how long before you could beatmatch?

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Posted by VIO on Nov-07-2003 20:58:

how long before you could beatmatch?

just curious.

Posted by DeleriuM2K on Nov-07-2003 21:13:

took me about 3 months
I bought my tables (tech1200s) and mixer (vmx300) without knowing absolutely anything about mixing

what I would is start one track, then start the other and just keep adjusting the pitch on both sides

it didnt occur to me to start the beginning of a new bar/measure with a new bar/measure from the other track as a starting point

when I realized thats what I should do, my DJing skills improved immensely and quickly. I can lock 2 vinyls now in about 20-30 seconds. it takes a little longer to lock 2 CDs, cause of the 0.1% increments

Posted by SUNWmsf on Nov-07-2003 21:37:

I started on some gemini belt drive tables back in 1991. It took me about 5 months (16hrs per day). the first 5 months, I had no clue of what i was supposed to do, or even what to match. I just played records together, and adjusted the pitch until i didnt hear out of sync snares. The song would run out before I was able to match the beats... During my learning time of DJing, I didnt have any help cuz i didnt know any other DJ's personally. I guess I am one of those "self-taught" DJs....(so i really dont know any of the tricks and stuff that the DJ's do cuz I wasnt exposed to any of it...)

I had stopped DJing for awhile cuz my tables began to not work properly. The speed of the platter would change if the turntable was playing too long, the pitch would not adjust when I moved the slider..., etc... stuff like that. So I stopped DJing for about 5 yrs and started skateboarding..

Anyways... , I got a new girlfriend whose brother was into DJ'ing and also did Sound for concerts and performances at clubs. So I eventually got back into DJ'ing using his equipment. The both of us (my girlfriends brother and myself), did fraternity parties, weddings , hall parties..., stuff like that, and I got back into DJ'ing.

After awhile, my girlfriend started getting jealous that I would go do shows and i guess she noticed that girls were peeping me out... So since my girlfriend was jealous, she wanted me to not do shows anymore. So, I stopped...

I broke up with that girl about 2 yrs later, and started hangin out with some new fools... One of the guys was into music and he wanted to get some equipment. So the both of us went to guitar center and picked up some 1200/m3d's and a PMC05-pr mk2 mixer. I used his equipment for about a year, just to do bedroom DJing , and also parties at his ladies house when the parents would leave.

I just recently go my own equipment this year ( ~Mar 2003).

I can beatmatch on the fly , but If i want precision and have the time, it will probably take me about 20 secs, do get it. (NO adjustment - minor adjustments needed for 20 sec record pitch setup.)

My new girlfriend wants me to DJ cuz it makes me happy. and when I drink alot, it sobers me up cuz i get all hyped up.

My new girlfriend is cool... im getttin married to her in Dec. Im 30 now.

Posted by las3rjock on Nov-07-2003 22:02:

I just got my first turntable last week and I can't beatmatch worth a damn yet!

Posted by whitesmoke on Nov-07-2003 22:05:

quote:
Originally posted by las3rjock
I just got my first turntable last week and I can't beatmatch worth a damn yet!

hehe...keep at it. congrats on the new purchase.

--strep--

Posted by VIO on Nov-07-2003 22:15:

hhhmmmm... i ask because i was able to beat match the first time i tried. in fact the first time i every tried to mix i was able to spin/mix 4 trance tracks in a row beatmatched and phase matched pretty well. it completely blew away everyone who was there. i just never had to try, i just knew how. it rarely takes me more then 16 beats to lock up two tracks pretty well. i'm not trying to come off as arrogant or say i'm cool because of that. i'm just curious if anyone was able to beatmatch their first time.

Posted by SUNWmsf on Nov-07-2003 22:19:

dayam.... thats hella good... you must be a natural... or maybe you used to listen to alot of music before you dj'ed?

Did you take any music classes prior to dj'ing?

I wish I was like that...[beatmatch first time djing...]

