(my) sad night of DJing

[nabjab]

I need to pout

I thought I had a good day of record shopping, but when I came home to learn how to mix two different albums my day fell apart.

For the past 3 weeks I've been practicing basics with two of the same Micheal Jackson records. Beat matching, phrase matching, basics of beat juggling. I started feeling pretty good about myself. After this post I am going back to play with those albums to cheer myself up.

So in buying a few singles with instrumentals and vocals, and a few various electronica records I though I'd be able to match something together. NOPE. Not even with the 40 albums I got free with the tables. Nothing sounded good, and I couldn't get a damn thing to match. I knew this was going to be a hell of a mountain to climb, mainly because I am using strictly vinyl with no digital equipment to help, but what a slap in the face. 9 records (well 3 of them were classical) and not one thing sounded "tolerable."

No questions or inquiries tonight, but if you have any advice, or want to share a "sad" night feel free!

Alright. Time to cheer myself up and go back to beat juggling basics.

[Sigma]

How long have you been DJing man? If it's 3 weeks - as your post kind of implies - then don't worry about it. Come back in a year or two, lol.

[JackStalk]

It's easiest to start by mixing songs that are somewhat in the same BPM range such as disco or house. It's also good to know the beats per minute of the two tracks you are mixing together. For example, Thriller is 118(I think) in the key of D flat minor. Black or White is also D flat minor, and something like 115bpm. The songs being in the same key will sound better than if they were off key, and the speeds are really close to each other. Most of us own a program called "Mixed In Key" that automatically analyzes songs for you and gives you technical information about them. You could also use a BPM counter which works a little like a metronome. Some high-end DJ mixers have one built in. Good luck!

[Hygro]

hey man, you're learning on vinyl and you are three weeks in. Give yourself some credit. Took me a long ass time to learn to beatmatch. There's 4 stages to learning:

Not able to hear why its horribly off
unable to get it right
suddenly able to do it
you hear tiny beat slips from other djs and you know which record to correct and how much to nudge the job/platter, able to do that shit half conscious while having a conversation.

[djmunster]

+1
hey man, you're learning on vinyl and you are three weeks in. Give yourself some credit. Took me a long ass time to learn to beatmatch. There's 4 stages to learning:

Not able to hear why its horribly off
unable to get it right
suddenly able to do it
you hear tiny beat slips from other djs and you know which record to correct and how much to nudge the job/platter, able to do that shit half conscious while having a conversation.

[TheRabbitMonk]

post the names of some of your new tracks. if any of us have them maybe we could tell him the tempo etc.

[DJ Highline]

Another thing...especially with something like MJ that may use live drummers...When you are listening to and dancing to them they are on beat ....when you compare them to an electronically produced beat...they are not on beat. The human nature causes slight natural drifts in the beats...so its best to practice with drum machine produced beats at first because it gets rid of this drift and is one less thing for you to worry about.

Big Props for learning how to do it the old school way....You will thank yourself later.

[DJ Que Yi]

The best advice I can give you (in no particular order) is to
1. record and listen to your mixes even if they are train wrecks. This will allow you to identify where you hit and miss.
2. Know your equipment- turntables are very hands on. Know how fast you platter picks up and reacts from your touch. Adjust your touch based on your turntables. Know how fast the platter reacts to your pitch adjustments.
3. Make sure you are able to hear both records clearly through your monitors/ cans.
4. Count beats... Learn the rhythm of the song... Know the songs.

Everything I've mentioned plus what others have mentioned are great tips. Hang in there! It's worth it!

[DJ Matt]

Nothing sounded good,

the fact that you know that means there is hope

many people who try their arm at Djing dont really know what "sounding good" entails

all you have to do is figure out what you need to do , to make it sound the way you KNOW it is supposed to sound

[tekno_violet]

I need to pout

I thought I had a good day of record shopping, but when I came home to learn how to mix two different albums my day fell apart.

For the past 3 weeks I've been practicing basics with two of the same Micheal Jackson records. Beat matching, phrase matching, basics of beat juggling. I started feeling pretty good about myself. After this post I am going back to play with those albums to cheer myself up.

So in buying a few singles with instrumentals and vocals, and a few various electronica records I though I'd be able to match something together. NOPE. Not even with the 40 albums I got free with the tables. Nothing sounded good, and I couldn't get a damn thing to match. I knew this was going to be a hell of a mountain to climb, mainly because I am using strictly vinyl with no digital equipment to help, but what a slap in the face. 9 records (well 3 of them were classical) and not one thing sounded "tolerable."

No questions or inquiries tonight, but if you have any advice, or want to share a "sad" night feel free!

Alright. Time to cheer myself up and go back to beat juggling basics.

Thats what supposed to happen.

Over and over and over and over again TILL you get it.

Make sure you give your ears a break as they will get fatigued from the train wrecking and racket.... You won't be able to concentrate properly if they are abused to much.

Practice makes prefect....with anything you do.