I enabled the setting that tells me numbers above each track. *forgot* the name of the setting.
I still not sure where the build up is and when to bring in the next track and when I do they clash or sound terrible even with sync enabled. My mixes are quite boring since I can't find certain spots. Even with the number bar showing how many bpms and bars.
Are every track put at the same spot by numbers? like build up is always at 8 bars every track or is that something I need to know by the change is sound?
Senior amigos, you sound like a buddy of mine. He bought cdj 400s, sold them because he wanted something "better", then he bought cdj 350s, then he sold them, then he bought cdj 400s, sold them, and now he has an S4 that's also for sale.
Buy some gear, and stick with it. What's the point of buying and selling gear if you are more concerned with getting something better instead of becoming a better dj?
+1
i know folks with 2000 nexuses now who have been playing for years and always on the latest and greatest who are absolute ass on the decks, and i have a friend who up until last year played with mouse, keyboard and an analogue mixer who just destroys every time he plays.
you're not at the point where you're ready to believe about kit. get your basics down.
not bad glad i could help Your in Utah? get established and show me some love when i get out there ahah. I got a few things going on in SLC in 2013.
Thanks dude! Yup I live in Salt Lake City. Are you going to have a performance out here? What type of music do you mix? I'm a huge fan of Psychedelic Trance / House music.
Originally Posted by Thumper
Well, I have to admit that I kind of know where you're coming from with that. The S2 certainly has a wee bit of a Fisher Price feel to it, but it really is harder than it looks. I dropped mine onto the floor a few weeks go and the top panel of the jog wheel came off. Popped right back into place, though, and has been working fine ever since.
Wouldn't like to drop one of my 1200s, though. Not so worried about damaging the deck, it's more the possibility that it'll go straight through the floor and chin the lovely old lady who lives in the flat underneath. Those things are built to survive an atomic war. Or ownership by an idiot, whichever's worse.
lol jog wheel flying in the air. Totally feel like the buttons would fly off also.
I'll probably buy another s2. Waiting for Guitar Center to have a christmas deal.
S2 was a nice controller but i felt like if I dropped it on the ground it would shatter into pieces.
Well, I have to admit that I kind of know where you're coming from with that. The S2 certainly has a wee bit of a Fisher Price feel to it, but it really is harder than it looks. I dropped mine onto the floor a few weeks go and the top panel of the jog wheel came off. Popped right back into place, though, and has been working fine ever since.
Wouldn't like to drop one of my 1200s, though. Not so worried about damaging the deck, it's more the possibility that it'll go straight through the floor and chin the lovely old lady who lives in the flat underneath. Those things are built to survive an atomic war. Or ownership by an idiot, whichever's worse.
Without trying to sound preachy about what an art DJing is, if you want to at all be successful or do well, you need to get over this.
DJing is a surprisingly complex thing that literally just takes time and experience - there is no substitute, there's very little difference raw talent will make in the first months and years of doing it, you just need to learn to believe about music differently and pick up on cues from crowds and build concrete lists of intangible things like 'track energy' in your head. It was said in one of the DJTT articles that gladwell's 10,000 hours rule applies, and I believe that's DEFINITELY the truth. If you want to be part of the community and really understand what you're doing, you're going to need to actually expend the effort. Until you get the real basics down through hard work, there's no one-liner tips or brief video tutorials we can show you which will really improve things much for you at all.
+1
Makes me laugh all the people that are like "DJ'ing is easy"
Being the people who have never touched a turntable in their life.
Just believe that playing 2 songs together turns them into an instant Swedish House Mafia.
Who as a group, aren't DJ's. They're performers.
Yeah I do half ass everything I do. I know this and it pisses me off lol.
I buy the gear
play around with it. Don't understand as fast as I want then I put down for awhile. In this case got pissed returned my s2 and headphones then just tried to mix without a mixer and heaphones.
Without trying to sound preachy about what an art DJing is, if you want to at all be successful or do well, you need to get over this.
