DJ Tutorial on how to mix Reggae Music ------------ tunest are waiting in vain and get up stand up, by the one and only Bob Marley, RIP -------------- video going out to profile.php?i... ---------------- DJTutor on facebook / djtutor
11 years later and this is STILL the ONLY helpful video on how to DJ reggae music. Every other video is about Dancehall which is totally not the same thing.
Okay, first I am NOT a modern day DJ... Your videos are histerical, informative, and just plain interesting. I remember the old days of music mixing. Nothing stayed the same for more than half a bar. Music beat matching was continuously changed even as you mixed it in. I respect the guys who do this now, but hope we don't forget the old school. There is so much to learn. Thank you, keep up the great work.
Recently moved to a laid back beach town and I sense that reggae is quite popular at some of the day time cafés. Thanks for this tutorial. Still relevant in 2024. Learned so much from uou over the years.
great video .. try using riddim has alot of consistant beats with great bass and you can add a song with great vocals in and then fade it for a little bit of a instrumental and then cue up the next song and mix it to the next one
Damn good video. All the new school djs need to see this being a old school DJ from Chicago that plays disco I love what you said about mixing real music. Keep up the good work.
yeah man, love your stuff, been very helpful...... so I'm a reggae musician turned mobile dj, counting roots reggae is tough concept until you get it, I've seen many very skilled musician miss it and confuse it while reading charts........anyway the snare hit you refer to is actually on the THREE. it's called a OneDrop there is no drum hit on the One. so when your counting beats it's.... 1,2,3,4 = rest, bass,snare,bass...... you dig? hard to explain typing. anyway thanks for the tips!!!
Loved the video, some one how knows what hes talking about and understands that some mobile dj dont get the change to stand there and mix Club music all night. 100% 50's 60's 70's is harder to mix you try djing a wedding. top guy wil be wacthing more of his videos.
ok now ur in my genre, been waiting 2 c u talk about this 4 soo longg , u r soo right its all about the sound n the feel when it comes 2 reggae , i would like u 2 give the world some more on mixin and blending reggae ,its not something u can just jump in2(like ne other genre )it take practice.
hey! im from the philippines and im living in japan now. I've just started mobile dj`ing for about a year now, but I'm still lack on experience. your tutorial video helps me a lot to improve my skills, and i just wanted to say thank you=)
good advice about the bpm..i always wondered why some tunes drift or change bpm during the course of a song.also .we call the riddim being played for reggae songs "one drop"..good job pointing that out with the drum & stick..practice & enjoy!.
thnx for the explaning :) great done i wonder only one thing is there some kinda explanation or tutorial on a reggae pre amp like for example king tubby use or king shilo or jah shakka maybe i use wrong terms or words but i am quit new in this
oh you gotta love reggae and dancehall! you need to know the roots ;) reggae roots music is foundation for a lot of modern music. btw @ellaskins , what microphone are you using?
It's not only that old school music was made by real musicians, real instruments with no quantize at all. Old school music was made without thinking about DJ's as there wasn't really anything like that back in the 50's, 60's and 70's (well maybe late 70's but really rare). Contemporary music is kind of made not only for listening, but also for DJing, and if a particular song isn't really DJ friendly at all, even a bedroom producer can make a remix/re-edit or what not catered specifically for DJs.
Can someone suggest a basic setup to mix reggae live? I'd love to that. The fact is I go to basically every concert here(Italy) so I listen to a lot of the new stuff(Mellow Mood, Raphael, Lion D but even Jah Sun, Kabaka Pyramid and others in the world) and baiscally at every single concert when there's the dj I recognize 95% of the songs after a second. So, what's a basic setup to mix transitioning from song to song etcetera? Something I can play with and start dj'ing at local parties, not even clubs but some friend's parties etcetera. They love my music and the reggae I spread here and they know I always have the hot stuff to dance to, I just don't know how to dj. I'm not new to programs and music, I'm actually a guitar and bass player and record my stuff so for the programs just name some and I'll learn...I don't know what's the basic setup concerning the phisical instruments tho.
