please help me mix properly. Beat matching is frustrating! seriously
i have the most basic dj setup. a pair of cdj100 cd players, a djm300 mixer with a built in BPM counter, and a 500 FX with also a bpm counters.
for now i'm thining those darn BPM counters are not useful since they are not stable and they constatnly change BPMs even when the music is steady. it has this real and average light slots on and i don't know what it means and the instruction booklet don't help either. how do i change them?
anyways this is my problem. in cd1 i let the music play, then i'm told to put in a cd in player 2 and press the pause play button. when i do that, on the headphones i can hear it beeping and skipping waiting for it to be cued. well i'm suppose to turn the jog dial around clockwise to set a cue point. ok i do then what? i press cue then the music is ready to be played when i press paus play button. well i press the button then and slowly slide the fader to the right side. but it turns out all crappy and double bass jumps and just completely crap.
i use the tempo slider but it seems to take alot of time to set the BPM in synch. even when the bpms are in sync on the BPM counter the sound isn't. i'm horrible at it big time.i wish there was a button i can just press and it automatically changes the pitch and BPM for you to synch it.
for now i'm better of just letting the music play on cd1 and pressing play on cd2 and while listening to the headphones on cd2, i jjst move the tempo slider up or down and listen with one ear to the monitor and the other on the headphones and then i turn the fader to the other side. it's still a wreck but it sounds slightly better
there has to be something i'm doing wrong. i have been practicing for nearly 2 weeks now and i still suck hard. is there an easier way to beat match???? with those cdj100 and the mixer? do i have to pay attention to the BPM counters???? help me out please.
Jun-14-2003 03:44
Ghostface
down with the sickness
Registered: Mar 2003
Location: Melbourne
quote:
i wish there was a button i can just press and it automatically changes the pitch and BPM for you to synch it.
umm ok. Sounds like you want the fame but without the hard work.
I've seen ppl write 2000 word replys to this question so try searching .
1. Got to recess.co.uk and spend a few hours reading. It sounds like you are trying to do something practically without even understanding it in theory. Alternatively search this forum.
2. Get some black tape and cover up the BPM counters on the DJM 300.
3. Unplug the EFX500 becuase you are not going to need that for a long long time.
4. Play cd in channel 1 and have it going live (ie you can hear it through the spkrs)
5. Put a cd in cd2 and listen through ur headphones. Count the beats and on the first beat of the phrase, press pause. You'll hear a stuutering noise. Slowly wind the jog wheel back or press the << button taking the track back hundreths of a second at atime. When the thumping noise stops, you've reached the beginnning of the first beat of the phrase. Press cue. You now have your cue point stored.
6. Now listen to the live track. On the first beat of the phrase of the live track press play on cd2. Once they go out of time wind the jogwheel foward, if the tracks get further apart, slow the pitch of cd2 down and vice versa. Press cue and go through procedure again.
You've got to remember this takes some people months or even years to learn. Two weeks is fuck all time to be any good. If you've got the determination you'll get there eventually as it's not an overly difficult procedure to learn.
just wait till i tell you i've been djing for over a year now and i'm still learning new shit each and every time i mix
and a word of advise, put a piece of tape over the BPM counters
those do you more harm than good
just the other week i was playing in a club that had beat indicators on the mixer and they screwed me up cause i'd be mixing and i'd see them blinking off beat and i'd try to make them blink in sync but then the mix would be out of sync...
like i said
BPM counters are like masturbation
you think you're having fun and getting something done
but in reality you're just fucking yourself
back to the matter at hand
lock yourself in your room for 6 months and mix (or at least try to)
you need to practice till you want to throw your mixer out the window
then take a break for a bit and try it again
"Burn down the disco, hang the blessed dj, because the music that they constantly play,
it says nothing to me about my life..." The Smiths - 'Panic'
Jun-14-2003 08:59
Mister_Michel
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Sep 2002
Location: Lennik - Belgium
I've been mixing for abour 6 months and only now I get the feeling that I've got beatmatching under control. Man your post reminds me of myseld a few months ago
Jun-14-2003 09:34
Jellow
tranceaddict
Registered: Jul 2002
Location:
2 weeks..man..my first beatmatch (which was by accident) happened after 3 months!
