In this tutorial, you’ll learn to assemble the “perfect” DJ mix using your personal computer — no turntables required! There is a science behind the art, and using a few basic techniques you’ll soon learn to mix like the pros.
Whether you’re an aspiring DJ or a veteran on the decks, putting together a mix takes time and thought. And like a lot of things in life, a great DJ mix is 90% preparation and 10% execution. This tutorial won’t spend a whole lot of time talking about how to mix – the execution – and will instead focus on teaching you to prepare your mix.
It’s pretty obvious that song selection is a big part of what makes a DJ mix stand out from the crowd. You probably already have a favorite genre or style in mind, and might even have the perfect songs already selected for your mix. Ideally, you should pick out about 50 or 60 song candidates. Although all of them won’t necessarily make it to final mix, it’s important to have a sufficient pool of song candidates available since some will be abandoned along the way. Most importantly, however, is to pick great songs — your favorites — and leave the mediocre ones out.
Since the mix will be produced on your PC, the candidate list should include only tracks that are available to you in a high quality format. For MP3 enthusiasts, VBR encoded or CBR encoded at 192 kilobit and above provide the best results. Audio purists may prefer to use tracks stored in a lossless format like FLAC or an uncompressed format like WAV or AIFF. Whichever you prefer, make sure it sounds good. Remember, no amount of equalization, compression, or other audio trickery will fix a bad audio file. Trying to include a track of substandard quality in the DJ mix will make the whole thing sound amateur.
Once the song list is finished, organize it in BPM order. Use a tool like Mixmeister’s free BPM detector utility to calculate this information. AnalogX also has a neat utility called TapTempo which will let you tap a tempo on your keyboard to calculate a BPM. And of course if you’re feeling especially old school, you can bust out the kitchen timer or stopwatch and count the beats manually.
This new tempo ordered list will be used to guide song order for the mix. Gradually increasing the overall tempo during the mix helps to create a sense of tension, excitement, release, and overall progression — all essential to an interesting DJ mix. You’re not tied into exact BPM order, but your goal will be to avoid drastic jumps in tempo during the mix unless there is some intentional effect or purpose to the jump.
If you’re feeling especially ambitious, make note of each song’s key signature. If you have a background in music theory or play an instrument, you know that certain harmonic keys naturally compliment other keys. By arranging songs in a harmonically appropriate order, you will avoid tonal dissonance during song transitions. If you’re interested in learning how this all works, I suggest picking up Jordan Roseman’s upcoming book, Audio Mashup Construction Kit, as he has an entire chapter explaining harmonic and key relationships. The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Music Theory is another great book, although it’s more aimed at musicians and not DJs. It’s no easy feat to master, but even an introductory exposure to the topic will help raise your DJ skills to the next level.
Learning to recognize a song’s key signature is a skill that will take patience and time to master. If you lack either of these qualities, programs like Rapid Evolution, Mixed In Key, Mixmeister, and ToNaRT all attempt to provide a best guess. Note that I said guess, as most of these tools have a pretty bad success rate. There are also online community maintained databases like MixShare that can be used to look up a song’s key and BPM in a pinch. However, I have my own doubts about the accuracy of these databases, as they tend to be polluted with a lot of inaccurate key information. If you don’t mind forking over a bit of cash, Camelot Sound will sell you a database of key and BPM information at a fairly reasonable rate. The accuracy of Camelot’s database is probably going to be pretty good, as it is maintained by a trained musician who possesses the requisite expertise. (I, however, cannot personally attest to this as I do not own a copy.) Although each of the aforementioned tools have their own unique pros and cons, using one (or more) of them is better than no harmonic mixing effort at all.
Once you’ve determined the key of each track, you can roughly sort your track list by key compatibility. Songs that share the same harmonic key are likely to sound good mixed together. Similarly, songs that have a relative minor/major, perfect fourth, or perfect fifth relationship will also sound good together. And yes, I’m perfectly aware that I’ve just dropped a lot of music nerd babble on you. Until you really take some time to read up on music theory and key relationships, you can use a key compatibility chart to figure out what keys will mix well with each other.
Sorted by BPM and key compatibility, you now have a track list that you can use as the foundation for your mix. Think about what song near the top of the list would make a good set starter. Ask yourself, “If I were out on the dance floor or had just popped the CD into the car stereo, what song would immediately capture and hold my interest?” Start to group nearby songs into an order that expresses an emotion or tells a story. Get creative with the song order, but avoid any drastic reordering that would disrupt the tempo or harmonic key ordering flow of the list. Most importantly, use the BPM and harmonic key ordering techniques described in this tutorial as a guide and not gospel.
