Couple of noob questions
Couple of noob questions Posted on: 16.08.2011 by Kina Brumage Hi all, I'm a proper noob here, had 1210's for years but decided to take a break for a bit. Having a mess about on my mates cdjs every now and again. Recently started looking around to see what was going on, looking at controllers and they really caught my eye, got me excited again. Sooooo after a while looking at different options i ordered a new laptop and an s4 this week, both yet to arrive.I've got a couple questions if anyone can help out I'd aprecite it. For the moment it will just be my s4, laptop and speakers because of space. maybe in a year or 2 when I get some more room to work with and the odd party's I'll setup my 1210's or a mates cdj's with it. I should make the free scratch update deadline. What are the differences between the 2 bits of software? The main use will be s4 alone, would it be better to stick to the original software or is the scratch software the same but with extra features? I'd rather just use the best software for it's main use. Do you guys know any good websites I can check out? Can be anything from where you get loops and samples from to some inspiration for new music. I'm all ears. Cheers Gravyboat | |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Kina Brumage 16.08.2011 |
Originally Posted by SpeshulEd
Cheers bro |
| Kina Brumage 16.08.2011 | Hi all, I'm a proper noob here, had 1210's for years but decided to take a break for a bit. Having a mess about on my mates cdjs every now and again. Recently started looking around to see what was going on, looking at controllers and they really caught my eye, got me excited again. Sooooo after a while looking at different options i ordered a new laptop and an s4 this week, both yet to arrive. I've got a couple questions if anyone can help out I'd aprecite it. For the moment it will just be my s4, laptop and speakers because of space. maybe in a year or 2 when I get some more room to work with and the odd party's I'll setup my 1210's or a mates cdj's with it. I should make the free scratch update deadline. What are the differences between the 2 bits of software? The main use will be s4 alone, would it be better to stick to the original software or is the scratch software the same but with extra features? I'd rather just use the best software for it's main use. Do you guys know any good websites I can check out? Can be anything from where you get loops and samples from to some inspiration for new music. I'm all ears. Cheers Gravyboat |
| Kina Brumage 24.08.2011 | Totally agree, coming from 1210's the mixing part isn't a problem for me, it's the spare time in-between like you say learning to play the s4. It's really addictive, for that hour or so after the dvd I was trying my best with the loops and fx to see what works. I've been trying to explain to mates who still use decks but I don't believe you really understand till you actually have a go. |
| Celine Surico 23.08.2011 | Yes, I must say of all the controllers out there, S4 is for me closest to being a real instrument that you need to sit down and learn properly. Ableton controller systems tend to easily become so analytical and the last I want to do on-stage is to believe like a programmer. S4 is closer to the ideal, such as a guitar, or drum set, you sit down or stand and just do it. But it requires hours and hours of practice, similar to playing guitar on-stage. |
| Joselyn Supina 23.08.2011 | I had an omni control for about a week and decided I wanted something more. The S4 made the most sense to me after running Traktor. Never tried Serato and a buddy was trying to talk me into the NS6, but everything I read led me to believe that Traktor could do more so I went with the S4. It's all new to me too. I've been reading community s, watching youtube, and looking for anything else I can get my hands on. I read the important stuff in the manual, but I'm believeing now that I should read it again and pick up the things I missed the first time. I will need to look into the DVD. I'm getting better and its only been about a month, maybe a bit more. My first mix was horrendous - I didn't know anything and just beat matching was difficult. My mix I made this weekend has improved quite a bit. I'm learning effects and getting better at transitions, but still need a lot of practice. I'm at the stage now where I'm learning, sometimes less is more. |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Thanks man. Yeah the centre gain that controls the overall only goes from 7-10 o'clock but the deck gains spin forever and increase slower. Because it has the fx assignment underneath it I thought they might be something to do with fx. Just got to about chapter11 on the djtt DVD and although I knew a lot of it from YouTube videos and playing around there was lots in there I didnt know and it's given me a big head start getting to grips and moving around the controller quickly, learning to do it without using the laptop touchpad. If the s4 is your first controller I'd recommend the DVD Another couple hours playing and again lots of fun but this time using loops and fx. Big thumbs up :-) |
