I learned beatmatching by ear. I remember it took me like 1 or 2 bars to get the record to the right pitch. Then i had to backcue it. Then wait for the next cool spot to drop it. If i wanted to do some more difficult stuff like using breakdowns and quickly change the record i had to know my vinyl in and out.Really learn it to a point where i could read the grooves ( man i miss that). Just throw it on the player, change pitch and drop it. Still with experience it took me over 4 beats to cue it up.
Now with DVS i can simply use my prepared tracks (cue´s, edits) and with one click of a button i can easily switch the record, sync,cue up and play. bam. this creates a whole new dimension of mixing. Beeing technically able to do sth i wouldnt be able to do otherwise. Well, with 2 turntables that is.
A DJ-friend of mine is sometimes picking on me, as if vdj would do the work for me. He see´s a sync-button and automatically think that means it keeps the tracks alligned, does the eq for me, heck, maybe even move the crossfader for me. He tried for himself, and failed misserably. I tried to explain everything to him, but still its too confusing for him. He just doesnt understand. And i am more than sure there are more dj´s like him.
yeah lots of debate and there has been many discussions before, but i think i can sum it all up by saying that 99% of DJ’s outside of digital DJing would think it was where as 99% of DJ’s that use digital DJing would say it wasn’t.
In the end I say no. Djing is about so much more than just beatmatching: song selection and reading the crowd being the most important but also layering tracks, effects, etc etc. Beatmatching is a pretty repetitive task and if it can be automated so you can spend more time on the other things, and at the end of the day like we discuss with all of this technology the end result isn’t just to use certain technology or skill for its own sake. The end result is having a rocking dancefloor and giving the audience a great time, and how you get there shouldn’t really matter.
But in saying all that i still think you MUST learn to manually beatmatch. Just like being a real drummer and understanding the technique and skills and processes makes you much better at programming electronic drums, understanding the process of beatmatching and being able to do it and know the ins and outs and all the details makes you much better at using the automatic version properly and also able to fix it on the odd occasion the auto version doesn’t work.
I agree with most who say it’s not cheating, especially Kevin’s reply. To me selection is the most critical portion of djing. A masterful selector with decent technical dj skills is almost always better than a master technician with decent selection. Getting better technically requires practice. Getting better selecting requires education and experience! And of course when someone is great at both the results can be otherworldly.
Personally I learned to beatmatch with Technics 1200 pitch control. 7bit midi tempo/pitch faders suck, period. (I am an early VCI-100 buyer and way earlier Traktor user.) I’m glad 14bit seems to be the new standard for dj tempo faders - it took too long to arrive. Unfortunately for new djs unaware of the difference and are using low-res faders I can see them getting frustrated learning to manually beatmatch even if they have a real desire to try.
*For Traktor Pro, I use tempo sync, and hide the phase meter because I find it distracting and annoying to look at.
I think what escapes most people is that DJing, when it comes down to the /real/ basic basics, is about having fun and making sure the party is having fun. If you’re not doing both, then you ‘suck’ as a DJ.
If beatmatching manually is fun for you, go right ahead. I can do it, but it’s boring and tedious, and I’d much rather spend my time playing with the FX and EQ knobs rather than the pitch faders.
Nice one guys. I also believe the fundamentals of layering tracks together and making the transitions sound seamless and silky is a lot more important than spending 3 minutes per track trying to line them up right and making it still sound like shit because you dont have time to drop your mids
i want to say sync isn’t cheating if you can beatmatch, but that would be wrong. if you can’t do it manually then it’s a great tool for learning (if you want to), if not you have the ‘tap’ function to match the dj playing before you.
i have no conscience about using it (when i do) becuase i can do it manually.
got to the point where i could confidently just drop a track and match it as i faded it in on vinyl (is that my trumpet i hear?), but alot of that was down to knowing my tracks - which is where the prep side fits in, back in the day you’d just listen to the track and pick the places that made good cue points and mark them on the vinyl and drop the needle there, now you can set them within the software and click/jump/snap to those points. no real difference imho, just more self contained.
