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just got turntables-any tips??

my boyfriend and my turntables just came yesturday.....i am sooooo excited, we got the TT200's for our first set and a Stanton RM-3S mixer....well, my question is if anyone has any tips on how to start..i know i have to play around by myself and i have been, but i didn't realize how hard this is--my head feels like it is spinning it seems confusing....my boyfriend seems to be doing all right, but i can't even remember what is what on the mixer how terrible is that???? so please if anyone has any suggestions or tips, let me know.....i'm dieing over here.....i know, i know, i just have to do it myself, but i need a some tips

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...?threadid=82271

check that thread first.

personally, i would suggest doing the following. first learn the mixer. figure out what each knob and slider does to the sound. it's really not all that complicated, logically laid out. read the manual if you need to.

next i would put the crossfader in the middle, leave all the channels open (all they way up) and put on two records. try to beatmatch them, don't even worry about headphones at first. once you've got beatmatching down, then learn EQ and fading.

Re: just got turntables-any tips??

quote:

Originally posted by bia my boyfriend and my turntables just came yesturday.....

You can order boyfriends online too? WoW! Did he come from the same site as your turntables? If so, why didn't you upgrade to a boyfriend that can teach you to Dj!



Anyway, as Johnsmith said above, make sure that you know what each knob, button and slider does before you start out. Play a record and see what each does. Then, what I would suggest is that you use only three things:

1. The gain control for each of the two channels that your TTs are hooked up into.

2. The volume sliders for the same two channels.

3. The cue pan slider that allows you to adjust the volume in the headphones between % cue track and % live track.

Everything else you can ignore once you set the master at a reasonable level.

The first thing that you should do when you lay down the record is to put the track to the right speed, 33/45/78, then, with the needle in the middle of the vinyl (during a chorus etc) adjust the gain level of that track so that it peaks just beyond 0dB. You don't want to overload your equipment.

Then back your record up and let it spin until you reach your first bass beat. Stop your record by holding it in place and letting the slipmat slip (like it is supposed to!). Rewind the track until you can move the vinyl back and forth over your first bass beat. Then move it back and forth to the rhythm of the live track so that the beat in your headphones matches the beat coming from the speakers. Once you feel that you can release the beat on cue, then do so and push the record slightly so that it will catch up to the live one.

So how do you start learning how to beatmatch? First thing I would do is start with two really long tracks--10 mins or more if you can find them. This will give you plenty of time to try to beatmatch the two tracks. The hardest part of learning how to beatmatch is figuring out which track is going faster/slower. In order for you to speed things up, use my technique and listen to the highs of each track rather than the bass beats. This is way more accurate to beatmatch with anyway, so it is a good habbit to develop now. Use the cue pan slider to figure out which sounds are coming from each track.

Once you figure out if your cue track is faster or slower, then adjust the pitch slider accordingly and then go back to your first bass beat. Release it and then tweak the record so that it is beatmatched again (even for a short amount of time) and keep repeating this process until your track is beatmatched. This sounds so simple, but it may take you about a week before you can start to bring two tracks together without sounding horrible. You will get better and better as you keep practicing, but you MUST practice. When your BF is spinning, watch what he does and listen to what is coming out of the speakers. I would also suggest that you get a headphone splitter so that the one of you who is not spinning can still listen to what the other one is listening to. You will also need another pair of headphones. You can get all the parts that you need at radio shack, the salesperson can help you.

To preempt your next post, search the web and read about how to beatmatch, phrasematch, gainmatch, keymatch etc. There are a lot of other aspects to DJing other than beatmatching, so don't forget that once you beatmatch your first two tracks and think that you are the shit One of the better sites that everyone recommends is this:

http://www.recess.co.uk/

Visit it, read it, learn it! I also suggest picking up How to DJ right by Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster. This book has gotten its own great review thread on this forum, so search for it if you want to learn more about this book. I have it and recommend it whole-heartedly.

"my boyfriend and my turntables just came yesturday"

Sounds like it was a fun day? ..

es

Re: Re: just got turntables-any tips??

quote:

Originally posted by Dj Flesch You can order boyfriends online too? WoW! Did he come from the same site as your turntables? If so, why didn't you upgrade to a boyfriend that can teach you to Dj!

hHEaah what a funny one...lol

Re: just got turntables-any tips??

quote:

Originally posted by bia my boyfriend and my turntables just came yesturday.....i am sooooo excited

We don't wanna know! People ejaculate all the time anyway!