DJing is a surprisingly complex thing that literally just takes time and experience - there is no substitute, there's very little difference raw talent will make in the first months and years of doing it, you just need to learn to believe about music differently and pick up on cues from crowds and build concrete lists of intangible things like 'track energy' in your head. It was said in one of the DJTT articles that gladwell's 10,000 hours rule applies, and I believe that's DEFINITELY the truth. If you want to be part of the community and really understand what you're doing, you're going to need to actually expend the effort. Until you get the real basics down through hard work, there's no one-liner tips or brief video tutorials we can show you which will really improve things much for you at all.
For me, I didn't even consider getting better quality gear than my $100 numark mixtrack and the $20 numark headphones till I felt I was limited by it. It's like giving some 15 year old a ferrari as their first car, overkill and probably not deserving of it. Take your time to master the basics like everyone else has said and become super comfortable with simple gear. Once you start feeling limited then grow into better gear. If you own a mixer costing a few thousand dollars it doesn't mean you know how to use it, despite its ability to go through a few tours of war unscathed.
Take your time, enjoy your music, and mix without using numbers completely, just listen to the sound.
EDIT:
Also when has anyone ever had a mixer thrown at a wall and kept playing *cue youtube video where this actually happens*. An S2 or even a mixtrack, despite it lacking jogwheels made of carbon fiber would be a great place to start.
I'm just saying I want a mixer that wont break easy. I'll probably end up purchasing the s2 again, I had no complaints on that mixer besides the cheap plastic feel.
On the music factor. Yeah I have a huge collection and will listen to one track then move onto another track. But I listen to them as I lay in bed then fall asleep to it. I can hear the changes but I still have a hard time of deciding on my own. Like "hmm should i mix this breakdown into a buildup, should both of the songs be playing at the same time" I guess that's something I need to learn on my own.
But now that someone mentioned that usually you mix the last 32 beats into the first 32 beats. I'm going to experience with that.
I usually transition from one song to the other but don't have both playing at the same time.
Originally Posted by rdale
I go thru music buying spurts... that doesn't mean I'm not constantly digging and getting tracks, but every couple of months my collection will expand a bunch with stuff I missed or put off buying, or there is just a ton more of what I'm enjoying available. In the mean time it means I'm playing the songs I have more and understanding them better, finding new ways to incorporate tunes I love and have the structure, especially when weird, understood. Too many tracks too fast with out taking the time to absorb them, I believe hurts my ability to dj.
Right now it is all about liquid dnb with a big band swing jazz feel, and nuerofunk tracks that sound like a cosmic funk band playing from a space station that has my attention. If tomorrow I find 20 songs that fit this, i'm getting them and sorting it out proper and go back into education mode and learn the songs, where they build, drop and how I want them to fit together. In the mean time I'm listening and paying attention to the audio cues that a new measure is starting, a drum roll or pause, these are the spots you want to pick to mix in and out.
My suggestion is that you take the time to listen to the music you have for a bit, learn the standard cues for your genre and play with mixing from there.
Will do more listening of my tracks. I have so many so I takes weeks to get back around. I don't listen to the same track over and over basically. Usually i'll play some trance tracks then move onto some house then back down the list. Maybe I should just keep the same song on repeat for hours lol.
For me, I didn't even consider getting better quality gear than my $100 numark mixtrack and the $20 numark headphones till I felt I was limited by it. It's like giving some 15 year old a ferrari as their first car, overkill and probably not deserving of it. Take your time to master the basics like everyone else has said and become super comfortable with simple gear. Once you start feeling limited then grow into better gear. If you own a mixer costing a few thousand dollars it doesn't mean you know how to use it, despite its ability to go through a few tours of war unscathed.
Take your time, enjoy your music, and mix without using numbers completely, just listen to the sound.
EDIT:
Originally Posted by hola amigos
True. But i've seen 2 channel mixers that look like they are metal. Like you could probably throw them at the wall and then keep playing.
Also when has anyone ever had a mixer thrown at a wall and kept playing *cue youtube video where this actually happens*. An S2 or even a mixtrack, despite it lacking jogwheels made of carbon fiber would be a great place to start.
