any dj's that can help?

mufc802

mufc802

mufc802

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I am just starting djing and am trying to learn to beatmatch. What is the best way to set-up the headphones to cue the music? Should I have the music that is playing through the speakers also playing through the headphones or just the cue music only through the headphones? The mixer allows me to choose the volume of the music I want to hear through the headphones that is playing through the main speakers, but I am not sure what is the normal way of doing this?

I saw a tip that said put the tempo onto max for the song you are trying to mix so you know it will be faster than the current playing song rather than guess whether it is faster or slower, would you say this is a good technique?

(Please keep this in GD, I never get replys in the music section.)
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/ellaskins/videos with a bit of searching I'm sure you will find something.

song 1 - playing
song 2 - next song

Song 1 playing through speakers, thought song 2 should just be in the headphones to cue up. Or one song on either side of headphones..

I don't know! :p Check out the youtube guy though. Good luck!
 
mufc802 said:
I saw a tip that said put the tempo onto max for the song you are trying to mix so you know it will be faster than the current playing song rather than guess whether it is faster or slower, would you say this is a good technique?
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perfectly valid technique but see what works best for you ! i know that ellaskins 'djtutor' teaches that way IIRC


you on turntables or CDJs ?
 
I am using a traktor kontrol s2. (controller)

I just can't match them up, even if I do for a second I have no idea how you get the bpm exactly the same so they move out of sync again.
 
It just takes practice. After a while I knew which of my records was faster than the other so I had a rough idea where the speed on the decks had to be. On the headphones I just had the record I was cuing in.
 
if your having problems even matching them then i would recommend the age old first dj tutorial of 2 records the same (or 2 similar tracks that are the same bpm). then get used to timing it in right and cueing in the right places
 
There is no "best way" it is simply down to preference.

Personally I didn't get on with split cue, - however I could use it if it was the only function (having used a range of mixers from £50 to £2000 it's best to have all bases covered).
I would not over complicate things and settle down on having the tune you are going to mix into running through your left headphone ear whilst the other ear is open to the main booth (speakers) It becomes second nature over time.

As a beginner I would play around with the beatmatching "riding the pitch" to get a real feel as to what tiny increments do to the picth and tempo of each track (I started with vinyl back in the day so it became second nature).
I used to find physically tapping your feet along to the outplaying track made it obvious as to what "ball park" speed you want your incoming track to be at. The rest is fine (sometimes ridiculously fine) tuning / adjusting so the beats are then set.
Be patient, it will come ;)
 
mufc802 said:
I am using a traktor kontrol s2. (controller)

I just can't match them up, even if I do for a second I have no idea how you get the bpm exactly the same so they move out of sync again.
Click to expand...

It just takes practice! I found I couldn't do it properly for about 2 months, then one morning I tried and it all just clicked, now I can do it in seconds without even thinking about it.

It varies with each person how long it takes to get it, but if you keep practicing you'll learn to tell from how the beats sound as to which track is faster or slower! :)

I tend to beatmatch with the master and cue coming through both headphones with them both on then when beatmatched and mixing into the next song, I do it off the monitors. I started doing it this way as I found most club monitors were awful to beatmatch with!
 
Everyone has different techniques but for me two monitors and one cup on my ear,some dj's i know use both ears with a deck in each cup,never like that way tbh,the way i learnt to DJ in 1990 was to get two identical records and play about with the pitch untill they come together,its all about practice and practice,untill one day it all makes sence,the headphone levels on certain mixers are just rubbish,anything from the DJM800 is good though,the DJM 600 headphone level is not enough for me,maybe i am going deaf in my old age :(
 
I'm purely a cued track only through the headphones man, then one ear on the HP and one listening to the monitor speaker. Everything through the HP just didn't work for me at all
 
mufc802 said:
I am just starting djing and am trying to learn to beatmatch. What is the best way to set-up the headphones to cue the music? Should I have the music that is playing through the speakers also playing through the headphones or just the cue music only through the headphones? The mixer allows me to choose the volume of the music I want to hear through the headphones that is playing through the main speakers, but I am not sure what is the normal way of doing this?

I saw a tip that said put the tempo onto max for the song you are trying to mix so you know it will be faster than the current playing song rather than guess whether it is faster or slower, would you say this is a good technique?

(Please keep this in GD, I never get replys in the music section.)
Click to expand...

real decks or those noddy CD ones? :) if its CDS then ignore this next bit...

beatmixing is hard at first but you should be able to pick it up quickly.

basically stick one tune on and let it play. then cue up next record. you should be able to tell if 2 is faster than 1. if you cant tell just speed it up. then just keep your finger on the edge of the record to slow it down.

its actually much easier to learn to do it the ellaskins way and actually use your finger to keep the beat.

make sure you cue up on the first big beat of the tune. often at the start you have all kinds of offputting stuff. sometimes its easier to beatmatch from where the tune kicks in after the first mini-break. you can usually see this on the vinyl's rings.
 
use it to learn using your eyes AND ears, then try without looking at it. at least that way you'll make the relationship between what you're doing and what you're hearing
 
I remember when I bought my first decks about ten years ago and started to learn, I thought I had made a massively expensive mistake investing 500 odd quid into two vinyl turn tables and a mixer. :) You soon learn. Just practice. The way I learnt (and the only way I ever mixed) was having ONLY the cued track in the headphones, with generally one cup over my right ear fully, and my left ear half or fully exposed. The key to aid learning I found, was to have the cued track on QUIETLY in comparison to the main track playing out. Too many people whack the cued track up too high which confuses them.
Once you crack beat matching, I standby you would do well to ever forget/lose the ability to do it again. I hadn't mixed or touched a DJ setup for about 5 years and last year had a quick play on a mates setup I had access to. It was like I last mixed the day before. Like driving a car...it's burnt into your brain/limbs/ears and a natural thing.
 
realBabelfish said:
not in my world. anything with a beat counter and auto cues etc is for children :)

if it aint vinyl it aint a real deck! :)
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Hmm never understood you only vinyl DJ'S and thats me who learnt on technics,for some reason to believe that people tend to think that the cdj's do the mixing for you which they simply do not do,BPM and auto cue does not mix your tracks,pioneer cdj's are industry standard now and have been for a number of years,i have this argument with vinyl dj's all the time:confused::confused:
 
jaybee said:
I remember when I bought my first decks about ten years ago and started to learn, I thought I had made a massively expensive mistake investing 500 odd quid into two vinyl turn tables and a mixer. :) You soon learn. Just practice. The way I learnt (and the only way I ever mixed) was having ONLY the cued track in the headphones, with generally one cup over my right ear fully, and my left ear half or fully exposed. The key to aid learning I found, was to have the cued track on QUIETLY in comparison to the main track playing out. Too many people whack the cued track up too high which confuses them.
Once you crack beat matching, I standby you would do well to ever forget/lose the ability to do it again. I hadn't mixed or touched a DJ setup for about 5 years and last year had a quick play on a mates setup I had access to. It was like I last mixed the day before. Like driving a car...it's burnt into your brain/limbs/ears and a natural thing.
Click to expand...

agree. once you learn you will know forever.

i just have the heaphones on and have both tunes running. get them mixed then take off one ear and bring it in. or bring in on the beat blind (no cans), depends on the tune
 
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