Re: Re: just got turntables-any tips??

quote:

Originally posted by Rememberence_ We don't wanna know! People ejaculate all the time anyway!

I don't!

Re: Re: Re: just got turntables-any tips??

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger777 I don't!

*points and laughs*

Re: Re: Re: Re: just got turntables-any tips??

quote:

Originally posted by Unknown DJ *points and laughs*

Bahhahahaha, nice come back hehe

sounds like someone got sum decks then . when i first got mine i was fasinated at how they span and dazed for about 10 minues as my head went in circle motions hehe, smal things please small minds

tezz

Just to let you know, Beatmatching is something really hard for new wannab dj's like me just don't give up, and practice everyday pretty much forget about your B/F
One last thing ... You will not learn how to beatmatch in a week or 2, it might take you months !

lol

ha ha guys real funny......i was going to edit it, but after i read it i figured i would leave it up just for kicks.....i always order boyfriends online anyway....thanks for the tips.....i know it will take time....but progress is being made
i know what everything does on the mixer and actually have played two records at the same time without it being train wrecked(i wouldn't call that beat matching, though).... but then after a couple minutes didn't sound good anymore-it was horrible......i will master the art of djing--i am not a wannabe, i just want to have fun and drop beats

How many records do u have ?

we have 15 records....not enough, but a good start

Hey Bia... always good to see that more people are getting in to Djing.

As mentioned in earlier post I would say take the cross fader to the middle and leave it there. Once you have done that never touch it again. In the world of trance you are better off using the up faders for everything with regards to bringing in music and fading it out. In time you will need to use the EQs (Hi, Mid, Low) controllers for each channel if you mixer has this feature but that's for laters.

A habit that you will develop as a DJ is to manipulate the Deck plate or the record directly with your hands. This is fine in earlier stages but you should try and break that habit as soon as possible and rely more on pitch adjustments to alter speed (Admittedly hard to get used to but worth it). The reason for this is that everytime you touch the deck plate to slow down or speed up it will carry on affecting it after you have made the adjustments for a short time. If you don't touch it, it will be true to the speed it shows you on the pitch.

For those of you that use Technics there is a little trick you can do with the speed buttons if you need to speed the record up (This only works on 33s). Hold down the 33 speed and give the 45 a little tap. You will find that the Deck plate will get a small controlled burst of speed. Sadly this does not work the other way round.

15 records eh? That's not bad, I would say to you that you need to know each record that you intend to play in your set inside out. Know the breaks and learn to recognize phrases (meaning a section in song over a count of 8,16,32,64,128 etc)in music. Respect these and your mixes will sound a lot better.
Beat matching is a good skill to have without doubt and one that needs to be good, but something that most young DJs will become obsessed with. To be truly efficient and precise with your beatmatching can take years to develop. But knowing your records and what speed they are in relation to eachother is extremely useful. Not talking numbers but the difference on the pitch control. As you DJ more and more you will get used to registering this kind of information without thinking about it.

Remember music selection far out weighs DJ skills when matched against one another. Naturally the DJ who has both will make the biggest impression so both sides need to be nurtured.

Best of luck with the decks and tunes.

Cheers
Nem

oops posted on wrong thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Freak oops posted on wrong thread.

Late one last night by any chance?


Cheers
Nem

quote:

