Do YOU use your Pitch Faders ?
Hi Guys,
the question maybe seems a little bit stupid but I recently asked myself why I never use my Pitch Faders when mixing tracks. I know that you usually use them to beatmatch, but with autosync and stuff you normally never need them, or am I wrong ?(sorry for my english ashamed )
Only if I’m mixing into another source, like when going b2b with people.
I never use my pitch faders for pitch fading. I actually need to decide what I want to use them for
Recently I was just wondering about guys on another dj forum who discussed about the VCI-300 and its ‘high resolution’ 14 bit Pitch faders - what the hell do you need high resolution pitch faders on a controller for ?!
Exactly, that is when I most use the pitch faders on my controller. I mostly use them every time I am taking over a set.
I do like to add a TT to my set if available and throw some nice records also. Then I use them again. Having bigger faders on the vci 100 like the ones on the 300s would be a very good improvment for some guys. It really depend if you mix sources really.
i´m using mine for the fader fx´s a lot (with the vci100 se tsi) and when tracks aren´t in time cause i don´t beatgrid my tracks…so sometimes autosync doesn´t work and i have to sync by ear (what i love to do).
I ocasionally use my pitch faders when moving from say breaks 133 to house 128. Will use them more once I’ve nailed fader fx mode.
I mapped them as deck c/d volume faders. I do tempo adjustments, speed ups/slow downs with the jogs and Scratch turned off.
I like to bring the BPM of a set up over time, so I use my faders for that, and for times when BMP detect doesn’t work so I’ve gotta do it by ear.
I do with my BCD2000, especially when going from vinyl to digital with TSP 1.2.1 as there’s no midi command to toggle the master clock panel view. The resolution isn’t the greatest on the BCD2000 so I’ve had to map fine tempo buttons too, so I’m looking for a new controller tbh now I know what I want from my next controller.
the handover is always fun, it’s when you see who can actually DJ and who might as well be playing a mix CD. of course, some sly people make a meal out of all the cables during the handover so that they have a moment of silence and they don’t have to do any real mixing…
Tap tempo to whoever is playing before you, then pitch bend the master tempo 
No need for pitch faders, just 3 buttons mapped out on your laptop keyboard will work.
Tap tempo - Master
Pitch bend up - Master
Pitch bend down - Master
Pitch faders are still useful for pitching tricks though
I use them @ 8% if i’m on two decks or b2b with one of the lads. With 4 decks its not viable (for me) tho and also with recording mixes i don’t use them either. I do a bit of the old drop the tempo on your last track trick and also for smoothly stepping up the bpm during a break when switching styles.
I think i really use them the most when try to pitch samples used as scratch fodder so that they match the beats tempo better or for braking techniques, and sometimes just to avoid being reliant on the screen to put myself more in the habit.
I’ve been thinking about this as well, I never use the pitch faders on the controller… if I want to adjust the pitch I actually do it with the trackpad on my macbook since I can double click the fader to reset it and I don’t have to care about matching the fader on the controller
Using them as volume faders for deck C/D sounds interesting :eek:
I use em… in order:
fader fx
resetting tempo
tempo tricks
have thought about using them as filter controls with xone eq, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
By holding shift? In that case I’ve been doing that too, but it seems like a huge waste of faders since you could just map a button for that
LOL,
I feel like the odd one out now cos I use mine all the time
I play a lot of different genres and stuff in a night and a huge amount of my stuff cant be beat gridded properly (fluctuations in time etc) so I can probably only press sync for about 50% of my mixes during a night.
The other 50% are done purely beatmatching by ear the old fashioned way, no sync button or tempo counters or master tempo or anything. So yeah I use mine all the time.
k
I’m the same way, I don’t beatgrid all my tracks (really need to sit down and get through all my tracks and do this!), but I typically use the pitch faders when I have to mix my tracks manually without the sync button.
I also use them to bump up or slow down the bpms when I’m trying to gradually change up the mood of my set (say going from 125 bpm → 128).
I wonder if there will ever be a day where we’ll be hard pressed to find controllers with a dedicated pitch fader. It seems like the days of pitch faders and even jog wheels are fading.
i’ve changed mine to pitch bend, use it for 1) ‘hands free’ brake effects, the further up i push the faster the brake/wind down and 2) when i crush a loop down as small as it’ll go and filter i use it to ‘wind up’ the sound.
still have the wheels set for this to, but for mixing use, the pitch faders allow me to keep an extra hand free for doing other things with effects and faders etc…