When to Turn Intro Bass On or Off in a DJ Edit

Leave Bass joins in the second half of the intro switched on when you want the intro of your Club Ready Music DJ edit to grow from drums into drums plus bass on its own, and switch it off when you plan to control the low end yourself with the mixer EQ. On, the bass stem fades in over one bar at the halfway point of the intro. Off, the intro is drums only until the one-beat crossfade into the song's first downbeat, which gives you a clean bass swap at the drop.

Steps

1. Know what the toggle actually changes

Club Ready Music splits the song into vocals, drums, bass and other stems. The intro is the loudest 4-bar window of the drum stem looped to the intro length. With the toggle on, the bass stem from the same window is looped as well and faded in over one bar at the halfway point, so a 16-bar intro is 8 bars of drums and 8 bars of drums and bass. With the toggle off, the bass is absent until the song itself starts. Nothing else in the edit changes.

2. Decide how you handle bass at the swap

If you mix with a bass swap, cutting low EQ on the outgoing deck as you open it on the incoming deck, switch the toggle off. A drums-only intro means the only bass in the room is the one you choose to let through. If you prefer the incoming track to arrive with its full groove and you ride the fader, leave the toggle on and let the bass build in on its own.

3. Check for key clash

Two basslines in different keys fighting under one kick is the most common reason an intro sounds wrong. If the song you are editing is not in a compatible key with what you usually play it after, switch the toggle off and keep the intro to drums. When the keys are compatible, the toggle on adds harmonic content that can make a long blend sound richer. The TKEY tag on the finished edit tells you the key to compare against.

4. Match the toggle to the intro length

With Intro bars 8, the bass arrives after 4 bars, which is a quick change. With Intro bars 16, it arrives at bar 8, which is the sweet spot for most mixing. With Intro bars 32, you get 16 bars of drums before the bass, so switch the toggle on only if you want a long stripped-down approach. With Intro bars None the toggle has no effect, because Club Ready Music adds no intro loop to put bass under.

5. Build and listen to the bass stem alone

Press Build the DJ edit and, when it is Ready, press the Intro button to jump to the start. Listen at the halfway point for the one-bar fade. If the bass sounds thin, filtered or carries a hint of vocal, the bass stem from that song did not separate cleanly, and a drums-only intro will be the better choice.

6. Rebuild with the other setting if needed

Press Change settings & rebuild, flip the toggle, and build again. The song is reused without a new upload. Comparing both versions through the Intro button takes a few minutes, and the second build is usually the one you keep.

Tips

• Songs with a sub-heavy bassline, such as house or techno, benefit most from the toggle on because the bass stem separates well and carries the groove.
• Songs where the bass is a picked or slapped bass guitar often separate with some bleed. Try the toggle off for those first.
• Redrum set to Intro & outro only adds a synthesized kick, not a bassline, so it does not replace the bass toggle. They do different jobs.
• The intro ends with a one-beat crossfade into the first downbeat. With the toggle on, that join is smoother because the low end is already present.
• If you mostly mix into the edit from a track with a strong bassline, off is the safer default across a whole set.

Common problems

• Two basslines clash in the second half of the intro. The keys do not match. Switch the toggle off and rebuild, or cut low EQ on the incoming deck until the drop.
• The bass arrives too early for a quick cut. With Intro bars 8 it comes after 4 bars. Use Intro bars 16 or switch the toggle off.
• The bass in the intro sounds muddy or carries vocal. Club Ready Music's bass stem did not separate cleanly on this song. Rebuild with the toggle off.
• The drop feels sudden with the toggle off. That is the trade-off of a drums-only intro. Bring the bass in with the EQ a bar before the drop or switch the toggle on.