In the next tutorial, I’ll discuss how to blend your perfect mix together. With a bit of practice, you’ll soon be producing your own mixes that rival the production quality of Hed Kandi and Ministry of Sound CDs that line Virgin Megastore shelves around the world.
62 Comments
excellent tutorial. if i find the time i will adapt it to mac.
Great tutorial that everyone should read, especially the shite neighborhood pub DJ.
Searched the web looking to find digi dj hardware and software for my laptop…….very pleased stumble upon a tutorial that actually tells u about many things i would not have thought of……..Keep it coming!!
i’d love to hear more about your mixing tutorials..
Your blog is good.
there’s a comparison of key detection accuracy over at http://www.mixingonbeat.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2268, it looks like rapid evolution is the most accurate (~70%)… also the only free program!
good beginners guide, obviously the key signature aspect is for those of musical education but overall this guide is perfect for a youngster just wanting to learn the basics of the importance of BPM and musical preperation.
liked the idea of getting out the stopwatch though!
The MixMeister bpm tool is a great little peice of kit.
I have to agree — that Mixmeister tool is the best. It’s usually correct 90% of the time, which is good enough for me!
Awesome tutorial, Cheerz!!!
Needed to get a BPM analyzer as Acid’s one is good but sometimes poses alot of difficulty, gonna put this to the test.
Thanx again.
Nice tutorial! this tutorial made me turn from vinyl to digital! do you know what kind of laptop i need to dj on a laptop?
key mixing way overrated. If you’re mixing vinyl its impossible to mix in key too (as pitch changes). We managed to have a pretty good time in the 90’s without it.
Track selection is what counts.
Tiesto,
I understand and respect your comment, and agree to some degree. Yes, it was a bit more straight forward “back in the day.” Technically speaking, though, if you weren’t making drastic pitch changes during your mix (and you reset back to 0 when you are done) you could usually get away with something that didn’t sound like shit mixed harmonically on turntables. Track selection is always important, and if you don’t have an ear for that, then there’s in no point in trying to harmonically mix. I really didn’t mean to imply that one could compensate for the other.
–
Lethal,
Thanks — glad you enjoyed. ACID’s BPM analyzer is a bit brain dead at times, I agree!
–
Ali,
I’m all for the IBM Thinkpads. I think they are now made by Lenevo? Anyways, mine has always been a champ.
hi guys
i need some help i just bought a p4 laptop i need to use for a gig soon if you could guide me on what i realy need to connect the laptop with so i could get a perfect sound considering cash flow as well i just wanted to know could i just connect the laptop to the amp or will i need almost everything e.g amp,mixer and da speakers kindly help me my gig is this friday an i cant afford to rent out all the equipments
It will likely sound like ass if you hook your PC directly up to your PA system. I’d get a decent external sound interface or PCMCIA card at the very least — maybe something with multiple channels. A DJ mixer certainly wouldn’t hurt, either.
What software were you planning on using?
-M
thanks matt al b using virtualdj its simple n its easy to use.could i use the normal in built sound card on the laptop? around hea i cant get the PCMCIA card and if i do its realy damm expensive matt could i get a site with diagrams on it showin how to connect each pin from the laptop to the mixer or is it da same way u connect da cd players to the mixer thnks
Ash, you could use a normal laptop sound card, but like I said, it’s going to sound a bit like ass. If you did go the route connecting the laptop to a mixer, then yes, you would connect it the same way you connect a CD player to a mixer. The laptop sound card will output line level signal, just like a CD player. You will also need a 3.5mm (ie. mini-headphone) style connection from the computer to the RCA input connections on the DJ mixer.
I have a Dell Inspiron laptop. Can someone please tell me exactly what hardware I need to be an effective DJ at a Class Reuinion? Thanks.
That really depends on how sophisticated of a setup you want. If you are just going to fire up iTunes, then just grab yourself a decent sound card for the laptop. Something like the Echo Indigo or Echo IO would be great. I review the Indigo here:
http://www.beatmixed.com/2004/04/23/the-heaven-sent-echo-indigo-dj/
Trust me, it will sound a hell of a lot better than trying to use your laptop’s built in sound device.
