Playing CDJs blind
Hey guys,
so i got a pretty big, actually my first, gig coming up next week. I just found out that the venue i’m playing doesn’t allow any personal gear, there’s only 2x CDJ 2000 and 1x DJM 900. So for me, this is kind of a big deal, the only gear i can handle (or the only one i own - for 1 or 2 years now) is a poor Numark Mixtrack Pro, so the switch to the ‘upper class’ on my first (serious) gig ever seems kinda heavy.
Today i started watching some tutorials about said gear, read the manual, etc. Especially beatmatching seems to be a big one, as the tendence to use the sync buttons on my little controller is pretty big. Although i absolutely think i can properly beatmatch, the technical difference kinda scares me off.
So, do you guys have any tips for the switch? I don’t think that i’m able to get my hands on some pioneer-gear for testing till next week, which kinda gives me the feeling of getting thrown into cold water. Also (a more technical question), how do i save (hot) cues in recordbox which i than can use in my set? Do i only have to create a cue in the software, put said records on a USB-stick/SD-card/CD and the cues will appear on the CDJs screens?
Thx in advance!
Greetz
if you don’t know how to beat match you’re not gonna be able to do it on the first go..
You need to know how to beatmatch. Or you’ll drown.
If you have a mac, use Rekordbuddy.
Either practice like hell beat matching with your controller and using the jogs to nudge for the next week and a half and GET IT DOWN or bail on the gig. And even practicing every free moment of every day until then is likely not going to make you good enough not to train wreck a number of times.
I know it sounds horrible to bail on your first gig, but you will absolutely blow it out of the water (and not in a good way) if you’ve never even tried to beat match. This is not the way to make first impressions and get future gigs.
Sry guys if i didn’t get myself clear: I am able to solidly beatmatchonmy Numark! I just wanted to point out that the sync-button can be pretty helpful in certain situations, e.g. when you have to beatmatch fast.
So, the skill itself isn’t the problem at all. I’m just a bit worried of the “technical gap”, so to speak. I hoped you guys could give me some tips on what to look out for, probable problems, etc. 
You should be good then. It’s even easier to beatmatch on the CDJ IMO.
I can’t really foresee you having any problems.
As the others have said you should be fine, however the bit in bold is the only bit of your comment that I would be slightly concerned about. Once you can beatmatch solidly it doesn’t take more than a few seconds to get the tracks matched- especially on CDJs where you have a bpm readout anyway.
Best advice would be to try and practice on your Numark in a manner that resembles the operation of CDJs as closely as possible. But if you are straight-up mixing there really isn’t anything to fear from them, they are probably the easiest format to ‘manually’ mix on out there.
Playing CDJs blind
Try to ask for A chance to practice there, or meybe you can come 1-2h earlyer before the gig and practice then a bit.
Ignore the sync button, get practising, use the jogs. CDJ’s are not difficult to mix on. I relied quite a bit on the pitch bend buttons on my old Kam KCD1000’s dual rack mount before I got club work. The jog wheels were small on the kam decks (they were my 1st dj cd decks), but if you have the ear for beatmatching, you’ll get it pretty quick. The BPM readout is a good help. I can’t think of a CD deck that doesn’t have a bpm counter nowadays. If you can get hands on a cdj before the gig, that would be great, get used to how vinyl mode works, the pitch ranges, and how they affect the pitch control etc. Ye’ll be fine!