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matching your beats

ok i have not been doing this very long. i have a question about matching beats or base lines. i can most of the time get them pretty close to the same but about a beat per minute off. my questin is how can yall tell witch track is going faster than the other one. i was told not to use the bpm counter while learning this so that you dont have to count on it to mix songs.

some times when i do get them really close i can hold it for about 20 seconds before it gets a little off. sometimes this is when it gets bad because i will speed up or slow down the wrong song. what are some of yalls imputs on this. thanks for your help.

IMO it's just practice. Just speed the track up a tiny bit, if it goes more out of sync, then slow it down quickly. I still dont get it right everytime

I cant think of anyway of knowing besids keep practicing untill it becomes in you nature to tell it apart. It took me a while but if you just keep practicing. It just becomes easier and easier the more the u practice!

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Originally posted by moondog IMO it's just practice. Just speed the track up a tiny bit, if it goes more out of sync, then slow it down quickly. I still dont get it right everytime

yep agreed, its just something you 'get' once you practice enough.

practice, practice, practice. that and the use of the split/blend function on your mixer.

don't use ur bpm's for starters!!! don't listen to the mix in ur headphones, just listen to the track ur bringing in. listening to both track at the same time in ur headphones will just confuse u more. Ul pick up a feel for it eventually. Keep practicing and don't let it diss hearten u if u get it wrong, no 1 gets it perfect all the time!

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Originally posted by GlobalTeknician don't use ur bpm's for starters!!! don't listen to the mix in ur headphones, just listen to the track ur bringing in. listening to both track at the same time in ur headphones will just confuse u more. Ul pick up a feel for it eventually. Keep practicing and don't let it diss hearten u if u get it wrong, no 1 gets it perfect all the time!

Actually listening to both in my phones at the same time is how I learned, got it down within 2 days too. If it sounds chaotic, it's not matched up. If it doesn't sound chaotic, it's matched up, but might need some pitch slider adjustments. With this method I don't need to know which one is going faster, and can match speeds and beats within 20-30 seconds on 90% of my records (100% of my generic four-on-the-floor records, but it starts getting sketchy if I go into tracks leaning towards idm).

i agree w/tranc3. i learned to mix on my headphones. - i had to, i can't crank it @2am during the week. hehehehe...

actually, i beatmatch better on my headphones, rather than using the monitor/headphone technique that everyone but me uses. ;p -it's more accurate.

i have seen a couple videos of me mixing, and hearing the transitions. there i times where i distinctly remember riding the pitch control to keep the music together. -i can hear what's happening in the headphones and i'm adjusting accordingly, but you don't hear any of it, or just a little bit of the battle raging in the booth in the videos from a spectators standpoint.

i have been spinning on beltdrives at home since 2000, and i developed a personal technique that i would like to share:

i beat match the records, but i will set the cue record just a tad slower than the record playing. as in just a fraction of %. that way i know what to do when the beats start to slip. just speed up the cue a little, and that's it.

if you find your beats slipping a little more often than you're comfortable with, then use the pitch riding technique that some of the others outlined. i aim to be able to have my beats matched for atleast 8-16bars, in general. i don't do this too much anymore, just when i'm mixing fast -playing several short songs, or beats, in a row, and i don't have the time i would like to have to really lock my stuff down. at least it takes the guess work out of trying to figure out who is too fast or too slow. w/some practice you can get this down really well, and sound really clean.

good luck

keep practicing and it is a skill you will eventually pick up. When I transitiooned from split cue beatmatching to one ear on, one ear off beatmatching, determining whether a track was too slow or too fast became extremely easy.

everybody thanks for yoor help. my mixer does not have a split thing for your head phones but i do have a room that is pretty quiet and i can jam out pretty loud and i have noticed that it easier when its louder than it is when it is quiet. some of my mixing is getting better but i shortened the mix down to where it is 20 to 25 seconds. is that still a long time. i have seen some people hold them together for a looooong time or even 3 tracks at the same time. but thanks again for all of yalls help

It's nice to actually be at a point where you can help people just starting . First off, what kind of mixer do you have? it should at least have the option to fade between both records while cueing, right? when i'm cueing, i make the track i'm gonna mix in louder in my headphones than the one playing out, but still keep the live track audible. btw, when i'm matching, i wear both cups of the headphones, not one on/one off. when you're matching, don't just listen to the kick drum (the BOOM), it's actually the least important, and least accurate. listen for the hi hats (the tss tss). these are quick bursts of sound, and if these are off live (ie both channel faders up), then it still isnt a perfect mix, even if the kicks are matched.

Get used to continuously adjusting the pitch fader on your turntables. if you havent already noticed with your own ears, 1 mm movement of pitch will eventually add up, and can make that EXACT differance you need. You may even need to do these adjustments live sometimes to keep the records matched.

btw, start practicing scratching now. it may seem useless if you spin house of trance, but trust me. when you start making progress and getting good with it, you'll see why. first off, it WILL help your beatmatching and make it that much more precise. Some breakbeat songs sound great with some ill scratches goin to it. even for a prog house song, you can drop in a sample vocal, or a quick beat, it goes on my friend... .

Keep practicing, like everyone says. for sure, it pays off what you put into it. Good luck, God bless.

Practice. Try different styles of cueing. You might find a style that you like best or that helps you match beats faster. The main skill you need to develop is adjusting and making corrections during the mix to keep the beats lined up. Then, you get to the point where you don't even need to beatmatch before you drop a record. You just drop it on phrase, ride the pitch and start mixing. In essence beatmatching while you are mixing.

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Originally posted by Zild Practice. Try different styles of cueing. You might find a style that you like best or that helps you match beats faster. The main skill you need to develop is adjusting and making corrections during the mix to keep the beats lined up. Then, you get to the point where you don't even need to beatmatch before you drop a record. You just drop it on phrase, ride the pitch and start mixing. In essence beatmatching while you are mixing.

imo you should do the beatmatch drop pitch riding thing Zild just said. Much harder at first but much faster imo and more accurate.

That lady in your avatar is smokin!

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