If you really want to get into “real” DJing, give the folks at Turntable Lab a call and see if someone can help you pick out a digital setup that is right for you.
-M
This is awesome information!! I stumbled on this site while doing some research on becoming a laptop DJ. I will definately bookmark this site and visit again soon. Please keep up the good work!!
I’m totally new to DJ equipment. In my research so far I’ve discovered there are numerous manufacturers out there in every price range. I’ve got a low budget for now and am just getting started. Are there any equipment manufacturers (mixers, amps, speakers) that I should absolutely stay away from? I know opinions will vary but could you suggest a few “good” low budget manufacturers?
the informations on this website are awesome .
i use an laptop 7 fujitsu siemens with an AMD core, it´s speedy and have of course big ressources.
For processing the sound to a pa i use 2 external soundcards which are directly integrated in my mixer, the signal from the pc comes via usb to the s.-cards.
the mixer is an numark 200 usb.
he isn´t useful for battlemixing, but if you use different lin-in´s best choice.
as software i use , winamp, bpm-studio and sometimes traktor.
But i´m searching for some faster simplier and freeware tools with a very high processing stability.
thx for the great tutorial
Come on!
MIX IN KEY!!?
Why doesent someone just do a artificial inteligence algorithm to simulate djs of several styles and then put a 3d hologram of a being pretending he is djing!!!
This way you wouldnt need real djs anymore.
But djs just actually being controlled by the machine instead of controlling it?? I love ableton and max msp but come on guys the technology is to be used creativelly not to make you pretend tto be something u arent!!
Having said this this actually a very good tutorial, and cheers for that
What laptop do u suggest uisng if u want to become a Dj and where do u start?
Hey thanks a lot for this I’m starting to get into laptop dj’ing
How do you connect your laptop to your stereo system and still be able to use your headphones to listen to the next track??
Great Tutorial! Stumbled on it since I was googling harmonic mixing.
Anyway for the people out there who want to jump right into laptop DJing, at least try mixing using decks and a mixer. It’s really going to change and might even improve your style. I’ve tried both and opt for laptop sets only if I’m either tired or lazy.
If you’re gonna use a laptop live then I suggest you go for at least 1GHz with 512MB of memory. Use Traktor, PCDJ, or similar DJ Software.
I’m all for Sony ACID, the beatmapper is really very accurate once you get the hang of it (the metronome helps). Also this software is a gateway to remixing/mashing since it’s actually a production tool.
For key detection; using a keyboard (real/virtual), your ears, and a little knowledge on music theory goes a long way.
Practice with your tracks before you play live and you’ll be fine.
Using you laptop/PC to mix is a greatway to practice mixing, develop your style, and (hopefully) create the “perfect mix” without buying decks and other expensive equipment.
Hi,
I am an aspiring digital dj. At the moment have 18Gb on itunes but just purchased a laptop and realise i may have difficulty transferring this library. Would someone be kind enough to recommend the best format for holding music files on laptop and a brief rundown of the critical software/hardware i need to get started? Many thanks, MuzPuz
pls wat kind of mixer or any instrument do i use to connect my laptop to my DENON S3500 cd player, in other to load my muzicals from my laptop. THANZ MAN.
Hey,
Ive been using acoustica mixcraft to remix some instrumentals and acapellas out of boredom.But i have been told my remixes are pretty good and have been advised to become a DJ. I just want to know what i would need to do to have my remixes played at clubs. Any information would be useful. Thanks very much.
hey basic question about hardware set that someone else (djdezeed) asked thw same and didn´t get a reply.
to separate sound from the virtual decks to headphone and stereo i´ve found a product called audio advantage migo by turtle beach which attaches your stereo to the usb allowing headphones to go into the normal jack. costs around $40. can this be used to set up an external mixer too or is something more complex needed?
I’m not finding any info. on the web about this product. Post a link to the product info. page and I’ll take a look.
-M
sorry. that was meant to read audio advantage amigo by turtle beach.
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/amigo/home.aspx
if this doesn´t allow an external mixer to laptop setup then any suggestions?
It has a headphone/line-out so you should be fine.
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/amigo/indetail.aspx
You could probably use that for your main output and then monitor in headphones using the laptop’s build in soundcard.
