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House Mixing techniques with CDJs (pg. 3)
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| lawrenceq |
| quote: | Originally posted by Tony Morello
at the best electronic music venue in calgary
the warehouse nightclub
it's been running for over 25 years now
they host some of the best acts that come to town
and it's calgary's only afterhours
pics are in the club djs setup thread |
cool, i was going to come check it out when above & beyond played back in the winter when i was working at Panorama mountain resort. I will make sure to pop in next time. |
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| Tony Morello |
| quote: | Originally posted by lawrenceq
cool, i was going to come check it out when above & beyond played back in the winter when i was working at Panorama mountain resort. I will make sure to pop in next time. |
that was a good show, they rocked it but the place was filled to the rafters, it gets a little uncomfortable when you can barely move, let alone dance |
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| Imu |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJ RANN
+10000000000 Tony, I've been saying the same thing for years. At most play with the eq's at opportune points to enhance the elements of the tracks but the vast majority of FX just sound toy and/or crap. |
i disagree. you're not doing much as a dj if you're just slapping tracks on one after the other. the point is to personalize your set and present your perception of the tracks. obviously track selection is very important, as is the structure of your set, but effects can go a long way. granted that some effects sound , but you can always do things to better fit a tune into your set. there's a lot of effects that can sound very decent. the roll, filter, echo, flanger and so on are all very useful. you just have to make sure you're not overdoing it. i'm not saying that effects are the only way to personalize your set, but they shouldn't be discarded completely. |
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| notelfreak |
| quote: | Originally posted by Imu
i disagree. you're not doing much as a dj if you're just slapping tracks on one after the other. the point is to personalize your set and present your perception of the tracks. obviously track selection is very important, as is the structure of your set, but effects can go a long way. granted that some effects sound , but you can always do things to better fit a tune into your set. there's a lot of effects that can sound very decent. the roll, filter, echo, flanger and so on are all very useful. you just have to make sure you're not overdoing it. i'm not saying that effects are the only way to personalize your set, but they shouldn't be discarded completely. |
the best way to personalize your set is through skill and dynamic mixing, effects are for top 40 and djs, get the outtahere.
omg look a flanger, epic plur.
sfini. |
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| mfitterer1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Stu Cox
No it's not, on both CDJ800s and 1000s you can only set loops points to an accuracy of 1/75th of a second, which isn't accurate enough to be "seamless" - worst case you can be the equivalent of half a bpm out with a 4 beat loop (which will drift out of time as quickly as if you set the pitch slider 'wrong' by about 0.6% out on a normal mix - i.e. fairly quickly)
You'll normally find you have to adjust the pitch slightly even when you've got the loop as accurate as it can be, if only by 0.05 or 0.1%
Plus you've got the added bonus of the CDJ800 being slightly slow in placing the loop out point, so sometimes it puts it a bit after you've pressed it (loops fine when you hit the button, but the loop's then a bit too long next time it goes round) - and no it's not me being a bit of a retard when I hit the button :p
But it is doable, you can get used to it... really short loops will always be a pain on the 800, but fixing longer loops and adjusting the pitch to suit becomes 2nd nature. |
This is the single biggest reason I switched to Traktor. So simple and helps so much with my mixing style. |
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| Stu Cox |
Agree with this:| quote: | Originally posted by notelfreak
the best way to personalize your set is through skill and dynamic mixing, |
But completely disagree with this:| quote: | Originally posted by notelfreak
effects are for top 40 and djs, get the outtahere.
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FX have a place - yeah gratuitous flanging is just annoying, but if you're subtle about it you can really make FX work well. If done well, I don't see it as "a track with some FX over the top", it all becomes part of the tracks, part of the mix.
You can use reverb to add in a build up at the point you want it, to emphasise a track coming in or whatever you like. Filters can make a mix smoother than EQ.
