Two points:

1. Why would you not want to touch the vinyl? It's sexy, it feels so natural, it looks so good, you and the record become one, you feel the vibe through every fibre of your body -- that's what DJ'ing is all about! You'll often hear people dismiss CD-DJ's as people who just "press the buttons." Well, if you make it a point not to move around and feel the record with your hands, that means you're like a CD-DJ now (not to offend any CD-DJ's out there).

2. Me personally I'll use whatever is convenient at the moment, 'cause I'm still an amateur and learning my way. With the pitch adjustment, What I'll do is remember where it was previously, then jerk the pitch control in the right direction and bring it back, but to a slightly different level (in the right direction, of course).

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There is no right or wrong way. The only thing that is important is: are they beatmatched.

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Eugene - the disadvantage of touching the vinyl is that if you're actually mixing at that moment then it can make a nasty little warble noise, which no one wants to hear. If you just use the pitch control then its not a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Arty Eugene - the disadvantage of touching the vinyl is that if you're actually mixing at that moment then it can make a nasty little warble noise, which no one wants to hear. If you just use the pitch control then its not a problem.

I feel this is less of an issue if you're slowing the record down, rather than speeding it up. "Guiding" the vinyl is actually easier if you're slowing it down, I think!

I see what you're saying though...

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quote:

Originally posted by Devbert There is no right or wrong way. The only thing that is important is: are they beatmatched.

HE'S right,there's no right there's no wrong the vinly has got one side (touch it or not it's up 2 you)

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quote:

Originally posted by Dj Ahter HE'S right,there's no right there's no wrong the vinly has got one side (touch it or not it's up 2 you)

Nobody said that there was a right or wrong way of beatmatching. Beatmatching without touching your records require a lot more skill and practice and is better if you can do it. Say your xfader was at the midpoint and youre mixing out to a record that is becoming off beat. Touching your record could have nasty results, especially if youre not careful and not only that, any nudging of the record could be heard on the loud speakers. Using the pitch only is subtle, more accurate, and is less audible. . . . but only if you can do it. Thats why they say good djs can beatmatch using only the pitch.

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Hey Busy Child, I live near Washington, DC too!
Specifically, Baltimore

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I dont have the option to touch my records because of the catch up time on mt tables, so i've always just used the pitch because thats the way i learned how to do it. touching the vinyl is more hands on and makes more fun than smoking a cigarette anyways.

quote:

Originally posted by Busy Child If you wanna challenge yourself and not quite have the pitch only technique down . .try this. Say record #2 is behind by half a beat. Instead of nudging the record up with your finger, you can try to jump the record up a half beat by raising the pitch up really high for a split second (almost like a flick) and bring it back down to where it was before.

To speed upo slighty use the 45 button. To do this correctly hold down the 33 button, then ver carefully tap on the 45 button and match the beats. Tapping the button won't warp the sound of the record, but be careful not to be heavy fingered. To slow down, drop the pitch and then re-adjust.

Never touch your record i say!

i just quickly skimmed this thread and was hoping to find the answer to this question, but i havnt yet so i'll say what i gotta say..

well basically when beatmatching first thing i do is lightly tap my finger on the platter to get a general awareness of whether the vinyl is gonna need speeding up or slow down (as i get more experienced i expect i'll be able to tell str8 off without having to do this.) If it needs slowing down then i adjust the pitch a little bit, and let the platter gently graze my finger until i hav it. If it needs speeding up then i will just use the pitch and very rarely will i touch the record. But will all this touching of my TT's (Technic mk2's) damage them? I havnt been spinning for long, so it wont be to hard to change the way i beatmatch if what i am doing is damaging my equipment.

Thanks

Mike

That's the right combination for a lot of people. I try not to touch it at all, but ifI do it's for minor slow downs.

ANd no, it won't jurt a magnetic drive table like the 1200. The motor doesn't even touch the plate.