What other tricks are there for changing drastic tempos in traktor(minus freeze trick

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
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What other tricks are there for changing drastic tempos in traktor(minus freeze trick

Saw Ean’s freeze trick with the delays. Although this worked decently, I use 12 fx simultaneously in traktor with chained mode, so the freeze function on the delay is not something I can use.

Was curious what other tricks people here use to say…move from something in the 130bpm range to 170 and vice versa. Unfortunately sync deactivates if you start changing the tempo of the master track. Would be awesome if it raised the tempo of the slave track with it. Any idears? Thanks!

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how about a dedicated knob switching one fx bank to advanced mode, selects the delay and activates it and maybe another knob/button to switch to chained mode again..

12 fx simulatneously sounds a bit overdose to my imagination. you got a mix or so?!

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I use the freeze trick atleast 3 or 4 times a night! sounds seemless

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i’m not sure with traktor, as i’m using serato right now (but looking to move to traktor).

i switch between dubstep, glitch hop, dnb, house, 2 step, hiphop, alternative rock, and a few other genres within a mix so here’s a few tips on what i do with my setup (vci-300 + serato itch) that may be able to be applied to traktor:

-half time all of your tracks. if you have a track at 140, your software should say 70. this keeps all of your bpm ranges much tighter for tempo change (moving between 65 to 70 is a lot easier than from 65 to 140).

-ramping. oldest trick in the book. if you need to go from 60 to 70. ramp the 60 to 65, play a track at 65. ramp the 65 to 70. play the next track at 70. remember keylock is your friend.

-using tracks that have tempo changes built in. i have a collection of tracks that i use specifically to switch tempos because the producers built a tempo change into the track. something that goes from 70 to 90 for instance is a good means to bridge dubstep into hiphop. something that goes from 174 down to 140 is a good way to bridge dnb into dubstep, etc. even if the tracks arent phenomenal, you can always cut them up to only use them for the tempo change and then drop into your new track.

-dont be afraid to go crazy with the pitch slider. as long as keylock is enabled you have a pretty solid range of tempo change ability before too much distortion kicks in. you can often use this as a trick (bassnectar does it all the time). just slam that pitch slider down 30bpm over the course of 4 bars and punch the next track in on the 1. combine it with a grain effect for even better results.

-i think the freeze trick is a delay/echo combination trick, iirc. i use my korg kp3 to do this, i think… i’ll have a track set at 90bpm and i’ll run a delay+echo on the last 2-4 bars at a different tempo (let’s say 70) and cut the fader over to the deck that i have the 70bpm track loaded into. the 90bpm track will delay/echo at 70bpm for 4 beats then i drop the 70bpm track in.

i’m just now starting to learn traktor but i’ll def be on the lookout for figuring out tempo change tricks and i’ll likely come back to share some more once ive figured out the workings of the software.

remember keylock is your best friend!

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I know it can be a bit boring but I often use drops to change between bpm ranges - for example towards the end of the breakdown of a house tune, while the track builds up I have the bar before the drop of a dubstep tune cued up, and as long as you blend the 2 bars together well (drench it in some reverb and delay) and you’re quick - you can make a pretty stunning drop into a totally different genre - which people sometimes absolutely love.

Granted this only works with some tracks - but it can be killer if you get it right (and practise it!)

I’d definitely macro a spare button and set it to the freeze function though as weltraumpapst said. Infact, thinking about more macro effects functions would free up your effects slots, and would make it more flexible in a way? just a thought..

Oh, and I still havn’t found a way of mixing into DnB (175bpm) apart from layering an acapella section (or breakdown.. whatever) onto the original tune at the original bpm, and then speeding it up when you lose/filter out the beat… Again, takes some preparation - but can be killer.

I usually use the freeze though - and used the same technique before Ean highlighted it..

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@epsy: I wanna hear a mix with 12 fx!

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yeh man - me too!

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this reminded me of another trick that i employ (usually for mixing into dnb from slower tempo music).

remember, i time all of my dnb at 87 (174/2) so shifting pitch/tempo is a much shorter process. i’ll have a track playing at 60-70bpm (or 130-140) (something like fidget, breaks or dubstep) and at the 2nd build i’ll loop a small section (2-4 counts) and raise that loops tempo up to whatever my next track is (87/174 in this case) and drop the next track in on the next 1 using that loop to blend that 2nd tracks build and then with then 2nd track drops, cut the loop out.

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Can you explain how this is better - surely it is just semantics? (I keep all my d&b at the proper bpm and have no problem mixing it into hip hop).

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yeh - i much prefer using double tempos. 140 for dubstep, 175 for dnb. that’s how the phrases work… also the effects in traktor work far better at those BPMs.

They don’t call it ‘naughty one-forty’ for nothing you know :wink:

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Here’s an audio clip of what it sounds like with a track playing.
http://kobnet.net/~epsy/undrig/traktor.mpd24.jam.mp3

And here’s a video of me doing it with a simple loop playing in one deck

I’ll do this in a live situation alot. Not so much in a mix i’m recording to put online etc. Just because most of the music I like to mix is busy enough on it’s own. I try to hold back sometimes because it’s so easy to go overboard like in the video I posted.

Interesting tips so far. I like the one about assigning a knob to switch between advanced and chained. No idea how to set that up though :slight_smile:

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Nice clip! dno whether i could listen to that all night - but it’s cool.

All you have to do is set up one button/knob to control a series of functions. It’s more art than science, as Traktor can get pretty unstable when you start to do this, and it does some crazily unpredictable things - but experiment.

If you go into the midi map settings, and into FX there are a load of ways to do it.

For example - one button could be set to switch to advanced mode + effect select (delay) + effect on + FX parameter select + FX button 1 on (ie. freeze button)

Go play :slight_smile: but make sure you export your current tsi before you do though!

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that’s wicked! I will absolutely give that a go. Thanks!

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12 FX?! holy shit dude.
Try dropping a beatmasher set to 0% and D/W at around 30%, combined with a LFO filter (set low) and delay on the same side. You can fade out your track and drop the D/W gradually as the new track comes in, then you can do some crazy shit by bringing it back up, depends on how drunk you are :stuck_out_tongue:
I Tend to stick to around an 8% difference maximum with tracks, i’ll go UP, but not down. But i think a bit of xperimentation goes a long way with drastic changes eh.

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I’m trying to find some new tricks for this too, I’ll be experimenting tonight but the all our drop of the pitch fader may work well…idk

I’ve heard some big time dj’s do it so it may get a reaction

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It does… What version are you using?

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when i doubt drop 20 airhorns and slam it.

On a serious note, i have seen some people drop the music, and talk to the crowd for a moment, hype em up and drop the next track. usually the difference between the 2 gets people dancing