Play button (the purple round triangle): the track you press starts playing. While it plays, the button turns into a pause shape, and pressing it again stops the track on the spot.
CUE: press it while stopped and it remembers the current position. The remembered spot appears as a purple flag above the waveform. Press it while playing and it returns to the remembered spot and stops. This is the same idea as real DJ software (rekordbox).
Waveform: the center line is the current playback position, and the track flows from right to left. Press a spot to jump there, and drag sideways to move in small steps. It does not snap to the beat, so you can close a gap by hand. Jumping alone does not change the CUE.
Where you are now: the orange line in the center is the current position. The bar numbers flow below the waveform, so the number under the line is the current bar. There is no separate box for the number.
Beat offset: check whether the red lines of the two tracks line up. When the red lines are half a beat or more apart, "The beats are off!" appears below the waveform. It shows only while they are off. It does not show how many beats off they are, because you can tell from the red lines.
Line colors: red is the start of a bar, white is the beats in between, orange is the current playback position, and lime is the saved CUE. When the red lines of the two tracks line up one above the other, the starts of the bars are matched.
CUE: a lime vertical line and "CUE" appear where you set it. It stays attached to its place in the audio and flows with it, so it disappears when it leaves the 8-bar view. It is not pushed to the edge, because that would make it look as if it were there.
View range: fixed at 8 bars. A and B are drawn at the same width of time, so when the tempos differ, the spacing of the beat lines looks different. Any offset shows up on the screen as it is.
Tempo: the speed of the track changes in steps of 0.5 BPM. Pull down to go faster, push up to go slower, the same direction as the tempo slider on a CDJ. The center is the track's own speed (128 BPM). Because it changes the playback speed itself, going faster also raises the pitch. This is the same behavior as a CDJ without key lock, or a record. Matching the BPM alone does not line up the timing of the beats automatically.
Previewing in headphones: on real gear, you can check a track in your headphones first without sending it to the dance floor. This screen does not have that. Match by listening to the sound that is playing.
EQ (HIGH / MID / LOW): this changes the amount of that band. Turned all the way down to 0, that band cannot be heard, just like the EQ on real gear: when you say "cut", it disappears. When the bass of two tracks overlaps it turns muddy, so try lowering the LOW on one of them and compare.
Fader: this is the volume of that track. At 0 it cannot be heard.
What you can practice with these two tracks: bring in B from bar 9 of A, at the point marked "Play B" in the waveform strip, and overlap them for 8 bars. During that time A is in Drop (chorus) and B is in Intro. At bar 17 of A, where the overlap ends, Vocal begins at bar 9 of B. That is where A should be fully lowered, not where A ends: if you do not lower it, A keeps playing for its remaining 16 bars and stays layered with the Vocal of B. The mark "Cut A" that appears at bar 9 of B is that cutting point. It is 32 beats, or 8 bars, from the start of B. This is one easy way to practice, not the only right answer. You can overlap anywhere you like, and nothing stops you if you do not follow the marks.
Track length: what plays here are edited versions cut out for practice. A is 32 bars and B is 16 bars. Not every real track is built like this. Playback stops when it reaches the end.
Audio credits
AKulakovka, "Pop House"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 32-bar cut arrived that keeps going for 45 seconds after the 8-bar changeover. According to the accompanying notes, the original was 118 BPM and it was converted to 128 BPM.
BAlex_Morgan, "House Music Classic"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 16-bar cut arrived: an 8-bar kick intro, then the vocals come in from bar 9. The tempo has not been changed.
This time, we won't give detailed instructions for the controls.
You can go back and look at earlier pages whenever you need to.
First, look at the two tracks
You don't need to play track B right away.
First, look at the waveforms and structure of track A and track B.
What you think about is
How will track A change from here?
And
Where should track B start so that it fits that change?
That is what you think about.
As you learned earlier,
if you match the place where track A pulls back with the place where track B comes forward,
the transition is more likely to feel natural.
With this lesson's material, try mixing using the opening part of track B.
Prepare track B
Once you've decided where you want to bring in track B, prepare so that you can start from that position.
If necessary, move the waveform and set a cue point.
You don't need to let the audience hear track B yet.
Get the next track ready to bring out.
That is the preparation.
Check the speed
Next, check the BPM of track A and track B.
In this practice, the two tracks start with different BPMs.
Use track A as the reference and adjust the TEMPO of track B.
What to remember is that
matching BPM = matching the speed at which the two tracks move forward.
