Need a few tips for my gig.
Need a few tips for my gig. Posted on: 19.08.2013 by Alaina Zvara Hey fellas!I'm Zeeshan,19, from India. I just joined this community and I've a gig coming up in 3 days at a friend's house party. Before I go ahead, let me tell give you some information about me: I started messing with Virtual DJ 4 years ago, that didn't quite benefit me but I started to get an idea about how it is supposed to work. Watched a lot of videos, about everything related to deejay'ing. Few months later, a friend of mine referred me to a corporate company who hosted their official parties every month and needed a DJ. I said yes and to this date I still curse myself for saying so. The setup was ready and everything was done. This was my first time at a gathering and I started playing trance/house/electro. I'd never used a console before in my life. (PIONEER 2xCDJ400 & DJM600) I couldn't mix properly, no beatmatching, it was a tragedy!! Thanks to the sound system guy who helped me get it right. I was f#$kin freaking out, nervous as hell.. If not for him, I'd have passed out then n there itself. Gradually, I started to get the hang of it. Practised each and every day but there was this problem of mine with beat-matching. Sometimes it would be perfect, and sometimes it just wouldn't work. This went on for a few months. Connecting a laptop and playing was being helpful to me, but I wanted to do it on the console where I could mix without any hassles or me worrying about the beat, not being in the rhythm. I couldn't really purchase a console for myself, TBH it's out of my budget. I look after my college and home-rent so it's impossible. And to this date, I've this problem with getting the song beat-matched properly. As I said, its a 50-50 turnout whatsoever. So there's this house party coming up in three days, where I'm gonna be facing 100+ people, most of them are from high schools. They got 2x350s and a 600. I'm tensed and worried and what not, believeing about what will happen if I mess up. I get too nervous in a situation like this. Hence, affecting my play. I'm new to these community s, as I said. Its gonna be a 5 hour non stop set which is freaking me out even more. Leave alone practice, I can't get my hands on one of those before the party. I need tips, advice, and things to keep in mind from you people so that I can perform well. | |
| Consuelo Schubert 21.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by The Mighty FV
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| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by DISaS73R
And I even asked a friend of mine to tag along with me so that he pulls me out of my disasters That guy doesn't have the slightest idea about consoles n shit, but atleast he can tell me where I'm going wrong with the set. |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by sarasin
Exactly dude, thats what I try to do. As i said, it takes me 2-3 tries to get it matched correctly. My question is still the same, If the above option fails, the next thing you said, would people like it? I mean, it sounds kinda scary to me and I'm afraid whether people will like it or not as I'm going without my laptop and wont be able to make out how much time and length to the drop, intro and outro etc. |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by hest
1. Track X keeps playing, the first drop goes down. 2. Cue Track Y on the other player and keep it ready. 3. At the second drop on Track X, I try to mix Track Y in. The problem begins here. By the time I get it mixed perfectly, either Track X gets over OR Track Y still has time to the drop if you know what I mean. Im unable to put it into words over here, but most of you will understand what I'm trying to tell. It takes me 2-3 tries to get it matched and when I have to mix it in, the above thing happens. Crowd keeps grooving to the drop of Track X and then the intro of Track Y starts to come in. Is it normal? Isn't it cheesy to go down like that? Because I personally believe, people will boo me in the face! |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by hest
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| Alaina Zvara 19.08.2013 | Hey fellas! I'm Zeeshan,19, from India. I just joined this community and I've a gig coming up in 3 days at a friend's house party. Before I go ahead, let me tell give you some information about me: I started messing with Virtual DJ 4 years ago, that didn't quite benefit me but I started to get an idea about how it is supposed to work. Watched a lot of videos, about everything related to deejay'ing. Few months later, a friend of mine referred me to a corporate company who hosted their official parties every month and needed a DJ. I said yes and to this date I still curse myself for saying so. The setup was ready and everything was done. This was my first time at a gathering and I started playing trance/house/electro. I'd never used a console before in my life. (PIONEER 2xCDJ400 & DJM600) I couldn't mix properly, no beatmatching, it was a tragedy!! Thanks to the sound system guy who helped me get it right. I was f#$kin freaking out, nervous as hell.. If not for him, I'd have passed out then n there itself. Gradually, I started to get the hang of it. Practised each and every day but there was this problem of mine with beat-matching. Sometimes it would be perfect, and sometimes it just wouldn't work. This went on for a few months. Connecting a laptop and playing was being helpful to me, but I wanted to do it on the console where I could mix without any hassles or me worrying about the beat, not being in the rhythm. I couldn't really purchase a console for myself, TBH it's out of my budget. I look after my college and home-rent so it's impossible. And to this date, I've this problem with getting the song beat-matched properly. As I said, its a 50-50 turnout whatsoever. So there's this house party coming up in three days, where I'm gonna be facing 100+ people, most of them are from high schools. They got 2x350s and a 600. I'm tensed and worried and what not, believeing about what will happen if I mess up. I get too nervous in a situation like this. Hence, affecting my play. I'm new to these community s, as I said. Its gonna be a 5 hour non stop set which is freaking me out even more. Leave alone practice, I can't get my hands on one of those before the party. I need tips, advice, and things to keep in mind from you people so that I can perform well. |
