Thursday, October 26, 2006

The Deep House Mix v. The Progressive House mix

Aloha,

I have recently been asked to play a night that is geared more towards progressive house fans. So last night I figured I would practice a bit and spin only progressive house compared to my typical deep house. I am sure for some of you this is a no brainer yet spinning these two genres are completely different in terms of working the transitions and length of the actual mix.

Most deep house tracks carry the melody and bassline almost to the very end of the track whereas progressive house breaks down much earlier. It leads me to wonder if a producer's song structure is influenced by how the DJ actually uses the track. I know when I produced dance music, before I became a DJ, all my DJ friends were asking me to extend the intros and outtros to allow for longer mixing. I am constantly reminded of mistakes I made in producing tracks by the very things that frustrate me now about certain tracks.

OK back to the topic. Deep house mixes are shorter, creating either exciting shifts during the mix or short seamless transitions. Progressive house mixes succeed with the length of the mix and integration of both tracks elements producing a short musical play between both tracks. So what is essential for great progressive house mixes you ask...great beat matching. All good DJing starts with clean, consistent beat matching. Spinning progressive house and striving for the perfect 2 minute mix will definitely test your beat matching skills and your ear for more intricate programming.

Hopefully this was somewhat informative or entertaining.

Geoffrey / Mint DJ

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A special mix coming your way! What is TWBP?

Howdy everyone,

What is TWBP? TWBP stands for This Week at Beatport. My friend Pete Smalls (awesome producer/remixer) has came up with a great, new website that features some of the latest tracks from Beatport. His website This Week at Beatport will feature two mixes; one from Pete and one from a rotating list of resident DJs. If you are a DJ or a dance music fan, this site will soon be a great resource for new music.

It also happens that yours truly put together a mix for TWBP! So....come November 1, everyone will get a new set from my podcast. If you can't wait, run on over to This Week at Beatport to listen to both Pete and my set.

I hope the cooler weather is treating you well unless you are my friends in the southern hemisphere or live near the equator. You know who you are...Jason and Polly.

Geoffrey / Mint DJ

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Mint DJ's October/Fall Deep House Mix

Howdy y'all,

This month I am delivering a new hour and half mix of some of the tunes I have been spinning this past month. Due to a busy schedule, this mix was pretty spontaneous yet came out really good. One, maybe two mixes are a little off but the tracks rock! Please feel free to post your feedback.

Tracklisting
Anil Chawla - Disco Stew
DJ Sulli - Up All Night(Sullis Stripped Mix)
Troydon - Close Your Eyes
Chicago Transit Authority - Being There
Cesar Vergel - Quick Fix
Booka Shade - In White Rooms(Mexico Mix)
Marco de Souza Patrick Turner - PBC
Bryan Jones - Bump This
Q Big Rufus Dunkel - Blackhole
Budai & Vic - Meeru
Phunk Police - The Problem
Spare Time - Lazy
Stan Kolev - Music Non Stop
Suroh Stathis L - Sentimientos(Stathis L)
Daniel Taylor & Loco Dice - Mord(Loco Dice Remix)

All these tracks were purchased from Beatport.

Mint DJ / Geoffrey

October / Fall Mix has been recorded!

Sorry for the delay yet good things are in store. The set was recorded last night and I should have it posted tonight.

Geoffrey / Mint DJ