Beat Match City

Made with Logic Pro at 68 bpm Quick video on making a vocal-free instrumental from the original song. A little background: back when I was spinning vinyl (around 2002-2006), it was common to buy a single, and the single would come with an instrumental. Here's an example from my collection: Not as simple today, because those voice-free beats are hard (if not impossible) to find - as far as I know. Luckily, software like Logic Pro makes it easier to sift through a song, find the parts you like, then cut them out and loop them to make your own instrumental. In the case of Jay-Z's Big Pimpin, it's easy to just take the first few bars and call it a day. But for the purposes of a mix, remix or mashup, I wanted to find slightly quieter, flute-free bars that don't overwhelm the other tracks we're using. In this video, I found a couple pieces toward the tail end of the song and turned them into a 56 second mix with Day N Nite and What's Poppin.

Made with Logic Pro at 132 bpm Title of this mix doesn't make much sense, but we managed to fit in the names of all 3 songs somehow. I'd been wanting to lay that percussion-less intro to Ed Sheeran's Bad Habits over something, and it was nice to finally get around to it. A simple yet effective blend overall; I like how this came out. Songs come from this playlist and this one .

Made with Logic Pro at 69 bpm So I've been sitting on this since early December; an example of a mix I wasn't really happy with, but sank enough hours into, and thought there was still something interesting there. Sound feels a bit thin, not enough bass (loops I chose either didn't have enough or had so much that I adjusted the EQ to tone it down), and the drums are a bit much - or not enough - depending on the headphones you're using. On a side note: none of these songs really fit into any of the playlists on djcheatsheet.com melodically, and I didn't want to make a separate 3 song list, so these will be floating on their own island for now. In the meantime, hope you like this better than I do, or you find something compelling you can develop on your own. Featured songs: Be Without You - Mary J. Blige Mask Off - Future Hotline Bling - Drake

Made with Logic Pro at 70 bpm The process of putting this together was a good example of the old saying 'two's company, three's a crowd.' Tried to integrate a third song and it just wasn't working for me, so I spent more time cutting/reshuffling N****s in Paris. And in the process, I learned that Jay-Z is saying 'ball so hard muthaf****s wanna fine me,' not 'ball so hard muthaf****s wanna find me' like I always thought - not to mention my misinterpretation of the slowed-down version as 'this is how muthaf****s wanna find me.' Goes to show I'm a beat guy first, lyrics guy never. Here's the playlist we drew from

Made with Logic Pro at 68 bpm What started as a transition between songs in mix #55 of the sterling mercury show in September 2020 has finally evolved into something closer to fully-fledged. Always liked how these two sounded together, and finally figured out that Can't Get Enough was the perfect third wheel for what I was trying to build. Maybe one day we'll add even more, but this is about as good as I can do for now. Songs taken from this dj cheat sheet playlist - in case you feel like making your own mix.

Made with Logic Pro at 72 bpm Snooze - SZA [72 bpm] We Belong Together - Mariah Carey My, My, My - Johnny Gill Snowchild - The Weeknd Dj Cheat Sheet playlist

tempo: 67 bpm the DJ's take: Probably a good choice as the backbone of a mashup/remix; heavy vocal-free intro. You could maybe pair with some lighter tracks like Mercy , Lemonade , or even Breakdown . And if you're sticking with a Weeknd/Ariana Grande theme, this could sound cool with main thing and Nothing Compares . Peruse our key- and bpm-compatible playlist and see what works for you. download or stream Die For You (Remix): amazon

tempo: 133 bpm the DJ's take: I think this youtube comment summarizes the vibe (and demographic) pretty nicely: If you're staying key-compatible, maybe double-time over songs in this playlist , or find some music in this playlist that's in the 127-130 bpm range. Probably best dropped at a middle or high school dance. download or stream Boy's a liar Pt. 2: amazon

Made with Logic Pro at 72 bpm My favorite part of this little clip - when you hear the string of low-pitched 'yeah's in Pony, and then travis scott chimes in at the end with a little 'yeah' of his own. Always fun when you can make the lyrics/vocals from two different songs line up into something interesting. Further confirmation that Pony can fit in with just about anything on this playlist . Listen to the full episode here: mix #56

Made with Logic Pro at 66 bpm Songs used: Unholy - Sam Smith, Kim Petras N 2 Deep - Drake, Future First I wanted to mix this with M.I.A.'s Bad Girls , but that's been done. Then I thought of Ginuwine's Pony , but apparently that's been done too. So we settled on a specific loop in N 2 Deep that worked well enough with the key of Unholy (which has a good instrumental-only section at the end, starting around 2:19). Obviously not a finished product, but you repeat a few times, and it's the start of something, right? Maybe we'll build this out a little more in the future.

