Lemmiwinks Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 ok ok I know, everybody wants to be a DJ, right? Ah so what, I've decided that after years of simply listening to music in my bedroom I'd like to start fooling around with some DJ gear and see what this beatmatching thing is all about. I've got one of those Hercules USB DJ soundcards (I gather there's no use in investing 1500+ euros in high end gear when I'm not even sure I have any talent). Of course, as one would expect, I don't get this beatmatching thing at ALL!! I've looked over a few tutorials on the net but still it all seems pretty fuzzy to me. So any recomendations for a noob? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlockalien Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 well.. you gotta match the beats... no but really... you can use ´queue´ on the track you are going to mix, just before a beat... adjust their bpms so that they are similar (but dont change the ´key´ of the tracks or else they sound weird.. just change the speed.. on pioneer cdj´s, the button not to change the key but only the speed is ´master tempo´ I think)... then when you think that its time for you to start ´mixing´, start playing the second track just before the beat of the one that´s playing already starts, so that they both beat together... but do this with the ´channel ´ of the second track closed, so that only you on the headphones can hear it... and when you see that they are perfectly together, then start opening the channel to the speakers this is one of the ways... or you can count how many seconds it takes for the beat of one track to start, and then start playing the track when the same amount of seconds are missing for the other track to finish... but this depends on how the tracks are beginning and ending, if the intro and outro are compatible, etc... anyway, remember the queue button is always useful, remember to adjust the bpms but not change the ´keys´, and just try things out (im not an expert or real dj, and I dont know how normally people do it, but I´ve played a bit with it and got the hang somehow in my own way.. hope it helps) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlockalien Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 I just said 2 simple ways.. but there are many more things you can ´play with´ when mixing and different ways.. but I guess this cant really be taught so much, because it depends a lot on the person playing.. you can use loops, you can play with the ´jet´ thing, you can turn that round thing in the middle (forgot the name, but it makes the speed faster or slower momentarily) etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alek Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Ok here it is in short and as simple as it can be... I'm sure someone will jump into details. You probably already know you got 2 decks (CDJs) and a mixer. Then you've got the PA system (speakers aimed at the unsuspecting crowd), a monitor (aimed at you, playing the same as the PA system) and headphones. The principle goes as follows: Deck#1 is playng a track at 145bpm. You've got a track in deck#2 at 140bpm. Switch the headphones to play deck#2 only (choose which channel the headphones play on the mixer)... now you got deck#2 coming on the headphones and deck#1 coming on the monitor. Increase the pitch (speed of the track) on deck#2 until its the same speed (as close as possible anyway) as the one on deck#1. "Align" the beats on the two tracks using the jog wheel (which is theoretically a very slow rewind/forward function). Now that the two tracks are of (almost) the same speed you can mix them (put both channels on the same volume level so they are coming out simultaneously out the PA). The choice is entirely up to you how you go about it and depends on the track. You need to know that mixers have frequency kill switches... low kills the bass/kick and high kills the cymbals, there is also medium frequency kill. What's the use you ask? Using a pure example: you usually dont want two basslines playing at the same time or two cymbal rolls... so you kill one on each track... or both. This will ease the transition between the two tracks. After you comprehend what beatmatching is, there are actual techniques to consider... its best to have a more experienced DJ show you this in person. Watch, learn, practice. There's also the very useful feature of CUEing... will discuss it some other time. As you might have noticed, some CDs have bpm listings for tracks in the booklets, this can help you a great deal. It gets a bit more complicated when you are not aware of what bpm the two tracks you're mixing are. Although practice cures all... Also, about pitch control... different CDJs have different pitch precision. For example the Pioneer CDJ100 can pitch up/down a track by 0.1% while the new CDJ200 is more precise at 0.02%. So for every 1 step of the 100s pitch, 200 has 5. This means you can get closer to the bpm of the track you're mixing. Less pitch precision = more jog wheel riding. This means you will have to continuosly correct and realign the two tracks as one goes faster/slower than the other. So precision is very useful for long mixes since you won't have to be fixing all the time... Since you say you don't get beatmatching at all this should be helpful to you... All I can say is DJing can be very FUN, but you need skill... and skill comes with practice. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted September 11, 2005 Author Share Posted September 11, 2005 thanks for the infos the thing I don't really get is the use of the jog wheel which is aparently so all-important: it's pretty easy to imagine how one nuges a bit the vinyl to spin faster/ slower but how do you "nuge" with the jogwheel??? Also a word on the master-tempo: doesn't that alterate the pitches of BOTH decks at the time? It would be awkward to slow down/ accelerate the track which is playing out loud, no? PS beatmixing really shows you why DJs love minimal music so much: it's so much easier to beatmatch when nothing much is going on in a track except the kick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted September 11, 2005 Author Share Posted September 11, 2005 off-topic but just as I was randomly strolling through the web to find more articles on beatmatching I find this quote on Ishkur: Other people who don't have to beatmatch are ambient dj's and also Goa (Psy to those currently producing) Trance dj's for the most part do not either. This is due to the laziness of the hippy culture. LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmtree Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Use the CUE button. start the second track on the beat at the same time a phrase begins in the first track. helps when you're finding the right speed, and when you're mixing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alek Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Jog wheel: unless you move it, it's static... unlike vinyl. If you spin it one way (clockwise for example) with your finger the track will play faster, like fast forward... naturally, the faster you spin the jog wheel the faster it will forward... spinning the jog wheel the other way goes to rewind, same rules apply. When you're not spinning it, it doesn't move If it doesn't move the track plays normal. You can also nudge the wheel bit by bit until it fits into whatever you want it to fit into. The thing is that the speed increment is so small that you can do precise actions with the jog wheel. Example: there's a break and you CUE at the very climax. However you most likely don't have lighting fast reflexes so you will be a bit off... miliseconds count here. Worry not, once you set the CUE you can "fine tune" it with the jog wheel... moving a very small amount (i dont know the exact measure) of time, finding the perfect spot where to release it... you can preview what you cued and tune some more if you're not happy. The master tempo control is on the player itself, just like pitch control... not on the mixer, so it applies only to the player on which you set it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmtree Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Some CD players have the jog wheel that spins.. CDJ 1000s or Denon table top players have that function. Also, not all CD players have the master tempo/key control function. There are so many different brands of DJ CD decks, while Pioneers are the most common ones, there are other good ones that have different ways of setting cues, fast forwarding/searching, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 I advise you not to use master tempo - it drastically reduces quality of newer well-produced material with a 'full' sound palette... you may as well be playing mp3s if you do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundrop Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 I advise you not to use master tempo - it drastically reduces quality of newer well-produced material with a 'full' sound palette... you may as well be playing mp3s if you do that. 334294[/snapback] i agree... and master tempo can make the pitch sound bad when you mix two tracks with +-5 bpm... the songs sound out of tune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaib Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 when matching the bpm of two tracks, the rule of the thumb is that 1 bpm equals 0.7% (although it doesn't hold when the bpm rates of 2 tunes diverge widely) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj mylo Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 1. Calculate your bpms beforehand. 2. Remember that +/- 1bpm = +/- 0.7% 3. Count the beats that you are listening to. When you hear a crash your counting should begin ( crash = 1 ). Bring in your next track when you reach 16. 4. Use your ears for the rest! You will hear when the two tracks are riding together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 1 BPM is approx. 0.7 on the pitch slider at around 145 BPM - that's an important point. It is slightly less or slightly more as you move away from that tempo. Hence why a deck with .02 pitch resolution is particularly handy for proggy stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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