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Posted by Radders2003 on Dec-27-2004 13:52:

Picking out small differences

I'm practicing beatmatching. I'm mixing DuMonde - Human and Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar(John 00 Fleming remix). I choose these because they both have a really solid kick drum. I'm sure i beatmatched these 2 together, but i wasn't 100% sure. I got energy 52 down to about -3.8, tested it and it was the correct speed, i think i know that for sure. But when i cue it up and test it, they just seems to be a really small gap between the 2 beats. Really really small and it just about doesn't sound right in speakers. For a minute i thought energy 52 was just a bit ahead, i slowed it down and it ended up behind. So now i'm thinking was it really in sync, or was t just a weird kick drum beat when the 2 was in sync, how can you tell?

Also, i seem to picking up fluff on my needle, when the needle is going around, at the end of the track there is a bunch of fluff, can you some how prevent this?

Also, when having one ear in headphones and one ear to speakers, and i cue them up it sounds like they are in sync but when i put headphones on to listen to both at the same time they are not..?

Cheers.

Posted by dj jasonF on Dec-27-2004 14:48:

you cant be perfect. but you must be able to beatmatch 2 tunes close enough so noone can tell the difference. try eq the incoming track and it will sound better.

try cleaning the record with the vinyl cleaning brush... and get sleeves for all the records that dont have one. but anyways after you play the record and clean the needle a few times you wont have that problem (if you get the sleeves)

Posted by Radders2003 on Dec-27-2004 23:42:

Hmm never thought of that i might try it, cheers.

I only seem to be able to beatmatch tracks with a solid kick drum. If for example i'm trying to mix a chillout track like above & beyond and another one simlar i can't pick out the kick drum beat. I can't help myself but listen to the hi-hats and melodies etc..

When i'm mixing just kick drum beat tracks i can get beatmatchign quite easily but it only becomes a problem when the are beatmatched but they are out of sync. I don't know which one is in front. Is there a way to help me do this?

Cheers.

Posted by Tony Morello on Dec-27-2004 23:43:

yes, when you slow a record below 0 it will start to distort slightly and will usually sound a bit "off"
i recommend pitching a record up than down

Posted by Radders2003 on Dec-27-2004 23:44:

quote:
Originally posted by dj jasonF
try eq the incoming track and it will sound better.

What do you mean by that? Cheers.

Posted by djxtension on Dec-28-2004 00:32:

quote:
Originally posted by Radders2003
What do you mean by that? Cheers.

Use the Bass, Mid, and Treble (or High) knobs on your mixer to filter out certain frequencies.

When mixing, you (almost) always cut out the bass of the incoming track, to prevent a 'bass-boom'. If you play two bassdrums together, it will sound like shit. By cutting out the bass on the incoming track, you prevent the two basses from clashing. The same goes for mids & highs.

Edit:

I've created a short mix that illustrates the use of eq's. Try to find out what happens to the eq's and volume as you listen to the sample.

Download Sample (Right Click > Save As...)

I hope it clears things up a bit.

Posted by Eric Siefer on Dec-28-2004 00:57:

as for only being able to match kicks, try listening to the hi-hats, snares, and other beats. Identify which ones hit the same time as the kicks and beat match with those instead. Its how I learned to match songs that dont have strong kicks.

Posted by Radders2003 on Dec-28-2004 01:13:

Cheers, will try that.

When mixing, or fading over from one record to the other when do you fade out the treble? I've been reading various things and i know how to do the bass. I just put the bass to 0 on record 2, fade over, then fade out bass on record 1 and bring in bass on record 2 at the same time. That seems to work smoothly. But when do you do the same procedure for the treble?

Cheers.

Posted by razzi on Dec-28-2004 01:28:

quote:
Originally posted by Radders2003
But when do you do the same procedure for the treble?

Cheers.

when i bring a track in with the bass filtered out, i slowly bring the treble of the playing track out, so the treble is kind of being switched from one to the other i guess. but of course it varies per mix

razzi

Posted by Radders2003 on Dec-28-2004 02:15:

So you bascially have each hand on the treble button for each channel and fade one out and fade one in? I shouldn't really be asking these questions yet, i'm still learning how to beatmatch..

Posted by Radders2003 on Dec-28-2004 16:01:

I just beatmatched my first 2 records today, properly! But i don't think i got the mixing right. I matched the phrases up and let it play. I'm not really concentrating on mixing yet, just practicing matching the phrases, cueing and beatmatching. I beatmatched Robert Gitelman - Children Of The Sun & Energy 52 - Cafe Del Mar (John 00 Fleming remix). I beatmatched the 2 records, matched the phrases and let it play. The first record was playing (RG - COTS) But i had to cue up the 2nd record again because it wasn't at the beginning, so in the end i just panicked and messed up the phrases. But at least i got the 2 records beatmatched, that's the main thing.

Could you tell me is this is how you mix properly? (it will be way off, but please tell what i'm doing wrong). Btw, i'm using a crappy numark package mixer, with only treble and bass to play with.

I have the bass down on record 2, and all other knobs up. I slide the crossfader a quarter of teh way across. Wait for a phrase to finish and move it into the middle. Then i bring in the bass on record 2 while i bring the bass down on record 1. Then wait for another phrases etc. move to 3/4 way across, phrase, then to the end.

Cheers.