tempo: 65-66 bpm the DJ's take: This one makes me think of M.I.A.'s Bad Girls (~72 bpm) with the Far/Middle Eastern chord progression. I haven't tried it yet, but put both of them at ~69 bpm and that could be an interesting mashup possibility. Try mixing with songs in these playlists: 60 to 65 bpm , 65 to 70 , and 70 to 75 f (for songs are in the low 70s). download or stream Unholy: amazon

Made with Logic Pro at 72 bpm This one came together a little quicker than usual. Can't go wrong with that heavy intro to Ginuwine's Pony; wanted to add a couple softer, percussion-free instrumentals on top, Lemonade and 7 rings came to mind, and away we went. Decent little party mix/mashup, if I do say so myself - or at least the beginning of one. The ingredients (and hopefully some inspiration for your next creation): DJ Cheat Sheet playlist . Lemonade - Internet Money, Don Toliver, Gunna, NAV Pony - Ginuwine 7 rings - Ariana Grande Mercy - Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz Jumpman - Drake, Future Throw Sum Mo - Rae Sremmurd, Nicki Minaj

Made with Logic Pro at 66.5 bpm Most of my 'mashups' consist of throwing together a couple songs off one of our playlists , or looping a lightly edited transition off one of my mixes . But this time, I went deeper and made something a little more proper. Pieces of five songs in about 2.5 minutes, and the end result was encouraging. Maybe we'll do some more like this in the future. Here's the list of tracks - watch the video and see if you can pick out where they're used: Any Time, Any Place - Janet Jackson Freek'n You - Jodeci You Right - The Weeknd, Doja Cat Say My Name - Destiny's Child pov - Ariana Grande Follow the playlist on djcheatsheet.com

Links: Made with Logic Pro at 72 bpm Fun little instrumental blend of Bryson Tiller's Always Forever , which we used in mix 66 , and Mariah Carey's Do You Think of Me , which ended up on the cutting room floor. As you can see up top, I broke out the scalpel and did some slicing to make the beats match up better. Final verdict: Worth it. Follow the playlist on djcheatsheet.com

Links: Made with Logic Pro X at 73 bpm From episode #70 of the sterling mercury show Goodbyes - Post Malone ft. Young Thug Drankin N Smokin - Future, Lil Uzi Vert Follow the playlist on djcheatsheet.com

Links: Made with Logic Pro X at 73 bpm From episode #68 of the sterling mercury show Fashion Killa - A$AP Rocky Believer - Major Lazer Follow the playlist on djcheatsheet.com

Links: Made with Logic Pro X at 73 bpm From episode #70 of the sterling mercury show Slow Jamz - Kanye West, Jamie Foxx, Twista bloodline - Ariana Grande Follow the playlist on djcheatsheet.com

Links: Made with Logic Pro X at 73 bpm From episode #68 of the sterling mercury show Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake No Matter What - T.I. Follow the playlist on djcheatsheet.com

speed: 71 bpm the dj’s take:  Song #1 in episode 70 : Not exactly a banger, but we're trying to ride the mythical algorithm into some listens, you know? Although eventually the bass provides a little ghost percussion effect that builds up into the rest of the mix. I'd probably save this for the very beginning or end of a set. Then there's nowhere to go but up in terms of energy, or you're shutting it all down. Based on my research, 2:25 is a good time to move into the next song - Adele starts getting fancy with the word 'easy,' and you bring in an instrumental intro for whatever's coming up. Positions was a decent choice here because the first few notes are just plucked strings with no drums, so the transition feels like a natural continuation. Some other key-compatible tracks from 70 to 75 bpm: Fake Love - Drake Blocks - Marshmello Locked Out Of Heaven - Bruno Mars All I Do Is Win - DJ Khaled Handsome And Wealthy - Migos Holy Grail - J...

Made with Logic Pro X at 73 bpm 20:23 of hiphop and pop music Check out some more mixes here . Playlist is here . Tracklist (start times in parentheses): 1. Easy On Me - Adele 2. positions - Ariana Grande (2:21) 3. Slow Jamz - Twista, Kanye West & Jamie Foxx (4:59) 4. bloodline - Ariana Grande (6:45) 5. All I Do Is Win - DJ Khaled (8:55) 6. Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars (11:20) 7. Handsome & Wealthy - Migos (12:38) 8. Lonely - DaBaby & Lil Wayne (15:43) 9. Drankin N Smokin - Future and Lil Uzi Vert (17:58) 10. Goodbyes - Post Malone (19:50)