For about the last week and a half to two weeks I've been unable to mix for shit. I get my two tracks matched (or at least I think so) and everything is grooving and then I drop the incoming track and everything goes to shit. For some damn reason I'm having trouble hearing when the track I'm bringing in is out of sync. I get it to what I believe is synced in my phones and then I start working the EQ's and get it about halfway in and realize that it wasn't synced in the first place.
This has never ever been a problem for me in the past and for some odd reason it has just become one. Nothing in my set-up has changed and I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar to this or any other kind of drop off in technical ability and how they fixed or dealt with it.
Oct-05-2004 17:19
Frisco
Senior tranceaddict
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: College Station, Tx. USA : TXTA #66
when I get that way I just stop. Of course my beatmatching skills are quite up to par, but once I start getting frustrated I just call it a day or two.
Oct-05-2004 18:48
deepshadow
Junior tranceaddict
Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
best idea... just take 3-4 days off... it's often because you start to expect too much... just jam to some of your favorite dj's, that usually gets me in the spirit again.
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Oct-05-2004 23:00
RIP_Technics
Suspended User
Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
when cueing i used to have all 3 eqs at 50%. i still find it very hard to hear if two records are synced properly when mixin this way. when i think i got it and start to up the eqs i hear that the beats are slightly. now i generally just use the bass eq while mixin - no more beat-matchin problems
Oct-05-2004 23:20
Dave Piazza
The Elitist
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago
this happens to me sometimes. The best advice I can give is to continue to try to mix even on your sh!tty days. Trying to mix on your sh!tty days really improves your skills in the long run. Learn from your mistakes. Dont get frustrated just keep going. Over time your sh!tty mixing days will become less and less sh!tty. It take time so be patient and enjoy yourself.
There can be many reasons why this happens but they are all rooted in your concentration. You may find that you are more tired than normal etc. the list goes on...
A lot of DJs I know have this problem and it's not really until you have been doing it for a number of years that you actually become like a machine (i.e. just churn out flawless mixes).
Just take a break, or teach yourself to mix harmonically if you don't do it already.
You will find that it actually makes beat matching easier if you do that as you don't have any key clashes to distract you.
Take a break or try something different to give you inspiration.
Yep - take a break, an extended one if need be. I played my best ever gig technique-wise the day after I'd been away on holiday for 2 weeks and hadn't as much as switched my decks on before the gig. Sometimes your mind just needs a rest and if you're having trouble mixing when you're normally finding it easy, your ears probably need a break as well.
Take some time out and hope you find your mojo when you return!
Well, I'm more of the mindset of Dave in that I will usually keep doing it till I get it fixed, but unfortuantely the powers that be are making me take a break. One channel on my mixer has gone to hell, it cuts out at random times and I've not really found a good solution for it. Jiggling the inputs and the fader sometimes helps but not reliably. So I guess I'm on hiatus until I get my new mixer (DN-X1500!!!) that I've already been saving for within the next week or so. I suppose it's good though. Over the summer I was with out my decks for a month due to school and mixed worlds better than I had done when I left.
