Hey I recently switched from spinnin good old vinyl on my technics to spinning cd's on the pioneer cdj 1000s. Anyone else have any trouble with this? It feels like the pitch is soo precise its hard to mix. Am I the only one that thinks this? I used to really ride the turntables pitch and I could start the mix without trainwrecking in about 30 seconds, but with the cdjs I have a really hard time finding the correct pitch fast and when I do for some reason it's really hard to ride it and adjust it without making it obvious that I'm mixing. I'd really like your feedback, suggestions and tips on this.. anyone else have these kinds of problems? What do you suggest? I look forward to your responses Thanks!

-k

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"do0d just think how much those tities would bounce if they were sidechained"

Well I'm not sure what sort of music you spin... but unless it's something like techno or drum & bass, where you're transitioning every 2 minutes, then I suggest that you just practice on your CDJs and learn to find the correct pitch.

IMO, riding the pitch during an actual transition doesn't make for a smooth transition anyways, unless it's in very tiny increments to make very tiny adjustments, in leiu of touching the platter.

Assuming you have about 3 minutes between transitions, that should be plenty of time to finely beatmatch your next track. Within 30-60 seconds I can have my next track beatmatched to an accuracy of, say, 80-90%. So I'm free to let it play on for the next few minutes, making tiny adjustments with the plater, and then making accompanying adjustments to the pitch. By the time I'm actually mixing it, I barely have to adjust it at all.

All you can really do is practice. Practice, practice, practice.

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You might find it easier to stick with the 10% range at first, then transition to using 6%/.02 pitch increments.

Personally, I also ride the pitch on my 1200's, and yes, it's very smooth and buttery. The tables pitch accuracy isn't quite as accurate as on the CDJ's, they also take a little time to respond to your pitch changes.

On the CDJ's, you touch the pitch, and the change is instant! And it's easy to overcorrect.

When I play on mine, I don't really ride the pitch in the same way. It's much easier to use the platter, and you are MUCH less likely to screw up touching a CDJ's platter as opposed to touching a 1200's.

After I cue a track on the 1000's, I do kind of ride the pitch up and down to get the track pretty close, then I just listen, adjust with the platter, and adjust the pitch. Once you have the pitch correct, you really don't need to touch it anymore. Just use the platter to get things in time after you throw the track in.

quote:

Originally posted by wink Hey I recently switched from spinnin good old vinyl on my technics to spinning cd's on the pioneer cdj 1000s. Anyone else have any trouble with this? It feels like the pitch is soo precise its hard to mix. Am I the only one that thinks this? I used to really ride the turntables pitch and I could start the mix without trainwrecking in about 30 seconds, but with the cdjs I have a really hard time finding the correct pitch fast and when I do for some reason it's really hard to ride it and adjust it without making it obvious that I'm mixing. I'd really like your feedback, suggestions and tips on this.. anyone else have these kinds of problems? What do you suggest? I look forward to your responses Thanks! -k

I totally know where you're coming from here old boy because I just did exactly the same thing and exactly the same thoughts (too accurate) sprung to mind.

First things first, within a week I had adjusted.

Secondly, once I'd realised how accurate you can be with a 1000 over a 1210 I realised that riding the pitch was a thing of the past..... pretty much. Essentially, once you've locked the beat, you can be confident that it won't drift, this means you can spend more time eq-ing. It's so much more of a mathematical/logical process now.

My current process goes:

10 Mark cue point on track
20 Adjust to approx BPM on display
30 Hit play (or cue if this is your pref) when phrase starts
35 If beat locked goto 70
40 If beat on incoming track too slow goto 50 else goto 60
50 Adjust pitch slider up appropriate amount.
55 Goto 30
60 Adjust pitch slider down appropriate amount.
65 Goto 30
70 Adjust your eqs accordingly and await mixing point.
80 Be happy you own a CDJ1000.
90 Nail that mix.
100 If mixing another tune in goto 10
110 End

Jarv

Last edited by Jarvmeister on Jan-19-2007 at 20:11

LOL @ Jarv's BASIC mixing algorithm. Reminds me of programming on Apple IIe computers in gradeschool.

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Kill the women. Eat the children.
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quote:

Originally posted by Zild LOL @ Jarv's BASIC mixing algorithm. Reminds me of programming on Apple IIe computers in gradeschool.