Posted by VIO on Nov-07-2003 22:23:

quote:
Originally posted by SUNWmsf
dayam.... thats hella good... you must be a natural... or maybe you used to listen to alot of music before you dj'ed?

Did you take any music classes prior to dj'ing?

I wish I was like that...[beatmatch first time djing...]

i started playing piano when i was 7. i've studied music for a long time and i read online about beatmatching so i'm sure that had something to do with it.

Posted by las3rjock on Nov-07-2003 23:03:

quote:
Originally posted by VIO
hhhmmmm... i ask because i was able to beat match the first time i tried. in fact the first time i every tried to mix i was able to spin/mix 4 trance tracks in a row beatmatched and phase matched pretty well. it completely blew away everyone who was there. i just never had to try, i just knew how. it rarely takes me more then 16 beats to lock up two tracks pretty well. i'm not trying to come off as arrogant or say i'm cool because of that. i'm just curious if anyone was able to beatmatch their first time.

Wow, that's amazing! So far, I've only successfully beatmatched two tracks twice and trainwrecked innumerable times. Part of the problem is that my records range from 90 bpm house to 140 bpm trance...at some point, I should sit down and determine the bpm of each of my records so I have a starting point for beatmatching. I don't imagine it will take me too long to pick it up, though...twelve years of classical training in piano threw much more complicated rhythms at me than 4/4...

Posted by Boomer187 on Nov-08-2003 00:54:

quote:
Originally posted by las3rjock
Wow, that's amazing! So far, I've only successfully beatmatched two tracks twice and trainwrecked innumerable times. Part of the problem is that my records range from 90 bpm house to 140 bpm trance...at some point, I should sit down and determine the bpm of each of my records so I have a starting point for beatmatching. I don't imagine it will take me too long to pick it up, though...twelve years of classical training in piano threw much more complicated rhythms at me than 4/4...

once you play a record for a long time you just know the BPM. I have a few records where I can just put the pitch at the right spot and it is usually dead on.

although I need to get some new tables or pitch adjusters cause after playing on mk5's these mk2's just don't lock on the same.

damn now I need to make a mix....see ya in an hour or two.

Posted by Trance(PL) on Nov-08-2003 01:22:

quote:
Originally posted by las3rjock
Wow, that's amazing! So far, I've only successfully beatmatched two tracks twice and trainwrecked innumerable times. Part of the problem is that my records range from 90 bpm house to 140 bpm trance...at some point, I should sit down and determine the bpm of each of my records so I have a starting point for beatmatching. I don't imagine it will take me too long to pick it up, though...twelve years of classical training in piano threw much more complicated rhythms at me than 4/4...

Wazup las3rjock, it was fun partying with you at Armin/Necto . BTW 12 years of piano damn man, produce some tracks im sure you got the skillz.

Posted by Psygnosis on Nov-08-2003 02:56:

i used programs to mix at first for a while...when i did actually get my TTs, it took me about a week to beatmatch properly...

Posted by punchline on Nov-08-2003 03:46:

Before I got my turntables I tried to "get an ear" for beatmatching by using programs like traktor. It didn't really work for me. When I finally did get my tables, I found that for some reason it was easier to pick out differences in pitch and fix them.

Maybe it was because it is a lot easier to do by hand but I could beatmatch effectivly within a day or 2, and could do it quickly within a week. And to boot, later when I would use programs like traktor it was extremely easy to match tracks.

Like VIO, I have have spent a lot of my life working with music. Over 15 years of playing piano, including the past 4 years as an improv jazz pianist with a local group. I also play 4 other orchestral instruments, and can pick up new instruments rather quickly.

I think that it's a product of spending a lot of time listening to music critically, as a musician, that makes it easier to hear the little things in songs. A sort of ear training.

Posted by bent on Nov-08-2003 04:05:

Posted by Teraform on Nov-08-2003 05:55:

don't know...dont have tables yet....but in the mean while i am using an assortment of computer equipment in order to make some mixes that i will be able to use when i get tables....doing pretty good...not bad at beat matching...dont know if that counts.....same kinda thing though gotta listen for the beats....give me at least some skills in order to get the beats to match...

