Holding the Pocket

Yo gang,
so after djing for about 15 years, playing both vinyl and cds, I'm thinking to make the traktor transition. I've been really interested in its functions and how it can be controlled, especially with that X1 controller. My initial concern however is whether or not the beat grid quantization would cause time locked mixes to sound too stiff. Being primarily a house and techno dj, the need for very subtle control of timing when merging two tracks has always been a very large part of the craft. I would be worried that if traktor were to be taking control of the time alignment that it wouldn't be be able to do it with as much subtlety, thusly making the transitions sound a bit stiff and devoid of pocket.

Of course I could just be using cdj controllers or an independent platter and faders interface, but I've been feeling lately that if the manual beat matching could be put aside, that would allow for a lot more creativity in the transitioning and phrasing.

I'm sure this is something that people have dealt with so it would be nice to hear any perspectives you all might have.

Cheers
Ammon:)

im not sure what your exact problem is.
do you mean that you think the bead grid might be off and you wont be able to fix it?
you can adjust and move the beatgrid

but im surprised someone that normally uses analogue gear actually said " I've been feeling lately that if the manual beat matching could be put aside, that would allow for a lot more creativity in the transitioning and phrasing."

Hey Brother,

I'm in the same boat for sure. Ready to make the switch BUT haven't found a controller to do all that I need. While I will use "sync" from Traktor Pro, I want the ability to manually sync when I want to. I'm currently watching the new NI controller(which more info will be announced 8/16) & the EKS Otus & Otus Raw(which will be announced 8/17). I'm intrigued about the possibilities of audio manipulation in real time when I'm not spending time beat matching but I still want to be able to do it in a way that feels like vinyl or CDJs when it suits me. Keep in touch about what you're finding and I'll do the same. :)

Word, at this point I'm just fiddling with the traktor demo and haven't dug too deeply into it. As far as theory 28's comments, I believe you answered my question about the beat grid issue. Wether or not you can adjust it's placement by increments as fine as a 128th note was what i was unsure about. Again, I have yet to really use the program which is why I'm asking around.

Also, as far as the comment about someone using analog gear wanting to bypass beatmatching. That has been my biggest concern regarding the potential traktor transition. Being that the manual time sync is a big part of the process, as well as a very strong showcasing of a djs skill, I've been very wary of the idea that bypassing that stage would change the experience in a way I would not enjoy.

However, I can see that there are a lot of ways to expand one's abilities and techniques these days, and I'm just looking to take a step forward with my performing. I feel like manual beat matching is something that I could bypass, as long as the resulting transitions still sounded the way I want them to. Again, which is why I'm asking you guys about these things.

Word
Ammon:)

Also: for reference, you should check out some of my mixes to hear what I'm talking about. Soundcloud.com/ammonep

I'm not sure of the exact size of each step in the beat grid adjustment, but you can do very fine adjustments in both moving the grid and increasing or decreasing it's size.

@Ammon EP: If you are going to be using timecode, you really won't be in for any surprises. Things are very comparable to a vinyl-only setup. If you are going to button-land, I won't lie, the transition can be a little weird at first. At first things seem awkward and stiff, but then you start to get into a different kind of workflow and things feel right. A couple things will help ease the transition: As mentioned, if your beat grids are spot on, you'll soon be forgetting entirely about beatmatching, your mind and hands will be occupied with other things. The grid can be adjusted in miniscule amounts, so no worries there. But if you really need the push/pull feel of a record and the fine pitch changes in order to feel connected (I do), rest assured you can map things in really fine increments to recreate that feel. That's really the reason I like wheels, whether digital or analog. I might not use them all the time, but for tiny adjustments they just feel better to me than buttons.