Yeah but you're learning and most stuff isn't gonna handle being dropped well..
CDJ2000s are pretty much a plastic box, so are a lot of mixers.... I wouldn't worry too much about what it's made of yet.
True. But i've seen 2 channel mixers that look like they are metal. Like you could probably throw them at the wall and then keep playing.
Originally Posted by protocollie
i feel like you make a lot of decisions based on half understandings, etc.
dubfire and a few other DJs played on the S4 regularly for a while (at least while they were testing it) and it's more than solid enough for most DJs. if it can survive touring with them...
like was said above, CDJ2000s are pretty hollow feeling plastic boxes - you're not supposed to drop DJ kit, it's not really built to survive that. if you're carrying it around a lot you put it in a flight case.
Yeah I do half ass everything I do. I know this and it pisses me off lol.
I buy the gear
play around with it. Don't understand as fast as I want then I put down for awhile. In this case got pissed returned my s2 and headphones then just tried to mix without a mixer and heaphones.
Originally Posted by manchild
Dropped a CDJ2000 on the ground from 6' up just the other evening
......still works no prob....in case anyone cares
Good information. I've played around with cdj2000's at guitar center. They were broken. And way over priced imo!
Not sure why everyone believes cdj's are amazing. We should have more Vinyl Dj's. People who rock technics. But then again what do I know. I can't even learn the basics on a digital with the waveform showing and metronome enabled. blahhh.
Originally Posted by keithace
I wonder how much a train ticket to SLC is?...I should have PJJ pick me up on his new rocket ship..eeeeeeerrrrrr...motorcycle...
Well for a rich Californian like yourself. ( i'm assuming you're pretty wealthy, either you're rich or poor. ) Very affordable. You can fly into the SLC international airport for 200.00 bucks.
Senior amigos, you sound like a buddy of mine. He bought cdj 400s, sold them because he wanted something "better", then he bought cdj 350s, then he sold them, then he bought cdj 400s, sold them, and now he has an S4 that's also for sale.
Buy some gear, and stick with it. What's the point of buying and selling gear if you are more concerned with getting something better instead of becoming a better dj?
+1
i know folks with 2000 nexuses now who have been playing for years and always on the latest and greatest who are absolute ass on the decks, and i have a friend who up until last year played with mouse, keyboard and an analogue mixer who just destroys every time he plays.
you're not at the point where you're ready to believe about kit. get your basics down.
Senior amigos, you sound like a buddy of mine. He bought cdj 400s, sold them because he wanted something "better", then he bought cdj 350s, then he sold them, then he bought cdj 400s, sold them, and now he has an S4 that's also for sale.
Buy some gear, and stick with it. What's the point of buying and selling gear if you are more concerned with getting something better instead of becoming a better dj?
not bad glad i could help Your in Utah? get established and show me some love when i get out there ahah. I got a few things going on in SLC in 2013.
Thanks dude! Yup I live in Salt Lake City. Are you going to have a performance out here? What type of music do you mix? I'm a huge fan of Psychedelic Trance / House music.
Originally Posted by Thumper
Well, I have to admit that I kind of know where you're coming from with that. The S2 certainly has a wee bit of a Fisher Price feel to it, but it really is harder than it looks. I dropped mine onto the floor a few weeks go and the top panel of the jog wheel came off. Popped right back into place, though, and has been working fine ever since.
Wouldn't like to drop one of my 1200s, though. Not so worried about damaging the deck, it's more the possibility that it'll go straight through the floor and chin the lovely old lady who lives in the flat underneath. Those things are built to survive an atomic war. Or ownership by an idiot, whichever's worse.
lol jog wheel flying in the air. Totally feel like the buttons would fly off also.
I'll probably buy another s2. Waiting for Guitar Center to have a christmas deal.
S2 was a nice controller but i felt like if I dropped it on the ground it would shatter into pieces.
