so who are the best dance DJs for 'mixing'?

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and more importantly, WHY?

talk about 'mixing' styles in house, techno and so on, whats important? does it really annoy you if the mixing is bad? if its beatmatched adequately in what other way it could be bad?

i seems like i've heard every major DJ described as a crap mixer in my time - Oakey, Coxy, Hawtin-y...how do the house and techno DJs compare though? who is your favourite?

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 10 January 2003 22:56 (twenty-three years ago)

well, i dont really care about mixing that much, it depends. i remember seeing this dj once, and he perfectly beat matched these 2 records, but they were completely in incompatible keys, dissonance, it was really jarring, but he didnt seem to be aware of this!!!

i like the jeff mills BAMBAMBAM style

dj dag never mixed, if i remember correctly, he just waited for the breakdown at the end, then brought the next one in (easier to do with frankfurt bizness!!). david mancuso did this also?

carl cox used to pitch everything down which irritated me

hawtins schtick seems to be get busy with the eq, which can work. all that tweaking though!

in the end i think great mixing is when you didnt notice there was mixing at all, the focus was taken away from that

― gareth (gareth), Friday, 10 January 2003 23:27 (twenty-three years ago)

i used to like the way Cox slowed techno tracks down to house speed actually - he was my fave DJ for quite some time...nowadays i havent got a bloody clue but i'm always more interested in hearing people DJ who are better known for their music e.g. Basement Jaxx or Les Rythmes Digitales - and you'd think they wouldnt be top mixers and perhaps you're right

i'm sure Ronan's gonna chip in with Dave Clarke and Jon Carter eventually ;)

― stevem (blueski), Saturday, 11 January 2003 00:01 (twenty-three years ago)

i think mixing is very important. beatmatching is one component of mixing, but it is no more important than the rest.

this is one of the reasons i can't really enjoy the swayzak mixed 2cd (groovetechnology 1.3). it's a wonderful selection of tracks, but i think it would have worked better as a compilation. the mixing (not done by swayzak) is clearly uninspired and doesn't really lend any flow to the selection of tracks.

― arjun (arjun), Saturday, 11 January 2003 05:14 (twenty-three years ago)

how important is mixing? it depends. there is nothing worse than trainwreckingly bad mixing. not mixing at all is infinitely preferable to that. from a point of personal taste, i find seamless mixing can be really dull. i like to know when it's 'in the mix' as this is when the energy levels can go through the roof. when i mix, i always bring in the next record slightly too loud. it's a bit of a slutty thing to do but it works. jeff mills takes this to extremes and while i love that kamikaze style of 'if it doesn't quite work, fuck it', i think he can sometimes go a bit too far with the cutting and eq'ing.

mix djs i have heard numerous times whose mixing is more often than not inspirational (but who have also had really bad nights and played dull music) include derrick may, derrick carter, richie hawtin and.... you know what, i'm struggling to think of any more which is kind of sad as i've heard hundreds .

maybe i'm just a jaded non pill taking old fuck but these days but technique kind of bores me - i'm more interested in hearing people who play a wide range of music that blows my mind.

i also think djing on turntables is on its way out. software like abelton 'live' has to be the way forward. my two pence.

― stirmonster, Saturday, 11 January 2003 05:44 (twenty-three years ago)

the way jeff mills mixes is excellent,its at breakneck pace,each song only stays in for about a minute,but all the tracks go really well together
dave clarke in my opinion is an example of someone who can beatmix well but is a shit mixer
he fucks around with the eqs far too much,i prefer the more purist one track gradually replaces another,seamless mixing
it might sound boring but its great in techno cause it makes it sound like techno is this infinite thing that you just happen to be hearing a small part of
surgeon is a great mixer as well,not quite sure why though,i just really like his mixes

― robin (robin), Saturday, 11 January 2003 09:25 (twenty-three years ago)

technique kind of bores me - i'm more interested in hearing people who play a wide range of music that blows my mind.

ditto

― stevem (blueski), Saturday, 11 January 2003 11:16 (twenty-three years ago)

I agree with that too, I'd say most people would, it's the tracks I like at the end of the day. (night) I think Jon Carter is technically good but it's harder to tell these days cos I enjoy his tune selection so much that I don't really pay as much attention. I like Dave Clarke's scratching but I don't really know techno enough to say for sure how good a mixer he is, he likes to just change from one boom-boom-boom style record to another at a slightly higher or slightly lower tone, it seems to make the crowd go mad when he does it but that's the only trick really.

To be honest I don't really know who's a great mixer, I guess it's not something I think about, I've seen DJs fuck things up on the decks but lets face it the time you really tell your mates about is when the DJ just bottles the performance and plays a shit mishmash of tunes, never gets things going, drops a few obvious hits and still doesn't succeed. I mean we've all seen someone come on after a good support DJ to a full club and just ruin things.

― Ronan (Ronan), Saturday, 11 January 2003 20:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i liked Stirmonster and his partners mixing ;-)

― Jens (brighter), Sunday, 12 January 2003 09:59 (twenty-three years ago)

i also think that´s its more important that you play great songs than being a good mixer. (but then again i don´t go to techno/house/etcclubs to dance)

― Jens (brighter), Sunday, 12 January 2003 10:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Kid Loco and Andrea Parker's DJ kicks are two of the best mixes I've ever heard, Loco's is Flawless. As a genre-schitzo dj I believe if you are passionate about what you are playing the mixing will come natural. Sometimes a "train wreck" in mixing and beat matching can be interesting.

― Hayden (Hayden), Sunday, 12 January 2003 10:27 (twenty-three years ago)

thanks jens. yr a sweetie.

― stirmonster, Sunday, 12 January 2003 14:47 (twenty-three years ago)

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