Do you beatmatch manually or sync?
I just started with a controller (can’t afford a nice CDJ). No, I’m not judging anyone and starts enjoying the syncing feature. Should I proceed or try to beatmatch with ear? It’s the hardest thing I’ve learned so far. Effects and even beat juggling ain’t as difficult.
Having started out with sync and moving to vinyl and manaul beatmatching, I think it’s a nice skill to have in your bag to beatmatch manually, and I think your mixes if you use sync would be better having learned to beatmatch manually. But at the end of the day, if your track selection, flow and mix is good - it’s good whether you’ve beatmatched manually or sync.
Personally I like the sync feature I tend to use it when Im making recordings but hell were all human and screw up every once and a while. I try to not to use sync often and sometimes I do very well with out it sometimes I suck lol.
(Please don’t let this thread go down the rabbit hole)
Iearned on vinyl 20 years ago and moved to sync about 4 years ago…I just moved to DVS and I miss the interaction with the music that beat matching forces you to do…my suggestion is to learn both so you can play on any rig any time…
Absolutely agree with your last statement. I manually beatmatch all the time when I spin but I do have a lot of fun mixing with 2 X1’s using sync. Beat nudging on those pisses me off lol. All in all I say learn to beat match just in case you find yourself in a situation where you may look like a noob in front of a lot of people.
+2… learn both, but definitely learn to beat match manually. There WILL be circumstances where sync or beat grids don’t cooperate and you will have to know how to mix manually. I have it happen to me at least once every few gigs… some due to bad beat grids or tracks that change tempo/poorly timed, and others because the tracks are old disco/funk style stuff that requires the ability to ride the pitch or bend.
it will also make you better over all when you know how to match manually because it helps with your timing a bit… makes everything flow easier for you if your ear is trained to stay in sync.
Is it worth learning ? - IMHO yes, its worth learning and its not that its that “difficult”. It forces you to learn timing and phrasing far more consistently as you don’t have the get-out-of-jail free card anymore.
Even if you don’t learn to beat match, you should at least learn how to use the numbers, cue and bend rather than relying only on hotcues, beat jump.
Sync is a tool, and there to give open possibilities and make life more convenient. Its a bit like using a power tools to build a house -
you don’t want the work to stop on it just because theres a brownout ?
Personally I do both just because it helps keeps the senses sharp, and I dislike idle hands - theres not much to do at a solo gig at opening time and no-one else around to chinwag with 
Very true, phrasing and learning song structure is a huge must. A lot of my friends sync and their mixing is technically on beat but they can’t match phrases and harmonically blend too good.
RE Beatmatching
Their all right,
Also depends on what you want, I use a combination of both - when i’m mixing to base heavy or “beat” songs, i use sync to make sure the transition is smooth, but when I mix in acapella’s I use manual as the beatgrid is generally off and harmonics/ sound is better.
So my input is know how to beatmatch manually, but don’t be to afraid of the sync button. they do the job!
John C
manual, it’s second nature and sync’d sets sound to sterile (assuming the dj even runs mixes out). you get natural phasing effects from things just a little off. I primarily play vinyl but with cdjs and a bpm readout the mix starts nearly dead on before even starting to match them.. I don’t see the point in sync, and when things are sync locked if a track has a bad beat grid that sucker is gonna wreck and you wont be able to save it.
I see it happen around town sometimes the DJ doesn’t know what to do to correct things and the look of shock is priceless.
I beatmatch, thats how i learned… thats how it will be… sync is to fix mistakes and do controllerism routines.
I learned on vinyl over a decade ago. I use sync just because it’s easier.
I don’t think I’ve ever used sync having learned on vinyl in the 90s it just doesn’t feel right… Plus I’m not beatgridding my library at least to the extent sync becomes rrliable
How does sync fix a mistake? That loses me just drop a cue in quick succession and hit it back right and carry on…
True - IMO learning to phrase properly is way more essential than beatmatching. Having said that beatmatching doesn’t take long to learn so may as well have that in your bag as well.
Actually all what I tried to do now is counting the number and fix the beatgrid using the jogwheel (if I prefer not to sync).
I think sync makes it easier if I choose to mix the intro. (I learned that most DJs mix on the outro, is that true?) I don’t play RnB though, I only do prog. house, electro house, and very bit of trance.
I am saying that my ears aren’t that used to the beats and phrase. So I mostly like using numbers all the time. Is that bad? CDJs don’t provide sync and I am afraid of looking stupid when encountering one. Is it just not possible to start the mix on parts I want instead of waiting for the outros or counting phrases?
Ok that statement is a little off but to go with it… After a while your can count a phrase from a percussion break for most all electronic music
That’s a separate issue from leaning to beatmatch, but yes, it’s essential that you understand that.
Agreed. The question wasn’t whether you know how, though. I don’t think there’s any valid argument for not learning it. Not using it all the time is largely a matter of preference, IMO.
Start counting…1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4, 4-2-3-4, 5-2-3-4, up to 8-2-3-4 and the phrases will be on the 17 or 33, most of the times on multiples of the 33. (every 32 bars where a bar is 4 beats) You can mix on anything you want, (and it’s oftentimes done w/ progressive and electro) but it will sound best if it’s still phrased properly. After a while, you can stop counting all the time.
not trying to get lessons here. but aren’t there 8 bars/phrase? but since every songs could be different depending on the producers, the numbers can be different. like the common ones consist of 4x8, some could be 2x8, 3x8, or even 5x8 for intros. outros are harder to mix for me. i just sometimes don’t know where to start mixing if the number is different. hope you get what i mean, lol.