Regarding Tempo range for beatmatching

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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Regarding Tempo range for beatmatching

Hi guys, im wondering wat tempo ranges do u guys normally set for traktor?

I used 20% before and tried to beatmatch, but it was very difficult. Recently i changed the range to around 2-6%, its much much easier. So im wondering what ranges do u guys set ur tempo range at? Wat range should i put mine at?

And may i know wats the normal tempo range for technics and CDJs? (although i know the range in cdjs can be changed)

Im using a Kontrol S4, and change genres here and there in a set. house, electro, dub, top40, hiphop, rnb. not all genres in 1 set though.

Thanks and cheers guys!

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The most common setting on hardwares is 8% as was the SL-1200 MkII. That should get you about 0.12% steps with a midi tempo fader, and finer than 0.01% steps with an encoder or button basted tempo fader with the resolution set to minimum. How’s the resolution with S4 at +/- 8%? (The smallest amount of tempo change you can achieve - you can measure this by checking how many times the displayed BPM changes when you move the fader before the % increases/decreases). I’d say any resolution under 0.05% is good enough for a tight mix.

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although there are always exceptions, as a general rule you shouldn’t play a song at plus or minus 20%. it just won’t sound right.

if you have that big of tempo disparity, you should play the new song closer to it’s natural tempo and find a different way to make the transition other than matching beats and blending.

like DJ MiCL said, +/- 8% or 10% are pretty standard settings.

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Thanks for your input guys! I’ll set it at 8% and work from there. Its much much easier to beatmatch. Though theres still room for improvement!

Managed to nail it quite a few times today w/o looking at the laptop. Whereas last time i couldnt even beatmatch with the 20% tempo range.

@DJ MiCL, its either 0.02 or 0.03 per movement for the S4 on 8%! thanks!

@kelsey7k, thanks! i dun rly mix ± 20%, its just that my tempo fader was set at that amount, and only recently realised it might be why i couldnt really nail beatmatching, cause it was too hard to get the precise bpm. Thanks!