Phase Meter and Software Use Among the DJTT Community
Hey DJs,
Thought it might be interesting to see who in our forum uses ears or software phase meters (visuals) to beatmatch their tunes, and what software they use accomplish such things. Not looking to start a controllerists vs. purists battle or anything, just some curiosity and statistics. If you want to post comments on the topic, go for it. Thanks for participating.
EDIT: Just realized I should have made this poll multiple choice, as people are likely to move between software or techniques; unfortunately, I don’t believe I can edit the poll. As such, mark the method/software you use most of the time, whether live or practicing.
I can actually beatmatch better using my ears… I think it comes down to me being able to more easily focus on hearing the sound when I can’t see a visual representation. This makes mixing seem more real and less digital. When I first got software I followed the waveforms in VDJ using timecode vinyl but listening to the recorded mixes it felt very sudden in the pitch changes as I wasn’t really listening just matching the wave’s. beatmatching by ear sounds much better in the final mix.
If you want a scientific explanation your brain has a larger dedicated area in the (occipital lobe) for sight, than the area for sound in the (temporal lobe)… So if you can see something your hearing your brain will change it’s focus more toward the sight as ultimately sight is more important to ensure survival than sound. that’s my hypothesis anyway. Class dismissed lol
I use ears to check if it sounds right (bkz it is sound I’m working with, not graphic, get it) but I use phase meters to get a feel on how much I’m nudging the track (because I don’t use/have jogs or vinyl). Still, I clicked on phase-meter vote-option as I find it useful for the sync process.
I’m even pestering NativeIdiots to fix the meter usability. There is a forum post floating around with details and images.
Use my ears to beatmatch - occasionally keep the corner of my eye on the phase meter on my x1 while adjusting eq/levels etc. to make sure I’m not falling out of sync as I focus on other things. I tend to look a bit more at the phase meter if the turntables I’m using are poorly calibrated and/or if the monitoring in the booth I’m in is terrible (though usually I’ll mix in headphones to compensate for that instead). Oh, and I have the phase meters in the GUI for Traktor turned off because I tend to overuse them if they’re turned on (with their being right there above the waveform and all).
That said - beatmatching by ear is a lot more fun than staring at the phase meter.
One of the first things I did when I switched to using a Traktor DVS setup was turn off the Phase Meter, Track BPM and BPM information. I never needed the said information when I DJ’ed solely with vinyl, and prefer to only use my ears.
Well Serato doesn’t have a “phase meter” but it does have the wave-forms. Currently I’m weaning myself away from the visual waveforms, but sometimes it’s really quick just to reference when I need to fix something. Working hard on getting it fully by ear though honestly, though I don’t fully trust myself without it yet.
I always try to beatmatch by ear, keeping my eyes either on the pitch fader or just closed, although I always check my result after I consider “I’m done” or if I find myself totally lost. I plan on turning the phase meter off on a near future as I get better at beatmatching though.
I used to use phase meters on Traktor often, just because I liked to bring in pieces of tracks during other tunes for effect, along with doing long, sweeping FXs and the beatmatching was just a ton of multitasking at once. Then a few weeks ago, I went cold turkey and I’m enjoying it. Not doing as many FXs or multimixes, but I feel like I’m making some really awesome transitions and mixes. Next step is to remove the BPM counter and do it by ear.
Using Traktor’s Phase meter atm, but working on graduating to using just my ears. Learning to do it manually is an important skill that you shouldn’t be glossing over.
