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House Mixing techniques with CDJs

Specifically CDJ800 MK2's...What are the main techniques you use to mix the House genre?

I like looping sections to lengthen transitions but am finding beat matching harder when a tune is in a loop, though once mastered it will sound great.

Re: House Mixing techniques with CDJs

quote:

Originally posted by daeus Specifically CDJ800 MK2's...What are the main techniques you use to mix the House genre? I like looping sections to lengthen transitions but am finding beat matching harder when a tune is in a loop, though once mastered it will sound great.

That's because looping on a cdj in imperfect. It's a bit of a challenge to create a seamless loop on them so your beats will probably drift often.

If you use a DVS like Torq, for example, you can get perfect looping, which I use often to create longer intros or outros.

Re: Re: House Mixing techniques with CDJs

quote:

Originally posted by miamitranceman That's because looping on a cdj in imperfect. It's a bit of a challenge to create a seamless loop on them so your beats will probably drift often. If you use a DVS like Torq, for example, you can get perfect looping, which I use often to create longer intros or outros.

+1. It's pretty hit and miss to be able to get the loop perfect on a cdj800. If you give yourself a bit of time to edit the loop point then it can work but often what sounds like a tight loop in it's own can be just slightly out so when you mix the cue track in it drifts out.

Can be done but a bit fiddly. One you can do though is play around with the loops on their own (i.e. not mixed in to another track), this way slight imperfections in the loop length won't be noticed anywhere near as much.

knowing your tracks would probably be the best answer

or you could just rape the reverb and delay making beatmatching seem irrelevant and everything sounds shit like tijs.

quote:

Originally posted by elFreak or you could just rape the reverb and delay making beatmatching seem irrelevant and everything sounds shit like tijs.

lol.


Knowing your tracks goes a long way yea but I find some tracks tails are not long enough and I like to mix a minimal house set quite progressivley as allot of the percs sound really good mixed in with other tracks.

you need to stay on the pitch wheel to make sure the loop stays in time

you could make a seameless loop in advance. all you need to do is time it right and adjust if necessary till they're on. You should'nt have to fiddle if you've beat matched correctly. With newer cd players you can store these loop points on sd cards for use later on so look into that if you plan on going crazy with looping

Looping is great with Traktor. Click and forget.

looping is for pussies

/end drunk post

i just finished a 4 hour set, i'm fucking loser pissed

pitchers of rev in the dj booth FTW

lol

SUMMARY OF THREAD:

looping on a cdj is imperfect

stay on the pitch wheel to make sure the loop stays in time

looping is for pussies

quote:

Originally posted by daeus SUMMARY OF THREAD: looping on a cdj is imperfect stay on the pitch wheel to make sure the loop stays in time looping is for pussies

hmmm... i disagree with you,quite strongly actually.
Seamless loop is very possible- and by doing a seamless loop you'll maintain the tempo of the track perfectly..
There is no need to stay on the pitch wheel if you've beat-matched correctly. So if YOU can't beat match don't bother trying to loop or you will be riding the pitch all night long.

looping is a very effective tool and shouldn't be overlooked by the more skilled dj out there.

I think alot of djs have become lazy and if an effect isn't easy to pull off they just slag it off and say its for pussies.. lol

quote:

Originally posted by Wayne_B hmmm... i disagree with you,quite strongly actually. Seamless loop is very possible- and by doing a seamless loop you'll maintain the tempo of the track perfectly.. There is no need to stay on the pitch wheel if you've beat-matched correctly. So if YOU can't beat match don't bother trying to loop or you will be riding the pitch all night long.