Originally posted by Nemesis44 Hey Bia... always good to see that more people are getting in to Djing. As mentioned in earlier post I would say take the cross fader to the middle and leave it there. Once you have done that never touch it again. In the world of trance you are better off using the up faders for everything with regards to bringing in music and fading it out. In time you will need to use the EQs (Hi, Mid, Low) controllers for each channel if you mixer has this feature but that's for laters. A habit that you will develop as a DJ is to manipulate the Deck plate or the record directly with your hands. This is fine in earlier stages but you should try and break that habit as soon as possible and rely more on pitch adjustments to alter speed (Admittedly hard to get used to but worth it). The reason for this is that everytime you touch the deck plate to slow down or speed up it will carry on affecting it after you have made the adjustments for a short time. If you don't touch it, it will be true to the speed it shows you on the pitch. For those of you that use Technics there is a little trick you can do with the speed buttons if you need to speed the record up (This only works on 33s). Hold down the 33 speed and give the 45 a little tap. You will find that the Deck plate will get a small controlled burst of speed. Sadly this does not work the other way round. 15 records eh? That's not bad, I would say to you that you need to know each record that you intend to play in your set inside out. Know the breaks and learn to recognize phrases (meaning a section in song over a count of 8,16,32,64,128 etc)in music. Respect these and your mixes will sound a lot better. Beat matching is a good skill to have without doubt and one that needs to be good, but something that most young DJs will become obsessed with. To be truly efficient and precise with your beatmatching can take years to develop. But knowing your records and what speed they are in relation to eachother is extremely useful. Not talking numbers but the difference on the pitch control. As you DJ more and more you will get used to registering this kind of information without thinking about it. Remember music selection far out weighs DJ skills when matched against one another. Naturally the DJ who has both will make the biggest impression so both sides need to be nurtured. Best of luck with the decks and tunes. Cheers Nem

WOW!! WOW!! and WOW! That's all I can say !
I'm need a further explanation about some stuff you wrote.
1><><><>
You wrote:As mentioned in earlier post I would say take the cross fader to the middle and leave it there. Once you have done that never touch it again. In the world of trance you are better off using the up faders for everything with regards to bringing in music and fading it out

Question > Why ?
I always move the crossfader to bring in the music.

2nd<><><><>
You wrote :........ speed up it will carry on affecting it after you have made the adjustments for a short time. If you don't touch it, it will be true to the speed it shows you on the pitch.

Question > What do you mean ?

You Wrote :meaning a section in song over a count of 8,16,32,64,128 etc

Question > Everyone talks about it but no one explains the newbies what that means !


Hunted wrote :ive always learned to beatmatch inside my headphones,with both songs cued, now i recently tried the method with one ear in headphones(with cued song) and listening to the monitor with the live song. obviously this way is harder. but which way do you guys do it?

Question > Which one do u recommend ?

Thanks for all the great advices you have given me/us !

Heya IKKI

Sure... I will try and explain some of the things I was mentioning earlier.

Answer 1:
With regards to the use of the cross fader there are a couple of reasons why you should avoid using it.
The practical reason is that you will encounter various types of mixers at both clubs and parties and although the cross fader principle will be similar on most of them they can vary a lot. One of the major differences can be the actual curve that each fader has. Some faders will play both tunes at full volume when in the middle. Others will have what's known as a soft curve, which means that both tunes will be at a reduced volume when in the center. You can assign this on some and some mixers don't even have cross faders. They also vary as to how quickly a channel comes in at full volume (An obvious example is if you take a Hip Hop battle mixer.. it's instant to allow for crabbing etc). Then of course you get mixers like the Allen & Heath V6 Rotary mixer which is designed for house music and to give trance DJs nightmares (Ran into one at a club in France).

Cross faders also have a habit of getting worn out real quick and you will get what's known as bleeding. This means that the sound leaks through even though it should be quiet.

My main reason is however that you have more individual control over that particular channel. Whatever you do with the channel that is due to be mixed in the one that is currently playing will be unafected. Something that is hard to transfer to all types of crossfaders as it's quite easy to throw the fader just that little bit too far... or alternatively not enough. You can reproduce the effect of a fader with the channel faders but not visa versa.
If you play techno at the back end of your sets like me, it's also good to be able to slam in beats or rolls every now and again. I also cut beats up (Not quite like a turntablist), but again this is usualy with the harder stuff. The use of channel faders does open up your creativity a little more as far as dance music is concerned.

From a personal point of view I also find it easier to keep track of the EQs when looking at the channel fader, also less distance for you hands to travel. It's easier to EQ a mix when using the channel faders in my humble opinion. What it boils down to for me is ultimately control as my hands are near the features I need on most mixers.

Next post for next answer

Nem

Right... onto the second answer.

What I mean is that when you place your hands on the deck plate you affect the speed of it right? But then what happens afer is not so obvious. Although we probably wont hear it, the time it actually takes the deck plate to return to the speed it was before we touched it is about 5 to 10 seconds. Might not sound like much but there are many DJs who may make a second adjustment within that time slot and will make the task of matching the record harder.
You know when you match a record and it seems perfectly in time and then without reason starts to drift? Here's one of your reasons.