Well, I have to admit that I kind of know where you're coming from with that. The S2 certainly has a wee bit of a Fisher Price feel to it, but it really is harder than it looks. I dropped mine onto the floor a few weeks go and the top panel of the jog wheel came off. Popped right back into place, though, and has been working fine ever since.
Wouldn't like to drop one of my 1200s, though. Not so worried about damaging the deck, it's more the possibility that it'll go straight through the floor and chin the lovely old lady who lives in the flat underneath. Those things are built to survive an atomic war. Or ownership by an idiot, whichever's worse.
Without trying to sound preachy about what an art DJing is, if you want to at all be successful or do well, you need to get over this.
DJing is a surprisingly complex thing that literally just takes time and experience - there is no substitute, there's very little difference raw talent will make in the first months and years of doing it, you just need to learn to believe about music differently and pick up on cues from crowds and build concrete lists of intangible things like 'track energy' in your head. It was said in one of the DJTT articles that gladwell's 10,000 hours rule applies, and I believe that's DEFINITELY the truth. If you want to be part of the community and really understand what you're doing, you're going to need to actually expend the effort. Until you get the real basics down through hard work, there's no one-liner tips or brief video tutorials we can show you which will really improve things much for you at all.
+1
Makes me laugh all the people that are like "DJ'ing is easy"
Being the people who have never touched a turntable in their life.
Just believe that playing 2 songs together turns them into an instant Swedish House Mafia.
Who as a group, aren't DJ's. They're performers.
Yeah I do half ass everything I do. I know this and it pisses me off lol.
I buy the gear
play around with it. Don't understand as fast as I want then I put down for awhile. In this case got pissed returned my s2 and headphones then just tried to mix without a mixer and heaphones.
Without trying to sound preachy about what an art DJing is, if you want to at all be successful or do well, you need to get over this.
DJing is a surprisingly complex thing that literally just takes time and experience - there is no substitute, there's very little difference raw talent will make in the first months and years of doing it, you just need to learn to believe about music differently and pick up on cues from crowds and build concrete lists of intangible things like 'track energy' in your head. It was said in one of the DJTT articles that gladwell's 10,000 hours rule applies, and I believe that's DEFINITELY the truth. If you want to be part of the community and really understand what you're doing, you're going to need to actually expend the effort. Until you get the real basics down through hard work, there's no one-liner tips or brief video tutorials we can show you which will really improve things much for you at all.
edit: Well I don't plan on doing either of those. But I should aim for good quality built mixer.
I'll probably end up getting another s2 since most of two channel mixers are quite more expensive.
I just don't get why you need something that won't break easy.
Are you planning on dropping it? Throwing it at walls? Ragging it like a one evening
stand?
There is nothing flimsy about the S2, it is used by a lot of people I know, as well as a lot of successful DJ's.
You made a mistake pal.
Stop trying to run before you can walk.. actually before you can crawl.
For me, I didn't even consider getting better quality gear than my $100 numark mixtrack and the $20 numark headphones till I felt I was limited by it. It's like giving some 15 year old a ferrari as their first car, overkill and probably not deserving of it. Take your time to master the basics like everyone else has said and become super comfortable with simple gear. Once you start feeling limited then grow into better gear. If you own a mixer costing a few thousand dollars it doesn't mean you know how to use it, despite its ability to go through a few tours of war unscathed.
Take your time, enjoy your music, and mix without using numbers completely, just listen to the sound.
EDIT:
Also when has anyone ever had a mixer thrown at a wall and kept playing *cue youtube video where this actually happens*. An S2 or even a mixtrack, despite it lacking jogwheels made of carbon fiber would be a great place to start.
I'm just saying I want a mixer that wont break easy. I'll probably end up purchasing the s2 again, I had no complaints on that mixer besides the cheap plastic feel.
On the music factor. Yeah I have a huge collection and will listen to one track then move onto another track. But I listen to them as I lay in bed then fall asleep to it. I can hear the changes but I still have a hard time of deciding on my own. Like "hmm should i mix this breakdown into a buildup, should both of the songs be playing at the same time" I guess that's something I need to learn on my own.
