How the hell do some djs match beats that fast ???? Any tips, techniques ?

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

I don't claim to have reached perfection, but I've spun for a number of years and I'm pretty comfortable going from cueing, matching, to live sound on the fly pretty quickly. I think it's 2 things:

1. Once you cue up and get going, DON'T touch the record/CD platter (or avoid it as much as possible). Learn to beatmatch exclusively with the pitch control. Use the pitch control and you reduce your margin of error down very close to your equipment's margin of error. Use your fingers a lot and you working against your equipment.

2. Practice a ton. It's simple in theory, hard in practice. It takes a long time to connect what you hear to just the right level of response at the right time. As you do this, you learn that you can monitor the silent/quieter record continuously vs. the live/louder one, and you learn what it sounds like the second when they start coming apart. Then, it's using just that pitch control to bring them back together again (again, pitch control is much more finely tuned in accuracy than your finger).

I don't think there's any other magic trick out there that will just unlock all of the secrets and suddenly make you know it all. If there was, there would be virtually no value in being a DJ...you really could just get a stereo system.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

^^totally correct. i have just messed around myself in my room for the last 5 years (and not enough to be consistently good imo) and have never had the guts to play at Therapy like Miroslav above, but that is totally on point imo.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

also doing this. Saw Roger Sanchez a few years ago and was amazed that he simply never touched the record and did all correction with the pitch fader ... definatly need some training but my mixing became much better. the less you use your fingers on the record it become more important to pitch/match the record perfect.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

it's all math, i can match very quickly by knowing my math and appling it to dj'ing. BPM's relate to the pitch control and how much you wish to fluctuate it.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

just listen to it.....make adjustments with the pitch control and ride it....notch it up or down depending on what it needs....quickly down then back up or up then back down....if you do it fast enough, no one can tell....

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Miroslav has some good points, most def. in regards to the "try no to touch the platter" advice, i think that may hold truth....i come from a turntablist backround, so this has been a habit i have been trying to minimize, since i learned cdj's.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Pitch control allows a bit more refinement...if you find you're touching the platter too much in a mix one way, then it's time to move the pitch control a bit...if you have to grab the thimble then you're definitely a bit off....I have no qualms about doing it this way, the problem is if you get it a little too hard that bends the pitch for a moment (and if you really want to be good you want your mixes to be as seamless and flowing as possible).

As for actually matching quickly, that boils down to listening, listening, listening and being able to grab and notice the beat differences quickly...like jeffrey said, I do the same thing with the BPM's; it allows me to set things at or very close right off the bat so it'll stay in the flow, then at best, minute adjustments need to be made...instead of chasing up and down the pitch control trying to narrow it down...it allows for those 60, 90, 120-second plus mix-throughs...

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Turntables make ths all the worse though, as turntables do drift. But practice is the way to go mate. What I like to do is pitch the record I'm mixing in to -5%, so that way I always know I have to pitch it up to mix, no guessing if it's too fast or slow when getting it close.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=Aleks_B;406363]Miroslav has some good points, most def. in regards to the "try no to touch the platter" advice, i think that may hold truth....i come from a turntablist backround, so this has been a habit i have been trying to minimize, since i learned cdj's.[/quote]

:D

I taught myself to mix and had my hands all over the records for years...then went through the process of un-learning all of that and improved exponentially. I'm quite firmly convinced that it's the ONLY reliable way to go, because it's the only way that you know that your records are spinning at the equilibrium dictated by the equipment, not the temporary speed dictated by your meaty paws. Pitch control is remarkably efficient and it forces you to be a better listener, too.

One last opinion: some DJs like to spend a lot of time in their headphones listening to the blend of one track into another, sometimes even messing with just the hi, low, or mid frequency... Get away from all that. Learn to mix exclusively with one ear in your headphones listening to the track you're mixing in and one ear on the monitor. It'll make you a much better DJ.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

i think that's very true but i know alot of dj's that just mix, there is no programming of music and that is a art form of it's own it's about the production of a mix

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

also second that headphone issue Mirolsav ... splitt mixing is really confusing me because i've learned to have the playing track on the pa, the next track one the headphone right ear.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

A lot of times the programming of a set can really make for a boring night. As you may wanna play one way but your crowd definitely wants to hear something a bit different.

You might be playing some banging house music, then go into some more progressive stuff, then you see you're losing your crowd, it makes you wanna play more banging house music.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Meh, the trick is to gain their trust earlier and easy it in slowly to a different mood, but still keep the groove going.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=Johnson;406681]also second that headphone issue Mirolsav ... splitt mixing is really confusing me because i've learned to have the playing track on the pa, the next track one the headphone right ear.[/quote]

+1 but it's the left ear :)

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

I know some DJs who do the split headphone mixing very well...and ultimately, you do whatever works for you...I'm sure there's some kickass DJ out there whol beatmatches entirely by just shifting the records with his/her hands :D

My $.02: I figure I'm in the strongest and most flexible position when I keep things as simple as possible, relying as little as possible on specific blending features of my mixer, etc. Then you can hopefully play anywhere with as much confidence as possible. To that end, I found myself having to get comfortable to switching headphones to either ear...sometimes the monitor is on your "weak" side and can't be easily shifted to the other...

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

we all pretty much know that mr. digweed fully mixes in his headphones.

I do it too sometimes. If there isn't a split cue in the mixer...i simply turn both cues on when I really need to discern the difference in tracks...it makes it quite a bit louder in your headphones too so I then need to turn the headphone level down.

