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I'm loosing my touch - need some feedback
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| andreww1 |
Hi all, I wanted to get some feedback from other dj's who may have gone through a similar situation.
I've been djing now for around 5 years and late last year my mixing was always right on beat and smooth. Over the past months or so, for the life of me, I just can't get any of my mixes right. I don't think I've changed the way I mix - I just can't seem to do it as well as I used to. Obviously I've done some bad mixes in the past but usually that's followed by better improved mixing.
Lately I've been in a mixing slump and I can't seem to get myself out of it. Things are offbeat and transitions are not as smooth.
Has anyone else been through this during their dj career? How did you improve your mixing? Perhaps it's time for some new headphones or something to change the way I hear the music?
I have 2 x CDJ-800's and a DJM-800 mixer (pinoneer headphones too)
Anyh advise would be awsome.
Thanks. |
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| DJ RANN |
It happens from time to time. The best advice I can give is challenge yourself intellectually, to make it fun again.
Dig out your classic that you haven't played in years - it will help you to get to know your roots again and get the spark going.
Find some other types of music that always interested you and try mixing that - it will either open more doors or make you realise how much you actually like you usual genre.
Try mixing in a completely different style, so if your a smooth transitions type, try just mixing like Cox, Bad Boy Bill or Jeff Mills, cutting everything up and dropping things in and out quite intensely.
Stop using FX for a while - our brain gets to know them and they become mundane and formulaic - make it about the music and what you can do with it in simple but creative terms.
On a technical note, blindfold yourself. I'm not joking - I always suggest this to anyone who buys a new mixer or decks to get to know them properly, but it works to really make you think on a tactile basis and just react to what you're hearing. Try doing a one hour mix blindfolded with tracks from the same genre already on CD's.
Now come back the next day and mix - you'll have a different appreciation for how you mix on a technical level.
Other than that, the only other advice is to stop thinking about the slump and either enjoy it or give yourself a break until you pine for it again. |
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| n3lly |
Walk away and come back in a couple of weeks and start over again.
Everyone goes through bad patches here and there. :) |
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| Senator Clay Davis |
| im guessing your getting tired of your music, try mixing other genres! |
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| Rodri Santos |
I think this has happened to me previously, first of all maybe your first problem has been boredom, this led to stupid mistakes which resulted in a lack of self confidence , another option i can see is that since you are no longer as excited as you used to you are more permissive with some things you werent (i.e you don't wear off your headphones until you feel both tunes have the pitch control perfectly adjusted) as for the smooth mixing... when you feel the music you do better, it's more intuitive, is easy to recognize the phrases.... there is a huge difference between my commercial house sets and my house/techno/trance mixes that i love , djing is an art in itself and you need inspiration as much as a painter. As you've been suggested try different genres, try to step onwards with more difficult things (are you already a master scratcher? work with acapellas and samples? have you ever thought of playing live with a midi keyboard and synths? go vinly without bpm counters? ) and you'll enjoy more when you are in the booth.
It's kinda ironical but human tends to fail in the easiest things, boundaries are challenging and all our will is towards them, make it difficult and you'll succeed |
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| Nemesis44 |
Sit back, Doctor Nem is in session...
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.
Firstly, if you are tired or stressed it can always have a negative impact. It goes without saying basically.
Here is another theory that I actually learned in sports but I find that it works here too. Our bodies go through various stages of mental and physical development. Often when you find yourself going through a tricky stage, be it at the gym or even mixing records it’s when your body is adjusting itself to something. With your DJing it could be that you are so set in your routine that you are actually not concentrating as hard as you might normally because you are adjusting to something that is becoming habitual. Your muscle memory is so familiar with the movement that your brain does not actively have to engage in it.
Take this as an example:
Someone throws a ball at you that you have to kick. For the sake of this example assume that it’s always the same person.
Stage one, you have to focus on the person throwing you the ball, they advise you when they are throwing. You then have to consciously react to their command and think about how you place yourself and the technique you use in order to apply force to the moving object. There is a lot of time and space awareness at play and it will be a very conscious effort. You will find that you have to be 100% task focused in order for you to succeed.
Stage two, you still have to focus on the person throwing the ball but you no longer depend on the voice command. Your motor skills have also adapted so you actually don’t need to concentrate on each detail of the movement in your leg to achieve this action, but you still have to concentrate in order to place your foot to the ball as you are still dependant on the visual indicators and need to be fully focused on Time and Space.