Posted by dartman on Nov-08-2003 06:33:

if you mean the first time that i ever beatmatched two songs together and had them sound alright, about three months. i still have off days, but other times i really rip shit up. the more i practice, the more consitant i am becoming. i had no prior music knowledge or training. i still remember my first real mix....we are alive into tell me why. pvd all the way man, or atleast back then it was

Posted by Nemesis44 on Nov-08-2003 08:22:

Hey SUNWmsf congratulations for Dec 30th!

The first decks I had didn't have pitch as I was more interested in scratching etc. plus I couldn't afford 1200s back in 86.
I did however get the chance to try a friends a few years later, and as a result he was pissed at me for being better at it than he was. I had already figured it out a year or so in my head before I actually tried it. It wasn't perfect but not bad.
Did have the luxury of having musical experience thouigh

Cheers
Nem

Posted by Flash Bastard on Nov-08-2003 10:48:

hmm took me about a year or something 4 hours in a week

Posted by dknylady on Nov-09-2003 06:07:

it took me about 2 months of practicing an hour a day at least to train my ear enough to hear the pitch discrepencies. so that made things a lot easier. then it took some more months to really fine tune and be able to tell which track was faster/slower and how much i should adjust. damn i remember being sooo frustrated, it would take me forever.

it's been 10 months and most of the time i get it beatmatched perfectly now, i'm still not perfect of course. but that's why i still practice about an hour a day...

as for beatmatching 4 trax perfectly the first time you touched the tables, i'm sorry, i just can't believe that. i do know that before your ear is trained you cannot hear the trainwrecking at all (i've been through it) so it might have sounded perfect to you and the other people. now you should get some experieced djs to critique your mixing, that will really help to tell if you are REALLY beatmatching properly.

Posted by DJ LIQUID on Nov-09-2003 07:13:

how long before i could do it decent?...hhmmmmm about 2 years HAHAHAHA

its all gravey now baby

Posted by Boomer187 on Nov-09-2003 07:18:

quote:
Originally posted by dknylady
as for beatmatching 4 trax perfectly the first time you touched the tables, i'm sorry, i just can't believe that. i do know that before your ear is trained you cannot hear the trainwrecking at all (i've been through it) so it might have sounded perfect to you and the other people. now you should get some experieced djs to critique your mixing, that will really help to tell if you are REALLY beatmatching properly.

yeap, best advice I got on learning to mix came a few weeks before I got my tables. My buddy who has been djin for like 7 years told me to record everything and listen later. So before I got my decks I gave my computer the ability to record.

my mixes sound totally different later. A lot of my "perfect" mixes were horrible later. so it is always good to record and judge later.

Posted by Salem on Nov-09-2003 07:24:

a hell of a long time.

Posted by Dmatrox on Nov-09-2003 07:38:

took me about 4-5 months to have it down solid. I played about an hour or 2 friday/saturday since i didnt have any time at the time.

I dont play any more because of lack of time.

Posted by Arsalan on Nov-09-2003 10:43:

quote:
Originally posted by VIO
i started playing piano when i was 7. i've studied music for a long time and i read online about beatmatching so i'm sure that had something to do with it.

i read a lot on the net too before i got my numark 1520s and i was able to beatmatch the first time i tried, it wasnt a perfect beatmatch but i was impressed, by the end of 1st week i had phrasematching and everything down too.

Posted by Clyde77 on Nov-09-2003 11:25:

tok me 2 months..
no instructor or anything.
iwas just bymyself
it was too hard esp cuz i odnt know if im doing it right or wrong.
but ye. i think its jst the hours you spend with your tables.
the more u spend time with em the more you can make yourself beatmatch faster. it actually easy its just the matter of knowing if the track is faster/slower than the otehre track.. work it from there.

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