Exact beatmatch

[Guest Quazzi]

Posted this on music making but nobody answered:

 

Hello, i've been messing around with a couple of cdj 100 for some time now, but there's one thing that sometimes pisses me off........

 

Sometimes i can't do the beatmatch between the tracks because the exact beatmatch is somewhere between(for example) 0.7 and 0.8 and as you guys must know there's only 1 decimal number in the tempo bar. So, what do you guys do in this situation?

 

Thanks

[Guest sandrookie]

You should listen to your mix and make the beats match with your ears. Pitch a millimter up and afer 10 seconds or so a millimeter down? Don't trust the electronic ounter is sucks anyway on most machines.

[Guest Krell]

Hi Quazzi

 

What you can do is use the pitch bend function via the jog wheel - Get a feel for how much the tracks are drifting a part and then adjust it as needed, preferrably in advance before the tracks drift apart.

 

You could also do as Sandrookie suggests, or you can try and get the pitch to shift between 0,7 - 0,8 (error in the cdj100s player)

 

I use pitch bend though, and I suggest you do the same.

 

Alternatively, sell a kidney and buy a couple of cdj1000 who pitch down to 0,02% (however, you probably wont find that great players in the real world dj booth) - and if you learn to use pitch bend right, it wont matter much anyway.

 

Regards

 

Krell, Denmark.

[Guest Quazzi]

I don't understand. I'm talking about the tempo bar on the cdj100, it's digital so i can only move the tempo between the decimal numbers 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4 etc etc. but sometimes the exact beatmatch is 0.15 (for example). Are you saying that the tempo bar has a manual capability?

[Guest Quazzi]

Hey krell, that's what i sometimes do. Mostly the pitch shift thing. :-)

[Guest Krell]

Hi Quazzi

 

Your talking about the pitch selector to the right of the CD player - It can only adjust the tempo 0,1% - You need to to do the rest of the adjustments real time via the Pitch Bend function (the jog wheel).

 

The CDJ100s only has a pitch precision of 0,1%.

 

Regards

 

Krell, Denmark.

[Guest DT]

Quazzi:

 

I know exactly what your going through because I am going through the same thing right now. I also use cdj100

 

Some tracks can be matched at some tempo, but others will go out of phase at the best setting on the pitch slider. What you need to it sandrookie told you to do.

 

You have to or the you'll get a crappy mix when you lay the cued track on the live one during upfader/x-fader time.

 

I wouldn't wait ten seconds though. It seems to long. Two measures could possibly go by in that interval, and the tracks could defintely go out of phase at that time. What I do during my mix is adjust it by a 0.1+/- % difference around every 3-4 measures. It depends on the songs. You're going to have to coordinate your fingers with pitch slider too because if you push to hard, you'll easily pass the 0.1 difference mark. The result is the beats will possibly go out of phase(which sux ass during mix time).

 

Here's two practice tracks for you.

 

Try to mix:

 

GMS- SpliffPolitics

Kindzadza - Romantik Moments

 

While the basslines are almost completely the same, the kicks are not. This shouldn't be too much of a hassle if your just trying to practice this method..

 

Good Luck dude

 

DT

[Guest Krell]

To DT.:

 

Ive never actually tried using the pitch slider to compensate for drift -

 

However, the drift isnt always equal + and - Sometimes you will need to slow a track more than you speed it up - How does you technique work in those cases ?

 

I will try it for sure myself.

 

How would you say your technique compares to using pitch bend to get the tracks in line ?

 

Regards

 

Krell, Denmark.

[Guest Quazzi]

I think i know what DT is talking about and i thought it was what you were talking about.

 

 

Sometimes the exact beatmatch is in between the decimal numbers (for example 0.75), so to keep the beats in time just keep shifting the tempo bar from 0.7 to 0.8 and vice versa. That way you make a medium valour between the two, wich is 0.75. I think this technique is better than the one with the jogwheel. Isn't that what you're talking about DT?

[Guest DT]

Krell:

 

Assuming your using a cd player:

 

It depends.

 

Line the beats on the two songs up. Listen to what happens when you adjust between some 0.1+/- difference. Do the beats go out faster when you go up or slower when you go down(and vice versa)?

 

Use the measures on the cued song as a timing device. See what happens when you adjust accordingly when a few measures go by. If you no change occured in one direction(say going in the +0.1 direction), then you can adjust in that direction every amount of measures. If you think you can get better accuracy when a few more measures go by, then go for it. Do the same procedure for the other direction. The amount of measures may be different in this direction. You perform your oscillations on the pitch slider according to this pattern.

 

You'll know if it works because mixing does not lie to you. It literally tells you fucked up by give you these crunchy sounding beats.

 

It's more accurate than the pitch bend because your hand will shake when you spin the jog wheel(whether you want to accept it or not). The pitch slider does not move the majority of the time when you adjust it. SO it's speed will stay constant. Your hand moving the jog wheel won't.

 

Good luck dude,

 

DT

[Guest DT]

Quazzi:

 

BINGO. This is a definite must when mixing certain songs.

[Basilisk]

You've got it... sometimes to get a mix going just right you have to either detect the 'drift tendancy' as I call it and correct it with a push or pull of the jog (timing of which is totally up to you to sort out by rhythm) or just ride that pitch control in the same way... whether you're using master tempo or not has a bearing on the issue as well (be gentle with the jog in either case)...

 

CDJ-100 as a standard for parties = stooopid. But no one really ends up caring, they're all high! *wink*