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Questions from a newbie
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| inflight101 |
Yes, that newbie would be me. I'm not even a dj, but my curiosity is so peaked I can't help myself. I actually downloaded Virtual DJ and have been fooling around with that a little bit. So have I some questions which many of you will probably consider basic, but hopefully you will help me out nonetheless.
First of all, I hear a lot of you referring to decks, mixers, synthesizers, etc. Are those all the same things? If not, what't the difference between the two?
When you're mixing two songs together, how long do you play both songs at the same time before you transition from one to the other? And at what point do you start the transition? I know that before you even do this you have to beatmatch. So is there a difference between beatmatching on CD and vinyl?
I know some dj's like to raise the bpm as their set goes on. But how can yo do this? Won't this up your beatmatching? Or do you just gradually do it while a song is playing? If you are spinning vinyl is there any way to know how many bpm a song has, or do you just go by ear and do what sounds best?
How many vinyls should you have in your collection before you go out and try your luck in public? Let's say you are going to be playing a 2 hour set? approximately how much does each vinyl cost?
Thanks for all your help in advance and I'm sure i'll have more questions! |
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| displaced |
decks are turntables,
mixers are the thingy with faders (volume control),
i like to think of synthesizer as a korg/yamaha keyboard with piano keys, although "synthesizer" i think is actually a broader term.
transition can be anywhere from instant to as long as you can keep the beats matched. principles of beatmatching on cd, vinyl, mp3s are all the same. practice.
personally, i raise (or lower) pitch, (no more than 2%) over a minute or two, as transition is completed to give me ample time to beatmatch and cue the next record.
i like to play out my record, so i go through about 10-12 records an hour.
each new record usually (after shipping) costs just slightly less than a cd at best buy. its an expensive hobby. then again, its cheaper than pimpin' my ride... :D
there are a lot of sticky threads with tutorials up at the top. i'm sure those will explain things a lot better than i. |
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| inflight101 |
| So to make my own bedroom setup what do I need? Two decks, a mixer, speakers and soem headphones...Anything else? If I'm buying some stuff just to fool around with, how much will that set me back approximately? |
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| jupiterone |
raising the bpm wont screw up the beatmaching...since you have to match the beat of the tune playing with the other deck :p. so bascially if youre starting a track at 132...2 minutes later..you raise it up to 133..then you match up the track you want coming after this one. so its not a hastle becuase i dont think youlll be playing 2 records at a time.
mixer is the controller used to mix the tracks together..its what you hook your turntables/cd players into. then you can also hook up FX units to it.
transitions are pretty much personal preference in most cases...its how good you are aswell.. i mean you could play a track for 30 seconds then mix it with another track. you could have a transition last mno more then 10 seconds or 5 seconds. it matters how good yo are at mixing the frequencies. |
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| Inertia |
deck - cd player or turntable
mixer - mixer. heh. used to mix sound, has different channels. each source of audio is plugged into a different channel, which has volume control and equalizer which allows you to 'blend' the music by manipulating the levels.
synthesizer - a device used to create synthetic sound, as in, not coming from an instrument, generated 'artificially' so to speak. uses a combination of parameters to build a desired waveform. electronic music revolves around this device.
transition can go however you like it. for the general part, you have 1 track playing, eventually, you start blending another in, till they're both at full volume, then you switch to the new one by making the previous one quieter, aka, fading it out.
of course, this can be changed. some DJs play more than 2 tracks at the same time. they can beatmatch 2 records, have them both at full play, then beatmatch another and mix it in as well. how long the mix goes on for depends on your own taste and ability.
beatmatching on both CD and vinyl is basically the same, the cueing method is what varies (cueing, is when you use your hand to get the vinyl to the position you want it to be when you release it to start your mix. on most CD players, since there is no vinyl emulation, you'll have to mark down and call 'cue-points' by using buttons). but for the most part, the process is the same; cue, release, and make pitch corrections accordingly.
you can beatmeatch at any speed (in theory). so, what you do to raise the BPM is just speed up tunes slightly when they're playing by themselves, throughout the night. you are right, if this is done DURING a mix, it could result in disaster, but if only 1 track is playing, you can speed it up a bit with no problem. generally, BPM you can just go by ear. i personally like to have a numeric value in my head, so if available, i like to check BPM counters to know where i'm at.
i like to carry my full collection, which is nearly 90-100 tracks. of course, i spin CDs, so it's a lot easier for me. but as a general aspect, DJs bring as much vinyl as they can be comfortable with, picking out what they're most likely to spin that night...
vinyl cost can go anywhere from 3 US dollars to 20 US dollars. but it generally is within the 9US-15US range.
hope i helped :toocool: |
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