PDA

View Full Version : Any advise??



Big Ace
02-14-2012, 08:36 PM
I just bought an iDJ3 on sunday and I've been researching and "practicing" (not sure if it counts as practice when you dont know what your doing). But I made my first mix today. And I'd like to upload it here to get some tips/pointers and feedback from it but i'm not sure how to do that or where to do that.. Can anyone help??

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 08:37 PM
http://dw4.convertfiles.com/files/0251202001329254671/pc3.mp3

not sure if this link works or not but this is it.

Andrew B
02-14-2012, 08:38 PM
Post in the Mix Submissions (http://www.djforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?18-Mix-Submissions) section.

Read this (http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?60-Submissions-Area-What-s-new) first.

Mixcloud and Soundcloud are good sites to upload a mix.

edit: disregard above advice, didn't realize it was so short :lol:

Keep those in mind in the future when you're ready to record a mix.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 08:39 PM
alright kool. Thank you

Andrew B
02-14-2012, 08:45 PM
OK, my advice:

Learn beatmatching, phrasematching, EQing, and proper gain usage. Don't use effects, spinbacks, etc.

Sigma
02-14-2012, 08:48 PM
My advice would be not to post mixes a couple of days after buying your first setup and when you do post mixes, make sure they're decent quality as that one's a 64 Kbps MP3.

I don't mean to sound like a twat by saying that, but I just mean don't try and rush ahead too much. Practice for a few weeks, or post short snippets if you have specific questions to ask. It's virtually impossible to give you feedback on a 4 minute "mix" at this stage, other than to say "keep practicing!".

Starting with the 4 things that Andrew mentioned and getting those down well before you start messing with other tricks and techniques is the best way to go, cos you need solid basics to build on.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 08:58 PM
How do I know when something is good or bad quality??

Andrew B
02-14-2012, 09:00 PM
How do I know when something is good or bad quality??

Use tracks that are either 320kbps mp3s, 256kbps AAC, or any lossless format (WAV, AIFF, etc.).

Your mix doesn't have to be that high quality, but 64kbps is ridiculously low quality.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 09:04 PM
I did it on virtual dj, is that why it was so low?

Andrew B
02-14-2012, 09:06 PM
I did it on virtual dj, is that why it was so low?

There should be an option to change your recording settings.

Sigma
02-14-2012, 09:06 PM
Yeah, 64 Kbps isn't a lot of use - it's OK for podcasts that are just spoken word, but when you use it for music you can really hear how it affects the quality.

I would suggest reading this basic DJing guide I wrote: -

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?646-Sigma-s-n00bs-guide-to-DJing-right

And also this one, which discusses MP3 encoding and how to get good sound: -

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?1025-Encoding-guide-(lossy-lossless-MP3-FLAC-bitrates-tagging)

You seem far too eager to be posting stuff up - which at least shows you've got passion, haha - but a little bit of background reading will help put you on the right path.

Divercity
02-14-2012, 09:07 PM
Spend less time on forums and more time practicing ;)

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 09:12 PM
My advice would be not to post mixes a couple of days after buying your first setup


I've been searching the internet for the past few days and came across plenty of video's and written tutorials but I figure I could learn much better through interaction with experinced dj's so I tried to put together something with the knowlegde, or in my case lack there of, that I have on the subject and I put it out there for feedback. Although I'm a good visual learner, I prefer a more hands on approach.

Thanks for the links..I already read one of them. Its actually the reason I put this on here. I dont have the "dj ear" but i'm trying to get it.

Andrew B
02-14-2012, 09:13 PM
I deleted your thread in Mix Submissions.

We'll keep it in here.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 09:17 PM
I appreciate that. I couldnt figure out how to delete it myself.

Sigma
02-14-2012, 09:23 PM
I've been searching the internet for the past few days and came across plenty of video's and written tutorials but I figure I could learn much better through interaction with experinced dj's so I tried to put together something with the knowlegde, or in my case lack there of, that I have on the subject and I put it out there for feedback. Although I'm a good visual learner, I prefer a more hands on approach.
That's cool man. I just think you're rushing ahead as you only get your gear on Sunday!