Ok... let's talk a bit of music theory.

Trance basically obeys the same rules as house music with regards to the beat. That is to say that there is a kick drum that plays four beats to every bar (I am told that Americans call this a measure).
So if you count along to every kick (Bass drum) like this 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 you have in actualy fact identified two bars (measures) in a song providing you started in the right place. If you take the needle to the very beggining and start counting with the first beat you will see what I mean.

Traditionally there are 4 bars (measures) to every phrase. Most trance records usually have phrases comming in pairs and the producer will very often let you know this by bringing in a new instrument or sound at the beggining of a new pair of phrases. So if you want to identify a phrase you would need to count 16 kick drums. To identify 2 phrases you would need to count to 32 and so on. Although once you get used to this idea you wont need to count as it will come naturally to you.
To get the best mixes you would try and do it something like this:
Always start the tune you are about to mix in on the first kick drum of a new phrase in the song you are going to mix out. that way your phrases will be matched and you wont suddenly have a bass line or a melody popping in out of time to give you any nasty surprises.

In my opinion if you know a little more about the music you are playing it will make you a better DJ.

Last answer to come

With regards to how I use my head phones or how I would recomend you do it. Hmmmm... this could be kicking off a debate he he.

I will normally tend to que with both channels playing in both ears on que mode providing the mixer gives this option, and the majority do. Once the time comes to do the mix I will start it off in my phones and then take them off and listen to the monitor speaker if it's a good system.
If the mixer only gives you the split cue option then I prefer to have one ear in phone and one listening to the music system.
If there are no monitors or they are bad then I will use the phones but making sure to check the sound on the dance floor periodically. This is really important as the accoustics of the place can really affect how you need to balance the EQs.

I think though from the point of view from someone who has just started I would go with the way you find the best until you are comfortable with the mechanics of beatmatching. Then learn the method where you have one ear in and one out.
In time you will find there are more things to worry about other than just speaker lag, that I promise. (Clubbers, other DJs, Sly Promoters, Music Policies, Technical problems).

I would also check out some of Freak's posts if you want to know more about DJing, I don't know the guy in real life but you can tell by how he writes he does know what he is talking about.

Cheers
Nem

I agree about the crossfader.

leave it in the middle- or even better turn it off if your mixer has this option. The only things i use the x fader for is when im mixing drum n bass or garage ocasionally.Even for scratching i tend to use the channel faders.

The most important thing to remember is everybody has their own way of doing things and mixing- that goes for beatmatching, slowing the platter, monitoring- the whole lot. By all means take advice of how people do things- and give them a try- but dont take them as gospel.
Just experiment and try to find the way that is most comfortable to you.

You will think im mad now :lol

Try doing a mix with no headphones. And i mean beatmatching, dropping etc- all without headphones.
I tried this ages ago and it helped no end with my mixing- especially when/if you come to playing in clubs and are more reliant on the monitor than you would be at home

yes it would sound shite in a club or bar (ive had to do it when my phones have broken)- as you get the galloping horses when you open the fader until you have the pitch- but you arent in a club- you are in your bedroom practicing arent you... so it doesnt matter. gets you used to pitching quickly and using the monitor or system to hear your mix
Im not mad- honest.

It will get easier trust me- things are very daunting at first

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH Nemesis44 that was just perfect !
thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you

quote:

Originally posted by Freak You will think im mad now :lol

Freak,
That's just great... first off I tell them to listen to ya... then you tell them that you are mad.... how does that make me look?

Hehe

Although the actual point made there is true, it is worth giving yourself as many different obstacles as you can. You just gotta get used to hear the sound in different ways.

cheers
Nem

thank you so much freak and nem.....you both know what your talking about!!! i'm still trying to comprehend it there is so much more to this than i thought.....but i am willing to put in the time and effort....would it be ok to pm you guys if i have any questions?? you both seem to know what's up i haven't had a chance to spin in 2 days..went to pvd in central park, nyc....so i have been gone and now i'm tired i already feel like a slacker i'll be on those decks tonight, though

Amazing stuff Nemisis... you should put those writings up on a website...
PM me if you want help .

es

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