I think it depends on the gear your starting on too. I started on some weak ass geminis. It took me a good 3 months to get those down to a reasonable quality. Once I got on techs I was able to get a lot better. Within a month my mixing wasnt as hectic and was having more fun. 10 years later its just a form of unwinding for me....very relaxing.

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I've been at it for almost 3 years and I am still learning! lol. I guess I just haven't practiced much. I practiced more in high school, but once college started and I had trouble with my TTs, I hardly touched them for months. Now I have CDJs, and I am kind of re-learning with them, though it would be nice someday to also have TTs again (don't have room for both right now, nor $$ for vinyl or for TTs for that matter). I think once I have my own place, some sweet monitors and headphones (use crap PAs and shitty headphones I got with my TT set up), and TIME i'll get better. I found out today that a club/bar nearby has DJs that they rotate, so in a year or two i'll see about getting a few gigs there, once i get my skills down and my collection of MP3s/WAVs up. I want to mix downtempo, with trance and prog with some breaks and house too. A pretty eclectic mix, but I think it might work..just have to find a way to beatmix all of them together.

To get a roughly acceptable beat match, probably about a few days. I had been mixing with Traktor for several months prior, so the overall mechanics of beatmatching weren't that new to me.

Of course, it has been a constant improvement since then. Once you get your feet on the ground, then you really start to get good at it. You'll be able to beatmatch accurately in less than a minute and make airtight transitions.

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NEW MIX [Feb/March 2008]

thnx guys for your replies! My problem is that the pitch is just slightly too high or low, and its really hard to hear which one is slower/faster.. Guess I just have to practise more, too bad that the TTs are my friend's, otherwise I would spin a lot more!

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♪♫ Hearts On Fire (prog house tech)

If I am the storm, if I am the wonder..
Will I have flashlights, nightmares and sudden explosions?

i tried to know as much as i could before i bought my equipment, so i knew the how to before i did it.

probably took me 3 months to be able to beatmatch (8 hrs p/week).
but to auctually beatmatch well probably took me 6 months. im still getting better at it.

as for equipment, only a bad workman blames his tools. make do with what you got, its ures, you get used to it. its not like its totally different equipment each time u goto use it.

-sonykc

The way I see it is this.
It's not really until you have been spinning for about 5 years that you really know the score. And even then you don't really start becoming good at matching until you start playing out. Spinning in that sort of environment just improves your skills so much.

6 months to a year in the life of a DJ is nothing.

Eventually it becomes something that is secondary to that actual tune that you are bringing in and you start focussing more on other aspects. That's when you know you can really do it.

Just be patient with it guys, and practice everyday. Mixing a bit here and there even though you have time for more isn't going to do it and you have question your commitment.
Becoming a good DJ is a colossal commitment and requires tallent and dedication. Not something to be taken lightly... I'm talking about passion, ladies and gentlemen!

Cheers
Nem

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https://www.mixcloud.com/Calvin_Karass/

quote:

Originally posted by DJ_RoKo as for equipment, only a bad workman blames his tools. make do with what you got, its ures, you get used to it. its not like its totally different equipment each time u goto use it. -sonykc

Well I feel that equipment does make a difference. I mean if you have a crappy pair of belt drives or a really cheap direct drive table from say Numark or Gemini, i've heard many cases it's harder to beatmatch on those because the pitch drifts, it doesn't stay locked, and just the poor overall quality. If you have a crummy audio system, it's also harder to mix, because you might not hear somethings. This includes headphones, which seem to be vitally important. The ones I have are decent (Senheiser HD212) but I think with a pair that has clearer sound, and having a nice pair of monitors or PAs (esp monitors, smaller ones, because you will be able to hear some things that you wont on PAs, which should be placed further away), you will notice a difference, I know I will whenever I get a new pair of headphones and some monitors...

I think I can beatmatch trance really easy. Lately i've been getting into more progressive stuff and breakbeat, and I'm finding it a little more difficult, because I'm not used to mixing those. When I had TTs, almost all I played was trance. Like 80% of the vinyl records I own are of the melodic and epic trance variety.

A couple days to beatmatch the records I had which was only a few. As my collection grows and I am mixing tunes with others I haven't before it takes me longer if the beats seem to be way off from eachother. So I would say, beatmatching while pitch adjusting and correcting the record with my hand... always. You will always be learning. And that is what makes it so damn fun!

I don't really notice any difference beatmatching records I know or have never played before.

I also really only touch the record while cueing it.

quote:

Originally posted by DOOMBOT A couple days to beatmatch the records I had which was only a few. As my collection grows and I am mixing tunes with others I haven't before it takes me longer if the beats seem to be way off from eachother. So I would say, beatmatching while pitch adjusting and correcting the record with my hand... always. You will always be learning. And that is what makes it so damn fun!

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan0751 I don't really notice any difference beatmatching records I know or have never played before. I also really only touch the record while cueing it.

I try not to touch the record with my hand while it is live in the mix. But ONLY if it goes off beat real bad and I have no choice.

it took me about 2 months to really get the hang of it- but much much longer to mix it right.