But now that someone mentioned that usually you mix the last 32 beats into the first 32 beats. I'm going to experience with that.
I usually transition from one song to the other but don't have both playing at the same time.
Originally Posted by rdale
I go thru music buying spurts... that doesn't mean I'm not constantly digging and getting tracks, but every couple of months my collection will expand a bunch with stuff I missed or put off buying, or there is just a ton more of what I'm enjoying available. In the mean time it means I'm playing the songs I have more and understanding them better, finding new ways to incorporate tunes I love and have the structure, especially when weird, understood. Too many tracks too fast with out taking the time to absorb them, I believe hurts my ability to dj.
Right now it is all about liquid dnb with a big band swing jazz feel, and nuerofunk tracks that sound like a cosmic funk band playing from a space station that has my attention. If tomorrow I find 20 songs that fit this, i'm getting them and sorting it out proper and go back into education mode and learn the songs, where they build, drop and how I want them to fit together. In the mean time I'm listening and paying attention to the audio cues that a new measure is starting, a drum roll or pause, these are the spots you want to pick to mix in and out.
My suggestion is that you take the time to listen to the music you have for a bit, learn the standard cues for your genre and play with mixing from there.
Will do more listening of my tracks. I have so many so I takes weeks to get back around. I don't listen to the same track over and over basically. Usually i'll play some trance tracks then move onto some house then back down the list. Maybe I should just keep the same song on repeat for hours lol.
I go thru music buying spurts... that doesn't mean I'm not constantly digging and getting tracks, but every couple of months my collection will expand a bunch with stuff I missed or put off buying, or there is just a ton more of what I'm enjoying available. In the mean time it means I'm playing the songs I have more and understanding them better, finding new ways to incorporate tunes I love and have the structure, especially when weird, understood. Too many tracks too fast with out taking the time to absorb them, I believe hurts my ability to dj.
Right now it is all about liquid dnb with a big band swing jazz feel, and nuerofunk tracks that sound like a cosmic funk band playing from a space station that has my attention. If tomorrow I find 20 songs that fit this, i'm getting them and sorting it out proper and go back into education mode and learn the songs, where they build, drop and how I want them to fit together. In the mean time I'm listening and paying attention to the audio cues that a new measure is starting, a drum roll or pause, these are the spots you want to pick to mix in and out.
My suggestion is that you take the time to listen to the music you have for a bit, learn the standard cues for your genre and play with mixing from there.
For me, I didn't even consider getting better quality gear than my $100 numark mixtrack and the $20 numark headphones till I felt I was limited by it. It's like giving some 15 year old a ferrari as their first car, overkill and probably not deserving of it. Take your time to master the basics like everyone else has said and become super comfortable with simple gear. Once you start feeling limited then grow into better gear. If you own a mixer costing a few thousand dollars it doesn't mean you know how to use it, despite its ability to go through a few tours of war unscathed.
Take your time, enjoy your music, and mix without using numbers completely, just listen to the sound.
EDIT:
Originally Posted by hola amigos
True. But i've seen 2 channel mixers that look like they are metal. Like you could probably throw them at the wall and then keep playing.
Also when has anyone ever had a mixer thrown at a wall and kept playing *cue youtube video where this actually happens*. An S2 or even a mixtrack, despite it lacking jogwheels made of carbon fiber would be a great place to start.
Yeah but you're learning and most stuff isn't gonna handle being dropped well..
CDJ2000s are pretty much a plastic box, so are a lot of mixers.... I wouldn't worry too much about what it's made of yet.
True. But i've seen 2 channel mixers that look like they are metal. Like you could probably throw them at the wall and then keep playing.
Originally Posted by protocollie
i feel like you make a lot of decisions based on half understandings, etc.
dubfire and a few other DJs played on the S4 regularly for a while (at least while they were testing it) and it's more than solid enough for most DJs. if it can survive touring with them...
like was said above, CDJ2000s are pretty hollow feeling plastic boxes - you're not supposed to drop DJ kit, it's not really built to survive that. if you're carrying it around a lot you put it in a flight case.
