How to Change Tracks Without Mixing Them.

How to Change Tracks Without Mixing Them

When Cutting Makes Sense

A cut does not compete with mixing: it solves situations where a mix cannot or should not work.

• A tempo or genre change. If the tracks do not share a speed, beatmatching means pushing pitch until one sounds bad. Cutting avoids that cost.
• A change in energy block. Moving from a gentle section to a peak, or the reverse, is more noticeable and works better with a clear change.
• The playing track has nothing left to give. Once it has served its purpose, keeping it going to “mix properly” is worse than removing it.
• The incoming track has a powerful opening. If its first bar is already a recognisable impact, presenting it outright is more effective than bringing it in underneath.
• You have decided to cut live. The track is not working for the audience. Simply removing it at a phrase boundary is the cleanest exit.

Ways to Cut

There are three basic forms; the difference is how long the handover takes:

• Hard cut. The outgoing track disappears and the incoming one is already playing. No overlap at all.
• Counted cut. Essentially the same, but based on counting: wait until the end of a block and hand over on the first beat of the next. This is the deliberate version of a hard cut.
• Short fade out. Very brief overlap: lower the outgoing track over a few bars, or reduce its highs and mids, while the incoming track is already taking over.

A cut using EQ is still a cut: reducing the outgoing track’s bands before removing it makes its disappearance less noticeable, but does not turn it into a mix.

The Hard Cut

This is the most direct and most misunderstood option. Execute it as follows:

1. Prepare track B on the other deck, with a cue on the first beat of its first bar containing rhythm. It does not need to be beatmatched, because it will not play alongside A.
2. Set its level with trim, already checked in headphone cue.
3. Count to the end of track A’s block.
4. On the first beat of the next block, bring B up and A down at the same instant.

Step 4 is critical: one gesture. A hard cut made in two gestures leaves a silent gap, and that gap gives it away.

Criterion: a well-executed hard cut does not sound like a cut. It sounds as though the next track was exactly what should play.

The Counted Cut

The same operation with explicit counting is the method to use until hard cuts come naturally. The mechanics:

1. Find a phrase boundary in track A, rather than an arbitrary position.
2. Count the bars remaining before that boundary.
3. Enter on the first beat of the bar following the boundary.

Phrase boundaries are not everywhere. In much dance music, sections are grouped in multiples of 4, 8 or 16 bars, with four beats to a bar. That gives you candidates, not certainty: there is no universal definition that a phrase is 8 bars. Find the actual change in the track in front of you; the grid is a starting point, not a contract.

If a track has variable tempo, human drumming or a live recording, a counted cut may fail by definition. In those cases, cut where the music breathes rather than where the count says.

What Makes a Cut Sound Good

The factors separating an intentional cut from an accidental one:

• The phrase boundary. By far the main factor.
• Choosing the incoming track’s first bar. If its first beat starts with a strong, recognisable element, the cut justifies itself.
• Perceived tempo coherence. Even without beatmatching, a hard change from 128 BPM to 100 BPM changes the context; going from 128 to 126 needs more delicacy.
• Comfort with the gesture. Fader travel and curve completely change the feel. The rekordbox manual documents that channel audio follows the curve selected in preferences and that the crossfader curve is also configurable. Long travel and a gentle curve give a soft cut; short travel and an aggressive curve give a clear cut.

Practice heuristic: prepare a cut as you would a mix. Choose the entry point, mark it with a cue and decide which phrase boundary will be the handover. Improvisation shows, more in a cut than a mix, because nothing disguises it.

What to Do After Cutting

The cut ends when the incoming track plays alone. That is where work begins that hardly anyone explains, but that prevents half the subsequent mistakes:

1. Stop the outgoing track’s deck. Left playing, it advances on a closed channel; if you accidentally raise that channel again, it sounds from an arbitrary point.
2. Return controls to a known state. The outgoing channel often has reduced highs or mids. Without resetting them, the next cut carries an adjustment already left halfway.
3. Check the crossfader. If you cut with it, it is at one extreme. The next movement would start from a position you did not choose.
4. Load and prepare the next track on the free deck. A set depends on always having the next decision resolved.

Practice heuristic: treat each cut as a two-part operation: hand over, then leave the mixer ready. The second part is invisible when done well and very visible when forgotten.

Cutting Is Not Bad Mixing

A widespread idea says cutting is what people do when they cannot mix. That is false, and the reason matters.

Mixing and cutting are tools for different problems:

• Mixing lets two tracks coexist: it maintains energy and continuity while the material changes gradually.
• Cutting lets two tracks follow one another: it accepts change as part of the musical narrative and places it where it makes sense.

Both need preparation, listening and timing control; the phrase boundary governs both. The structural explanation is in What Phrasing Is and How to Mix by Phrases. The difference is the effect you want, not your skill level.

What is a mistake is cutting because you cannot make the other transition: if someone cuts every two tracks because they cannot beatmatch or phrase properly, the audience notices. The reverse diagnosis is just as real: mixing two tracks that should not coexist simply to demonstrate mixing ability produces long, boring transitions.

Common Mistakes

Cutting on an arbitrary beat. This is the number one mistake. A cut on the fourth beat of a bar rather than the first feels like a playback failure, even with two perfect tracks.

Using two gestures. Raising the incoming track and, a moment later, lowering the outgoing track leaves a gap or unintended overlap. Make the cut in one go.

Cutting without headphone cue. Without knowing what plays in the incoming track’s first bar, you cannot choose the cut point. Cutting does not forgive improvisation because nothing covers the gap.

Confusing a cut with a tempo-based exit. Lowering the outgoing track’s pitch so the incoming one enters “matched” is no longer a cut: it is a poorly executed mix. If you intend to cut, cut.

Always cutting. An entire set of cuts has no narrative: it is a playlist. Cuts work because they contrast with mixes, not because they replace them.

Forgetting the other deck’s state. After a cut, the outgoing track remains loaded and playing. Without stopping it, returning to that deck starts you from an arbitrary position.