Mixing 2 songs

Basic music structure. You have to match "Bar on Bar" and sometimes this can get complicated. Acapellas don't always start "on beat". If you're just starting out, focus on mixing songs that start with a kick and snare that continue through out the song. dance music and hip hop are good choices. Old School (not wicked mix), rock, classic rock are "bad choices". The reason why is because these are real people and the tempo and structure of the music can be a lot more complicated.

EXAMPLE: Commodores - Brick house (drum roll at beginning and then tempo change after bass intro)

Teena Marie - "Square Biz" - starts with vocals then right after the 4 bar intro, the tempo speeds up

EXAMPLE of a Good Choice - Tupac - All about you (starts "on the one" and tempo stays the same)

Calvin Harris - Feels so close (starts on the one and no temp change)
 
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Focus on getting them on beat only

manthmusic said:
3 things,

first; check that they are in key..
secound; BPM needs to be the same,
third: Rock on!
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Key is not that important for you, right now IMO. That's too much work for someone just starting out. I never did that back in the day and what's more important at this point is get your blends on beat. There's a lot of Jams out there with "Drum and Bass" Intros. Work those and then work yourself up to more advanced mixes.
 
Count off one track seperately, cue the 1st beat on the a 1st bar. Do the same on the second. With acapellas you sometimes need to let them play for a bit so you can count in your head and find a good cue-point, it gets easier with practise.
 
Rums30 said:
Count off one track seperately, cue the 1st beat on the a 1st bar. Do the same on the second. With acapellas you sometimes need to let them play for a bit so you can count in your head and find a good cue-point, it gets easier with practise.
Click to expand...

Your assuming he knows where the first beat is. Many times the first beat you hear is not the first beat when it comes down to music structure. Not a big fan of accapellas for beginners for that same reason but your primary goal is to find out where the first beat is "supposed" to be. Try using the metrome feature of your music/dj softeware to achieve this goal.
 
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