively pick-up the error.
That’s how much your transitions impact your set. Even the uninitiated can feel that something is off. So how do you ensure that you’re on the top of your game? How do you guarantee that you’re going to smoothly move from one track into the next seamlessly?
That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about on this blog. So without further ado, here’s 5 ways to make your DJ transitions easier.
Make Sure The Timing Is Perfect
The first thing you’re going to want to nail down is figuring out the right time to transition out of a track. It’s important to maintain the energy level of your set and not let it drop. First off, you’ll need to pick the right track to transition into. Make sure it’s in the same BPM and has the same drive to it.
Remember, you can get away with just about anything if you line up the beats, bars & phrases well.
Make Use Of DJ Edits & Remixes
DJ edits & remixes are your best-friends since they’re tailor made for the dancefloor. They have extended intros & outros that are made for easy mixing & transitioning. Moreover, it’s always nice to surprise the dancefloor with a new element in a track that they’ve heard before.
Pro tip, sign-up to DJ pools to make sure you always get access to these extended versions.
Make Use Of Loops
I could go on & on about all of the great characteristics of modern DJ equipment, but in my opinion, one stands head & shoulders above the rest. Loops. Isolating the ‘drum-only’ sections of a song & looping them give you an opportunity to incorporate them into other tracks. If done correctly, this creates a great opportunity to segway into the next track!
Transition Using Keys
In recent years, key mixing has greatly aided DJs with more adventurous transitions. So it might be a good idea to capitalise on this growing trend and learn how to key mix well. Check out Mixed in Key for everyone interested in harmonic mixing, made easy.
Key mixing isn’t always necessary. Especially when you’re playing a track that’s predominantly drums or are playing tracks end to end. You may still choose to do so.
Transition Using Tempo
This is a great technique for the more adventurous DJs. Mixing songs of different genres or with a greater variety of tempos can be intimidating. But they are also potentially highly rewarding. Today’s tech gives us the opportunity to explore new ways to mix tracks and using the master tempo is one of them.
The Master tempo allows you to slow down or speed up the tempo of a track without altering it’s tone. While it might take some practice to master, take it from me, this is an excellent tool that only the most capable DJs are leveraging.