No it's not, on both CDJ800s and 1000s you can only set loops points to an accuracy of 1/75th of a second, which isn't accurate enough to be "seamless" - worst case you can be the equivalent of half a bpm out with a 4 beat loop (which will drift out of time as quickly as if you set the pitch slider 'wrong' by about 0.6% out on a normal mix - i.e. fairly quickly)

You'll normally find you have to adjust the pitch slightly even when you've got the loop as accurate as it can be, if only by 0.05 or 0.1%

Plus you've got the added bonus of the CDJ800 being slightly slow in placing the loop out point, so sometimes it puts it a bit after you've pressed it (loops fine when you hit the button, but the loop's then a bit too long next time it goes round) - and no it's not me being a bit of a retard when I hit the button

But it is doable, you can get used to it... really short loops will always be a pain on the 800, but fixing longer loops and adjusting the pitch to suit becomes 2nd nature.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello looping is for pussies

Agreed tbh

I had a mix earlier, getting some ideas down for a gig next weekend and with my fairly rubbish setup (2 CDJ100s and a CDJ800) I was resorting to the "2 copies" looping method as the 100s haven't got a loop function.

When I realised it would be a whole lot easier on the setup I'll be using at the gig, I felt slightly disappointed... might still do it with 2 copies

quote:

Originally posted by Stu Cox Agreed tbh I had a mix earlier, getting some ideas down for a gig next weekend and with my fairly rubbish setup (2 CDJ100s and a CDJ800) I was resorting to the "2 copies" looping method as the 100s haven't got a loop function. When I realised it would be a whole lot easier on the setup I'll be using at the gig, I felt slightly disappointed... might still do it with 2 copies

i focus my sets more on track selection and seamless mixing, let the music speak for itself

i rarely ever use effects, i find them gimmicky and in the hands of someone inexperienced, often will take away from the music rather than add to it, not to say i can't use them properly, i just don't like to

if i want to do something cool with a track, i'll do it with 2 copies like stu mentioned

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello i focus my sets more on track selection and seamless mixing, let the music speak for itself i rarely ever use effects, i find them gimmicky and in the hands of someone inexperienced, often will take away from the music rather than add to it, not to say i can't use them properly, i just don't like to if i want to do something cool with a track, i'll do it with 2 copies like stu mentioned

+10000000000 Tony, I've been saying the same thing for years. At most play with the eq's at opportune points to enhance the elements of the tracks but the vast majority of FX just sound toy and/or crap.

yea, i'll mess with the eq at opportune moments to enhance areas of the song, usually during a breakdown, only in a live setting though, never on a cd

i look at effects as a way to hide mistakes or just plain old shoddy technique, hence my reluctance to use them

tight seamless mixes are the way to go, with proper track selection you don't even need to use the eq for mixing

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello tight seamless mixes are the way to go, with proper track selection you don't even need to use the eq for mixing

I agree but if you just slap two tracks on top of each other won't the overall volume go up and make a sloppy mix?

that's what gains and volume faders are for

My issue is that the volume faders and the gain knobs group all frequencies together. From what I can tell this can wreck havok on the bass.

Lets say I have a track going and i start the beginning of the next track. This will cause the kick to become stronger and make the bass line relatively quieter since you are layering two kicks and only one bassline.

Edit: And you don't want two basslines going at the same time.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello looping is for pussies /end drunk post i just finished a 4 hour set, i'm fucking loser pissed pitchers of rev in the dj booth FTW

Where do you spin?

quote:

Originally posted by lawrenceq Where do you spin?

at the best electronic music venue in calgary

the warehouse nightclub

it's been running for over 25 years now

they host some of the best acts that come to town

and it's calgary's only afterhours

pics are in the club djs setup thread

quote:

Originally posted by coroknight My issue is that the volume faders and the gain knobs group all frequencies together. From what I can tell this can wreck havok on the bass. Lets say I have a track going and i start the beginning of the next track. This will cause the kick to become stronger and make the bass line relatively quieter since you are layering two kicks and only one bassline. Edit: And you don't want two basslines going at the same time.

yes, but this is where proper track selection comes into play

if you're picking tracks that go together, such as in the same key, you'll have little to do to keep things from clashing, you'll find they often will compliment each other and make a fuller sounding mix

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello at the best electronic music venue in calgary the warehouse nightclub it's been running for over 25 years now they host some of the best acts that come to town and it's calgary's only afterhours pics are in the club djs setup thread

cool, i was going to come check it out when above & beyond played back in the winter when i was working at Panorama mountain resort. I will make sure to pop in next time.

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