| Lannie Kutay 21.08.2013 | Im not too familiar with your culture, man. but usually if your really nervous, just grab one drink (ONLY ONE THOUGH). But if that's not your thing than just alot of practice is all i can stress. Why not try mapping some of the controls of VDJ to your computer keyboard. Like play pause, and pitch bend to you can get the hang of beatmatching tracks. This is actually awesome that you have no access to any type of syncing. Your about to learn the right way. And its pretty cool that your doing a 5 hour set, with the market flooded with djs these days, its hard to get on the decks for an hour. You should REALLY be able to hit your stride in 5 hours. |
| Yong Aptekar 21.08.2013 | All good tips! Just have fun dude, it's a house party with friends, one of the only places that you can all have a laugh when you trainwreck. No stress, no pressure, take it as a learning exercise. |
| Annalisa Shogren 21.08.2013 | How do you beat match currently? As soon as you press play/release the vinyl, manipulate the platter/jog wheel with your fingers to keep the two tunes together and in time. And as you do that, move the pitch fader up and down accordingly. ↑ for slower, ↓ for faster. If the tune is going very fast ahead of the other tune, move the pitch fader a further distance than you would say if the tune wasn't going out of time as quickly. A good tip to try is if you have two tunes, (one playing out loud e.g. to the crowd and the other in your headphones) pitch the incoming tune way down so that you know it's going to be slower than the current tune that's playing out loud. So it's guaranteed that you're going to have to nudge the wheel/platter forward to get it in time. |
| Nikole Resende 21.08.2013 | Regarding beatmatching in general, practicing is the only option you have, like the others said. But since you're in it for the fun that shouldn't matter, because practicing is fun and finally being able to beatmatch by ear is a really good feeling... Regarding your gig, on the other hand, I'd like to point you to the following tutorial, that show's you how to beatmatch your tracks utilizing the BPM Display on Pioneer CDJs. The CDJ 350s offer the same +/- 6% pitch range (and accuracy) as the 2000s, and they also have the BPM display with the first decimal of the BPM showing, so the trick should work just like in the video. Have fun and good luck! |
| Vikki Jeannoel 21.08.2013 | The only way you are going to get better and beatmatching is practice. Do you have any friends that have a cdj setup that you could spend a few hours on ? It's really not that hard once you get the hang of it tbh. Dance music mostly works in bars of 32 so remember to keep a mental note of this. |
| Consuelo Schubert 21.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by The Mighty FV
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| Karleen Kuzel 20.08.2013 | Hi there all people, Have been lurking around the community for quite some time so decided to join it. Anyway my name is James and i am a newbie out here. So hoping to have a great time up here at this community. |
| Joesph Kasian 20.08.2013 | The worst thing you can do is lock up and make it obvious IF you make a mistake - remember why you got into this - FUN. Mixing is about enjoying yourself and sharing music with people around you - they are there for a good time, they don't care if the mixes aren't mindblowing, just keep the music flowing, keep the good times rocking and most importantly enjoy yourself. Don't overbelieve things man. You will be fine, it'll be a great party. |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by DISaS73R
And I even asked a friend of mine to tag along with me so that he pulls me out of my disasters That guy doesn't have the slightest idea about consoles n shit, but atleast he can tell me where I'm going wrong with the set. |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by sarasin
Exactly dude, thats what I try to do. As i said, it takes me 2-3 tries to get it matched correctly. My question is still the same, If the above option fails, the next thing you said, would people like it? I mean, it sounds kinda scary to me and I'm afraid whether people will like it or not as I'm going without my laptop and wont be able to make out how much time and length to the drop, intro and outro etc. |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by hest
1. Track X keeps playing, the first drop goes down. 2. Cue Track Y on the other player and keep it ready. 3. At the second drop on Track X, I try to mix Track Y in. The problem begins here. By the time I get it mixed perfectly, either Track X gets over OR Track Y still has time to the drop if you know what I mean. Im unable to put it into words over here, but most of you will understand what I'm trying to tell. It takes me 2-3 tries to get it matched and when I have to mix it in, the above thing happens. Crowd keeps grooving to the drop of Track X and then the intro of Track Y starts to come in. Is it normal? Isn't it cheesy to go down like that? Because I personally believe, people will boo me in the face! |
| Alaina Zvara 20.08.2013 |
Originally Posted by hest
|
| Olin Easley 20.08.2013 | What genre do you mix? Just relax, it'll be a bunch of friends, no one will care if you trainwreck. Do it all for yourself and have fun. Also, if you have a close friend (not the host) who'll be there, you can ask them to hang out around you for most of the time, that'll help you chill. |
| Lilliana Perris 20.08.2013 | Are you cueing your track up properly? While Track A is playing, you should cue up Track B in the headphones, to the first beat (Kick). So when you press play on Track B, it start instantly on the beat of Track A. Then you listen to the beat of Track A and make sure that you adjust the pitch on Track B up and down (in small increments) until it stays in sync with Track A. You will need to stop and restart Track B a few times to make sure its tight. If that fails...fade the Intro of Track B in, while Track A is on its Outro. |
| Arie Kersjes 20.08.2013 | What problems are you having with beatmatching? Getting the tracks to the same BPM, lining them up, or both? If you are having trouble with getting them to the same BPM, learn how to count BPMs in %. And find a couple of players to practise on, I bet you can if you try hard enough. Tried going to a music store? EDIT: And take it easy, it's just a house party at a friend's |
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