How to Prepare DJ Edits and Mixes for Mixcloud

Mixcloud is the right place for a set built from Club Ready Music DJ edits: it is made for mixes, its licensing covers mixes, and it takes a WAV or MP3 with a tracklist and timestamps. Prepare by building every edit at the same Volume level so the recording sits level, record the mix, then write the tracklist using the intro end cue in each edit's comment tag to time the moment the song itself begins. A single DJ edit of another artist's song is not a release; it is a track in your mix.

Steps

1. Build the edits at one level

Build each DJ edit with the same Volume level, −8 LUFS by default, so no track jumps out when you mix them back to back. Keep Intro bars and Outro bars consistent across the set, 16 and 32 for instance, so every transition has the same amount of drum loop to work with. Build the set's edits in one sitting; the worker processes a few at a time and a four-minute song takes about two minutes.

2. Plan transitions on the cue times

Each edit's comment tag reads something like "126 BPM, . Cues: start 0:00.000; intro end 0:30.476; outro start 3:12.000". Intro end is where the song proper starts; outro start is where the vocals begin to fade and the drums carry on. Mix in during the incoming edit's intro and mix out during the outgoing edit's outro, and the joins happen over drums and bass only. Write these two times down per track before you record.

3. Record the mix

Record in your DJ software or an external recorder at 24-bit 48 kHz WAV, matching Club Ready Music's output. Keep the master out of the red; the edits are already at −1 dBTP, so a mixer gain above unity on both channels during a transition is where clipping happens. Note the clock time each time you load a new deck, or mark it in the recorder. Those notes become the tracklist.

4. Write the tracklist with timestamps

Mixcloud wants artist, title and a start time per track. For each edit, add the edit's intro end to the time you started that deck, so the timestamp points at the first bar of the original song. Credit the original artist and title, and append "(DJ Edit)" if you want listeners to know it is your edit. Your own studio tracks list you as the artist with the title from the TIT2 tag. Accurate credits also help Mixcloud's licensing recognise the music.

5. Choose the upload file and artwork

Upload the WAV recording. Mixcloud encodes it for streaming, and the lossless source avoids a second lossy step. If the file is too large for your connection, make a 320 kbps MP3 in a free converter instead. For artwork use the square cover JPEG from the DJ pack of a studio track in the set, or your own image; Mixcloud shows a square.

6. Add a name drop at the top

Render a 5 s drop on the Drops page with Render 3 variations and record it at the head of the mix, or trigger it from your sampler as you start. Drops are fixed at −8 LUFS, so it sits at the same level as a −8 edit. Use the Dry version if you talk over the first intro, and the MP3 with the Impact hit bed if the mix opens cold.

7. Describe the mix

In the description, list the BPM range and the key spread. The comment tag of each edit carries BPM and TKEY, so a set of 124 to 128 BPM edits in A minor and its neighbours is easy to summarise. Put the Club Ready Music share links for your own studio tracks in the description so listeners can download those; leave edits of other people's songs unlinked.

Tips

• Mixcloud shows the tracklist as chapters, so timestamps within a few seconds matter more than perfection.
• Use Shift tempo to on edits that are a few BPM apart so the whole set runs at one tempo and the recording needs no pitch riding.
• A mix recorded from edits at −8 LUFS lands close to −8 LUFS overall. Leave it; Mixcloud is a listening platform and loud mixes are normal there.
• Keep the WAV of the recording. If Mixcloud ever needs a re-upload, you have the source.
• Save the tracklist as a text file next to the WAV; the cue times you noted are reusable for a YouTube chapter list.

Common problems

• Timestamps land on the drum intro, not the song. You used the deck start time. Add the intro end from the comment tag.
• One edit is noticeably louder. It was built at a different Volume level. Rebuild it at −8 with Change settings & rebuild.
• The transition clips. Both channels were above unity across the join. Pull the outgoing channel down during the outro; the edits already peak at −1 dBTP.
• A track in the mix is flagged. Mixcloud's licensing needs correct credits. Fix the artist and title in the tracklist to the original release names.