Even the god forsaken flanger can work if you use it towards the end of a build up and ease it in with the wet/dry, or have it over one track and not the other during a mix to make it less in your face etc
There are 100 ways to use each kind of effect, so don't just think of each one just having one particular sound - set a flanger on a fast cycle but only throw it to wet on the dropping period just before a beat drops in, for example (I'm only focussing on the flanger because you attacked it, fairly enough really because it's the most abused effect in the world)
Just use them sparingly, appropriately and subtley and don't think that whacking the orange button a few times makes you a "technical" or "original" DJ. |
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| zeKsg |
| I have seen some people do really amazing with effects + filters on a break, really made the breakdown sound professional, no way I can repeat what he did... At least yet :cool: |
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| notelfreak |
| quote: | Originally posted by Stu Cox
Agree with this:
But completely disagree with this:
FX have a place - yeah gratuitous flanging is just annoying, but if you're subtle about it you can really make FX work well. If done well, I don't see it as "a track with some FX over the top", it all becomes part of the tracks, part of the mix.
You can use reverb to add in a build up at the point you want it, to emphasise a track coming in or whatever you like. Filters can make a mix smoother than EQ.
Even the god forsaken flanger can work if you use it towards the end of a build up and ease it in with the wet/dry, or have it over one track and not the other during a mix to make it less in your face etc
There are 100 ways to use each kind of effect, so don't just think of each one just having one particular sound - set a flanger on a fast cycle but only throw it to wet on the dropping period just before a beat drops in, for example (I'm only focussing on the flanger because you attacked it, fairly enough really because it's the most abused effect in the world)
Just use them sparingly, appropriately and subtley and don't think that whacking the orange button a few times makes you a "technical" or "original" DJ. |
i completely agree i was just trying to be a cock.
the reality at least to me, is that once you master how to use a 3rd (and for some even 4!, think old school 4 deck loop tech) deck and incorporate it into your set (i am not talking about going hawtin and just slamming 10 tracks on top of each other.) you will look at the fx unit as being an "easier n cheesier" way to add a personal touch.
during a break or transition sure you can go all "pew pew echo echo ping pong omg i am sahsa and i still play that ing supermayer track rawwwwwwwwwwwr raaaawr smoke machine in rave glasses"
or my personal fav
add an element of a 3rd track and make people go "omg i almost chocked on my candy knecklace, i hope he puts on a animal head"
the 1+1 = 3 rule can create much more drama than a simple pew pew.
i hope this makes sense, i am scratching my balls in my underwear with my sleep drool still on my face waiting for this stupid espresso machine to deliver me my wake up juice/slash deadmau5 smile elixir.
keep it plur:p
ps no one say zabiela because it sounds like . |
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| Tony Morello |
yea, that's what i'm talking about, do it the old and proper way by layering beats and acapellas over top to create something new, you don't need effects and loops to do that
effects are less is more, the less you use them the more they're going to have an impact when you do use them
and the key is subtlety, you want to be gentle, the wet/dry knob is not a dirty whore, don't just slam it in there, you have to ease it in, unless the track just calls for a dirty slut approach, then have at er
you want to make the effects seem like they were part of the original recording
i just don't understand looping, if the song has a 30 second mix, i'm going to mix it in 30 seconds and make it sound good, hence my looping is for pussies comment (mind you i was right faced, but still the truth regardless) |
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| notelfreak |
i will add with all of the technology accessible today and its relatively ease of use making your own edits is a great way to personalize your set and make those tracks with short or hard to mix intros more dj friendly.
you can do much cooler stuff with 2 copies of the same track then with the delay:p
looping has its uses, but in my eyes it is less for transitions as it is to have a little fun with a vocal element added over a boring break.. |
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| Stu Cox |
| quote: | Originally posted by notelfreak
you can do much cooler stuff with 2 copies of the same track then with the delay:p
looping has its uses, but in my eyes it is less for transitions as it is to have a little fun with a vocal element added over a boring break.. |
Yeah at a gig a few weeks ago I decided to use 2 copies of a tune for a bit of looping rather than the loop button cos it was quite a long loop and I wanted it to start at different points each time, so rather than adjusting the start point or setting up a load of hotcues it just made more sense to have another copy and start it a bit earlier/later or switch across to the other copy a bit earlier/later to do what I wanted. |
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| notelfreak |
| yes, the control is much easier that way i find. It still can take a little practice at times, but once you nail the result you were looking for it can be amazing for sure. |
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