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Originally posted by JohnSmith whoa, you use the lever to raise and lower the needle all the time?

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Originally posted by DjJade lol yeah bad habit...keep in mind i started mixing from not knowing anything and i didnt know about tranceaddict or antyhing related to online forums until like...3 months after i started mixing. also i didnt have any friends who djed so yeah lol...lots of bad habits that im trying to rid myself of

Actually, using the lever all the time is a very good idea. The main reason is that you can severely damage your neddle and records if you do not use the lever. I used to pick the needle up with my hands all the time and I noticed some major sound errors coming out of my speakers in the form of scratches in one channel etc. This was happening because when I was lifting and placing the needle, I was inadvertantly putting force on the needle other than just straight up and down (ie I was pushing it side to side). It was enough to bend the needle enough so that it was riding the groove more on one side than on the other. It was a quick fix to get it corrected, but bending your needle and letting it ride in the groove wrong can kill your vinyl!

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today i was mixing and i realized that i really need to learn how to adjust pitch using the pitch slider instead of physicially touching any part of the record or platter that is spinnig. here is what i noticed: when i touch the platter the turntable fights it with force...thats the nature of magnetics... it induces an opposite force when you put a force on it. so while that makes a strong motor like techs better for starting etc...if you touch the platter it will fight back so the force isnt steady. that means when i slow it down very very slightly, the turntable will put it back to where it was. so eventaully i keep slowing it down, adjusting, slowing, adjusting until i think its matched up but actually, i overshot the right pitch point so then its even slower and my beats start drifting.

There are a few points here that I would like to make. First off, regarding the slipmat slipping, that is what it is supposed to do, so when you adjust the speed of the record, never touch the actual record to do this (unless you need to speed it up quite a bit, then push on the label--otherwise use the nipple/spindle). Slowing it down should always be done by pressing your finger against the actual platter and never by touching the actual record. This is unless you prefer to pitch ride...

Also, I find it easier to beatmatch via using the "touch the platter" method. I can do it subtly enough so that you couldn't hear it live and I do it well enough so that I very rarely have to adjust the speed during an actual transition anyway. If you choose to beatmatch this way, try doing it as I do. First when you hear the tracks become unbeatmatched, then figure out if the cue is too fast or too slow. Once you have done that, then adjust the pitch slider by a small amount--this of course depends on how well they are beatmatched in the first place. THEN, slow down or speed up the record to compensate and see if the beats stick then. If not, then repeat. This should all technically be able to be complete before your transition. In the case that you do have to adjust it, know which track starts to become the slower track and speed that one up (during a transition where the volumes of each track are about equal). If you only have to adjust it a tiny bit to keep it matched (ie a slight nudge every 10-20 seconds or so), then don't worry about adjusting the pitch unless you have a really long drawn out transition. Even if you do, if you always know which track is slower, then you'll know which one to nudge before your beats even come out of synch.

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a lever? i'm not sure i have that, i have the stanton str8-80s...but i always lock my tonearm in place when i'm not using it, and keep dust covers on when i'm not spinning...

anway, great thread...i didn't really learn this yesterday but i was playing with it...when you are getting rid of your outgoing track, instead of just lowering your v fader, try pressing the platter stop. sounds kinda cool for certain tracks, at certain moments (like just as your incoming track is about to explode!)

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a lever? i'm not sure i have that, i have the stanton str8-80s...but i always lock my tonearm in place when i'm not using it, and keep dust covers on when i'm not spinning...

anway, great thread...i didn't really learn this yesterday but i was playing with it...when you are getting rid of your outgoing track, instead of just lowering your v fader, try pressing the platter stop. sounds kinda cool for certain tracks, at certain moments (like just as your incoming track is about to explode!)

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Originally posted by DjJade yeah about the g&d... i was trying to make a mix and i wasnt really paying atention to what the songs were called or who made them but yeah i realized that i played 3g&d tracks in a row... at first when i realized i was like "bah thats cheating" but then i had to concider that i didnt even notice...ofcorce i was out of it at the time but anyway... keep this thread going peoples!

Ya, well when I was first starting to mix I liked going from remix to remix of the same artist because it made mixing so easy, but I always felt like I was kinda cheating. When I got better I stopped doing, really trying to avoid it but then it hit me. Here I am trying to make my mixes sound as good as some big name DJs like set, yet someone like Ferry (or especially PvD as has been mentioned) do it all the time in there sets except they do it with there own remixes. I don't know, on the one hand I feel it is kinda cheap, but then the big name guys do it a lot because they are often playing there own productions and remixes (or stuff from there label that has a slightly different but similer sound).