Play button (the purple round triangle): the track you press starts playing. While it plays, the button turns into a pause shape, and pressing it again stops the track on the spot.
CUE: press it while stopped and it remembers the current position. The remembered spot appears as a purple flag above the waveform. Press it while playing and it returns to the remembered spot and stops. This is the same idea as real DJ software (rekordbox).
Waveform: the center line is the current playback position, and the track flows from right to left. Press a spot to jump there, and drag sideways to move in small steps. It does not snap to the beat, so you can close a gap by hand. Jumping alone does not change the CUE.
Where you are now: the orange line in the center is the current position. The bar numbers flow below the waveform, so the number under the line is the current bar. There is no separate box for the number.
Beat offset: check whether the red lines of the two tracks line up. When the red lines are half a beat or more apart, "The beats are off!" appears below the waveform. It shows only while they are off. It does not show how many beats off they are, because you can tell from the red lines.
Line colors: red is the start of a bar, white is the beats in between, orange is the current playback position, and lime is the saved CUE. When the red lines of the two tracks line up one above the other, the starts of the bars are matched.
CUE: a lime vertical line and "CUE" appear where you set it. It stays attached to its place in the audio and flows with it, so it disappears when it leaves the 8-bar view. It is not pushed to the edge, because that would make it look as if it were there.
View range: fixed at 8 bars. A and B are drawn at the same width of time, so when the tempos differ, the spacing of the beat lines looks different. Any offset shows up on the screen as it is.
Tempo: the speed of the track changes in steps of 0.5 BPM. Pull down to go faster, push up to go slower, the same direction as the tempo slider on a CDJ. The center is the track's own speed (128 BPM). Because it changes the playback speed itself, going faster also raises the pitch. This is the same behavior as a CDJ without key lock, or a record. Matching the BPM alone does not line up the timing of the beats automatically.
Previewing in headphones: on real gear, you can check a track in your headphones first without sending it to the dance floor. This screen does not have that. Match by listening to the sound that is playing.
EQ (HIGH / MID / LOW): this changes the amount of that band. Turned all the way down to 0, that band cannot be heard, just like the EQ on real gear: when you say "cut", it disappears. When the bass of two tracks overlaps it turns muddy, so try lowering the LOW on one of them and compare.
Fader: this is the volume of that track. At 0 it cannot be heard.
What you can practice with these two tracks: bring in B from bar 9 of A, at the point marked "Play B" in the waveform strip, and overlap them for 8 bars. During that time A is in Drop (chorus) and B is in Intro. At bar 17 of A, where the overlap ends, Vocal begins at bar 9 of B. That is where A should be fully lowered, not where A ends: if you do not lower it, A keeps playing for its remaining 16 bars and stays layered with the Vocal of B. The mark "Cut A" that appears at bar 9 of B is that cutting point. It is 32 beats, or 8 bars, from the start of B. This is one easy way to practice, not the only right answer. You can overlap anywhere you like, and nothing stops you if you do not follow the marks.
Track length: what plays here are edited versions cut out for practice. A is 32 bars and B is 16 bars. Not every real track is built like this. Playback stops when it reaches the end.
Audio credits
AKulakovka, "Pop House"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 32-bar cut arrived that keeps going for 45 seconds after the 8-bar changeover. According to the accompanying notes, the original was 118 BPM and it was converted to 128 BPM.
BAlex_Morgan, "House Music Classic"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 16-bar cut arrived: an 8-bar kick intro, then the vocals come in from bar 9. The tempo has not been changed.
Match the beat position
Even when the BPM matches, the beat positions may still be offset.
While listening to track A and track B, also look at the beat lines on the waveforms.
If the "thumps" of the two tracks are offset, move the position of track B forward or back.
The goal is
a state where the "thumps" of A and B sound like one.
That is the goal.
After matching, listen for a little while as it is.
If it drifts apart again, the speed still isn't matched.
If the offset doesn't grow, both the speed and the beat position are aligned.
Play button (the purple round triangle): the track you press starts playing. While it plays, the button turns into a pause shape, and pressing it again stops the track on the spot.
CUE: press it while stopped and it remembers the current position. The remembered spot appears as a purple flag above the waveform. Press it while playing and it returns to the remembered spot and stops. This is the same idea as real DJ software (rekordbox).
Waveform: the center line is the current playback position, and the track flows from right to left. Press a spot to jump there, and drag sideways to move in small steps. It does not snap to the beat, so you can close a gap by hand. Jumping alone does not change the CUE.
