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PItch Bending on Turntables
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| Abhay |
Hi guys,
I'm not sure if i'm bending the pitch right, to line up my beats on turntables. (once i've got the pitch spot on)
I usually just hold the vinyl lightly, to slow it down for a sec. and if i want to speed it up, i just touch it, and move it forwards a little.
I get the feeling i'm not doing it right, because it takes me a while this way.
is it better if i just use the pitch control, and move it up or down, temporarily? |
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| Zild |
Yes! Although I will tell you right now pushing and dragging your finger are faster, but they definitely don't sound as good, and you won't improve your beatmatching much that way.
If you learn to ride the pitch fader you really don't even have to match your tracks before you mix them. The reason is because most people who pitch bend by touching the record or the platter aim to have their beatmatch as tight as possible before mixing in. On the other hand, people who ride the pitch don't give a damn because they know the true skill is correcting the pitch the whole way through without anyone on the foor noticing. |
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| Abhay |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
Yes! Although I will tell you right now pushing and dragging your finger are faster, but they definitely don't sound as good, and you won't improve your beatmatching much that way.
If you learn to ride the pitch fader you really don't even have to match your tracks before you mix them. The reason is because most people who pitch bend by touching the record or the platter aim to have their beatmatch as tight as possible before mixing in. On the other hand, people who ride the pitch don't give a damn because they know the true skill is correcting the pitch the whole way through without anyone on the foor noticing. |
great!
thanks!
i think i'll change my habits a little. Becasue what i normally do is get the pitch as spot on as i can, and then try to phrase match...
I'll try a little change and mix and ride the pitch, having phrase matched first.
thanks heaps. |
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| -AbsurD- |
omg...
pitch bending is true skill? well if u do 20 sec transitions with no eq'ing... then i guess...
i dont know about u guys, but i want my tracks to be perfectly beatmatched before i mix them... so i can make a 2-3 minute transition, while playing with eqs or adding effects, etc.
no matter how good u are at pitch bending it won't sound smooth... ofcourse with all the noise and distortion and heavy bass the floor will not notice it, but what if you recording a cd? or playing on a radio?
all i can say, is... Dont look for an easy way out, learn to beatmatch your tracks perfetly within 20-30 seconds and you wont ever need to spend any extra effort on pitch bending.
P.S. Is it just me who always thought that Armin's, Tiestos, PvDs, etc... live performance SUCKED? the beats always going off, at least A LITTLE BIT...I've always enjoyed Sander K's performance tho... |
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| Zild |
I guess you've haven't seen many professional DJs mix. All of the really good DJs I've seen cue their tracks on phrase then start mixing while they beatmatch. Nobody ever said anything about 20 second mixes or not using EQs you made that assumption yourself. Just because YOU can't ride the pitch correctly doesn't mean others can't. Besides once you drop it and bring it in it should only take maybe 10 seconds before you have it locked.
One of the best Techno DJs I've seen does this. He will pull out a record from his bag and cue it with the channel fader open, drop it knowing it isn't beatmatched and everyone can hear if it's off, but you know what it's NEVER off. That's riding the pitch for you. Not having to beatmatch before hand opens up time for you to program your set, scratch, beatjuggle, loop, and screw around with EFX.
You are right though I don't like Armin, Tiestio, or PVD, but Sander K is pretty cool. I'm actually listening to The Fruit right now.
About the what if you're doing a mix for a CD question.
Well in that case I'll cut down from 20 track to about 15 tracks for the hour, and I'll multitrack my scratches to make sure everything is sharp. But CDs are very different from live preformances. |
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| Tegu |
| quote: | Originally posted by -AbsurD-
i dont know about u guys, but i want my tracks to be perfectly beatmatched before i mix them... so i can make a 2-3 minute transition |
it's impossible to have 2 tracks so perfectly beatmatched that they require no correction whatsoever for 2+ minutes.
i think what abhay and zild are getting at is ways of correcting, in which case it is definitely better to ride the pitch than it is to speed up / slow down the vinyl by touching it. |
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| Abhay |
hmm
i have a lot of problem pitch bending, to a little faster...
