Video:How to Mix Music

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Transcript:How to Mix Music

The magic of it all is the choice, the selection of the song, at the moment. That's where I give credit to DJs–not because they can flip the songs without any reason, but flip to the right song, at the right moment.

Track New Tunes

We live at a time that's produced so much music. With modern technology, every minute there's someone in Harlem or Atlanta or St. Louis that's coming up with a hip hop track–everyone wants to break through. The thing is, you're just one person, in one club. So what I usually do when someone asks me–oh, do you have a song, and I don't have it–I write it down on my cellphone or on a notepad, which songs, and I come home and most of my day is tracking new music, collecting songs that I don't have, checking them out, seeing where I can use them, throw them. Oh, this is a good one–this is not good, but all the girls are reacting to it. You can't have a party unless the girls are happy–that's a big lesson to learn right there. So, you're going to have to play your Britney Spears, your Kisha, your Katie Perry, what have you. I love Metallica and Megadeath and here I am playing Britney Spears, but you can have fun with that as well.

Expand Your Playlist

Open your range. Learn, pick up a lot of music. Even the songs that you don't like–you'd be surprised, they might grow on you, and they're probably going to come in useful. From hip hop, to electronic, to country music–open your range. You'd be surprised by how many people are entertained from an environment that throws it all together.

A lot of people hear reminiscence of one song within another song–you could hear Bel Biv Devoe, That Girl Is Poison, but something about that song reminds me of Bobby Brown's My Prerogative. As a DJ, you can entertain that.

Practice Mixing Music

Anyone has the potential to mix songs that remind them of other songs. But, a lot of the times they'll see that–yeah, it reminds them in their head, but it's actually harder to do physically with two turntables, or CDs, or whatever you're using. That's where practice sort of makes perfect. The more you do something, the better you get at it.

Listen to the Pros

If you want to be a DJ, I would highly recommend to go out and listen to some DJs. If you want to do something great, try to find some inspiration from somebody that's already doing what you want to do. And have a good time doing it–that's the whole point. When you have a good time, the audience will feel that as well–you're feeding the audience your good time, and you're going to make a good time for everyone.