Ok, so I have just started looking into planning, recording and manipulating DJ sets in Logic. I know some will already groan about eh planning, lack of spontaneity etc etc. Anyway, this is where I am going.
I plan to create 60 minute mixes and want a way to plan them all before hand, perhaps even just create the mix and record it from Logic in some cases.
Is Logic easy to use for this purpose? I am planning to use an EQ on each track (obviously) as well as use Logic to have loops, use effects, plugins etc to plan out more creative sets. I have moved away from doing it in Ableton as I could never get my head around warping and it frazzled my brain for some reason (just one of them things you don’t click with).
Sound plausible and as easy as dragging tracks into Logic and placing them in line with the mix without having to overly prep the tracks first?
Can be done, but as mentioned, Ableton is the easiest for this. Most of the mix shows you hear are done in Live.
Logic would be a little more time consuming, but fully capable if that is all you have access to.
Definitely possible but definitely not the right tool for the job. The Logic channel Eqs are really not what you want for DJing. They are really for surgical type work on tighter frequency bands and don’t have a big wide q like DJ style Eqs - let alone kills. You could try using something like the psp consoleq but it still has too many bands. This also came up in a quick search EQ Plug in?. Really you will be far better off with software meant for DJing not production.
Nothing wrong with planning mixes you are going to release, but Logic isn’t built for this. You’re much better off using Ableton in arrangement view.
Warping is none too difficult and there are plenty of tutorials available on the subject. You’re going to put a ton more time into building a mix in Logic–your time will be better spent learning how to warp.
Warping in Ableton can be really simple if you’re working with modern dance music.
It’s pretty safe to say that tracks these days have the bpm as a round number (e.g. 128bpm) and not and awkward value like you can get with older tunes (e.g. 127.6bpm)
This is my super easy guide to warping - takes less than a minute.
drop your track into the arrangement view.
click on the clip, and turn warping OFF
set the clip start point to the first beat of the track (i.e. not some abstract intro)
line up the start of your clip with the start of the Ableton timeline.
make a 2 bar loop
hit play and adjust the session tempo in Ableton until it matches your track and you have a perfect loop
** 99 times out of 100 this will be whole numbers so is really easy.
turn warp back ON for your clip. Choose YES to retain current timing.
move your 2 bar loop towards the end of the track to check it still loops perfectly and the beats line up with Ableton’s timeline.
kick back and relax, you’ve just warped a track!
It’s much easier to match Ableton to your track than the other way round. Follow these steps for all the tracks you want in your mix (you only have to do it once, Ableton will save the warp markers). You can then set your Ableton session tempo to whatever you want and all your tracks will play in sync.
I hope it’s okay to borrow this thread. I was looking for a way to do DJ mixes in Logic, which I already own. Seems like Ableton Live 9 is the better choice. I’ve been using MixMeister Fusion before which was great for this, but haven’t been updated in ages.
Would the Live 9 Essential edition cut it? At €79 it’s already a bit pricey for my needs.