Where you are now: the orange line in the center is the current position. The bar numbers flow below the waveform, so the number under the line is the current bar. There is no separate box for the number.
Beat offset: check whether the red lines of the two tracks line up. When the red lines are half a beat or more apart, "The beats are off!" appears below the waveform. It shows only while they are off. It does not show how many beats off they are, because you can tell from the red lines.
Line colors: red is the start of a bar, white is the beats in between, orange is the current playback position, and lime is the saved CUE. When the red lines of the two tracks line up one above the other, the starts of the bars are matched.
CUE: a lime vertical line and "CUE" appear where you set it. It stays attached to its place in the audio and flows with it, so it disappears when it leaves the 8-bar view. It is not pushed to the edge, because that would make it look as if it were there.
View range: fixed at 8 bars. A and B are drawn at the same width of time, so when the tempos differ, the spacing of the beat lines looks different. Any offset shows up on the screen as it is.
Tempo: the speed of the track changes in steps of 0.5 BPM. Pull down to go faster, push up to go slower, the same direction as the tempo slider on a CDJ. The center is the track's own speed (128 BPM). Because it changes the playback speed itself, going faster also raises the pitch. This is the same behavior as a CDJ without key lock, or a record. Matching the BPM alone does not line up the timing of the beats automatically.
Previewing in headphones: on real gear, you can check a track in your headphones first without sending it to the dance floor. This screen does not have that. Match by listening to the sound that is playing.
EQ (HIGH / MID / LOW): this changes the amount of that band. Turned all the way down to 0, that band cannot be heard, just like the EQ on real gear: when you say "cut", it disappears. When the bass of two tracks overlaps it turns muddy, so try lowering the LOW on one of them and compare.
Fader: this is the volume of that track. At 0 it cannot be heard.
What you can practice with these two tracks: bring in B from bar 9 of A, at the point marked "Play B" in the waveform strip, and overlap them for 8 bars. During that time A is in Drop (chorus) and B is in Intro. At bar 17 of A, where the overlap ends, Vocal begins at bar 9 of B. That is where A should be fully lowered, not where A ends: if you do not lower it, A keeps playing for its remaining 16 bars and stays layered with the Vocal of B. The mark "Cut A" that appears at bar 9 of B is that cutting point. It is 32 beats, or 8 bars, from the start of B. This is one easy way to practice, not the only right answer. You can overlap anywhere you like, and nothing stops you if you do not follow the marks.
Track length: what plays here are edited versions cut out for practice. A is 32 bars and B is 16 bars. Not every real track is built like this. Playback stops when it reaches the end.
Audio credits
AKulakovka, "Pop House"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 32-bar cut arrived that keeps going for 45 seconds after the 8-bar changeover. According to the accompanying notes, the original was 118 BPM and it was converted to 128 BPM.
BAlex_Morgan, "House Music Classic"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 16-bar cut arrived: an 8-bar kick intro, then the vocals come in from bar 9. The tempo has not been changed.
If it goes well,
BPM
the beats
and phrases
are aligned at the same time, and the two tracks move forward together.
Make track B audible
Even if track B starts moving at the right position, you can hardly hear it while its fader is down.
Raise the fader of track B and gradually overlap it with track A.
A only → A and B
Please create that state.
From here, you hand the lead role in the sound from A to B.
Move LOW from A to B
Once the two tracks are overlapped, listen to the bass too.
If you bring out the LOW of both A and B strongly, the bass can sound heavy.
As needed,
lower A's LOW and raise B's LOW
to hand the lead role in the bass to B.
Swapping LOW is not a rule you must always follow.
But this time, let's use it as the basic form you've been practicing.
Take out track A
When track B has come forward, finally take out track A.
Play button (the purple round triangle): the track you press starts playing. While it plays, the button turns into a pause shape, and pressing it again stops the track on the spot.
CUE: press it while stopped and it remembers the current position. The remembered spot appears as a purple flag above the waveform. Press it while playing and it returns to the remembered spot and stops. This is the same idea as real DJ software (rekordbox).
Waveform: the center line is the current playback position, and the track flows from right to left. Press a spot to jump there, and drag sideways to move in small steps. It does not snap to the beat, so you can close a gap by hand. Jumping alone does not change the CUE.
Where you are now: the orange line in the center is the current position. The bar numbers flow below the waveform, so the number under the line is the current bar. There is no separate box for the number.
Beat offset: check whether the red lines of the two tracks line up. When the red lines are half a beat or more apart, "The beats are off!" appears below the waveform. It shows only while they are off. It does not show how many beats off they are, because you can tell from the red lines.
