10 Hip-Hop DJ Transitions
How To Mix Hip-Hop Music
One of the biggest most popular music genres of all time is Hip-Hop! We have many students learning how to mix Hip-Hop at our studios. If you want to learn how to mix Hip-Hop music enrol on our DJ courses by clicking here. You can learn online or in our studios in London or the rest of the UK.
To help you get started here are some basic beginner DJ transitions for Hip-Hop music. You can also use these transition to mix any radio-edit tracks into each other.
1. Low EQ Bass Swap
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 4: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 5: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 6: Quickly fade out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
Low EQ + Mid EQ Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 5: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 6: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 5: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 6: Quickly fade out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
EQ + Filter Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 5: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 6: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 5: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 6: On outgoing track, activate filter effect and turn it to the left (dulling high frequencies) while fading out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
EQ + Sweep Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 5: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 6: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 5: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 6: On outgoing track, activate sweep effect (affects choppiness of the rhythm) and turn it to the left while fading out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
EQ + Space Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 5: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 6: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 5: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 6: On outgoing track, activate space effect (affecting high frequencies) and turn it to the right while fading out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
Intro Loop Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Activate loop extending the length of the intro of incoming track
Step 5: Cue incoming track and press play on the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat with the loop active
Step 6: Allow the loop to cycle up to the next chorus of the playing track
Step 7: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 8: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 9: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 10: Exit loop of incoming track
Step 11: Quickly fade out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
Vinyl Backspin Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Prepare vinyl backspin for outgoing track
1. Change the jog mode to vinyl
2. Turn the jog adjust all the way to the left (light setting)
Step 5: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 6: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 7: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 5: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 6: On outgoing track, spin the platter of the jog wheel counter clockwise on the final bar of the current phrase
Step 7: With other hand, fade out the outgoing track at the chorus/drop of incoming track
Beat FX Echo Transition
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Prepare echo beat FX for outgoing track
1. Turn on beat FX
2. Route effect to the appropriate track channel
3. Set the beat interval to 1, 1/2 or 1/4
4. Ensure the BPM of the effect is correct
Step 5: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 6: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 7: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 8: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 9: On outgoing track, increase the level knob of the echo beat effect while fading out the outgoing track at the chorus/drop of incoming track
Combo Sound Color FX Transition (Crush + Filter)
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 5: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 6: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 7: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 8: On outgoing track, activate crush effect and turn it to the left (dulling high frequencies)
Step 9: Then directly swap the active sound color fx by activating the filter
Step 10: Continue turning the sound color fx knob to the left while fading out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
Combo Sound Color FX Transition (Filter + Space)
Step 1: BPM match incoming track with playing track
Step 2: Reduce bass EQ all the way on incoming track
Step 3: Reduce mid EQ halfway on incoming track
Step 4: Play intro of the incoming track in phrase and on the 1 beat
Step 5: Fade in incoming track using channel fader as soon as possible
Step 6: Swap mid EQ for both tracks during the first 3 bars of the intro of incoming track (turn down mid EQ on playing track & turn up mid EQ for incoming track)
Step 7: Swap bass EQ for both tracks half-way through the intro of incoming track (turn down bass EQ on playing track & turn up bass EQ for incoming track)
Step 8: On outgoing track, activate filter effect and turn it to the right (filtering low frequencies)
Step 9: Then directly swap the active sound color fx by activating the space
Step 10: Continue turning the sound color fx knob to the right while fading out the outgoing track just before the chorus/drop of incoming track
Step 11: Return the space fx knob to center as necessary
Would you like to learn how to mix Hip-Hop music and get DJ gigs with our community? Join our DJ courses and launch your Hip-Hop DJ career today. Click here to contact us.
