DJing with sync, mixing in/handover

[SlvrDragon50]

The whole point of sync is to free you up to do other things. If you're getting bored with sync, it is because aren't using sync for the right reasons.

There's no reason to not embrace the technology there.

[DJSigma]

The whole point of sync is to free you up to do other things.

This used to be said so much on DJ Forums that it became a complete joke.

The sync crowd would first contradict themselves by saying "beatmatching is easy to learn anyway and it only takes a few seconds to beatmatch 2 records" (so why not learn it then?), but then they would follow it up with the old "I have more free time to be creative!", except when asked for examples, all they could come up with was videos of other DJs on YouTube, rather than anything they had actually created.

People who say that are largely lazy bastards who wanted to skip the basics and that soon becomes apparent when you listen to their shitty mixes. There are a few exceptions, but considering the number of mixes I check out from other DJs on a weekly basis, I know that it really is just a few. If sync didn't exist, a lot of them wouldn't be DJs in the first place, and that includes a bunch of the folks that post on here.

[SlvrDragon50]

Sync only lets you bypass beatmatching, no other basics... you can't tell whether or not someone is using sync unless they were to straight up tell you. You can only tell if someone is a bad beatmatcher...

Maybe a person isn't the best beatmatcher, but they might be brilliant at song selection and phrasing. Or maybe they come up with some excellent mash ups on the fly. Embrace sync or don't embrace it. Just don't bash it. It's here to stay.

[amadeus]

Ok I think we are getting stuck on the whole sync issue which is missing the point of the majority of this thread.

I havent argued against the use of SYNC and wouldn't if you want to use it then fine go ahead.

The point of which I've argued in this thread is the inability or should I say laziness of some, who cannot or don't want to learn how to beat match. Which I see as a basic fundamental.

And like was said earlier in the thread, if you are going to be playing out, you need to know how to beat match to mix into the last DJ, if you only you use sync and have never beat matched manually then your up shit creek, unless you want to kill the flow, which I'm personally against unless it's the headliner, and theres a slight gap for applause.


And the whole arguement about freeing you up to do other more creative stuff is a crock of shit, what, what could you possibly be doing apart from maybe f*ckin about with FX or looping stuff.

[DJSigma]

you can't tell whether or not someone is using sync unless they were to straight up tell you. You can only tell if someone is a bad beatmatcher...

Actually, I don't think that's true. Even when sync first came out, when I was leaving feedback on mixes on DJ Forums I would add "you used autosync for this right?" on mixes where I could tell they used sync and there was never once a case where the guy replied "no, I manually beatmatched". Often they would ask "how did you know?".

The telltale sign is perfect beatmatching, but poor to mediocre everything else. SoundCloud is riddled with mixes like that and so is the mix section of every DJ forum these days. It is the main reason why I don't really bother trying to search out good mixes anymore - manually I mean. I tend to go to blogs where someone else has filtered out the good ones, I check them out based on recommendations from friends, or I follow DJs that I know are good and grab their new stuff.

[SlvrDragon50]

Actually, I don't think that's true. Even when sync first came out, when I was leaving feedback on mixes on DJ Forums I would add "you used autosync for this right?" on mixes where I could tell they used sync and there was never once a case where the guy replied "no, I manually beatmatched". Often they would ask "how did you know?".

The telltale sign is perfect beatmatching, but poor to mediocre everything else. SoundCloud is riddled with mixes like that and so is the mix section of every DJ forum these days. It is the main reason why I don't really bother trying to search out good mixes these days - manually I mean. I tend to go to blogs where someone else has filtered out the good ones, I check them out based on recommendations from friends, or I follow DJs that I know are good and grab their new stuff.

I'm not talking about those mixes. I'm talking about mixes where everything is good. You will never know if they use sync or are excellent beatmatchers.

If they have poor song selection, phrasing, and everything, it's not like good beatmatching will make it sound great.

[DJSigma]

If they have poor song selection, phrasing, and everything, it's not like good beatmatching will make it sound great.

The problem is, there are absolutely tons of n00bs who can't really tell that their mix is shit because of autosync. If they had to beatmatch manually, they would be trainwrecking all over the place and they wouldn't post up their mixes so soon. You get folks posting up their first mixes literally days after owning their first ever DJ set up now. It's a joke. There was one guy on DJ Forums who posted his first mix after owning his first ever DJ setup for 3 hours and he asked "do I have room to improve?", lol. Needless to say, his mix was a bag of shite, but it should be after 3 hours of practice in total.

These same folks are out trying to secure gigs too. You hear about it all the time - people going out to a bar or club and the DJ is some n00b with a controller who doesn't really know WTF he's doing, but he's there because he's either got the gift of the gab, he's DJing for free, or both.

Because these n00bs see other n00bs doing it, they think "well, why should I wait?" and so the cycle continues. It's why the Mix Subs section of DJ Forums is as good as worthless now, and it's why tons of people were asking for it to be split into 2 sections.

The number of people actually using modern DJ equipment to do something fresh and new is absolutely tiny. The vast, vast majority are making mixes that are no different to what mix DJs were doing before CDJs even existed, never mind sync, only to them it's more about preparing their tracks in advance so that software can replace basic skills like beatmatching and setting gains. Shit is wack (and I never say "wack" being English, haha, but it really is.)

[SlvrDragon50]

I have faith in club owners that they know their business will suck ass if the DJ they hire sucks.

The idiots who can't tell if their mixes are shit because of autosync won't get anywhere anyways. If their phrasing sucks, beatmatching won't make it any better. Even once they perfect beatmatching, it doesn't mean that the mix will be good. That's the whole point I'm trying to make.

Usually the mixes are bad because of EQing, phrasing, etc. All of which are independent of beatmatching.

I'm not saying people shouldn't learn beatmatching. I'm just saying that the "sync -> your mix sucks because you don't beatmatch" is retarded.

[makar1]

Beatmatching and phrasing go hand in hand. If you're paying close attention to your cue-in point and how one track sounds against the other, you'll soon get a better feel for the phrasing in a track.

[synthet1c]

facebook is what get's you gigs in commercial clubs, friends get you gigs in underground clubs not mixes... Production will get you in either. I think it stands to reason that a lot of promoters don't know what they're doing, but there are many that know exactly what is going on, and it's your job to recognize and work with the good ones,

Speaking from experience of witnessing it multiple times in underground clubs if you can't beatmatch and use cdj's your not going to get the gig, and will have to work in crappy bars that have no idea and no audience, you will probably be their flavour of the week and might last a month before getting replaced because you didn't bring people in their shitty little club like they hoped.

My suggestion is to just learn to use the standard gear to avoid having to go through that.