Absolute Beginner needs advice!

malbowski

Malbowski
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Location
Sunderland, UK
I just got a set of decks and a load of DNB vinyl and thought i'd start by learning to beatmatch.

I'm having trouble matching the pitch of both tracks so that the beats "stay together" and find it hard to listen to both at the same time.

Some people have told me to start with a different type of music ie. House, some tell me it'll come to me, so is it just a case of practice or is there anything I should know!

Cheers, Malbowski
 
1st of all man it takes time so dont worry if ur not pickin it up str8 away people learn differently. fuck changing the genre if u like dnb rinse dnb!! standard!!! just keep at it man everyone goes thru what ur goin thru, only advice is to stick it out!!!
 
Another thing I forgot to mention. Is it worth workin with the same couple of tunes jus to practice on?

yes to some extent it will... you need to know the tunes well to be able to mix them well, but at the same time you need to be able to mix well enough to pick up two unfamiliar tunes and mix then too (y)

so practice a bit of everything, its all good.
 
Learning to beatmatch is just a cas of being able to seperate two tracks in your head, it just clicks one day, when I first started I thought wtf have I done??? I've wasted my money.. But just stick at it an it'll come to you, it just takes practice, and when it does you'll think how the fuck couldnt I do it before...

Anyway something I would reccomend: "How To DJ Properly", bacily the Dj's bible, gives you tips on everything from Beatmatching, Planning Sets, Scratching, Beat Juggling, etc etc... Would Highly reccomend it especialy for a beginner. I got it after a while of Djing but it still came in usefull
 
Yeah seriously mate, i know you may feel like giving up like me but just stick to it and one day it will just come and you will love it!!

Also my mate whos learning says he is mixing his vinyl on 33 not 45 so it is easier to hear the beat.. Not to sure on this one lol..
 
Yeah seriously mate, i know you may feel like giving up like me but just stick to it and one day it will just come and you will love it!!

Also my mate whos learning says he is mixing his vinyl on 33 not 45 so it is easier to hear the beat.. Not to sure on this one lol..

My mate learnt this way aswell, but I find it harder to lock 2 slower records, but it's personal preference, I would keep it 45rpm, and turn the Trebble and Bass of so you can hear the beat properly.
 
I know i didnt ask the question but this makes alot of sence, Thanks. I just started to mix and it is well hard but i still love it.
 
If you don't have a beatcounter on your mixer , try looking up the bpm of you tracks and write them down , this helps a lot to get to know your records..
 
Okay, since i started this discussion, i've progressed slightly. However, i'm still struggling to keep the two tunes locked together i.e one speeds up. May sound obvious, but i'm guessing every two tunes have a set pitch difference so its a case of remembering this, right? As someone said earlier, you still need to be able to mix well enough to pick up two unfamiliar records and mix them, so i guess you get a feel for matching the pitch with practice, yeah? :)
 
Buy 'how to dj properly' it explains everything.
Then after that its just practice practice practice im afraid mate.
 
Okay, since i started this discussion, i've progressed slightly. However, i'm still struggling to keep the two tunes locked together i.e one speeds up. May sound obvious, but i'm guessing every two tunes have a set pitch difference so its a case of remembering this, right? As someone said earlier, you still need to be able to mix well enough to pick up two unfamiliar records and mix them, so i guess you get a feel for matching the pitch with practice, yeah? :)

This was my main problem when i first started to mix. Try having one earphone only part covering your ear so that you can hear the beats coming out of your monitors slightly. Also make sure that your headphone volume is roughly the same as your monitor volume. I find this helps me lock on to the beat a lot easier.

Also try to touch the vinyl as little as possible. If you dont know about pitch riding then search it on you tube. This takes a bit of getting used to but once u get the nack of it you will find the beats sooo much easier to match.

Finally as has already been said, know your tunes inside out, and dont give up. It takes time!

Hope this helps :)
 
If you don't have a beatcounter on your mixer , try looking up the bpm of you tracks and write them down , this helps a lot to get to know your records..

Ive never believed bpm counters. I've only got a Kam KSP150 so i can't imagine the counters being of the highset quality, but i think they struggle with broken beats, id just ignore them and learn without them.
 
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