Virtual DJ - Some Dilemmas

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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Virtual DJ - Some Dilemmas

So whilst preparing for a competition for a residency over here, I stumbled across the website, and my mind has been slightly blown. There’s some great resources here, but it’s now made me question whether I originally spent my money well…!

I’ve been DJing a couple of years now, but started out on CDJs that I had borrowed. When it came to buying my own kit last summer, I made the transition to Digital because of how cost effective it seemed. At the time, because I found the free version very intuitive, I bought Virtual DJ Pro 7 and have had some wicked gigs with it.

However, after stumbling onto this site today, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve limited the creative options available. I got into DJing because I love my music, and I wanted to creatively introduce people to stuff they hadn’t heard and I now feel I’m at a point where I could push that that little bit further but I’m worried I’ve shot myself in the foot a bit with initial software choice. I’m a university student, so my funds aren’t massive, so that would make rectifying the situation a bit harder, if it was considered a drastically bad decision! BUt that will just mean more gigging to raise the funds, so I can’t complain too much!

So I have four questions really:

  1. Does Virtual DJ have interesting mapping capabilities, or is the general consensus that it is too limited when compared to Traktor?

  2. Is the key to getting the best out of it just a better Midi Controller? I Currently use a Numark Mix Track Pro - would it be worth me investing in a Midi-Fighter to compliment it, or should I look to change controller first all together?

  3. How compatible are the DJTT resources with Virtual DJ Pro? Specifically the mapping - I assume it’s different from software to software, but I don’t know a lot about the concept… To this point, all I’ve thought about is the records!

  4. I guess the big one… All the above considered (and taking into account that I really have no interest in video mixing in the slightest) have I bought the wrong software for someone like me?

Thanks on this!

2

Can you give a little better info on why you think your setup isn’t suiting your needs. I know you mentioned the jog wheels but what else?

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Hello fellow Virtual Dj user!

Don’t be thinking like that man, In my opinion, Virtual Dj is way better than Traktor, Itch, Scratch Live, Torq and all that crap.

  1. Just the opposite. Traktor does not support Vst’s. You can map everything easily with Virtual Dj too.

  2. Get any controller you want… This is pretty much your decision.

  3. Mappings are for different software so no.

  4. If you are not into mixing video then don’t mix video, just mix audio :confused:

You made an great choice in buying Virtual Dj. Don’t regret it.

Feel free to ask any questions :slight_smile:

Cheers!

4

Traktor mapping is incredibly limited compared to vdj… what do you want vdj to do for you? I can help you to make it do anything that traktor does and more…

here is an answer to a thread on digitaldjtips that explains a little of what it can do.

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Traktor just happens to be the more popular software here. That being said, there’s peeps here that use just about every kind of audio software out there and are willing to help. It’s a great site and welcome to the “family”. As far as software goes, there’s no right or wrong answer. You should use what you like, are comfortable with, can afford. If you’re curious about the other software out there, DL a demo of Traktor and Serato. Ask questions and people will give you their advise. If you do some of the initial “leg work” and research yourself and THEN ask specific questions on here I find that many of the “experts” are much more apt to be much more helpful because you’ll be seen as somebody who’s serious about the craft.

My .02 cents or pence for you blokes across the pond :slight_smile:

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I rather like the fact that I can go to bed over here, wake up and there’s a bunch of replies because you guys are on a completely different time!

@ Dj_4-$hure - In regards to my set up, my worry is that I just simply don’t have enough buttons to do everything that I want. I’d like to be able to control effects at the push of a button, where as at the moment I have to scroll through. I guess the other thing I’d like to have mapped is the filter, but after the EQ, effect and cue controls, there just isn’t enough room on my controller.