Nice work man. I think with Reggae and dancehall it is important to switch up the way you transition from record to record. Matching beats of course is great, but there are others. With a Tech 1200 cutting the power combined with a slight nudge to make the record go in reverse creates a sick effect if properly timed. Cutting the low with a quick backspin is pretty fun as well. Good reggae DJ's ride a Rydim for 4 or 5 tracks moving a new record after every verse. Get creative, skys the limit.
@JPMixes1 if i can give you a bit of advice, i would go straight for a cdj & mixer setup rather than a midi one, because a midi one gives you too much of an excuse not to learn the difficult stuff you will need for real djing.. i know this from personal experience!
Great video man. But Jonathon, you should make a video on how to DJ dancehall/ragga. Dancehall is like the younger, faster brother of raggae and is what is being played mostly in clubs with large populations of carribean people. Cheers
don't know of any videos out there, and a lot depends on what equipment you are using but I manage to get a reasonable result in Traktor using delay and reverb effects as single effects on effect channel 1 and 2. As the man says, practice and enjoy :-)
house music is one of the easiest music to mix......where im from our soca, dancehall, reggae and chutney music are way harder.......great vid by the way
but there is a way to digitally loop the end from one and intro loop the second one with the same technology like audacity i managed to have space on 30 seconds to one minute
It's all about having fun :-) Thanks for putting this up music is about sharing which I am learning. If your telling me that the songs drift do I cue the next song around the middle of it? How do you deal with the song changing BPM. More specifically I will be doing a set of reggae dancehall songs. Mainly new tracks. Any tips on when to fade into the next tune? I just learned on my ddj sx I can use my filter to lower on the orginal track and boost the filter on the second track. ~~~ Thanks - DeeJay Sadia
+Sadia Mohamed Still need help? Modern day dancehall/reggae were made on drum machine/computer so more than likely it will be quantized and on beat which makes mixing much easier. Dancehall is a fast paced genre so normally you will start fade in the other track on the 2nd chorus
Its hard to really mix reggae made before electronic drum tracks hit the scene (starting in the 80's). Due to the human element prior to that, the drummers are holding down a slightly different time, sometimes a little wonky, which is hell for mixing. I dj 60's and 70's rocksteady and reggae all the time, so I can tell you not to worry too much about bpms. Pro tip: rocksteady is all very similar bpms, hence the "steady" so I tend to mix up some ska and rocksteady together in sections and then you can use one of the many reinterpretations of rocksteady during the roots era of the 70's to make a transition. You need to know your audience fairly well. Some real dreader than dread roots reggae and Nyabinghi drums may lose a lame audience, while ska and rocksteady might fill the floor, or vice-versa. As far as when to fade in, a lot of roots starts with a rim shot or drum roll and you can jump in wherever it feels good. Next, you might like to use the fact that the riddim is recycled a lot in reggae in different eras from rocksteady to Roots/Dub/DJ/Dancehall versions and you can spin the riddim hard by knowing which riddims tie together, like a puzzle. (Example: Marcia Aitken-I'm Still In Love
This is exactly why I clicked on this video. I thought he would demonstrate how to use the echo effect for switching tracks. If you know any videos showing this please send them to me thanks!
another trick for mixing reggae, dancehall, ska and dub is to use some echo, reverb effects on the back of the outgoing track before you chop iin the new track. It's a style used by some reggae artists back in the 70s, so it will sound really authentic. listen to 'ire feelings' by Rupie Edwards for an idea.
Ellaskins, very important question. Before I do let me state that I dare not call myself a DJ yet. I am learning and if I were in your area I would pay for lesson in a second! I have a vision for myself...I want to mix genres. I figure I could use this like a latter, stepping the energy up step by step. Reggae is smooth, organic (particularly the old school) and like you said very warm. It suits the needs for a beginning of a set that will get people on the dance floor. Stepping it up I would use modern Reggae, then perhaps some Reggaetone, followed by Trap/Rap, then Techno, ending with the high energy of Dubstep. Does this make sense to you? Do you think this is possible? PLEASE RESPOND!
