I am pretty new to the dj community. I picked up s4 about 3 months ago and have been learning to blend, beatmatch and just getting the flow down. I think the mixes I make come out sounding well - no complaints there. Thing is, now i find myself playing someone else’s tracks and thats all. I feel i can be more engaged in the whole djing process. Since i play progressive house, i feel a lot of the time i am just standing around since i can pin point the next song and mix it in easily. I want to continue growing but not sure where to start. I am considering production to remix tracks myself and then play them. I was told Ableton is a good software to use. I used to play around in FL, but since i use Mac, I heard FL doesn’t come on it.
Maybe i am just getting in my own head about being limited to only s4 and nothing else? Perhaps you guys can point in a right direction (videos, articles) to learn more techniques in traktor or recommend steps to take toward production. What would be a next step reasonable investment?
Sounds like you are not taking any advantage of the sample decks and loop recorder, you can try playing around with those, the future Traktor update looks quite promising in this area. You can try the Ableton demo for 30 days before purchasing anything, there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube. Music production takes quite some time before you normally get results you like and are usable on the booth, so be patient.
I guess i would need to start using SYNC when playing loops while mixing - i would imagine it could be very difficult to make sure each one of them is in tune eh…
You are right i wasn’t really taking advantage of loops/clue point much. I also haven’t been playing around with crossfader - i’ve been using volume faders to bring in/out the tracks.
How about Midi Fighter - seems I can pre-load many loops - that can add additional levels of complexity. I just want to be more involved in the mixing that is all.
I really want to play something (at least on a basic level) unique, but i keep sounding like im just putting tracks one after the other. Does creativity come with practise when i feel more comfortable making risky moves in the mixes?
Any suggestions on starting developing unique mixing style? I’ve been listening to Porter Robinson and i love how he has been playing
advanced use of Loops and cue points define and set apart a good DJ from an EXCELLENT one… also, watch youtube videos. (CHECK OUT “Caution DJ Tutorial”) he puts out some great stuff.. DL the songs and follow along and build up your DJ skillz toolbox and eventually you 2 CAN ROCK CROWDS OF THOUSANDS!!!
If youre going down the road for production, and making your songs to play, I wouldnt advise using traktor loops and cues/effects. All of those abilites are cool, but you can do all of that on ableton and MUCH more. To me its a no brainer, Ableton is the best of both worlds seeing how you can use it for Djing as well.
@OP If you’ve really “Mastered the s4” in 3 months I’m wondering if you can post some mixes. While the S4 may not be to your liking as a DJ I highly doubt you’ve “mastered” it in 3 months time. Maybe I’m talking out of my a$$, if so, post some mixes and prove me wrong. Sorry, i don’t mean to come off as negative but maybe you need to consider a different controller or method of mixing.
Not really into EDM, but listening to some of what’s hot right now, Chuckie mainly comes to mind. All of his remixes could be made using the sample/loops idea. Grab bass lines from that track, drums from this track, vocals frI’m somewhere else and have it all playing in time with the proper EQing and you’ve made a remix on the fly! I think Ableton would come more into play if you were attempting mash-ups using music that wasn’t already “in-time” by warping the track.
I could see getting bored mixing EDM real quick. Your genres are all the same BPM!
but i have been dj’n for about 5yrs.i doubt that you have perfected mixing in 3 months.
watch these and you will see there’s alot more to mixing.
carl cox
Thanks for all your comments guys. Definitely didn’t ‘master’ or ‘perfected’ mixing but i think i got pretty good - Just want to continue growing. So thanks for all ideas and thoughts - will keep pushing it.
Try pushing it further, people have said loops and samples but also FX. Traktor has the potential for some ridiculous FX combinations, especially with the S4 and some of the custom mappings available for it. I was feeling a bit bored, then I picked up a new mapping,and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Also, try listening to some livesets/podcasts from artists you like, but never really got around to listening. You can pick up alot of new tricks simply by listening to new people. It’s interesting alot of times listening to FX and tricks from guys on CDJs and DJMs and such and figuring out “How would I do that on the S4?”. Keep pushing and trying new things, you’ll only get better.
Sorry, but that’s terrible advice for someone so new to DJing. If the OP forces himself to beatmatch on the S4, he can do everything you can do with 850s or 350s and will be able to easily transition to CDJs if/when needed. The main compelling argument to switch to CDJs is to get used to club standard equipment; if he’s only been at this 3 months, I don’t think he has to worry much about having a proper gig any time soon. Even if he does get a gig soon, he could easily do it with the S4. Why should the OP spend another $1-2k depending on mixer when he can still learn and grow on the S4? Makes no sense to me.
Simplicity, mostly. And being able to show up to a gig with headphones and a USB key instead of a bag full of crap.
IMHO, that’s just plain wrong. The mark of an excellent DJ is the same as it’s always been…track selection and controlling a dance floor. Loops and cues are tools to those ends. And they’re neither necessary nor sufficient for being an excellent DJ.
Something you should try is hiding your laptop / closing the screen.
You only realise how much you rely on it when its gone. Then try and beatmatch with no bpm’s or anything.
This isnt an elitist rant, its personal observation. I felt the same as you, (bored with mixing) until I picked up my turntables and started trying to mix without aid. Its tough, but way more engaging. Its like if you were blind, your ears suddenly pick up on so much more and your mixing will become better and more entertaining because of this.
after you learned now how you can put tracks together while a dancefloor should keep dancing because you can beatmatch and such, you can try to find some “tools” to “play around with” besides “keep it pumping”.
(just mess around with loops and/or efx and learn when to place them and when not, the right timing, the right balance between “too much” and nothing)
or try around how you would push a dancefloor “up” to a more intense sound or how you can get a dancefloor “down” “safely” without big drops or something like that ;o)
(tipp: try to “efx the shit out” of a track you know good, take the last 4 beats of the break before the full beat hits in again and loop it, mess around with the efx and try to let hit it back again at a proper timing, can be fun ;D)
[i normally don’t do that live when i play for a crowd because this technique is for peak-situations which a) don’t occur often and b) when they occur, i am mostly on so much adrenaline/endorphine that i’m afraid of trainwrecks and prefer to put on another more intense track and start then to mix “down the spiral” tracks which let come the people down, means = i do that over my selection instead of “efx the shit out” of tracks
but in my bedroom, there it’s FUN]
^also an good tip!
EDIT: as already mentioned, recording your mixes will also improve your mixing, because you hear it a lot different afterwards while you aren’t mixing!
Mastering technology is one thing, but mastering mixing is an entirely different matter. You should really circulate your mixes and ask for feedback. And grow a thick skin too.
At this point, I think you’ll discover just how much you still have to learn. And then it gets really interesting.