@Smaze/SirReal - It’s good to hear some positive stuff! I after reading all the replies I feel more comfortable with the software choice as it’s made me remember why I picked it. I tried Traktor, but didn’t find it as intuitive to beat match with and didn’t like the interface. Obviously with a bit more research, I see now that it can do a lot of cool stuff, but it’s nice to know that VDJ isn’t lacking. I guess asking questions was my way of doing the ‘legwork’ because you can read lots of info on a product, but it doesn’t compare to the knowledge of a few other users. I will continue to read the forums though, to see what else I can gather. In regards to Video DJing, the reason that came up is because I once got told whilst DJing that it was the best hope I had of going forward with it, and that I had already picked a good software for it. Question 4 came out of a desire to rebel against that really - I want the best software for playing with music and making people move, not to make the gawk at visuals!

@synthe1c - Cheers for the link dude, it was proper informative. I guess I need to take a look at mapping in more detail. As for what I want it to do for me, I hope I summed it up well in the first paragraph of this post. Basically, after seeing some of the tutorial video on the sight for mapping jog wheels, the midifighter and loop routines, I’m keen to give it a go!

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to activate effects with a button you simply use “effect ‘effect_name’ active”, you can also have an action repeat as long as you are holding a button eg.

effect “crusher” slider 1 0% & effect “crusher” active while_pressed & repeat 20ms & effect “crusher” slider 1 +0.0325

This is off my contoller, It turns the jog into a filter or a granulizer which is a beat repeat effect… It will work with QB filter a pristine free vst effect, and Tex_ZK’s granulizer which you can get from the vdj forum

with the filter I suggest using the keylock button as this won’t be used that much, so keylock is now the shifted action. if you press the keylock button you activate the jog filter which will stop when you release the jog, however if you are touching the jog and press keylock again the filter will stay on when you release the jog, until you press the keylock button again. Also if you move the jogwheel by the edge while the jog filter is active it will still pitch bend.

with the granulizer that will be the shifted action of the vinyl button, with vinyl mode being the normal action.

jog touch
set ‘touch’ while_pressed & var ‘gran’ 1 ? effect “granular” active on while_pressed & effect “granular” slider 1 0% : var ‘filter’ 1 ? down ? effect “qb_filter” active on & var ‘filteron’ 1 ? nothing : effect “qb_filter” slider 3 50% : var ‘filteron’ 1 ? nothing : effect “qb_filter” active off & effect “qb_filter” slider 3 50% : touchwheel_touch

jog
var ‘gran’ 1 ? var ‘touch’ ? param_multiply 200% & effect “granular” slider 1 : jogwheel : var ‘filter’ 1 ? var ‘touch’ ? param_multiply 25% & effect “qb_filter” slider 2 70% & effect “qb_filter” slider 3 : jogwheel : touchwheel

keylock on/off
var ‘shift’ ? keylock : var ‘touch’ ? set ‘filteron’ 1 : var ‘filter’ 0 ? set ‘filter’ 1 & set ‘gran’ 0 & vinyl_mode off : set ‘filter’ 0 & set ‘gran’ 0 & vinyl_mode off & effect “qb_filter” slider 3 50% & effect “qb_filter” active off & set ‘filteron’ 0

keylock led
var ‘shift’ ? keylock ? blink 400ms : off : var ‘filter’ 1 ? var ‘filteron’ ? blink 200ms : effect “qb_filter” active on ? blink 500ms : var ‘filter’ 1 ? on : off

vinyl on/off
var ‘shift’ ? var ‘gran’ 1 ? set ‘gran’ 0 & set ‘filter’ 0 & vinyl_mode 0 : set ‘gran’ 1 & set ‘filter’ 0 & vinyl_mode 0 : var ‘gran’ 1 ? set ‘gran’ 0 & set ‘filter’ 0 : vinyl_mode

vinyl led
var ‘gran’ 1 ? blink 400ms : vinyl_mode 1 ? on : off

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There’s honestly nothing wrong with VDJ. It’s great software to start out with. It’s fantastically easy to use and it really speeds up your learning curve. Once you get to a point where you’re fairly adept, it becomes a question of personal preference. Try out Traktor, Serato and give VDJ another shot. Whatever you prefer, go with it!