| Joselyn Supina 23.08.2011 | The top row of dials should be the gain knobs. Right above the eq's. The main is in the middle, with 2 knobs on each side, they control the gain for each deck. |
| Kina Brumage 23.08.2011 | Yeah I know what you mean my laptop was old so I bought a new one only cheap hp |
| Celine Surico 23.08.2011 | That 1Gb would explain the issue with the cracking noise, that and a 5+ old laptop. |
| Joselyn Supina 22.08.2011 | I tried for about 2 weeks straight to get my jog wheels calibrated. Then I reinstalled everything when the scratch upgrade came and tried recalibrating again - worked just fine. No idea what was up? I get the red line blinking on occasion too. Mine usually happens when I've deleted a song somewhere, but it's still showing up in my track collection. It usually flashes to tell me the song is no longer around. I've had it happen for other reasons too. Most of the time it fixes itself if I reload the track in the track collection. I still get the occasional glitch, but my laptop isn't up to par either. But after blowing a chunk of change on the S4, I figure I should give it a little time before blowing more money on a nice mac. I believe I'll get me one of those for xmas. But yeah, nothing like having a sweet beat, the sound cranked, 3 tracks going, effects happening on deck's B and D, cue going in your headphones for deck C and you go to add an effect as you bring up the track and you hear what sounds like a modem from 1996 when you hit the effect button. Oops! I'm sure all this will be fixed with a better laptop properly setup for the job as opposed to my 5 year old lappy still rocking 1gb of ram. |
| Celine Surico 22.08.2011 | It takes a while to figure out the proper way of calibrating the jog wheels, so all I could say is to improvise a little bit until you get 'the touch.' The red bar for songs, are these DRM protected files from iTunes? What codec? Have fun with the S4, I'm in the same boat, exploring it such as chopping parts of a track as samples into the below deck, add effects and blend in here and there. There are so many cools things you could do with S4. |
| Kina Brumage 22.08.2011 | Finally got the s4 setup today and I've only had an hour or so playin about on it but so far it's top! Took a while to install, register n all that crap. Had some serious drop out crackle issues out the box. I had a look online and I've turned the latency up so the output is as high as I can get it (28 I believe off top of my head) it seemed to only crackle once every 2 mins or so that way. A bit more digging online and Ive turned all the devices off that are not needed and I run that djtt text file that helps your computer cope. Everything seems to be running smoothly now. When I boot up just run the djtt file and start traktor, jobs a good en. Other issues I'm struggling with. I can't calibrate the jog wheels, I've tried loads of times, looked online and can't find anything. Just says failed, try again. The jog wheels seem to be working ok though from the default settings. My other issue is I get a red bar at the bottom when I load some songs, says id3 or summert. Not looked into it properly, once I fixed the crackling I just wanted to mess with some tunes and it was the most fun! Well worth the effort to sort out that crackling! If anyone can help I'd aprecite it, I'm a proper noob so take it easy n go slow, I'm just getting my head round it :-) |
| Kina Brumage 16.08.2011 |
Originally Posted by SpeshulEd
Cheers bro |
| Joselyn Supina 16.08.2011 | The scratch version allows for you to play timecode vinyl/cd's through the program. Allowing you to scratch or mix mp3's with vinyl/cd's. I'm not sure what happens if you spin normal vinyl/cd's through it. With the free upgrade, they send you timecode vinyl and cd's. You should get a free version of Traktor Pro 2 with the S4, if not, you can upgrade the Traktor Pro S4 version that shipped prior to Pro 2. Thats what I had to do...and now they're shipping the scratch upgrade. Traktor Pro 2 and Traktor Scratch Pro 2 will operate the same, except for the added bonus of playing timecode vinyl/cds with the scratch upgrade. Without the Scratch upgrade, you can still run vinyl/cds through Traktor Pro as live input decks. Personally, I say get the Scratch upgrade, its a $140 value and you might use it at some point down the line. If you decide not to use the functionality of it, the only difference is it will say Traktor Scratch Pro at the top of the program rather than Traktor Pro. As long as your receipt says it was purchased before August 23rd, you can get everything for free. |
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