how do you get songs gridded that change tempo slightly?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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how do you get songs gridded that change tempo slightly?

@DJ TechTools The question I had, or what I was looking for is how do you get songs gridded that change tempo slightly? Like I have plenty of songs where they’ll be in sync, on beat, tempo whatever for awhile but then within several bars the beat grid is now off the beat. And I can essentially only adjust the beat grid to be on time to a certain section of the song, you know what I mean? I figured Traktor might be advanced enough to place beat markers on every detected beat instead of putting them at consistent intervals throughout a song at a median place…

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If I’m understanding you correctly… (You’re post was written just fine, I’m just sleepy!) :roll_eyes:

Check this link out it looks like it might help you w/ a solution.

Also, I highly recommend getting the “Mixed In Key 7” software, once all of you’re tracks are analyzed it’s a god send to help you pick JUST the right track or JUST the right cue point to start the tracks seamlessly. It also separates you’re songs into sections of “Intensity”.

I hope one or both of those solutions help! Good luck and happy mixing!

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Sorry yrsakash, not possible since Traktor doesn’t have flexible beatgrids (it is one of the most requested things from users :disappointed: ).
But please, make sure the tracks have the correct BPM value, that could also be the problem. Traktor isn’t 100% correct when determining BPM so it is better to use a external BPM tool on those problem tracks :wink:

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I use my ears.

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make sure you have the correct bpm values for your track… once i get everything synced and meatmatched, i then use my ears to nudge it back into place. you should be able to nudge it with the tempo buttons on the S4. Its part of what makes DJing fun :slight_smile:

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If your playing older songs from a live band and no quantizing going on you can do 2 things.

Warp the song in ableton to one constant bpm

or get Serato and use the flexible beatgrids.

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Drop another grid marker further on in the track. Make sure you use “Auto” in the master clock.

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Or you could learn basic DJ skills, and actually use your ears.

Far out.

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[quote=“ImNoDJ, post:8, topic:71293, username:ImNoDJ”]
Or you could learn basic DJ skills, and actually use your ears.

Far out.
[/quote]+1 to this. I don’t even bother beatgridding at all.

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its usefull if you wanna juggle through cue points…

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Lols. Only if you need your button presses quantised because youre not able to press a button in time with a beat.

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Most djs need their button pushes quNtiZed… Lol I’ve got lazy now again since serato introduced quant although I still forget to turn it on and haha it’s not 100% but that’s djing lefting a back cue go on beat was an art form not lost

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[quote=“calgarc, post:10, topic:71293, username:calgarc”]
its usefull if you wanna juggle through cue points…
[/quote]Haha I have no problem doing this without beatgridding. All this technology is making your ears lazy.

[quote=“ZxZDeViLZxZ, post:12, topic:71293, username:ZxZDeViLZxZ”]
Most djs need their button pushes quNtiZed… Lol I’ve got lazy now again since serato introduced quant although I still forget to turn it on and haha it’s not 100% but that’s djing lefting a back cue go on beat was an art form not lost
[/quote]Yeah it’s like nobody’s ever heard of humanizing your mix. Mixes that are perfectly flawless are boring AF IMO. Listen to some old funk or Hendrix records if you think a technically perfect performance is the only way to go and then we’ll talk. Technology is a wonderful tool to have, but don’t let it turn all of you into robots!

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If a DJ has all quantised button presses and sync, then I dont think they can use the word ‘performance’ when they play out.

Performance implies risk, of creating something out of nothing, and these button pressers arent doing this.

I always contend that a sync dj is often bored themselves as there is no dramatic tension, or risk of a mis step in their mix. No wonder they look bored.

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Lots of bullshit posts about sync vs real djing and only one or two actually answering the OP. Get your head out of your arses and help the guy.

OP- I’d do one of two things. Either look to Ableton to warp the track to a steady BPM (last resort IMO) or set a couple of different beat markers as Jeter suggests, although this works best if the drift is only slight. Long term you wanna look at being able to manually nudge the track back on beat if your skills don’t currently stretch that far.

Out of interest what tunes are you mixing and having trouble with?

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The question has already been answered, youve just repeated the earlier correct answer, and also felt the need to tell everyone else off.

Now we’re just chattin, you know? I hope you enjoyed wagging your finger though.

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I don’t, I hate having my loop anywhere other than where I want it and quantize annoys the hell out of me for that reason, especially when the beatgrid is out.

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Haha in serato you don’t have to use sync to be quantized it’s just to the closest 1/4 or whatever you set… I never used for years as vinyl didn’t offer such a tool so releasing a back cue on beat was an art… Then when I started with traktor some years ago never synced but it doesn’t require sync to quant… I don’t button mash odd time cue jump but even then I don’t really know why I have it on although I set cue markers on the fly and that is mostly why I use it… Even then if something’s not gridded right automatically I don’t use it when I set cues on the fly…

And yes we are just chatting now questions been answered..

Overall I agree a flawless mix without the aids is far more thrilling then flawless with the aids…

I’m a firm believer in being spontaneous never rehearsing a mix always just playing tracks… If you rehearse a set and dot deviate you loose the creativity in it… Artistic expression is lost in lots of mixing that is done this way.

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I am not saying they need to be quantized or anything, I am saying that having that marker there so you can juggle between clips is useful.

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You don’t have to quantize to have a marker though