DJing Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[phoenixbass]

How the hell do some djs match beats that fast ???? Any tips, techniques ?

[Miroslav]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

I don't claim to have reached perfection, but I've spun for a number of years and I'm pretty comfortable going from cueing, matching, to live sound on the fly pretty quickly. I think it's 2 things:

1. Once you cue up and get going, DON'T touch the record/CD platter (or avoid it as much as possible). Learn to beatmatch exclusively with the pitch control. Use the pitch control and you reduce your margin of error down very close to your equipment's margin of error. Use your fingers a lot and you working against your equipment.

2. Practice a ton. It's simple in theory, hard in practice. It takes a long time to connect what you hear to just the right level of response at the right time. As you do this, you learn that you can monitor the silent/quieter record continuously vs. the live/louder one, and you learn what it sounds like the second when they start coming apart. Then, it's using just that pitch control to bring them back together again (again, pitch control is much more finely tuned in accuracy than your finger).

I don't think there's any other magic trick out there that will just unlock all of the secrets and suddenly make you know it all. If there was, there would be virtually no value in being a DJ...you really could just get a stereo system.

[res0nat0r]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

^^totally correct. i have just messed around myself in my room for the last 5 years (and not enough to be consistently good imo) and have never had the guts to play at Therapy like Miroslav above, but that is totally on point imo.

[Johnson]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

also doing this. Saw Roger Sanchez a few years ago and was amazed that he simply never touched the record and did all correction with the pitch fader ... definatly need some training but my mixing became much better. the less you use your fingers on the record it become more important to pitch/match the record perfect.

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

it's all math, i can match very quickly by knowing my math and appling it to dj'ing. BPM's relate to the pitch control and how much you wish to fluctuate it.

[lilsensa]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

just listen to it.....make adjustments with the pitch control and ride it....notch it up or down depending on what it needs....quickly down then back up or up then back down....if you do it fast enough, no one can tell....

[Aleks_B]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Miroslav has some good points, most def. in regards to the "try no to touch the platter" advice, i think that may hold truth....i come from a turntablist backround, so this has been a habit i have been trying to minimize, since i learned cdj's.

[FM]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Pitch control allows a bit more refinement...if you find you're touching the platter too much in a mix one way, then it's time to move the pitch control a bit...if you have to grab the thimble then you're definitely a bit off....I have no qualms about doing it this way, the problem is if you get it a little too hard that bends the pitch for a moment (and if you really want to be good you want your mixes to be as seamless and flowing as possible).

As for actually matching quickly, that boils down to listening, listening, listening and being able to grab and notice the beat differences quickly...like jeffrey said, I do the same thing with the BPM's; it allows me to set things at or very close right off the bat so it'll stay in the flow, then at best, minute adjustments need to be made...instead of chasing up and down the pitch control trying to narrow it down...it allows for those 60, 90, 120-second plus mix-throughs...

[Jayson]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Turntables make ths all the worse though, as turntables do drift. But practice is the way to go mate. What I like to do is pitch the record I'm mixing in to -5%, so that way I always know I have to pitch it up to mix, no guessing if it's too fast or slow when getting it close.

[Miroslav]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Miroslav has some good points, most def. in regards to the "try no to touch the platter" advice, i think that may hold truth....i come from a turntablist backround, so this has been a habit i have been trying to minimize, since i learned cdj's.

I taught myself to mix and had my hands all over the records for years...then went through the process of un-learning all of that and improved exponentially. I'm quite firmly convinced that it's the ONLY reliable way to go, because it's the only way that you know that your records are spinning at the equilibrium dictated by the equipment, not the temporary speed dictated by your meaty paws. Pitch control is remarkably efficient and it forces you to be a better listener, too.

One last opinion: some DJs like to spend a lot of time in their headphones listening to the blend of one track into another, sometimes even messing with just the hi, low, or mid frequency... Get away from all that. Learn to mix exclusively with one ear in your headphones listening to the track you're mixing in and one ear on the monitor. It'll make you a much better DJ.

[dirtyhousebeats]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

i think that's very true but i know alot of dj's that just mix, there is no programming of music and that is a art form of it's own it's about the production of a mix

[Johnson]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

also second that headphone issue Mirolsav ... splitt mixing is really confusing me because i've learned to have the playing track on the pa, the next track one the headphone right ear.

[jeffrey collins]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

A lot of times the programming of a set can really make for a boring night. As you may wanna play one way but your crowd definitely wants to hear something a bit different.

You might be playing some banging house music, then go into some more progressive stuff, then you see you're losing your crowd, it makes you wanna play more banging house music.

[Jayson]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Meh, the trick is to gain their trust earlier and easy it in slowly to a different mood, but still keep the groove going.

[hulkhuss]

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

also second that headphone issue Mirolsav ... splitt mixing is really confusing me because i've learned to have the playing track on the pa, the next track one the headphone right ear.

+1 but it's the left ear