B
Bridpop
Guest
OK - I dont claim to be any kind of expert, and this is just a variation on what is already known, so dont shoot me down in flames. But if this helps anyone then it was worth while.
OK - I got my decks about 3-4 weeks ago (1 Gemini XL 500 MK2 Decks and a Gemini 626 mixer, Sony MDR 700 headphones) and i didnt have a clue how to beatmatch until i formulated my own slant on the existing techniques:
1. Get record one playing out of the speakers (duh)
2. In headphones, start record 2 and use finger on label to get the record to the first beat, and keep your fingertips on the record to keep it in place
3. Move the record back and forth under the needle till you can get the beat in a position where you KNOW the beat will happen when you release the deck.
Now with your fingers on the record, hit the START/STOP button with your other hand and the platter will stop spinning (or trying to spin) - Now you can take your hand off the record for a moment.
4. OK, the crucial part. Make sure the pitch of record 2 is set BELOW that of the record you are going to mix this into, you should know roughly how each track is, bpm wise.
Its important that you make sure record two is gonna be SLOWER than record one. Ill explain why in a minute.
5. Now, listen to record one coming out of the speakers and start to follow the beat patterns. Have one ear listening to the speakers, and the other listening to one side of the headphones.
6. At the beginning of a 16/32/64 beat phrase, RELEASE the track that you had under your fingertips, and push the record with enough pressure to have it running more or less at full speed. You should be aiming to get the beat you have under your fingers starting on the first beat of this phrase.
7. As soon as you do this, put the other headphone on your your ears, and start listening to the two tracks playing together in your headphones. It will sound awful - but dont worry.
8. Now you KNOW that record two is SLOWER than record one so the pitch slider will ONLY be have to moved in one direction. Now put your finger on record 2's label and speed up the record for a moment, you should hear the sound of the records thumping out of tune, change. Make small pulling movements, speeding the record up, until you hear the tracks thumping together - you'll know when this is because the sound in the headphones will sound clear.
9. Now, up the pitch about 2mm and listen to the headphones again. The tracks should start to slip out of alignment again (as expected) so put your finger on the label and speed it up a bit till you hear the beats coming together again, then as soon as they are together, move the pitch another 2mm and go back to listening.
10. The beats will probably fall apart again, listen CAREFULLY to the bassline of the tracks running together, properly beatmatched records have a clear THUD THUD noise, whereas beats that are out of alignment sound DIRTY (if you catch my drift).
11. Go back and keep doing the pattern of:
a. Speed up record with finger to get beats aligned
b. up the pitch a small amount
c. Go back to concentrating on listening to the beats playing together. As soon as they sound mis aligned (or Dirty as i call them) go back to (a)
Now, basically the only thing ive done NEW here is deliberately limit things to the point where you KNOW which track will be too slow. So with only one direction to change the pitch in, you can concentrate on getting THIS right, then when you become more experienced you can learn how to do things either way (speeding up OR slowing down to get beats matched). Basically the more the minute movements you make with the pitch, then the more likely you will be able to beatmatch accurately first time. As long as you pay attention to LISTENING to the beats, then you should be able to beatmatch within days, even HOURS if you concentrate.
This only covers a fraction of what you need to know about dj'ing but it helped me get over the frustrating days of learning to DJ quickly.
Importantly, to do this right you need the core skills of handling your decks right etc. You should be able to get a beat positioned under the needle, know your decks and how delicate you need to be when pushing the record to get it up to speed immediately, and know how your way around the cue'ing sections of the mixer so you can do all these steps in seconds, leaving you time to concentrate on beatmatching.
Hope this is of help to someone 8)
OK - I got my decks about 3-4 weeks ago (1 Gemini XL 500 MK2 Decks and a Gemini 626 mixer, Sony MDR 700 headphones) and i didnt have a clue how to beatmatch until i formulated my own slant on the existing techniques:
1. Get record one playing out of the speakers (duh)
2. In headphones, start record 2 and use finger on label to get the record to the first beat, and keep your fingertips on the record to keep it in place
3. Move the record back and forth under the needle till you can get the beat in a position where you KNOW the beat will happen when you release the deck.
Now with your fingers on the record, hit the START/STOP button with your other hand and the platter will stop spinning (or trying to spin) - Now you can take your hand off the record for a moment.
4. OK, the crucial part. Make sure the pitch of record 2 is set BELOW that of the record you are going to mix this into, you should know roughly how each track is, bpm wise.
Its important that you make sure record two is gonna be SLOWER than record one. Ill explain why in a minute.
5. Now, listen to record one coming out of the speakers and start to follow the beat patterns. Have one ear listening to the speakers, and the other listening to one side of the headphones.
6. At the beginning of a 16/32/64 beat phrase, RELEASE the track that you had under your fingertips, and push the record with enough pressure to have it running more or less at full speed. You should be aiming to get the beat you have under your fingers starting on the first beat of this phrase.
7. As soon as you do this, put the other headphone on your your ears, and start listening to the two tracks playing together in your headphones. It will sound awful - but dont worry.
8. Now you KNOW that record two is SLOWER than record one so the pitch slider will ONLY be have to moved in one direction. Now put your finger on record 2's label and speed up the record for a moment, you should hear the sound of the records thumping out of tune, change. Make small pulling movements, speeding the record up, until you hear the tracks thumping together - you'll know when this is because the sound in the headphones will sound clear.
9. Now, up the pitch about 2mm and listen to the headphones again. The tracks should start to slip out of alignment again (as expected) so put your finger on the label and speed it up a bit till you hear the beats coming together again, then as soon as they are together, move the pitch another 2mm and go back to listening.
10. The beats will probably fall apart again, listen CAREFULLY to the bassline of the tracks running together, properly beatmatched records have a clear THUD THUD noise, whereas beats that are out of alignment sound DIRTY (if you catch my drift).
11. Go back and keep doing the pattern of:
a. Speed up record with finger to get beats aligned
b. up the pitch a small amount
c. Go back to concentrating on listening to the beats playing together. As soon as they sound mis aligned (or Dirty as i call them) go back to (a)
Now, basically the only thing ive done NEW here is deliberately limit things to the point where you KNOW which track will be too slow. So with only one direction to change the pitch in, you can concentrate on getting THIS right, then when you become more experienced you can learn how to do things either way (speeding up OR slowing down to get beats matched). Basically the more the minute movements you make with the pitch, then the more likely you will be able to beatmatch accurately first time. As long as you pay attention to LISTENING to the beats, then you should be able to beatmatch within days, even HOURS if you concentrate.
This only covers a fraction of what you need to know about dj'ing but it helped me get over the frustrating days of learning to DJ quickly.
Importantly, to do this right you need the core skills of handling your decks right etc. You should be able to get a beat positioned under the needle, know your decks and how delicate you need to be when pushing the record to get it up to speed immediately, and know how your way around the cue'ing sections of the mixer so you can do all these steps in seconds, leaving you time to concentrate on beatmatching.
Hope this is of help to someone 8)