Hey guys! Im back with another question. I have been trying to practice and get use to my new vci. But my main problem is the most fundamental aspect of DJ’ing. Beatmatching!!! Its a little discouraging knowing that I am trying to mix house music (supposedly the easiest to mix, right?) and can’t seem to get it right. Any suggestions on how to get used to listening to the two tracks without getting confused? Sometimes it just sounds like a big jumble of mess. It is hard for me to tell between the two (tracks). Is there a technique for this…or is it just something that comes with time? Sigh.
Oh and…can anyone suggest a good mp4 to mp3 conversion software (non-lossy) for a Mac. I want to be sure to try and keep the quality…and free would be nice too No more downloading from itunes for me!!! I can’t run any of my itunes music trough traktor because of the DRM protection. Which I know all of you know…but boy it is frustrating.
The trick for me was to use the same song on two decks. I used a remix of Stabbing Westward - Violent Mood Swings cause it was one of the few EPs my friend had two copies of.
I think it’s a lot more logical to learn to beatmatch on hardware (two decks and a mixer) than on a piece of software. MIDI is not nearly as responsive as a regular pitch fader, and there’s no visual feedback. If you are tied to your VCI-100 and all then I’d say turning off the waveform/phase meter views, and just mixing. It takes practice. It took me a bit to get the gist, but once I did I’ve never forgotten.
It takes time and a lot of frustration, and there are days today where the sounds overlap the wrong way and I just get lost. But, with enough practice and perseverence you’ll be fine.
Dvls is a newbie question answering machine i tells ya !
The best peice of advice i ever got about beatmaching was to move your body to the music that comming out of the speakers while your listening to the track your cueing on your headphones - sounds weird but it certainly helped me out alot, give it a shot and see how it works for you.
If you keep your groove going to whatevers comming out of the speakers you accomplish a couple things things:
you look like your enjoying the music and getting into the mixing which pull everyone else in
it somehow makes it easier to distinguish what track is what, helping you not to get confused.
I would recommend to without headphones so you can hear the tracks out loud. When I was younger I used to tap my foot to the beat. Also a good song to learn how to mix is blue monday by new order, why? its four to the floor and if you get off beat you will notice right away. Load A & B with blue monday and give it a shot!
New Order is great cause they have such a clear kick and snare drum running on it.
I’ve found, though I hate it, psytrance is good too cause the kick drum is so staccatto you hear right away when it goes out of sync.
I disagree with Jesc, though. I’ve found it’s a lot clearer through headphones than over speakers. This, though, I think is very much personal preference.
1-2-3-4 2-2-3-4 3-2-3-4 … 8-2-3-4
(The magic eight bars)
Also what works is trying to not use the kicks but the snares and hihats to beatmatch.
This can help you out in songs where the kick is not that well articulated.
There were some other this I wanted to talk about, but the wine is getting the best of me.
I’ll have to go Zen master style and say: Be one with the music.
To be more constructive, learning to beatmix comes easier to some people then others because our brains function in different ways. Kind of like coordination skills.
It is also very much like looking at those 3D images that you have to look at while focusing your eyes in a weird way.
My point is, just keep at it, keep practicing. You become good by just pounding it, living and breathing it.
Or just press the sync button
On a more personal (anecdote) note, I started beatmixing with a regular cassette deck and a vinyl player, pitching the tempo by putting coins and weights on the needle. So when I first stood in front of a Technics 1210, I owned that bitch so good and could pitch that maffarakka in no time.
Again, point being… practice, do it, do it, be one with the beats.
Another trick to consider along with all of this is to try split cue if your setup allows for it. Beatmatching with just your headphones on. One song in one ear and another song in the other. Thats helped a friend or two catch on a little easier.
what i personally think helps you starting beatmatching is if you don’t listen to the whole song, just listen to a particular part of it, like e.g. the high hats or the snare (usually the snare works perfectly).
with focus on that beatmatching is a little easier at the beginning i think, if you can do that then it’s the right time to start the zen thing emil_brikha mentioned earlier.
but that’s just my 2 cents… at least this is what helped me starting with beatmatching!
What every has already said is brilliant advise, start with trying to beat match simple songs like those mentioned on the previous page.
One day it will just come to you and you’ll be smiling from ear to ear, then from that day onward you will be able to match quicker and quicker until its second nature.
In my opinion the day I learned to beatmatch was on par with my first large gig that went well!
Good luck to you Noclemonique. We all struggle in the beginning, and then you ride high, and then you’ll find that next step and you’ll fight for months to get it to work. There’s always more to learn and new obstacles to break down.
i couldn’t agree more with the 2 posters above me!
the day you learn to beatmatch is one of THE (if not THE) days in your dj life, i’ll promise!
but there’s always to learn, i really can beatmatch, but i’m currently struggling with another thing to learn… but it’s always like that - you struggle and you’ll have to fight hard to get over the next obstacle - if you get over it it’s like flying above the clouds! i’m already looking forward happily to the moment i’ll take the next step
good luck to you nicolemonique, never give up, once you got it it’s totally worth every second it took you!
Don’t give up, keep on trying, if someone other dj tells you that “You suck” who cares, they were in your position not to long ago, or maybe they cant mix for sh!t and just want to hate on someone.
To be able to beatmatch, your knowledge of the songs will help out a lot too. Songs that you are more familiar with will be able to sync with other songs, because you will know which sounds are coming from which track. This is KEY to beatmatching, and you always need to be conscious of which track is which, i.e. which is faster and which is slower.
So in turn, focus on specific layers of each track that are easily recognizable and go with the beat. Usually something in the high-end is easiest. IMO a common “mistake” is to listen for the bass hits on each track, but they’re not as precise as the sharper percussive hits that make up each beat.
No more downloading from itunes for me!!! I can’t run any of my itunes music trough traktor because of the DRM protection. Which I know all of you know…but boy it is frustrating.