Yeah I do half ass everything I do. I know this and it pisses me off lol.
I buy the gear
play around with it. Don't understand as fast as I want then I put down for awhile. In this case got pissed returned my s2 and headphones then just tried to mix without a mixer and heaphones.
Originally Posted by manchild
Dropped a CDJ2000 on the ground from 6' up just the other evening
......still works no prob....in case anyone cares
Good information. I've played around with cdj2000's at guitar center. They were broken. And way over priced imo!
Not sure why everyone believes cdj's are amazing. We should have more Vinyl Dj's. People who rock technics. But then again what do I know. I can't even learn the basics on a digital with the waveform showing and metronome enabled. blahhh.
Originally Posted by keithace
I wonder how much a train ticket to SLC is?...I should have PJJ pick me up on his new rocket ship..eeeeeeerrrrrr...motorcycle...
Well for a rich Californian like yourself. ( i'm assuming you're pretty wealthy, either you're rich or poor. ) Very affordable. You can fly into the SLC international airport for 200.00 bucks.
Dropped a CDJ2000 on the ground from 6' up just the other evening
......still works no prob....in case anyone cares
I dropped a 1200 down a flight of stairs once, all bar the tone arm survived. But still, NI gear is used by loads of touring DJs. It can handle more then it looks. Build quality certainly shouldn't be a big factor in early gear purchases.... Nearly everything is plastic these days anyway.
S2 was a nice controller but i felt like if I dropped it on the ground it would shatter into pieces.
i feel like you make a lot of decisions based on half understandings, etc.
dubfire and a few other DJs played on the S4 regularly for a while (at least while they were testing it) and it's more than solid enough for most DJs. if it can survive touring with them...
like was said above, CDJ2000s are pretty hollow feeling plastic boxes - you're not supposed to drop DJ kit, it's not really built to survive that. if you're carrying it around a lot you put it in a flight case.
I'm 21 years old and live in Salt Lake City.
Don't like to drink so I guess i'll get you a drink lol.
Like I said I don't have a mixer or headphones. Waiting for this paycheck or tax returns.
Mr. Amigos, where do you live? I will come by and tutor you for a weekend. Hopefully you are old enough to drink.
I'm 21 years old and live in Salt Lake City.
Don't like to drink so I guess i'll get you a drink lol.
Like I said I don't have a mixer or headphones. Waiting for this paycheck or tax returns.
Because most of the time, phrases longer than a minute are extremely boring. People want to dance, not stand there in awe of your 12 minute soundscape.
So the attention span of the current club generation is one minute. Maybe in twenty years it is 10 seconds so all we have are build-ups and releases, over and over. I would have hoped that three minutes or so would be enough of dance music. Oh well...
Ah, Belt drives. Nothing like learning to mix on a crappy pair of belt drives. If you can mix on those you can mix on anything. Kids today, wanting to mix on nothing but a few 'numbers at the top'...Eee, I don't know.... don't know they're born, kids today....
heh heh, mine were Soundlab DLP1's
There is definitely an element of truth in what you say for sure.
IMHO: with all the software assistance and visual indicators, online community
s, youtube videos etc etc, I still cannot work out some why some of the questions appear on here. I'm more than happy to help but really, honestly, ffs, do some people not bother to even to try to self help for an hour or so anymore?!! Really trying hard to avoid the whole 'in my day' argument.... but it was simply a case of getting stuck in to it, trying to learn off mates, club DJ's, go clubbing/free parties, meet people, mixtapes, record shops, listen to tunes etc etc etc etc....
There are one of two explanations for this thread:
1. OP is a robot and cannot "feel" music. Therefore, the robot must determine what a buildup is through information that it can process: waveforms, frequencies, beats, and amount of arm flailing in the crowd. Nice try, robot. The humans are onto you.
2. OP is Paris Hilton.
this is the first time i've genuinely spit a drink in response to reading something online holy damn +1
