Tips on phrase matching.

[haze324]

Umm doesn't wave display make this easy or am I the only one that knows how to read a wave display..... Sorry to be a smart ass but really a wave display makes this fairly easy thing to do

Absolutely, but I think only after you know the first steps of counting and what you are looking at.

I also think the waves in SSL and Itch are more despriptive that Traktors. If you set up beat grids they area also marked with numbers and solid lines on every bar so it's really easy to know where you are at by looking at the wave ---- but only if you know what it means.

[epikeddie]

Wave displays help but truly understanding structure and theory behind modern dance music like the 8, 16, and 32 will help you produce later on if you decide to produce - whether doing mashups or originals.

[NewManSoon]

Wow. You all would have no clue if the software wasn't there for you to do everything. Learn you music, you will enjoy it more, and it will show when you are playing.

My 2 cents.

[Dj Noriddim]

Umm doesn't wave display make this easy or am I the only one that knows how to read a wave display..... Sorry to be a smart ass but really a wave display makes this fairly easy thing to do

Yeah you are right this does make it easier.

But if you don't have a wave remember this. Most choruses are 8 bars sometimes 4 bars. The best way I learned this was listening to the tracks I wanted to mix. Notice the changes in the track like when the chorus will start the drop will come the breakdown starts and how long these are.

Also here is a tip using audacity and traktor ( this is tedious but pays off in the end it will really help you understand your tracks). This can be done with cue points to cut the time as well.

Take a track you like put it into audacity and enlarge the wave so you can see each section of it
Cut the track up in sections the verse, the chorsus etc.
Export each section to mp3 or wave which ever you prefer
Open traktor and load the sections from start to finish in each deck.
So you will load verse 1 in deck a chorus 1 in deck b in that order
Then start your mix with out looking at the track just listening to start deck b at right when deck a should stop
Record this you are trying to recreate the song with out any breaks in the track
See where I'm going with this at the end of each phase you will be starting another.
In time you will come to learn not only the track in and out but phrase matching.

Also with these sections look at the wave in the deck view then load a full track and look at it to see where the section you cut can fit perfectly into the next track.


Hopes this helps

[NotSoSiniSter]

the problem that I've encountered with lots of songs is they don't follow a perfect phrase pattern. Lots of songs have a 4 beat blip before a drop, which completely throws shit off...

[Deejaesnafu]

"Umm doesn't wave display make this easy or am I the only one that knows how to read a wave display..... Sorry to be a smart ass but really a wave display makes this fairly easy thing to do"

waves are ok for judging distance if the songs are roughly the same length... if one song is 2 minutes and one is 3 or 4.. gauging it by the wave is not so accurate... beats to q is the pro way to do it imho.. and i really appreciate the new time to cue feature as well, its great for accapellas and vocal samples etc that cant be counted in beats.

i basically just mark all important or interesting changes on each new track i bring into my collection. after beatgridding of course. then i "rate" with stars each track by energy or feel, and break into folders of 10 bpm intervals. this way i can be sure that any time i play i can have a palate of songs that i know will work together without having to make a cohesive set. i know its not my own idea per se,but this workflow has been my digital djing evolution, and the feeling i get while playing out now is alot different then the days of playing from crates of records.

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

Haha well yes with software there's waves and with this being a software based community one would assume he is talking software..... Before software it's called being musically keen and know basic music theory.... Also could read grooves on records..... Yes I just said that and knowing your tracks make a hell of a difference..... Learn the basic then a wave display will be there... Now for your attack about without software I would be clueless cdj1000mk series had waveform display by 2002 or 2003 now since likely don't consider firmware software your point is invalid as firmware is software.... Who's clueless now....

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

Edit here don't use beatgrids myself or sync beat match manually and can't read a waveform display the only catch here is vocals as they do not show in a waveform display so don't get caught with a vocal on vocal for some bad sounding mash up mess of a dog orgy

[zimfella]

Traktor will count the beats for you if you enable beats in the deck view settings and grid your tracks correctly.

Nice, did not know that.

[Pearce161]

just listen to your tracks and practice ya mixing with them a lot and you should pick it up. Plus with digital and cue points it's easy to alter intros/outros anyway. Set a cue marker when u want to mix in/out and if for instance your outro is 16 bars but your mixing a track with an 8 bar intro, u used to have start ya mix halfway through track 1 outro, now u can start it at the beginning of the outro and loop track 2 intro or just hit ya cue to restart the intro and make a longer better sounding mix anyway.

Practice and listening is the key, in vinyl days you picked this up while learning to beatmatch but i suppose thats not the case as much today.