Practice for a few weeks, then get a short mix posted up, say 15-20 minutes that features half a dozen tracks. That's short enough that you can get people to listen, but not so short that the people listening can't really get any clue of where you're at.

And I have an odd feeling that when you do post that short mix, it's gonna be good.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 09:29 PM
15-20 minutes!!?? haha I thought you were saying that the 4 minute one was too long earlier.haha wow!! I had been working with virtual dj for a few days prior to getting the gear. But I just felt like I had hit a dead end with the youtube videos..now for a 15-20 minute cut how do u find enough songs that will work together to last that long or can you make just about all songs work together?? I've tried playing with the beatmatching and i know i have a long way to go but it seems like some songs are just impossible to put together even though they are the same genre.

Sigma
02-14-2012, 09:37 PM
I didn't say that a 4 minute mix was too long (that would be silly, lol). I just said that it was low quality as the bitrate is far too low for music.

I'm a bit lost with what your aim is now. Most DJ mixes are 30-90 minutes. Most DJ sets are an hour and upwards. You're going to need to be able to do mixes of that kind of length.

Obviously, you have to have the music to begin with, then you would usually group songs by BPM and style. Once you have the basics down (the 4 basic building blocks that Andrew mentioned earlier) then it's all about selecting tracks that mix nicely together and ideally, having your mix flow smoothly in terms of style. All of that comes together with practice.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 09:50 PM
Well I just listen to a LOT of music and I have a lot of free time at school now that football season is over, so I thought it'd be a nice hobby..never really thought about it in terms of doing gigs although once I'm good enough at it that would be a nice way to put some money in my pocket. I'm just very competitive and somewhat of a perfectionist by nature so even tho its only a hobby for me I want to be the best u kno??

I've been using the auto-sync to match the BPM's on songs and some of them still seem to not mesh well together. Does that mean that just because BMP's are the same, some songs still won't go together, or should they always work if the BPM's match and I'm just doing a poor job of phrase-matching??

Sigma
02-14-2012, 10:04 PM
Yeah, selecting songs that work well together is a big part of it. Technically speaking, you can mix pretty much any 2 songs together that are within the same BPM range, but it doesn't mean they'll work well together and sound good.

The more experience you get, the more you develop an ear for knowing what songs will work well with others, so you'll get a new track and think "this will mix well with songs A, B and C". Plus, you will also have practiced mixing a lot and you'll have tried mixing various tunes together in various ways and you'll remember some of the tracks that work really well together.

I would also recommend practicing to sync tracks manually if you can, because when you have that skill down you can mix on pretty much any piece of DJ gear you'll come across, rather than being limited to only equipment that has auto-sync. It doesn't mean that you should never use auto-sync, but turn it off sometimes and try practicing without it.

Big Ace
02-14-2012, 10:24 PM
Ok, one more..I know you say that its best to start with whatever type of music you like rather then looking for the easiest genre, but I'm pretty well rounded with music..I like everything from rap/hip-hop to counrty, to dubstep, to classic-rock, etc..so what would you say is in fact the easiest to mix??

Sigma
02-14-2012, 10:54 PM
Ok, one more..I know you say that its best to start with whatever type of music you like rather then looking for the easiest genre, but I'm pretty well rounded with music..I like everything from rap/hip-hop to counrty, to dubstep, to classic-rock, etc..so what would you say is in fact the easiest to mix??
Music that has beats that are either programmed or sampled tends to be easier to mix (although that's a big generalisation) cos you usually always have a rock steady BPM throughout and there's no fluctuation in where the drums hit.

Also, you could argue that music without lyrics is easier to mix (again, a generalisation), or at the very least, music that has solid intros and outros that you can use to overlap with other tracks to build your mix.

