Beat Matching basics for the real beginner

[DJ MiCL]

Nice, thought it might be after effects. You should get into that if you aren't

I saw this, is this you too?

Yeah, I make both English and Japanese versions.

I was imagining a lot of the animations would be easier and higher in quality if I could use after effects... Currently I am pretty occupied trying to master Lemur and whatever else left to learn in Traktor but I might give it a shot next time. Thanks for the advice!

[MaxOne]

It was a wicked job though man! Nice funny vibe. I know how to beatmatch (taught myself the old fashioned way, months struggling on technics) but i still enjoyed it and that's a good sign.

After effects is designed for animation and I think you'd dig it. Learning curve is horrific but once you get the basics down there's a lot you can do with it.

It's like photoshop meets fcp... ish

Anyway look forward to pt2

[DJ MiCL]

The sequel is finally in production and I will post it here when it is finished.

Before I do that, I wanted to jot down how I believe that practicing to beat match used to be a very good way to build your confidence in the early stages of becoming a DJ -- since it looks like I'm not going to mention that in the video.

While practicing to beat match, I was forced to listen to two tracks simultaneously (one through the headphones) at various points of the track and each time for quite a bit of a length. This helped me, not only to improve the accuracy of adjusting the tempo, but also to notice how many tracks have a noticeable buildup after 8 bars, and even more so after every 16 bars, usually with a new instrument introduced to or subtracted from the current mixture. Then I started to notice that there are exceptions to those rules, like that tricky "extra bar" that can screw up your mix unless you compensate for it before you start to mix.

Then came the "long mix happy" phase in which I would want to mix two tracks for as long as possible, but all of that only up until I realized that it often sounds better to play just one track than to mix two elements that don't fit together, like two completely different bass lines. And only then I started to realize how some elements from different tracks can together sound really new and awesome, so I started to practice getting the timing right between the two songs, which could sometimes mean to know exactly how the two tracks progress for the next 2 minutes or more!

Of course, all of this can be learned through practicing with synced tracks in Traktor, but the big difference is that a long mix used to be something that you practiced and achieved. You had all the reasons to be happy when you became able to keep two tracks in sync for a long time. The sync button takes away the joy of simply playing two tracks on top of each other, which could lead to the DJ wondering "what's next?" before realizing all the important facts about simply mixing two tracks.

At any rate, by the time I was comfortable with my beat matching skills, I had so many tracks that I thought were new and cool and not recognized by many yet, that I really felt the need to play out loud at clubs, as well as so many little mixing somethings that I wanted to try out in front of an audience. There was never a moment that I was "not sure whether I am ready" -- I either knew that I suck, or I felt ready to rock.

Surely there must have been some arrogance involved, but what I'd like to say is that this certain question that was recently submitted to digital dj tips, I think, is a rather new symptom and a side effect of the Sync button.

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2012/04...play-in-clubs/

I don't think a new DJ must start off performing with manual beat matching, though. Things have changed. If you want to keep your loops and FX sounding tight, you're better off becoming good at using the sync function than only manual beat matching -- if it were either or. I do think, though, that new DJs may be in need of some kind of systematic self-practicing method that will give them the equivalent of what we got when we practiced to beat match with records.

[scamo]

Hehe...

I like this quote from jimbob and will use it to introduce my next S4 effects mapping, which will only work well with a pressed sync button. There is a lot of DJ wisdom in it.

Sample decks, loops, FX etc. are the next level. If your mixes suck without them, they won’t get better with them. Oh how many nights have been spoiled by some clueless guy overusing the beatmasher.

scamo