Anyway, just my thought. I am not trying to bash the big DJs here or anything.

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An OT question for Jade: How's it livin in TN being Asian and all?

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Originally posted by auujay Ya, well when I was first starting to mix I liked going from remix to remix of the same artist because it made mixing so easy, but I always felt like I was kinda cheating. When I got better I stopped doing, really trying to avoid it but then it hit me. Here I am trying to make my mixes sound as good as some big name DJs like set, yet someone like Ferry (or especially PvD as has been mentioned) do it all the time in there sets except they do it with there own remixes. I don't know, on the one hand I feel it is kinda cheap, but then the big name guys do it a lot because they are often playing there own productions and remixes (or stuff from there label that has a slightly different but similer sound). Anyway, just my thought. I am not trying to bash the big DJs here or anything.

nah man you're totally right. I mean after all... why not use the pull power you have as a superstar DJ to promote your productions.
It's lot more work to make reworks and remix's all the time for your sets so that they'll mix easier than actually just mixing tracks as normal.

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Originally posted by Dj Flesch First when you hear the tracks become unbeatmatched, then figure out if the cue is too fast or too slow. Once you have done that, then adjust the pitch slider by a small amount--this of course depends on how well they are beatmatched in the first place. THEN, slow down or speed up the record to compensate and see if the beats stick then. If not, then repeat. This should all technically be able to be complete before your transition. In the case that you do have to adjust it, know which track starts to become the slower track and speed that one up (during a transition where the volumes of each track are about equal). If you only have to adjust it a tiny bit to keep it matched (ie a slight nudge every 10-20 seconds or so), then don't worry about adjusting the pitch unless you have a really long drawn out transition. Even if you do, if you always know which track is slower, then you'll know which one to nudge before your beats even come out of synch.

totally agree with that. except that instead of nudging the slow one, i drag my finger on the platter lightly on the fast one. I find this more accurate, and reliable, because some records are slipperier than others, and will move more on the platter when you push the label.

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Originally posted by TwiloNYC An OT question for Jade: How's it livin in TN being Asian and all?

lol

its alot better than growing up and living adolescence in mississippi thinking youre white : P

nashvilles great theres alot of different music and the electronic music scene is really small and really underground and the people are really close to eachother and really nice and supportive.

i go to vanderbilt and there arent very many people into the music there. most people there are the typical white fratboy/sorority girl but i think they are trying to make it more diverse...not that being a white fratboy/sorority girl is a bad thing becuase i actually have alot of friends who are in the greek system but i acutally hang out with this simple...small group of asian people [weird i never really had asian friends in highschool beacuse...there were none lol] but yeah its not too bad considering how i grew up. i really couldnt be happier anywhere else. i think i just found my place in the school pretty early into my college career so yeah..its all good.

theres alot of pressure to go greek and all that stupid stuff [no offense to anyone, jmo] but i am getting along just fine now being a junior and having not been to a frat party or having drunk one drop of alcohol.

most people there like hard house dnb and breaks which arent my thing. breaks has found its way into my mixing but thatws about it. one good thing about this is that i hear alot of different things becuase i have to so i learn more from the way they like to mix other genres....plus it allows me to be somewhat original since most people say they dont like trance or progressive but i think they do deep down inside : )

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Originally posted by DjJade or having drunk one drop of alcohol.

it's drank one drop. You sure you didn't have any? you poor, poor soul.

Mixing is so much fun when you have a little buzz, you should try downing 3 or 4 beers and then hitting your tables some day.

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Originally posted by JohnSmith it's drank one drop.

nope... its drunk. drunk is the present participle of drink.

the thing i dont like about getting drunk [er...close to it] is that i hate the feeling of being out of control. so i am not interested in that becuase i [unlike alot of people i know] do not need a drink to be realxed or sociable or...whatever else.

plus i been hitting the gym so... i dont even drink anything with caffine in it becuase it dehudrates you and all that other bad stuff : )

for me i mix the best when i jsut woke up and my mind is fresh.

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Originally posted by JohnSmith totally agree with that. except that instead of nudging the slow one, i drag my finger on the platter lightly on the fast one. I find this more accurate, and reliable, because some records are slipperier than others, and will move more on the platter when you push the label.

That is why in the rest of my post I had stated that you should never push the record, and only the platter. Use the platter for slowing it down and the nipple for speeding it up. The nipple is easier to move on lower torque platters--the TTX1 is quite the bitch to speed up using just the spindle. However you adjust the speed, just do it without touching the records!

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When you dance, the DJ takes you on a journey, but he or she is usually not the focus of your experience at a club or festival or wherever you hear the music. Dancing is. Music is.