Line colors: red is the start of a bar, white is the beats in between, orange is the current playback position, and lime is the saved CUE. When the red lines of the two tracks line up one above the other, the starts of the bars are matched.
CUE: a lime vertical line and "CUE" appear where you set it. It stays attached to its place in the audio and flows with it, so it disappears when it leaves the 8-bar view. It is not pushed to the edge, because that would make it look as if it were there.
View range: fixed at 8 bars. A and B are drawn at the same width of time, so when the tempos differ, the spacing of the beat lines looks different. Any offset shows up on the screen as it is.
Tempo: the speed of the track changes in steps of 0.5 BPM. Pull down to go faster, push up to go slower, the same direction as the tempo slider on a CDJ. The center is the track's own speed (128 BPM). Because it changes the playback speed itself, going faster also raises the pitch. This is the same behavior as a CDJ without key lock, or a record. Matching the BPM alone does not line up the timing of the beats automatically.
Previewing in headphones: on real gear, you can check a track in your headphones first without sending it to the dance floor. This screen does not have that. Match by listening to the sound that is playing.
EQ (HIGH / MID / LOW): this changes the amount of that band. Turned all the way down to 0, that band cannot be heard, just like the EQ on real gear: when you say "cut", it disappears. When the bass of two tracks overlaps it turns muddy, so try lowering the LOW on one of them and compare.
Fader: this is the volume of that track. At 0 it cannot be heard.
What you can practice with these two tracks: bring in B from bar 9 of A, at the point marked "Play B" in the waveform strip, and overlap them for 8 bars. During that time A is in Drop (chorus) and B is in Intro. At bar 17 of A, where the overlap ends, Vocal begins at bar 9 of B. That is where A should be fully lowered, not where A ends: if you do not lower it, A keeps playing for its remaining 16 bars and stays layered with the Vocal of B. The mark "Cut A" that appears at bar 9 of B is that cutting point. It is 32 beats, or 8 bars, from the start of B. This is one easy way to practice, not the only right answer. You can overlap anywhere you like, and nothing stops you if you do not follow the marks.
Track length: what plays here are edited versions cut out for practice. A is 32 bars and B is 16 bars. Not every real track is built like this. Playback stops when it reaches the end.
Audio credits
AKulakovka, "Pop House"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 32-bar cut arrived that keeps going for 45 seconds after the 8-bar changeover. According to the accompanying notes, the original was 118 BPM and it was converted to 128 BPM.
BAlex_Morgan, "House Music Classic"PixabayPixabay Content LicenseA 16-bar cut arrived: an 8-bar kick intro, then the vocals come in from bar 9. The tempo has not been changed.
Check when you're done
You don't need to judge whether it went well only by
"Did I operate it without mistakes?"
is not the only measure.
Please check the following points.
Did you decide for yourself where to bring in track B?
Did you match track B's BPM to track A?
Did you match the beat position?
Were you aware of the phrase position?
Did you make track B audible gradually?
Did you move LOW as needed?
Did you hand the lead role from track A to track B in the end?
If there was even one place where
"I didn't know what to fix"
that is the point to practice next.
How to tell what went wrong
If something felt off while mixing the two tracks, separate the cause and think about it one at a time.
The beats drift apart over time
The BPM may not be matched.
Check the TEMPO.
The "thumps" are offset from the start
The beat position may not be matched.
Move the position of track B forward or back.
The beats match, but the development feels strange
The phrases or track structure may be offset.
Reconsider where you bring in track B.
The sound is muddy
The sounds of the two tracks may be overlapping too much.
Check the faders and EQ.
In this way,
rather than "it somehow failed," it is important to separate out where things are not matching
.
You don't have to get it right in one try
Having read this far doesn't mean you can immediately make a natural mix.
In practice,
the timing of bringing in track B will be slightly off, the beats will slip, you'll be late moving LOW, or you'll hesitate over where to take out track A.
That is normal.
The purpose of this page is
not to connect perfectly in one go.
It is to understand that what you've learned separately so far,
place, speed, beats, phrases, volume, and EQ
are all connected in one actual mix.
Repeat it several times, and gradually widen the range of what you can judge on your own.
Summary
When mixing two tracks, think about place, BPM, beats, phrases, volume, and EQ in combination
When things don't go well, separate out whether the cause is in "speed," "beat position," "phrases," or "sound"
You don't need to be perfect in one go; it is important to build experience of getting through a whole mix while making your own judgments