is this a bad way to go about mxing??

R

rosssss224

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
hey,

when mixing i tend to know the bpm of each track (chemical recs/vdj days) so can basically pre pitch without acctually needing to beatmatch. in my head i think " next track is -2 compared to this one" instead of beatmatching in a traditional way. i can beatmatch ok but would you say im 'accidentally' cheating!? if you know what i mean

cheers!
 
whatever works for you, but what happens when you dont know the bpm of the track coming in? or if the decks arnt quite calibrated proprly? there are lots of things that can happen which require you to know how to put a track in sync on the fly
 
rosssss224 said:
i can beatmatch ok
Click to expand...

that's great man! give it a bit more practice and it will become second nature to you.

anyone who knows how instinctual beat matching becomes, knows how amature relying on knowing bpm's is!
 
try and teach yourself to do it without knowing how much to pitch up or down by, your ears are a lot more accurate than a machine, the pitch isn't perfectly accurate anyways so it pays off to be able to do it more by ear
 
rosssss224 said:
hey,

when mixing i tend to know the bpm of each track (chemical recs/vdj days) so can basically pre pitch without acctually needing to beatmatch. in my head i think " next track is -2 compared to this one" instead of beatmatching in a traditional way. i can beatmatch ok but would you say im 'accidentally' cheating!? if you know what i mean

cheers!
Click to expand...

i started off doing the same thing, but now i find it easier not too know the bom of the next track. because youll find alot of tracks arent exactly what chemical records or vdj tells you.
 
Fire starter said:
i started off doing the same thing, but now i find it easier not too know the bom of the next track. because youll find alot of tracks arent exactly what chemical records or vdj tells you.
Click to expand...

this is true, i sometimes check chemical and it says somethings 183, and it quite obviosuly isn't
 
i dont rely on knowing the rough bpm of tunes.. but it deffinatly helps.. i'll put a tune on the deck and i'll know roughly where the pitch will be in comparison to the other so its almost a headstart to the beatmatching, giving me more time for whatever else i want to do with the mix
 
sound advice guys. just trying to stop myself taking the easy route and being 4 years down the line, losing practice with beatmatching and relying on knowing bpm's!

started off mixing dubstep so didnt need to know what the pitch control was for till i changed(very quicklly) to dnb.
 
having a good ear and being able to hear if a tune is faster or slower and get it locked just using your ear is always going to be a better option than just knowing bpms.

mixing by just remembering bpms is like cheating in a exam. sure you can get good results, but its far more beneficial to actually understand what your learning.
 
rosssss224 said:
hey,

when mixing i tend to know the bpm of each track (chemical recs/vdj days) so can basically pre pitch without acctually needing to beatmatch. in my head i think " next track is -2 compared to this one" instead of beatmatching in a traditional way. i can beatmatch ok but would you say im 'accidentally' cheating!? if you know what i mean

cheers!
Click to expand...

The more you mix, even though you think you may be 'cheating', the more you train your ears... if that makes any sense? so all the little adjustments you have to make half way through a mix or in cueing up and beatmatching, the better you get.

Atleast you are learning to beatmatch without, for example, using the traktor sync button which does it for you!

Beatmatching is the hardest trick to learn when learning to dj, and once you've got it, you've got it... so youre only getting better from here!
 
Track selection isn't nowhere near the hardest part lol. Technically skilled DJ is capable of pulling out almost any track in an enjoyable way. However if a DJ cannot beatmatch right, the selection itself won't help him.
 
Fallen.GeMiNi said:
Track selection isn't nowhere near the hardest part lol. Technically skilled DJ is capable of pulling out almost any track in an enjoyable way. However if a DJ cannot beatmatch right, the selection itself won't help him.
Click to expand...

i think your wrong. a good selection makes up for any beatmatching errors.. obviously too much is too much, and it depends really. would it really matter if calibre could mix or not? and if andy c would just throw in a random tune, would it be the same?
 
Man, Andy C is throwing in random tunes :D Sure, it's not such an easy job to find out which tune goes off well with another, but if you can hear the music, it's almost automatic (everytime I'm listening to singles on my iPod, I hear like 5 other tracks which I would mix it with it, I think every DJ has this the same). But if you hear kicking every 2 minutes in a rave, you're not amused at all. Balance is crucial, if you can beatmatch and if you have a nice selection, then you're the man. If you cannot do one of those well...you suck.
 
Last edited:
No its not accidently cheating at all man. I did the same thing as a platform to learn how to beatmatch and it worked a treat. Now I don't need to know bpm's anymore, just listen through your headphones and get it right before bringing it in.

Doing what you're doing is a good way to start though!
 
PostmanPat said:
No its not accidently cheating at all man. I did the same thing as a platform to learn how to beatmatch and it worked a treat. Now I don't need to know bpm's anymore, just listen through your headphones and get it right before bringing it in.

Doing what you're doing is a good way to start though!
Click to expand...

This !!!

You'll be triple dropping in no time
 
Ride the pitch, thats the key to beatmatching, just keep doing that for like 3 months, and you'll get pretty good at it,


Once you've got that, listen to where other DJs bring tracks in, what part of the tracks they bring in, when they switch over the bass, what sort of levels sound good, how the mix progresses etc
 
Back
Top Bottom