I've been spinning now for about 3 months but have only actually spun for a total of maybe 15 hours due to my tiny apartment, the neighbors above and below me, and my roommate that sleeps all the time. I think I'm doing pretty good considering these things but the number one issue I have is the ever so slightly kind of beat matching. I can get records to beat match no problem but you know how one will be just a hair off? Well currently I need some advice because when they are just a tad off, in my mind I have not yet gained the ability to know without a shadow of a doubt if the record I'm mixing into is either too slow, or too fast. So for me right now, I have a 50/50 chance. Sometimes I'll get it right but then sometimes especially when it counts, I'll go the wrong way and it will be too late to fix it without it being noticeable.
I think I'm getting better, but I was wondering for all you pros out there if you could offer any tips for this situation. I think I'm learning to associate a certain sound with the record being too slow or too fast but I'm not 100 percent on that yet. Part of the problem I think and correct me if I'm wrong is that I cannot turn up the music very loud at all so my monitor sound is so quiet it offers little help at beat matching.
Finally, is looked down upon or wrong to beat match with the headphones totally so that you can hear both tracks being played together? I have been told to not do that but with my situation and everything having to be so quiet, I keep falling back onto doing that and I hope its not screwing me up more by doing that. Thanks for any help and tips everyone. Sorry if this sounds lame.

I'm not a pro, but what I say is thing most people gonna say, I think.
just practise and practise again, there will come a time you can hear it if you have to speed up your record, or just to slow it down.
about your monitor speakers, do you really need them? you aren't in a huge area, maybe your sound will sound different through the walls, if I was you I just turned my monitor speakers off.
of this thread don't sounds lame, you are here on a forum, the right place to ask such questions

If you can't be loud, why can't you just practice beatmatching with the headphones completely? I usually do this every night. I just pretend I'm doing the transition on the fader and levels, but listen in my headphones to make sure it is clean.

I can only play loudly on the weekends, so my level settings are a little rought, but at least my beatmatching is rock solid.

As for the beats being just a hair off, I had the same problem, but after continuing to practice it wasn't a problem any more. So I guess the answer is to just keep at it.

Your mixer can help you.
There are lights for Channel 1 and 2 that show beat alignment. If one of the lights closer to Channel 1 is displayed, you have to speed up Ch. 1. Otherwise, Ch.2 needs to be sped up.

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i try to stay away from using led's to help me beatmatch and mix. i actually covered them up with electrical tape, and after a while i totally forgot about them and i can mix fine.

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Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. Now Eugene I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean about using the lights on my mixer. I'm using the Vestax PCV-175. Does it have these lights? Finally, I read somewhere that you can use the dots on the platter to help beatmatch. How is this done? Can someone elaborate on this? Thanks again!

quote:

Originally posted by Eugene Your mixer can help you. There are lights for Channel 1 and 2 that show beat alignment. If one of the lights closer to Channel 1 is displayed, you have to speed up Ch. 1. Otherwise, Ch.2 needs to be sped up.

............thats sooooooooooo gay of u...why would u wonna do that?
those lights are not 100% true....they light up for low frequencies...mostly for bass drum...BUT, what if the fucking bassline is as low as the bassdrum.....THEN U ARE FUCKED because they will light up constantly and out of beat....thats not professional eugene...

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quote:

Originally posted by DJ Teknique ............thats sooooooooooo gay of u...why would u wonna do that? those lights are not 100% true....they light up for low frequencies...mostly for bass drum...BUT, what if the fucking bassline is as low as the bassdrum.....THEN U ARE FUCKED because they will light up constantly and out of beat....thats not professional eugene...

dude
try to watch ur language
eugene was just trying to help....!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Teknique ............thats sooooooooooo gay of u...why would u wonna do that? those lights are not 100% true....they light up for low frequencies...mostly for bass drum...BUT, what if the fucking bassline is as low as the bassdrum.....THEN U ARE FUCKED because they will light up constantly and out of beat....thats not professional eugene...

There's no 'right' or 'wrong' way to mix, you use whatever tools are available at your disposal. If you don't have the LED's then you don't use them, obviously. If you have them, you can just use them as a "confirmation" of your initial guess. It's not like they're my only mixing aid.

And by the way, these lights are almost always right. It's not the BPM counter which can be offset by changing beats. These lights are just static beat-alignment indicators, and they're different from the BPM counter, for example.

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People go way over the top when it comes to knocking earphone mixing. Yes there are mixers out there which you can't do this with but they are few and far between. And almost all new mixers have the feature that alows you to hear through the phones what the actual output is as well as the option of listening to 2 channels at once.

So it is fine to do it, I do it when I am in my house and it hasn't hurt me, just make sure you can adapt if needed to one ear method. Overall I find those who use the phones to mix are far tighter with their beat-matching.

And if it is a hairs width out, well practise my friend and eventually it all becomes clear. But make sure you have the ability to move a record by a hairs width to correct it, pushing the label/touching the dots are rarely accurate enough for this so I would learn manual pitch corrections with the pitch slider!

sorry.. im really busy so i didn't read your actual thread.. but to answer your question in the subject of this thread.. if one track is a "hair" off.. just adjust the pitch slightly to slow it down or speed up which ever track u want.. or just finger it a little to speed it up a knotch (this is if the beat match is correct, they just aren't lined up) or u can kinda hold ur finger on the dots to add a little resistence to the platter to slow it down (again, do this if ur beats are matched, just not in sync).. hopefully im not repeating anything someone already said, but like i mentioned earlier, im really busy so this is my 2 cents!

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Originally posted by hapamoto or just finger it a little to speed it up a knotch (this is if the beat match is correct, they just aren't lined up)

Right, but you can't do that on a vinyl that is extremely lightweight and sensitive!

For example I have a record (Moira - Touched by You) that is SO light that the slightest hint of a finger on it results in a complete stop. A complete stop!

Therefore, for super-lightweight vinyl like this, you have to adopt a different strategy. Here, the pitch-control-only adjustment will probably be more effective.

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Download all my EuroHardTrance traxx & learn more about me ("Kompulsor"):
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