I still recommend something that has TWO built-in outputs like the Echo Indigo DJ. It has two independent stereo 1/8 inch analog outputs; one for setting up your cue mix on a pair of headphones, and the other for the house mix. That Turtle Beach device only has one stereo output which means you have to try and use your built-in laptop soundcard for monitoring and cueing — painful.
This looks like an alternative — it has two independent stereo outputs also but is a USB 2 device rather than PCMCIA:
http://www.turntablelab.com/production_tools/85/216/15826.html
check out my interview I did with Stacey Pulllen, Detroit DJ
I was wondering how to connect my laptop to my CDJ’s for scratching and mixing purposes. I notice that all DJ’s today are using their laptops.
Kevoir,
atomix virtual dj is good piece of software to start with.
Any laptop with a single stereo output+ a channel splitter + the latest VDJ can do the job. In settings choose headphone as output.
If you dont want to use VDJ then you will definetly need an aditional sound card either usb or pcmcia. Sound setting in cp can be tricky.
TRacktor is a nice software too. It allows u to split a stereo output to 2 different channel.
I have a HP sspecial edition and when the fan starts to cool off the it makes a loud noise that interferes.
What kind of laptop I need to dj on a laptop?
So a sound card is a must as far as laptop djing is concerned? Im totally new and just want to mix for fun because i love music from all genres!I need to seperate the sound sources one for main and one for earphones. Im also thinking of buying the Behringer BCD3000 which is like an external mixer. Its geared toward tractor but any software should work fine with it. Its also very cheap at 172 pounds new. Makes the mixing a lot more fun i think.
A buddy of mine sent me this link to a blog post about a very cheap but high quality sound card + controller that would probably be pretty decent for laptop DJing:
It’s the BCD2000 by Berringer…
http://alexandrulazar.com/bcd2000-affordable-digital-vinyl/
For people buying a behringer BCD2000(limited to specific software) Behringer BCD3000( wont work with a celeron processor) I was gutted when i found this out! I was ready to buy thinking it would be perfect for what i needed but then oh dear no sound it also ran very slowly! I believe this maybe the case with all notebooks running with a celeron M processor! I may be wrong so if anyone knows something i dont please let me know. Im looking at buying a new laptop now with a pentium 3 processor. Gutted!! Great site and thanks for the feedback!
Im not a professional just a guy researching his arse off in order to find the correct answers! Cheeers
I am glad ive stumbled upon this site…this information is very useful…i see some names on here posting comments that i used to idol long before i myself ever became a dj…although i like traditional djin…it seems like technology is changing and its time to change with it…Whats scary though is how computer djin seems so damn easy it frightens me…what happened to traditional beatmatching and cueing and the such…seems like its just goin out the window nowdays…anyway, dont really care…makes my job easier so i can spend less time in the phones and more time…well…enjoyin my own mixes live…take it easy
Just got my Behringer BCD3000 today and it’s been ok so far. The fx seem to be linked to both decks at the same time on Tractor 3 LE. This is a bit frustrating since I like “filtering out” the track when I’m exiting a song. Anybody know a way around this?
nice tutorial helped me a lot. ill be looking forward to part 2.
men that shit saved me alot,i’m from Kenya and i like healing views from outside dj,keepitup.
Matt help!
i´ve just purchased the echo indigo Dj as you recommended but am having probs setting the channels up on my dj software. I´m using BPM studio 4.9. I´ve selected ASIO driver. I´ve selected for player (deck)A and B line 3/4 3+4 (this is the only line which plays on the speakers) but when i select line 1/2 1+2 for the monitor i get nothing on the headphones (and the other lines give nothing either)
Kevoir, drop me an email with your contact information and I’ll try to help:
http://www.beatmixed.com/contact/
I am using my Dell Multi-media laptop for DJ with an PA Gemini XTR 500 system, but would need a mixer with at least two XLR jacks/2 jacks for 1/4″ connectors. Can anyone help with some recomendations?
Hey, DJ Rian — check out turntablelab.com. They have a great selection to choose from.
Hi I want to start learning Djing on my Viao, can anyone help me with the software that i should use..
hi psytronics.
it really depends what your wanting to do with the djing software. Pretty popular ones are virtual dj and traktor. traktor being more advanced. if your wanting to go deeper into making music, live performance and djing then ableton software is really good. try out the free trial versions and decide which suits your needs.
Great tutorial, however one thing boggles me. I have a MacBook, and I wanted to use that, but it doesnt look like I can do much with it considering that there isnt much software thats supported on it. What would you guys recommend to do in this kind of situation?
