Well, I've only been doing the DJ thing for 3 weeks so far, but I am proud to say that I have the beatmatch down pretty well (it's now just mastering/fine tuning it that I need to work on). So, what methods did you guys use to learn to do it? This is what I did:

1) Have tune 1 play on turntable 1
2) When I start cueing tune 2 on turntable 2, I match it up to the 4/4 of tune 1
3) I tap my foot to the 4/4 beat of tune 1, and if I find tune 2 to be out of sync I make the pitch adjustment I feel necessary
4) I match up the 4/4 beat again and see if my pitch adjustment was correct
5) Repeat 3 & 4 if I messed up, if not woohoo!

I find this to be probably one of the easier ways of doing it. Plus by this method I've been able to beatmatch most of my tunes. So, what do you guys do?

Practice

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quote:

Originally posted by [NFC]Wave Practice

+1

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and when you're done practicing, go have a coke and a smile then practice some more

and don't think this is something that happens overnight, i've been doing this for 4 years and i'm still learning every time i play

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+1 to the practice. instead of tapping my foot i sort of bob my head/ shoulders a bit to the music. i tried the foot tapping thing back in the day but it never really did anything for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Morello and when you're done practicing, go have a coke and a smile then practice some more and don't think this is something that happens overnight, i've been doing this for 4 years and i'm still learning every time i play

+2

10 years and still learning things, I know people that been DJing over 20 and they still learn new things often.

The ONLY way to get better is PRACTICE, there ain't no shortcuts to gaining this skill.

quote:

Originally posted by DannyO +2 10 years and still learning things, I know people that been DJing over 20 and they still learn new things often. The ONLY way to get better is PRACTICE, there ain't no shortcuts to gaining this skill.

+3 minus the 10 years part...

yup, its all about practice, although i think a break here or there wouldn't hurt. i can go weeks without ever touching the tables and when i return, sometimes i find that my beatmatching becomes even quicker than when i left them.

in any case, if you are just starting out, you SHOULD practice lots though because its important to train your ears to catch which way the beat drifts.

line up the frist beat of the measure you want to mix in and let go on a large transition of the playing track usually right on a cymbal crash or whatever. listen to the track you're mixing in really quietly in one headphone cup so you can only hear the bass beat. Set your pitch and listen. Get it nailed before going out the speakers then slam it in and rock the funky shit!

quote:

Originally posted by [NFC]Wave Practice

+9999

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quote:

Originally posted by DannyO +2 10 years and still learning things, I know people that been DJing over 20 and they still learn new things often. The ONLY way to get better is PRACTICE, there ain't no shortcuts to gaining this skill.

Bingo and +1 and all that.
Been going for 20 years or so and still learn stuff, but you can still be good and learn more stuff. Just makes you better.

Just let it take time to develop and your patience will be rewarded.

Cheers
Nem

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quote:

Originally posted by dartman i tried the foot tapping thing back in the day but it never really did anything for me.

I'm more into heel tapping + head nod
Comes kind of naturally for me when I concentrate..

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