DJ technique questions/Help needed!

fushimi · Post by **fushimi** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:01 pm

Cheers for the replies everyone, useful stuff! I have an irrational fear of counting bars because I used to learn the piano when I was a wee lad and sometimes my teacher would do a time signature exercise. She'd play 10 seconds of a tune and ask me what the signature was; I never had a clue and would always guess 4/4 or 6/8....these sessions lasted for an hour at a time!

Anyway, back to practicing!

little boh peep · Post by **little boh peep** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 6:41 pm

Yeah, don't rely on matching snares... match the drum hit on 1 (if you were counting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 ) of every bar.

Another thing is to know your tunes inside and out. Know how many bars of intro and outro you have, keep a mental picture of when things "happen" in the track. Dubstep by and large isn't as busy or musical as other electronic music genres, so there's less likelihood of key clashes and bulge in the mix compared to mixing d&b or trance or what have you. You could have picked something more complicated to learn on, in other words.

Most importantly, have fun with it!

kidkip · Post by **kidkip** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:07 pm

i'm pretty new to mixing but prior to dubstep i was doing hip-hop and i think beat matching that is slightly harder than mixing dubstep. everyone is right the snares mess u up so its good just to beat match on the kick, unless ur doing more of the half step stuff like ur loefah or skream then use the snare. i guess just go with what ever is more natural even if ur tapping ur finger to know which tune is faster.

i have calculated all the bpms of my records but to be honest i'm not really using it cos i kinda know the structures of the songs.

keep practising. i havent played out and i still get really nervous when playing in front of friends but i'm hoping to do a couple of shows at uni when term starts...bring some dubstep to kingston uni lol

pss · Post by **pss** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:06 pm

http://www.djforums.com/tutorials/

There's some tutorials that at least I found helpful.

selector.dub.u · Post by **selector.dub.u** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:14 am

I know I am a little late in this discussion but what the hell.

Like the old P Funk song says-
"everything is on the one!"

however it is good to learn how to mix with the bass, hihat, and the snare imo.

Practice beat matching in your monitors first.
Meaning do your scratch cue and beatmatching in the monitors first before starting to cue and beatmatch with your headphones. OR vice versa do it all in your headphones together.
IT sounds like crap but If you can master this it will make things easier for you in the long run.

If you are DJ'ing - Rock, Pop, New Wave, Afro Beat, Calypso, Soca, Bhangra, Salsa, Afro-Cuban, Favela, Ragga, Dub, Cumbia, Reggateon, Bossa Nova, Samba, R&B, Funk, Soul, Disco, Hip Hop, Crunk, Eclectic electronic stuff, Dancehall, Hyphy and Reggae in any form its easiest to mark your records with the BPM. Especially if you dj these forms together. However I didnt start doing this until about a 2 months ago and I have been dj'ing for about 12 -13 years now. I can pretty much feel how many BPM's a piece of music is running at now but it helps if you need to draw for a record quick and you have a minimal amount of time to pitch and cut. Or with somethings its best to play from the edge and let them run out.

With D&B, Jungle, Dubstep, House, Techno and Electro- everything is in pretty much the same BPM range so u dont need to put the bpms on the records or sleeves- imo.

Also another good idea is to get doubles of the same record and just get a feel for how the pitch control works on your decks.

Some other tips- TRY TO NEVER MIX OFF OF THE SPEAKERS ON THE FLOOR IN THE CLUB OR BAR YOU ARE DJ'ING In - IF YOU CAN ALWAYS USE YOUR BOOTH MONITOR (unless they dont have a booth monitor).
Practice till, pitching, scratching and beatmatching is like breathing.

When I started practicing I would play records for shifts of up to 8 to 12 hours straight. I ate drank and lived dj'ing

Practice with others if possible. One of the things the old school heads would do with me is we would play 3 records each and then we would have to mix out of the last record- we would do this for hours. So no matter what the DJ played before you you had to mix out of it and quickly- and we all would play an eclectic set of records so there would always be surprises.

I was dj'ing out in about 5 months after I started.
Within a year I was opening for mix masters like Noel, Dj Abstract, UFO, Claude Young, DBX and Dj Godfather. Its funny at one of my first gigs for a D&B night back in 95 -I accidently picked up the needle off of one of the records that was playing on the floor speakers- lol The whole crowd just stared at me. I learned there - to try and make mistakes look like you meant to do them.

There are some other things that are good to know but they are a little more obscure and they are not necessary to know.