i always push the vinyl too hard.... i mean isn't there any other way of doing it? i always have to slow the pitch down, by touching the vinyl instead. it'd be much more simpler if i just sped it up.
that's the main thing i wanna get at... like the actual processs itself.
is it better if i grab the little thing that goes through the hole in the centre of the vinyl, and twist that? as i've seen one DJ do in a club>>? |
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| Zild |
| Yeah you can twist the spindle, but like I said it's better to just push the pitch fader back and forth a little bit instead of pushing or twisting anything. I still twist the spindle sometimes out of habit. |
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| Basstard |
| isnt ur equing a little awkward keeping 1 hand on the turntable the whole time zild? i cant help but wonder how a mix can sound very smooth if u are not using both hands on the mixer. usually if u want a smooth blend you will be working 1 eq down and the other eq up at the same time. |
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| Clovis86 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
I guess you've haven't seen many professional DJs mix. All of the really good DJs I've seen cue their tracks on phrase then start mixing while they beatmatch. Nobody ever said anything about 20 second mixes or not using EQs you made that assumption yourself. Just because YOU can't ride the pitch correctly doesn't mean others can't. Besides once you drop it and bring it in it should only take maybe 10 seconds before you have it locked.
One of the best Techno DJs I've seen does this. He will pull out a record from his bag and cue it with the channel fader open, drop it knowing it isn't beatmatched and everyone can hear if it's off, but you know what it's NEVER off. That's riding the pitch for you. Not having to beatmatch before hand opens up time for you to program your set, scratch, beatjuggle, loop, and screw around with EFX.
You are right though I don't like Armin, Tiestio, or PVD, but Sander K is pretty cool. I'm actually listening to The Fruit right now.
About the what if you're doing a mix for a CD question.
Well in that case I'll cut down from 20 track to about 15 tracks for the hour, and I'll multitrack my scratches to make sure everything is sharp. But CDs are very different from live preformances. |
This is also a great skill to have, but I would prefer a combo of both...I.E. matching it as well as possible before hand then pitch bending to keep it on.
I've seen Steve Lawler drop a track in with the fader all the way up and not even touch the platter/pitch during the mix...that is some ing good beatmatching... |
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| -AbsurD- |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zild
I guess you've haven't seen many professional DJs mix. All of the really good DJs I've seen cue their tracks on phrase then start mixing while they beatmatch. Nobody ever said anything about 20 second mixes or not using EQs you made that assumption yourself. Just because YOU can't ride the pitch correctly doesn't mean others can't. Besides once you drop it and bring it in it should only take maybe 10 seconds before you have it locked.
One of the best Techno DJs I've seen does this. He will pull out a record from his bag and cue it with the channel fader open, drop it knowing it isn't beatmatched and everyone can hear if it's off, but you know what it's NEVER off. That's riding the pitch for you. Not having to beatmatch before hand opens up time for you to program your set, scratch, beatjuggle, loop, and screw around with EFX.
You are right though I don't like Armin, Tiestio, or PVD, but Sander K is pretty cool. I'm actually listening to The Fruit right now.
About the what if you're doing a mix for a CD question.
Well in that case I'll cut down from 20 track to about 15 tracks for the hour, and I'll multitrack my scratches to make sure everything is sharp. But CDs are very different from live preformances. |
faster stuff is better to ride, i guess... slower stuff...(prog/breaks etc.) is better to beatmatch first...IMO... I used to ride the pitch before, and i did it on my first ever set of NUMARKs that sucked... I just never liked it. Im a perfectionist when it comes to mixing and riding is not perfect. |
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| -AbsurD- |
| quote: | Originally posted by Tegu
it's impossible to have 2 tracks so perfectly beatmatched that they require no correction whatsoever for 2+ minutes.
i think what abhay and zild are getting at is ways of correcting, in which case it is definitely better to ride the pitch than it is to speed up / slow down the vinyl by touching it. |
lol...have you tried mixing yet? or you are just one of those who tries to look cool on forums?
IT IS possible to perfectly beatmatch.
lol |
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