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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Start on Downbeat, not Pickup beat
Hi. Should be an easy fix but I haven't figured it out yet. I want VDJ to start on the 1, Downbeat, even though there is a Pickup beat, 4, where the song technically begins. Yes, I could set a cue marker on the 1, but can't VDJ just have a set point for the downbeat of the song so I don't have to bother tapping a cue marker to move the start over by one beat? I believe Serato does this.
Thanks!
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 3:24 pm
What song are you referring to (so that we can see/hear what you mean)?
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 3:49 pm
locoDogPRO InfinityModeratorMember since 2013
set the load point poi for the track, this is the reason it exists [one of the reasons]
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 4:03 pm
Okay, POI editor. That was my answer. Thanks! I'm new to this, so still learning.
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 5:08 pm
GroovinDJ, the song was 'There it is' by Shalamar. It begins with a pickup snare hit on the 4, which creates problems for DJing when you just want the song to start on the 1.
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 5:11 pm
Its unclear exactly what you wish to do.

And it's possible, you are asking how to adjust the CBG so that the 1 beat of the song, is on the colored tick (the 1 beat of the CBG).

check the manual for the many ways of adjusting the CBG.

or an oversimplified method, is to create a custom button, with script:
set_firstbeat

then click button where you wish the first beat to be ( the 1 beat at the beginning of the song)

 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 5:22 pm
user28480722 wrote :
'There it is' by Shalamar

Hmmm, I've just loaded it up here, and the BPM editor shows the downbeat (the 1) on the kick. The intro snare is shown as the 4 of the previous bar. The downbeat is also highlighted on the main waveform as on the kick.

This is not something I've edited or adjusted myself. Looks where it should be to me.

I wouldn't say it creates problems. You can hear where things lie when you load and cue the track, so if I was playing this, I'd either wind past the snare and set the temp cue on the kick, or just bring the track in on the 4 of the previous track, so it drops at the right place.
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 5:39 pm
user28480722 wrote :
'There it is' by Shalamar
Hmmm, I've just loaded it up here, and the BPM editor shows the downbeat (the 1) on the kick. The intro snare is shown as the 4 of the previous bar. The downbeat is also highlighted on the main waveform as on the kick.

This is not something I've edited or adjusted myself. Looks where it should be to me.

I wouldn't say it creates problems. You can hear where things lie when you load and cue the track, so if I was playing this, I'd either wind past the snare and set the temp cue on the kick, or just bring the track in on the 4 of the previous track, so it drops at the right place.


Sure, I could do that. But since I tend to just load tracks and expect them to start on the 1, it seemed more efficient to have this already set to do that. I mean, it's just one beat. It's not like a long intro I need to shuttle past. Also, it gives me a chance to dig into VDJ more and learn it better. This is really great software. I don't know why more people aren't using it. I'm watching videos on POI editor now. :-)
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 8:28 pm
user28480722 wrote :
expect them to start on the 1


I guess you've not been at this very long then! There are many tracks that don't start on the one. Sometimes it's as simple as your example, sometimes it's done as an attention grabber - the track will start without a beat, and you'll think you've got it figured, but then the beat comes in and it's not where you expected.

I was watching a video about this the other day. A very well known track that has its main musical riff start on the 3 - but it's such a big part of the tune, people were assuming it was the 1.

The riff has even been sampled and placed on the 1 on other productions.
 

Posted Sat 02 Mar 24 @ 9:57 pm
groovindj wrote :
user28480722 wrote :
expect them to start on the 1

- the track will start without a beat, and you'll think you've got it figured, but then the beat comes in and it's not where you expected.
.


Sure, I get what you are saying. And that's why I wanted to learn how to set it up so I didn't have to mess with it on the fly.
Another example of a song that is hard to start on the downbeat is 'All the Single Ladies' . The vocals come in on the 'And' before the '1', which makes it pretty weird to mix in time.
 

Posted Sun 03 Mar 24 @ 1:39 am
Yes, looking at the whole thing, it starts on the 2, so the 1st beat is missing.

It's pretty easy to paste a beat back in with e.g. Audacity if it makes things easier.

 

Posted Sun 03 Mar 24 @ 9:49 am