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-- bpm counters ~ to use or not to use
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Posted by Allied Nations on Nov-30-2005 17:21:

quote:
Originally posted by Tranc3
I feel the need to mention this post as nobody else has as of yet. Headphones aren't necessary to beatmatching, and won't necessarily help you - really they're just used so that the audience doesn't hear the two tracks out of sync when you're matching them up. I learned without headphones, just turned up two channels and had a go at it.

As far as beatmatching, you have to be able to hear small details in the overall mix to effectively match, especially when it comes to fine-tuning the phrase differences between the two.

I'll let you know how I learned, was able to match most of my records after 3 days. Of course it took 2-3 mins to match them, but it worked, and now it only takes about 20-30 secs.


Play record 1. Now play record two. Listen to the chaos. If it's the same record, change the pitch on one of them. If it's two different records, chances are that the recorded bpms of each record are already different, so don't change the pitch. Now listen to the chaos. As time goes on, you should notice that they eventually start to come together until they're completely matched, if only for a bar or two. Then they start to drift apart again. Keep listening until you can hear when they're drifting apart and when they're coming together. What I do is listen for I think of as a chaos differential - more chaotic or more ordered, with two records being completely ordered if they're beatmatched.

Once you can hear the chaos/order differentials, or rather when the records are getting closer to being matched and further from being matched, you can start matching them. Play one record. Now play the other. Try pitching one up for a split second or two, then bring the pitch back to where it was. Are the records closer togs are gether? Further apart? If they're closer together, keep pitching it up - you're going in the right direction. If they're farther apart, you're going in the wrong direction, and you need to pitch it down. Of course you have to adjust the pitch slider to a new position if you want them to get matched for more than one or two bars.


Just like tuning a guitar by listening to the speed of the sound waves from the guitar and the tuning fork.

Great explanation.


Posted by tdurden on Dec-01-2005 05:06:

Re: bpm counters ~ to use or not to use

quote:
Originally posted by discobiscuit
do any of u guys use bpm counters? i was thinking about getting one, but they are pretty expensive and i was wondering if there is even a real need for them... does it make beatmatching any easier?

thanks
bisco

ps. if i were to get a bpm counter, which brand/model would you reccomend?


This is a hot button topic if I ever I saw one. You'll get varied opinions on the good, bad and ugly of BPM counters. When I got started, I bought a Gemini BPM250 mixer on eBay for $140. It's a decent mixer for a beginner and has beat counters and beat tempo offset indicators that tell you which record is faster/slower. I used this mixer for a few months 'til I got the hang of beat matching. When I got to the point that I could tell which record was running faster or slower before the mixer did, I put it back in it's box and hooked up my Pioneer DJM600. If you should opt for this approach, treat the BPM counters as a learning tool and nothing more.

BTW, in case anyone's wondering... the Gemini is not for sale.


Posted by Keith Chambers on Dec-01-2005 07:54:

It's probably not a bad idea to get a few sets of the same record. Simple tracks with a nice hard kick. Nothing fancy.

Turn on the quarts and learn to beat match when you know the pitch is already locked in. Then once you get the hang of that move one out and try to get the other to match.

You have to stick at it but trust me that we all went through the pain of learning. It takes time and hard work. But as you get the hang of it you'll rapidly progress. Before you know it you�ll be able to tell which track is faster during the breakdowns.

It�s like driving a manual transmission. Once you can the basics down you can drive, in time you won�t even think about shifting � it will be second nature.


Posted by SteelWolf on Dec-07-2005 21:24:

Unless you are doing something that REQUIRES a set BPM, don't worry about it.


Posted by Djyoungsta00 on Dec-08-2005 22:39:

NOT TO USE why use a bpm counter think about it you would be screw'd if you learnt useing bpm and then you got your first big gig and the mixer that the club has dont have any bpm counters.


result = you would work twice as hard trying to get the beats the same & you would most prob F**k up. NOT A GOOD START!.




so NOT TO USE (At All)


Posted by Greedy on Dec-10-2005 04:58:

BPM counters come in handy so you can get the track cued up ballpark bpm so all you gotta worry about is mixing. Comes in handy when you are playing new tracks or dealing with short tracks.


Posted by Clovis on Dec-11-2005 22:39:

tranc3 is ftw in this thread.


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