I actually mix at a much lower level in my headphones than any of my other dj friends...weird.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=jeffrey collins;406733]A lot of times the programming of a set can really make for a boring night. As you may wanna play one way but your crowd definitely wants to hear something a bit different.

You might be playing some banging house music, then go into some more progressive stuff, then you see you're losing your crowd, it makes you wanna play more banging house music.[/quote]

well, programming also refers to mixing in key where you can move the set flow up and down any which way you please...I too hear way too many DJ's (even those that are good regionally-wise and the like) just "mix" with no flow at all...track plays, beatmatch/bang the next one, beatmatch/bang the next one after that, etc. Once in a while 2 good sounds come together but that's it.

It's when you can mix in key (i.e. hitting that point just when a track starts to outro or has done so for a few seconds, then bam a bassline or whatnot hits to keep things moving vs. mix the straight-outro with the straight-intro for a minute plus with very little going on...or really advanced is instead of mixing the intro part in, take the track 2+ minutes in where a cool part is and just quickly work that in right as the outro starts up, etc.) and blend stuff together that makes it really interesting...

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

it also makes it really boring to listen to a club dj try to do the same kind of mixing that a top40 dj does where they just play 1-2 minutes of a song.

the first part of your comment to me is about the feeling...not programming. I'm of the thought that if i'm trying too hard to mix, then i lose the feel of it and if i'm not feeling it...then i feel i've let people down.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Great thread. I'm pretty keen on beat matching, however I don't have the best equipment. I have a Numark dual CD mixing console, just something to start out with, but maybe the pitch is not sensitive enough? I mean I can get close but I can only fine tune by a tenth of a percent (-1.6, -1.7, etc...) Is there much better equip or is this something I have to deal with?

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

higher-end players have .05 & .02 increments...but .1 is the same thing that a Tech 1200 has...

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

there is a lot better equiptment out there. Get yourself something fron Denon or even Pioneer and you can't go wrong. But they are more expensive than other products. Just make sure this is something you'll really stick with before getting more equiptment.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=Erik Mitchell;412042]Great thread. I'm pretty keen on beat matching, however I don't have the best equipment. I have a Numark dual CD mixing console, just something to start out with, but maybe the pitch is not sensitive enough? I mean I can get close but I can only fine tune by a tenth of a percent (-1.6, -1.7, etc...) Is there much better equip or is this something I have to deal with?[/quote]

Go for Pioneer, allen&heat... no matter you don't stick to this DJ thing in the future.

If you are doing something, do it big, try your best to get the better gear you can afford on (if you change your mind about djing or won't be able to continue, there will always be a lot of newcomers who'll gladly buy your equipment. That way, your expensive investment won't be a total waste).

Do it big, talent is a must and being talented makes you shine over the rest, but if you have the best equipment, you'll definitely be closer to success and even more motivated. This world needs brilliant new talent, not average skills or nice wannabe's.

DO IT BIG! Cheers.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

or just invest in a laptop and some programs and start doing "live laptop" sets. No one needs to know that you just hit play in winamp and that you're checking your email 8)

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

the best way to get good at fast beatmatching is to play live and force yourself NOT to beatmatch the track at all prior to when you want to mix it in. cue up the track and drop it in near the end of the track like you normally would, then you have either 32 or 64 beats to match it before you'd better be mixing. you might make a few errors, but it'll sure teach ya quick. nothing like the possibility of fucking up live to make you focus!

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=day_for_night;424489]...nothing like the possibility of fucking up live to make you focus![/quote]

And don't forget that live fucking keeps anyone in focus too!!!:lol: :Nice: :sarcasm: :Crazy mo: :David:

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

there are some nice advices here. i for example use both pitch control and fingers why? cause thats how i got used to. it works fine for me so maybe it takes abit more than 10 seconds but im cool with it.

and if we want to see it from a different aspect and actually answer the question form the first post i've heard eric morillo's magic is just repitching all his records into cd's - all with the same pitch so that he won't have problem with that and he'll have plenty of time to put the accapellas in the right place and right timing and work as mad on the effects machine. unfortunately i only heard this rumour after i saw him live last year on ibiza at the radio one weekend (he was very good btw)

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

Not to sound horrendously amateurish, but why is split-mixing on your headphones preferred for DJing?

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

sometimes the monitors you are using in the club don't work as well as you would hope, so split cueing is helpful. Then sometimes you just get so used to it, that you always do it.

It's also a nice way to save a little bit of your hearing, as the headphones will bring down the decible level to your ears by 5-10 db...depending on how good your headphones are.

And in these days of everyone living on top of one another, you don't wanna bother your neighbors at 3AM while you are practicing, so you learn to do everything in your headphones...then you just continue that into the dj booth.

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=Glenn-Holmes;427261]...i only heard this rumour after i saw him live last year on ibiza at the radio one weekend (he was very good btw)[/quote]

One of the best morillo sets i?ve heard!!!

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

[quote=FM;412082]higher-end players have .05 & .02 increments...but .1 is the same thing that a Tech 1200 has...[/quote]

Pitch increments are only for cd players, any good 'vinyl' turntable has even better than .1 control as the pich leaver is just a physical control for the platter motor . But yea .02 on a cdj is more than good enough......

Re: Matching beats in 10 seconds !

I've been used to a split cue mixing mixer from the beginning, but always mix with only one ear in the headphones - I want to hear what is happening with the music in the speakers with my other ear. The volume in my HP's is also lower than that of most of my friends', I also have no idea why.

As for beatmatching: doing the roughest part with my hands (first 5-10 secs) and then fine tune, but my Gemini XL500II's have taught me to use the pitch control very well I must say...not using my hands as much as I used to :D.