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 5:43 pm

just keep practicing and it will all come naturally to you, a useful tip with mixing dubstep when you first start out is to learn how to count the 4 beats in the bar, maybe tap it with your hand to the music, that way you can see how the beat is constructed around the 4/4 frame and you eventually wont even be thinking about it.

skavoovie_blind9 · Post by **skavoovie_blind9** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:47 pm

I usualy listen to the kicks and snares, even if the snares are at different points you can tell when its in as this creats a new solid rythm. The way how I do it is to just feel the music and listen to see if the tracks are gelling together also through chord changes and how intime the melody of one track is in with the other.............But thats just me

press · Post by **press** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:19 pm

just mix em

skavoovie_blind9 · Post by **skavoovie_blind9** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:26 pm

Easy as that, pick up a guitar- just play it, pick up a saxaphone- just blow it.

press · Post by **press** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:24 pm

skavoovie_blind9 wrote:Easy as that, pick up a guitar- just play it, pick up a saxaphone- just blow it.

i was just reiterating what was said in a thread i had started that was a similar how to dj question.

shnyde · Post by **shnyde** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:41 am

tried to teach my girlfriend how to mix once but just ended up fucking her over the decks

forensix (mcr) · Post by **forensix (mcr)** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:58 am

SHNYDE wrote:tried to teach my girlfriend how to mix once but just ended up fucking her over the decks

really, posting that was fucking pointless

ascend · Post by **ascend** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:52 am

Shonky wrote:Get very drunk and play good tunes loudly. Doesn't matter if they're in time, really gets the attention of the crowd. If people scream that you're shit, just ignore them and put another tune on at the wrong speed or turn off the wrong deck. Never apologise to the audience, ever - they came to indulge you, not the other way round. Just remember who's getting paid - it's you (hopefully).

Oh, and always tell people that make requests to play trance to fuck right off - it's the only language they understand.

Haven't had a booking in a while, wonder why?

I'v been looking for canton, is it for sale anywhere mate? Heard it on boc's mix, fave tune on there there I think.. beautiful stuff..

Oh an that was pretty damn funny btw..

I also agree with 'learn your records', thats the only way your ever gona be really good after you get beat matching down matey..

I shouldnt smoke this early in the day, last post a month ago..

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:31 pm

Ascend wrote: I'v been looking for canton, is it for sale anywhere mate? Heard it on boc's mix, fave tune on there there I think.. beautiful stuff..

Is in the sig mate

ascend · Post by **ascend** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:39 pm

Shonky wrote:
Ascend wrote: I'v been looking for canton, is it for sale anywhere mate? Heard it on boc's mix, fave tune on there there I think.. beautiful stuff..
Is in the sig mate

Whoops, in front of my face! Many thanks..

Edit: I did want the vinyl really.

skunk · Post by **skunk** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:18 pm

if you're using vinyl, learn to read the grooves of your records.

FSTZ · Post by **FSTZ** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:19 pm

skunk wrote:if you're using vinyl, learn to read the grooves of your records.

what do they say?

mine just look like little black lines in a circle

I kid

shonky · Post by **shonky** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:53 pm

skunk wrote:if you're using vinyl, learn to read the grooves of your records.

I just let them speak to me, but the medication seems to be stopping the lines of communication unfortunately.

dubsola · Post by **dubsola** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:47 pm

All this advice is good, but pretty hard to understand if you don't know it already.

Fushimi - here's what you gotta do.

Bottom line is to practice. Know your records inside and out, listen to other djs, you've already got decks so practice on them, a lot. I assume you have at least 100 records to play - if not, you don't have enough. Listen to them, fiddle with the pitch and stop / start buttons, and all the other buttons. Play with the volume controls, eq and kill switches on your mixer. See how it all works. Practice cueing up your records and starting them smoothly with your hands, right on the beat. Do this a lot.

So, mixing. Beatmatching is hard until you get it, then it gets easier and easier. Some tunes will catch you out for years after you pull off your first mix. The very best thing to listen to is not the snares OR the kick - simpler tunes will be easier because these elements are more predictable, but sooner or later you should just learn to listen to the rhythm as put forth by the entire track - the rhythm is the percussion and the bass and the melody. If you just learn to mix with percussion, you won't be able to mix tracks which have weird percussion but a strong melody which drives the rhythm.

Record your mixes and listen to them so you can hear what you sound like. The more you listen, the better idea you'll have of what's going on when you're djing. Also, it's nice to have all your tunes conveniently grouped together anyway.

What selector.dub.u said about practicing with friends - spot on. Be bastards and try to leave them as little track as possible to mix out on - that's what they'll do to you, and it's good practice. Also it's good to have other influences for tunes and djing style, and to have someone to talk to about djing.

When you first play out, don't try to mix (ie beat match) your records, just get the levels right and try to get the right flow of tunes going. Some of the best DJs in the world don't mix. Your first 20 times you play out, your levels (ie the volume levels) will be so off that you need to fix them rather than worrying about your beatmatching. Make sure you drink a beer so you can relax a bit, nerves are a killer.

Relax and enjoy yourself at all times. Don't take it too seriously.

Tekki · Post by **Tekki** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:43 am

bars chunk together to make bar structures. these become noticable the more you listen. producers give plenty of clues where 16/32 bars end. don't concentrate on one thing (i.e snare or kick), but listen to the whole tune and see how two things can complement. if two tunes sound duff together don't mix em, or just chop one straight in and cut the other out (on time of course). unless you know what yr doing, don't mix two tunes with different keys. you'll notice this dischord as you played piano. i reckon a varied set is better than continuous crowd pleasers. keep em on their toes.

DJ technique questions/Help needed!

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