Be patient,or give up
oh,by the way,get rid of ur BPM counters,they are worthless and u don't need them anyway.
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Jun-14-2003 11:02
Tiger777
Pensionable tranceaddict
Registered: Dec 2002
Location: Ternat
quote:
oh,by the way,get rid of ur BPM counters,they are worthless and u don't need them anyway.
that's true, they suck and when you need them, you'll never be able to beatmatch decently.(just my humble advice but i think alot of ppl will agree with it )
___________________
quote:
Originally posted by Push2005
Ik ben net terug begonnen met cassettes op te kopen... Die pitchcontrol is echt ongelofelijk !
Jun-14-2003 11:52
webbie
is this LIFE?
Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Sweden
As said before, two weeks is nothing. I got my decks September
last year and can beatmatch pretty good right now altho I fuck up
pretty often too, but that is what keeps me going. Looking back to see
that I have really progressed and can really hear the difference on
two tunes that is totally in phase and two that is sloooowly gliding
a part. Now that is cool stuff.
If you want to "show off" to your friends it will be much cooler to
beatmatch by your ears, if you just wanna make mixes, use traktor
or whatever. Thoose programs have beatlocks. But it really takes all
the fun out of it, listen to one of all of thoose who have gone from
mixing at a 'puter and to the real stuff.
What will start to happen in another two weeks? Problably nothing.
You will be stuck with your fones to your ears trying to hear which
track is which. But its not the transitions that comes to you like
a flash in the night, its the ability to hear changes that
comes to you. And I warn you, you will hear all sorts of shit.
You will after a while instantly hear when someone is changing pitch,
if the volume goes up or down (atleast i do theese days) and so on.
But its all a part of learning.
Learning takes time.
So do whats good for you and tape over thoose yucky BPM counters and
start doing the real thing.
Good luck.
___________________
- webbie
Jun-14-2003 16:07
Aldrian
Suspended User
Registered: Jul 2002
Location: Rio Rancho
thanks for the replie peeps
sorry, i sort of give up too early sometimes. 2 weeks of practice seems alot to me. i thought i would get it or other djs will get it within the first few days.
one thing is that yeah there is a stutter or skipping when i press play pause button. so i ddin't know what to look for. so now i know what to look for and that is the stopping of the skipping sound. thanks.
yeah those BPM counters is severley annoying. i depended myself on those things heavily. its just that after playing around with traktor with its ever so easy BPM lock makes me feel good and when i use th eactually big boys, i suck hard big time.
but i will keep trying. and feel free to give me more advice. now i can't wait to come home from work and play around with my stuff.
Jun-14-2003 16:30
Mister_Michel
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Sep 2002
Location: Lennik - Belgium
Al I can say is
1 Forget about Traktor, it's a stupid program that doesn't help you for real mixing
2 Stay calm en don't take it all to seriously, if you do you will eventually give up when you don't notice changements. Remember it's all about the music you love to hear. Not about making money, impress your friends or get rich. It's all about the music.
___________________
Beware of the red X:
Mhuhahahahahaha !!!!
Jun-14-2003 16:38
DJ Mikey Mike
Your mum's face
Registered: Jan 2002
Location: I'm at your mums'
quote:
Originally posted by DJ_Shockwav
BPM counters are like masturbation
you think you're having fun and getting something done
but in reality you're just fucking yourself
bwahaha that is going in my sig. fucking classic
Jun-14-2003 16:40
Luke Terry
tranceaddict oldskool
Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
bpm counters do have a purpose i suppose, to see how fast you are actually playing and too see if you can keep you set exactly the same speed all the way thru which the main one on my djm 600s does just fine. i find it useful to sort out my sets, like some tunes sound really fast like the starecase mix of vega but are infact slow as fuck, useful tool.
although BPM COUNTERS ARE SHITE FOR BEATMATCHING
you yourself a favour buy $1.50 roll of black electrical tape and put the ******s to sleep, leave the one on your mixer for reasons mentioned in top paragraph.