How to Make a DJ Mix

Want to learn how to make a great DJ mix? A good promotional DJ mix CD can go a long way towards getting your name out, increasing recognition, and helping you land gigs. If it is a good one. The key is to put out a mix that shows you have good technical skills, programming skills, diversity, style, and professionalism. Once you have one that fits this bill, you then flood the market with it. Doing this is going to cost you time, some money, and stress. You didn’t think this was going to be easy, did you?

PROGRAMMING

You should have basic beat matching & EQ skills by this point if you want to continue further. A good song plan (also known as programming) is crucial for a successful demo CD. I can spend over a week or more just figuring out what tracks I want to include on the DJ mix CD. Try to use brand new music as much as you can, maybe with a couple older classic tracks for old school appeal. By doing this, you show fans or club owners that you keep up to date on everything new that is coming out, but still appreciate the timeless classics that brought the genre to where it is now.

Please re-read the “timeless” part. Throwing in some old-school cheesy song that was overplayed back in the day would be a mistake. Make sure any classic tune you use is still appreciated now and just gets better with age, like good wine. Sometimes a brand new remix of a classic track will work great for this.

Now start putting your music together into a DJ demo mix. Programming is key here. Remember that first impressions are everything. Now in a club setting, you may want to start a set slow and work the energy up and down through the night. For a DJ demo mix though, I suggest you start off with something that is going to catch the listener’s ear right off the bat so they will keep on listening. This doesn’t mean starting off with the most popular anthem of the day. Filling a DJ mix tape with all the current popular anthems is a BIG mistake. Anybody can scan billboard dance charts and fill their record boxes with everything that is popular. You want to show off your uniqueness.

A good DJ finds diamonds in the rough and makes them popular by introducing them to people via a nightclub setting, or through a good DJ mix CD. Show potential employers that you can do that. Pick something unique and medium to high energy. Something that hasn’t caught on everywhere yet, but that you can tell is going to be a hit. If you are going to use some anthems or “peak hour” tunes in your CD, make sure to put it around ¾ of the way through. That particular spot on the DJ mix CD is perfect for good “peak time” songs, giving you some time to wind down a bit to the end. For the last song on the DJ mix tape, use something that leaves a lasting impression. Don’t use something that has too much energy though. Think about what you might play at the end of the night in a nightclub. New remixes of well known classic tracks can work well here. Use something that people will remember you by.

HARMONIC MIXING

I highly recomend that you try and use some harmonic mixing techniques when making your demo mix. For more information on what harmonic mixing is, check out our article on Harmonic Mixing.

RECORDING DJ MIXES

Your DJ mix CD should be at least an hour long. Once you finally know what tracks you are going to use, you can start to record a DJ mix. I recommend recording all your mixes, because you may just hit the perfect one right off the bat. It will take a couple mixes to get one down perfect, possibly many if you are fairly new to DJing.

If you want to learn how to set up DJ equipment to record your DJ mix, check out our section on DJ Equipment Set Up.

Everyone will be judging you on this DJ demo mix CD, so it is important you do it right. You never want to give out a mix tape that is half-assed. No one will ever listen to another CD of yours if the first one sucked. So record the DJ mix as many times as you need to get a good one. If you think you have a winner, listen to it a couple times for any errors. If your timing was off for a split second, try a couple more recordings. Even if it takes you 20 times to get it right, it is better than putting out something that is mediocre.

Make sure you don’t burn yourself out though. If you have been mixing and recording all day and are having a tough time, and your mixes seem to be getting worse, take the rest of the day off. It’s like any job in life, sometimes a little time off will clear your mind and get you fresh and ready to work on it again. Finish with something you are extremely proud of. When you have a mix session you love, its time to find an audio editor to tweak the mix a bit.

All you have to do is boost the audio levels of the whole mix without it “clipping” so it will play as loud as possible in a CD player without distortion. I personally use Adobe Audition’s hard limiter function to do this. Whatever audio editor you use, it should have this function. You should also use the audio editor to split your mix up into tracks. Save two copies of the mix, one that is split up into tracks and one that is not. You can use the trackless copy to turn into an MP3 for people to download on the internet. The copy that is “tracked” will be used to make the demo CD, and will make it easy for the listener to skip around on.

If you don’t have access to audio editing software and can’t afford to purchase it, find someone who does own it. If you don’t boost audio levels people may have to turn up their volume to much to even hear your mix. If clipping or distortion may have occured durring recording, it will distort the music, making it sound like crap. Adjusting your mix with the audio editor will make your mix sound more professional, and you’ll stand out from all the other guys.

PACKAGING YOUR DJ MIX CD

Packaging your mix CD is also an important step. You should at least have:

• A full color CD label

• Your name

• Email or Website

• A professional photo.

Making your CD as visually pleasing as possible is a great way to have it catch the eye of someone who has the power to get you a gig. Just writing your name on a blank CD with a magic marker looks horrible and is not a good way to get a great first impression. Designing your demo mix CD is a good time to use some of that professional photography you just had done! Promoters and clubbers will be able to remember you better if your DJ mix CD has a big-ass head shot of you on it. There are many online companies that will print out professional looking CDs for you.

DO NOT USE STICK-ON CD LABELS!

These can get caught in some CD players (especially car stereos) and can piss people off or even cost them money to fix. Use an online company that will print directly on the CD. I use and recommend www.Mixonic.com . The online print company will usually have a template for their CDs that you can open up in Photoshop or a similar program to add your CD design. You then upload your design to them, and they do the rest.

If you have a friend that is into graphic design, ask if they would like to design your DJ mix tape CD cover. The more professional you can make it look, the better an impression you will leave on whoever receives one. In this business, impressions are everything!

Finally, print off at least 50 copies of your new DJ mix tape. More if you can afford it. You are going to be handing these out to everyone and anyone!