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Starting out, any tips?

Hi, i've rescently bought a dj set, something i've wanted to have for the longest time, and i've spent about a day or two practicing my beat-matching, now i know its just gonna take some time and practice before i master it, but i was just curious to what you guys do to beat match? any unique techniques? or maybe just something simple that works everytime for you..plz share

If you are just starting out.... here is what i did when i first started. I am self taught and never had anyone teach me.

First you need to train your ears at what to hear.

On TT1 turn on your song. On TT2 turn it on so it is in cue (IE in your headphones only.) Find the down beat and when the beat hits on TT1 let go of TT2. No either speed up or slow down TT2 until you are reasonably close in beats. Once you get that mastered (give it a few days to a few weeks) use the search function and look for 'transitioning' There is no point in starting another one so you can look there for help and post in one of the open ones!

Good luck

thx

One tip that you can�t go far wrong with, practice. It�s the only DJ tip you�ll ever really need!

PRACTISE LIKE F00K

Just one tip if you're starting out. Try practicing beatmatching two incredibly similiar songs. For instance, when I started learning, I 'trained' on the songs Toca's miracle and Everytime you need me by Fragma. And yes I know they're both cheese (unless you're talking about the A&B mix) but they're good songs to learn to beatmatch on because of their incredible similar bass parts.

this may seem very boring... but it's what i did when i was first starting out just to get my timing right, buy two of the same record, something with a nice steady and easy to hear beat (something from paul van dyk for example) then just practise with those untill you get things right.. then move onto mixing in different tunes and being able to beatmatch properly.. but start with the basics first.. dont go off trying to beatmatch different tunes and whatnot before you know what the hell is going on..

Lanithium, that's a really good suggestion! And then when you've learnt to beatmatch, you can use the identical record as a scratching muckaround vinyl :-)

a good method is to get two of the same vinyls and practise mixing between the same track. this will help u with ur mixing, not with your beat matching tho

practice, then after that practice some more, after thats been done you should practice even more

try to know the songs your mixing really good this will help when you have to bring in the other track

another thing thats helped me is by listening to live sets and then trying to mimic the techniques that they use, ive found out some cool stuff

don't ever give up man jux keep tryin n tryin cuz beatmatchin is vary hard

this may seem very stupid! but do it for the music! cos the chances of breaking through in todays market where loads of people have decided to take up DJing is quite slim! that is of course unless your superb at either a) Mixing b) Producing, dont get too disheartened if you do it for the music the amount of money you spend wont matter to you, and you WILL spend lots!

good luck

quote:

Originally posted by Spin Doctor One tip that you can�t go far wrong with, practice. It�s the only DJ tip you�ll ever really need!

for real!

one other tip though - when your green, try not to touch the record. beatmatch on the pitch, it's easier to understand what is going on that way, and not as easy to screw up. plus if you can beatmatch using just the pitch, you can 'spin' on CD decks later without much relearning

-mer

another tip, once u feel you've started to get the hang of the basics... start recording your mixes then play them back to yourself... you'll find that your making mistakes that you wont normally hear when your in the mix.. untill you have your ears trained anyway..

i started out (and still do) making tapes for my girlfriends car, and over the weeks/months you quickly notice how much better your getting, this is a real confidence booster as when you first start you get really down and frustrated and feel like you just wanna give it in... i know i went through a few stages where i thought 'why the hell did i spend so much money on this shit!' but now my mixing is better i love it!! i cant wait to get home and get on my decks to practise.

I also try to record every set i spin. Its good to critique yourself. Also u can keep track of how ur getting better. Plus u need to listen to all ur records over and over till u know every beat and synth. Know ur music is just as important as beatmatching IMHO. I see kids spinnin nowadays that dont even listen to elec music. But they spin it..

quote:

Originally posted by b0bb0 I see kids spinnin nowadays that dont even listen to elec music. But they spin it..

yea.. because it's coooooooooooooool to spin records... and they dont like electronic music.. but the dumb f*x cant figure out how to beatmatch rock or whatever crap they like. guitars are for punks anyways




so yea, back to the topic. don't let recording yourself get you down. sometimes i listen to my recordings and just sit there and go 'wtf??'

don't forget to not only listen to your records over and over so you can flow with them, but listen to other live sets. see my topic 'listening to live sets' - you'll feel better about yourself and pick up some ideas!

-mer

quote:

Originally posted by b0bb0 Know ur music is just as important as beatmatching IMHO.

If not more important! Any DJ with enough experience can beatmatch, but what separates a world class DJ from your local is how the pieces flow on from one to the next.

Heeey

I'd like to add just one more thing...

When you're recording your mixes and listening afterwards;don't be disappointed if your previous record sounds better than the last one. All the time know that you're learning something tho you can't realise it.

That's what happened(and still) happens to me. The reason (I guess) is while mixing everything(mistakes ect..)happens in moments. So sometimes you'll make it,sometimes you won't ....ALWAYS BUT ALWAYS know that you AIM is to INCREASE the number of GOOD TIMES....

Be happy
Like you music...

Greetz,
Dj Ahter

heck man... i was cleaning up my place yesterday, and found a tape.. i was like 'hmmm whats this' - dropped it in the deck and found a mixset i did over a year ago just on my PC. it was just as good as anything i've done on the turntables, and i though "whoa! i was pretty good even back then!"

alot of the stuff i do today sounds WORSE.

why? because that mixset from a year ago was very simple - I didnt try to pull any tricks, there were no EQ's available to me, etc etc.. it was BASIC. as you learn, you find more and more ways to spice up your mix... so thus, you make more and more errors.

basically, as you learn more, you leave more room for error... if I redid that mix in it's simplicity, it would be better than it was before.

what I find, is a progressive learning curve. you get good at some ways of doing things.. then learn more ways and add that to your style.. and perfect those ways.. and back to adding more to your style, which you are have you to become comfortable with. you get good at one way, go a level deeper, and then it takes time to integrate those ideas into your sets.

I guess that's what learning is all about, and why it makes it all worth it

-mer

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