rgranel
I am having a hard time beat matching old tunes from the 1980s like Expose. Any suggestions?
Posted Thu 08 Mar 12 @ 3:02 pm
djej
Older music, whether it be freestyle, disco or hip hop, is always challenging to beatmatch because human drummers laid the tracks. That makes the drumbeat vary a bit. What I do for this music may seem a little funky but it works. First, you need to know how to manually beatmatch. I line the beats up and then adjust the CBGs to line up. Then I can relax, set a loop for the song coming in , occasionally hitting sync until the break in the song comes and mix the two together. You can make a shortcut to adjust CBG in the mapper.
Posted Thu 15 Mar 12 @ 8:07 am
visionz5
You can also check to see if any online digital pools have intros/outros of popular 80's/Freestyle music. If not, try and find the instrumental and make your own tracks with intros/outros.
Posted Thu 15 Mar 12 @ 3:01 pm
djnutz
Or, you could do what DJ's did back in the 80's before the CBG and the SYNC function and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Not a dig, just sayin...
Posted Mon 19 Mar 12 @ 6:12 pm
djej
"Not a dig, just sayin" Not sure what that means other then a dig. You didn't read my post. I am a dj from back in the day and I do beat match the two manually. I just happen to also utilize today's technology to make it easier and to deal with the inevitable drift that occurs. Nevermind.
Posted Wed 21 Mar 12 @ 8:47 am
djnutz
djej wrote :
"Not a dig, just sayin" Not sure what that means other then a dig. You didn't read my post. I am a dj from back in the day and I do beat match the two manually. I just happen to also utilize today's technology to make it easier and to deal with the inevitable drift that occurs. Nevermind.
I was replying to the original poster. The ability to beatmix without the visual or sync button aids sure would come in handy if the computer went down and the DJ found him/herself with analog equipment. I too use today's technology for more efficient mixing, but my backup is two CDJ's and a handful for cd's. If I couldn't beatmix without the CBG or sync button, I'd be sunk.
It is my personal opinion that a DJ who can program and mix on ANY piece of equipment is worth more that the person who needs the "technology crutch."
Posted Wed 21 Mar 12 @ 4:46 pm
djej
No offense but your advice was to just practice.
Posted Wed 21 Mar 12 @ 9:14 pm
rgranel
Thanks for all your help. I am old school. I used two turntables and a mixer in the old days and can beat match anything no problem with the old equipment. Just having trouble beat matching with the computer.
Posted Wed 21 Mar 12 @ 10:07 pm
rgranel
Spent alot of time practicing last night. In the old days when I used turntables and records, I could use two hands when beat matching. I would use one hand to adjust the pitch control and the other hand to slow or speed the record while adjusting the pitch to keep the beats matched.
I was trying to beat match manually on Virtual DJ. Trick one was actually figuring out how to get the beat matched initially. Then when they were matched, how to keep the beats aligned while adjusting the pitch control at the same time all using a mouse. It seems hard to make fine adjustments to the pitch control using a mouse. Same with cueing up records using a mouse. I don't have the same fine motor control with a mouse that I do with handling the records on a turntable and the controls of a mixer. I am curious how people who are experienced with this equipment do it.
I was trying to beat match manually on Virtual DJ. Trick one was actually figuring out how to get the beat matched initially. Then when they were matched, how to keep the beats aligned while adjusting the pitch control at the same time all using a mouse. It seems hard to make fine adjustments to the pitch control using a mouse. Same with cueing up records using a mouse. I don't have the same fine motor control with a mouse that I do with handling the records on a turntable and the controls of a mixer. I am curious how people who are experienced with this equipment do it.
Posted Thu 22 Mar 12 @ 11:42 am
djnutz
When you purchase the Pro version, you get timecode support so you can use timecode vinyl or cd's. Reading this might help:
http://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/TimeCode%20Config.html
http://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/TimeCode%20Config.html
Posted Thu 22 Mar 12 @ 11:47 am
rgranel
Hi DJNutz,
Thanks for the link. It looks like the Timecode function needs to be used with turntables. Unfortunately, I no longer have my technics Turntables and I don't really want to spend alot of money either. I just like mixing for fun now. Might upgrade to the professional version if it helps.
Thanks for the link. It looks like the Timecode function needs to be used with turntables. Unfortunately, I no longer have my technics Turntables and I don't really want to spend alot of money either. I just like mixing for fun now. Might upgrade to the professional version if it helps.
Posted Thu 22 Mar 12 @ 10:29 pm
djnutz
You can also download the timecode file and burn it to a cd and use CDJ's. Tbat's what I use. The other option is to buy a midi controller that comes with Virtual DJ LE and then you can get a discount on upgrading to pro. I chose CDJ's so if my pc crashes during a gig, I can eject the timecode cd and pop in mp3 cd's.
Posted Fri 23 Mar 12 @ 1:43 am