Spyde, I also have a MacBook. There is all kinds of DJ’ing and music production software available. I personally use Serato Scratch Live for DJing live and Ableton for production type stuff.
This Is Good. I Got Samsung Pc Studio Which Is A Bit Rubbish, But “Hey”Its Better Than Nothing Lol. x .
Big fan of the blog Matt, keep it up.
I am currently using an echo indigo and an m-audio x-session pro with traktor 3 but want to go a little further. what is your opinion of the behringer bcd-3000? just wondering. thanx
-PopNFre$h
Howdy, Shannon, PopNFre$h — thanks for stopping by!
For those of you asking about different controllers and audio cards for laptops DJs, I highly suggest you check out this article:
http://www.djtechtools.com/2008/02/15/4-dj-sound-cards-under-200/
Lots of good information on finding an affordable audio interface for laptop DJing. You will also find a ton of information of controller surfaces and stuff over there.
Hope this helps,
-M
Hi Matt,
Just fell upon your site!! ACE!
I am looking at getting a BCD3000, I am running on Newmark Cue software, are these compatable? Also I see that someone had issues running it on a celeron processor. Do you or anyone know if this will be compatable with my centino duo processor.
Thx
Hey, great site
This is probably a stupid question, but if I was to buy a USB sound card like the Maya44, will that be all I need to be able to monitor and beatmatch before I play a track out, or would I need any more gear to split the outputs?
Sorry, I’ve probably written that in a lot more complicated way than it could be put…cheers!
Random-K,
Looks like a sweet card. You should be able to monitor your cue track in its own stereo channel just fine. Let us know how it works out for you!
Lyrix,
I unfortunately don’t know much about the equipment you mention. You might try asking on the Numark forum:
http://forums.numark.com/
Good luck!
hi matt,
nice tutorial and a good place for everyone who wants to start mixing tracks together on his laptop.
when i changed my operating system on my 2.hand machine from windows to linux i began - nearly automatically - to listen to free netlabelmusic from the internet and discovered a nice open-source dj-programm to mix these tracks together:
http://www.mixxx.org
its easy to use, has a nice graphic user interface and it’s free. works on windows and macs too
i was quite surprised
that dj-ing is not that easy as it seems on the first glance and as i use the headphone-out to connect my stereo set and the build-in soundcard (one stereo channel only) the output from my speakers is not that good, but i have a lot of fun practising…
ps. i found some helpful video-tutorials on:
http://www.videojug.com/user/dj%20tutor/films
(they are about dj-ing generally - mainly with turntables and cd-players)
pps. and this a perfect introducion for the absolut beginner (like me…;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5-nAAbMYwo&feature=user
ppps. if you like to check out a nice netlabel-podcast i would recomend this one:
http://machtdose.de/cat/mp3
pppps. it’s worth to have a look to their link-page too…
have fun mixxxing,
rey cometa
ppppps. this one is a good postcast too:
http://netzklang.twoday.net/
Great article, and nice to read the comments/links going back a while.
For people on the casual side of things, you may want to check and see if your computer/laptop and stereo system (i.e. surround receiver) have *digital* output/input in compatible formats. This may keep you from having to buy a separate audio interface.
This is especially feasible if you have no interest in recording in your DAW–most motherboards these days have a digital audio out, and many surround receivers can accept the signal, including notebook motherboards/chipsets. I’d imagine there are fairly straightforward ways to get that signal into a mixer or PA preamp as well.
Now, the receiver’s amp itself may not sound that great but its DAC is still probably going to be better than the one on your motherboard, and won’t suffer from EMI/RFI generated by other components in the computer.
I’m not so sure about club scenarios, but many of the readers here are probably just looking to get started playing around at home or maybe at house parties.
Awesome gouge for starting enthusiasts such as my self, I recently aquired a USB mixer and I’m using Traktor 3 (INCREDIBLE AND REALLY EASY TO USE!) to push out my own mixes on my laptop.
Keep the good info coming, there are a lot of us who dream of being infront of a wild crowd being adored while mixing the best music, that has to be the best feeling in the world. Talk about job satisfaction!
Im using Atomix because of its simplicity when it comes to BPM. I can crete my own mixes and convert them to MP3 so that i can play them on my cellphone. But sometimes when it comes to remixing Rnb BPM does not match.
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