CDJ-2000 nexus.. any tips for counting bars/phrases?
Hey guys, so I LOVE my new CDJ-2000 nexus setup, yet I’m having some difficulty in counting bars/phrases with the on-screen LCD..
I come from a Traktor background where it’s ridiculously easy to see changes in the waveform with tools like the Infrared Spectrum which shows which parts of the wave have bass, etc.. Also, the wave would be much bigger and easier to navigate on Traktor VS on the CDJ’s.. on Traktor, all my timing and phrasing was perfect, but I’m just having trouble figuring out a good way to do my counting/timing on the CDJ’s..
I know that you can save up to 10 memory points on the song, and the CDJ display will show a “bar countdown” in between memory points, indicating how far you are from the next memory point.. but without having to go through the tedious work of entering in a memory point at every single change in the song, do you guys have any better recommendations?
Phrasing is one of the most important parts of DJ’ing and you should know your tracks well enough that you dont need a waveform display to show you where the sections are.
You should be able to hear and feel where things are happening - DJ’ing is an Audio Sport, Not Visual (unless you count looking at the ladies )
Its like requiring a VU to show you visually that your sound is clipping when there has been nothing but distortion out of the speakers the past 2 hours.
Agreed.. Use your ears, know your music… A lot of my practicing is spent learning all the new stuff I have bought and figuring out how it fits with the stuff I already have in my library.
especially with house music. its really easy to count. its all about training your ear and knowing the fundamentals. have to remember, djs 10-15 years ago didnt have a screen to tell them anything.
man, talking about this makes me feel old. that, and probably cause technology is moving wayyyy too fast.
Lip,
By now you’ve created at least half a dozen threads asking extremely basic questions.
At first I helped you, so did a lot of other folks, but by now it comes across as plain laziness.
You don’t want to read manuals, you don’t want to google, you don’t even bother trying your equipment before posting another thread.
You don’t even want to set memories in RekordBox. There is even an app on OSX that can convert your Traktor cues to Rekordbox cues and you didn’t bother to look for that. You simply posted another thread.
The thing I learned after leaving Traktor and moving to CDJ’s was feeling my music. Fuck counting. I do too much of it in general as I am an accounting / finance guy. Just FEEL your music. I mean close your eyes, fuck the displays, fuck it all, and just feel the music within the depths of your body and you’ll be able to tell.
? You can close your eyes, eff the displays, stop counting and ‘feel’ the music just as well with Traktor as with anything else… all ‘counting’ means is that you need to practice more; eventually you’ll just ‘know’. I’ve never met a good DJ who doesn’t know his phrases inside out, whether it’s on vinyl, Traktor, Serato, Ableton or top of the range CDJs like the OP has.
As regards the actual tracks themselves: learn 'em OP. The system you’ve invested in isn’t going to tell you when to swap your basses over etc.
I agree, however with CDJ’s it FORCES you to do things without crutches. Especially display, and sync wise. People usually should do or can do a LOT of things, but they don’t. Sometimes you just have to force yourself. Or maybe that is just how I see it.
Traktor just tempts me too much It has too many nice things. I guess what I’m trying to say is I wish I put my money towards getting a nice CDJ rig instead of Traktor when I figure I’ll eventually move to CDJ later on down the road.
At the risk of being contradictary, I’ve stopped replying to some of these basic DJing questions which come across as ‘tell me this’, ‘recommend me some music’ etc etc, when it’s quite clear the poster either hasn’t searched the forum, bothered to even attempt to RTFM or heaven forbid - done a bit of self learning and reseach in advance.
It comes across as ‘I want to be a DJ because it’s cool, but can’t be arsed with the learning bit’.
)
It has too many nice things. I guess what I’m trying to say is I wish I put my money towards getting a nice CDJ rig instead of Traktor when I figure I’ll eventually move to CDJ later on down the road.