Helpreq.: 80's DJ Disco tips

[vries750]

Dear fellow-80's lovers.
Next month I'm giving a 80's disco at out local youth centre. I already figured out that mixing tracks (with 2 cdplayers and a mixer) isn't that easy. The 80's are THAT varia that I can't figure out how/what/which/... I have to mix records.
Do you have any DJ tips for me???
Thanks a lot!!
Maarten de Vries,
The Netherlands

[Flix]

If you wanna beat-mix (continously), then you will need CD-players with pitch and some sort of beat-counter. If you don't have equipment like that, then I would recommend the good old play and fade, where you fade out each song before crossfading to the next.

A little tip regarding lots of 80's stuff is that dance mixes by the same mixer/producer usually has the same bpm. Like any mixes produced by Stock/Aitken/Waterman runs within 1-2 bpm of each other. Makes them easy to beat-mix into each other.

I'm sure Daffy has more pointers for you.

[wavemaster]

Another tip from me:

Listen to the records which are likely to be played a few days before the event. Check out for noticable parts like breaks, pure vocal parts or instrumental sections w/o beats. When the tempo donīt change or the beats style wonīt differ too much, these are good parts to fade or to cut the next track in.

If you donīt want to rely on a manual beat counter, check out Mixmeister 3, a program which allows you to mix tracks w/o much ado. The beat counter is quite good and reliable, but you need those tracks on your hard drive.

Thatīs all...I hope your party will be a success!