Music like Dubstep, Drum & Bass, Trance etc. is very DJ friendly in the way it's structured. It gets a bit more tricky with Hip-Hop as there's more lyrics, you may not have a lot of intro/outro beat to work with and the BPMs can vary wildly from track to track. Then I would say it gets tougher again with stuff like Country and Classic Rock.

So of the genres you mentioned I think Dubstep is arguably the easiest to mix, followed by Hip-Hop. It'll be less frustrating trying to mix those tracks in a seamless way than if you try and mix Country. Once you get the basics down though, think about what your aim is with DJing. If you want to be versatile and play all kinds of genres, make sure you practice with all different styles cos, for example, a great Hip-Hop DJ won't necessarily make a great Trance DJ and vice versa because even though the theory behind what they're doing it is the same, the style of mixing is different.

What I would definitely not do, is start plucking out tracks from all those genres and trying to make some mad mix of it all, cos it's just going to lead to you struggling. Focus on the basics, pick one genre that you find easy to mix (play around with different genres) and use that to get things going, then you can take what you've learned and apply that to the other genres you want to mix, adapting your style to suit them.

Somedj
02-14-2012, 11:00 PM
Id also recommend hitting videos by ellaskins, on youtube and also hit up his site here http://www.djtutor.com/tutor/ellaskins Hes a great video teacher. Also, theres a fella by the name of "Sigma" :) who once put together a rather indepth very handy write up for beginners, such as yourself... heres a link http://www.djforums.com/forums/content.php?190-Sigma-s-basic-guide-to-DJing-right

And, if you hit the "home" tab on the forum, you'll find some more really handy links to even more info on mixing and such.

Big Ace
02-16-2012, 01:26 AM
http://soundcloud.com/big-ace-2/first-cut1

Sigma
02-16-2012, 02:10 AM
http://soundcloud.com/big-ace-2/first-cut1
I just checked this out.

The style of hip-hop is not really my cuppa tea, but you (and auto-sync ;)) did a decent job of mixing the tracks. The sound quality is loads better than that sample you posted before. The songs you chose work well together. The phrase matching is out on the track you bring in at around the 7 minute mark. Not keen on the blend at 9:35. The little bit of flange effect you used sounds alright, but just be wary of overusing effects (not that you did here).

Had auto-sync not been used, this would have been very impressive. Taking into account that you used auto-sync, I still think it's very good though. The tracks you picked out worked well together and the phrase matching was solid apart from that one blend.

KLH
02-16-2012, 07:08 AM
Big Ace, you show promise. Echoing Andrew B., remember to focus on the basics. Learn to mix by ear - turn your monitor off after loading songs. After that - which will take time - learn how to mix seamlessly (again by ear only) so that most listeners can't determine where the mix "switches over" to different songs. In the beginning using loops really helps with this. Expect this to take 4-8 weeks depending on how often you practice, record, and evaluate. This is usually where you start looking to upgrade your equipment...

Then focus on phase-matching. You may not know what this is yet. Don't worry. When you're ready, you'll learn. Expect this to take 12-24 weeks depending on how often you practice, record, and evaluate.

After phrase-matching comes transitioning which is where the fun really starts. Expect this to never end as transitioning is where your style emerges.

Sigma, Andrew B, remember wayyy back when when you started out? I love these kind of posts.

-KLH

Big Ace
02-16-2012, 04:43 PM
Thank you.

I did a little bit of beatmatching without auto-sync when I was picking the songs out and deciding which bpm's to play them at to make em fit. But I definately used the auto-sync when it came time to record the mix. Now that I feel some what comfortable with the basics I'll try to dive into the beatmatching thing. I've seen some videos and written tutorials on it so I'll give it a shot with that info. Any extra tricks or tips??

Dj_4-$hure
02-16-2012, 05:57 PM
Damm! The phrasing on this is pretty good for a beginner that just picked up some gear. Like everyone else is saying, try to manually beatmatch, it will give you more satisfaction, and be more in touch with the music you're playing with. Other than that keep the good work.

Big Ace
02-16-2012, 06:23 PM
Thanks man..will do!!