Stage three, you no longer depend on thought process to carry out the actions and you can react purely based on visual indicators. Your actions have become automatic responses rather than conscious thought process .
Stage four, your actions are purely instinctive and require no additional thought putting you in a position where you can even engage in thought process about other things as the task at hand requires minimal concentration.
Well, how does this apply to DJing I hear you ask. Truth be told, this applies to absolutely everything that you do in your life full stop. If you look at children who are learning to drink from a glass for the first time you will observe that they are completely task focused and nothing else exists in their world. When you think in terms of DJing, when you have to think about the particular actions on a fader or pitch correction, the more thought this requires the more likely it is that thing can go wrong due to the speed at which things happen during a mix.
In addition, if you are going through a particular phase, let’s say you are moving from three to four, there is a certain crossover period where your brain can get confused and will often under perform. What I am saying is that it is possible that you are just breaking through a barrier rather than suffering from a loss of talent.
Don’t beat yourself up over it, throw this in with inspiration and other life factors and it can easily get your down, but the reality is that this will come back to you, probably stronger and better than it was before.
You may also be getting bored and could be in need of new stimulation. New genre, new tricks, new tunes etc.
Cheers
Nem |
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| DJRYAN™ |
| bad beat matching occurs when you neglect beat matching itself. THe easiest thing to do is find the first beat. Cue it up, hit play, and get as close as you can to a perfectly matched record. Then do it all over again. And again. Until eventually, when you hit play, the two records play simultaneously with no movement. If you take beat matching for granted. Then your transitions will always be off because you either trying to catch up, or slow down to the master tempo. That's not what you want. |
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| n3lly |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJRYAN™
bad beat matching occurs when you neglect beat matching itself. THe easiest thing to do is find the first beat. Cue it up, hit play, and get as close as you can to a perfectly matched record. Then do it all over again. And again. Until eventually, when you hit play, the two records play simultaneously with no movement. If you take
beat matching for granted. Then your transitions will always be off because you either trying to catch up, or slow down to the master tempo. That's not what you want. |
lol :)
I disagree with the above a bit. I don't mind adjusting my track on the fly. In fact the better i can beat match the less i mind doing it on the fly which allows me to introduce a song a lot quicker knowing that i have the skill set to beatmatch them as i'm introducing the song without the punters knowing that it's being done as I believe being able to spot the records going off beat a lot quicker than the audience is part of being a dj.
It's obviously beneficial to have them perfectly beat matched before introducing the track but i wont spend ages trying to get them spot on.
Besides i think the OP can beatmatch, he's just slightly off his game at the moment :) |
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| discobiscuit |
I dont know why, but days where i spend a couple hrs sorting through and downloading new music. If i have a gig that night i dont rock the crowd as hard.
Also when i go on download binges i download songs faster than i get to listen to them. Music piles up and im left mixing songs im not familiar w. Sometimes i dont even rememb downloading songs i run across in my library.
Its easy to dilute your library with music you dont even know/like.
If u use serato or smthn, make a new folder called "good (genre)". Go through your library and put the good in that folder. Delete or move songs you dont like or will never play.
Just take a week or two off from mixing. Reorganize ur library become familiar w all the music which has piled up over the years. It will help you with your problem |
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| andreww1 |
Thank you so much for all the feedback guys. I really appreciate all the opinions.
I love the music i play and i try and gather new tunes every day so i'm always playing tracks that i love at that moment.
I'm never bored when I mix, although when doing a set which is longer then 1.5 hours i tend to struggle towards the end.
I just can't get over the fact that last year I could mix a good set and thought I was making good progress and now I can't string one together. I don't think i've changed the way I mix so i can't work out why things are not coming together.
A few comments said I should stop and start mixing again in a week or two... maybe this would be the best idea for me. Maybe I need to walk away from it for a little while, get my mind off it, and come back after I have regathered my strengths. |
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| Senator Clay Davis |
| quote: | Originally posted by DJRYAN™
bad beat matching occurs when you neglect beat matching itself. THe easiest thing to do is find the first beat. Cue it up, hit play, and get as close as you can to a perfectly matched record. Then do it all over again. And again. Until eventually, when you hit play, the two records play simultaneously with no movement. If you take beat matching for granted. Then your transitions will always be off because you either trying to catch up, or slow down to the master tempo. That's not what you want. |
jesus |
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| n3lly |
| quote: | Originally posted by andreww1
I'm never bored when I mix, although when doing a set which is longer then 1.5 hours i tend to struggle towards the end.
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Is that just at home/bedroom, or do you play out as well? |
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