Well, after messing about with laptop DJing for a few months (Traktor and Ableton Live), I've finally taken the plunge and bought a pair of real Technics SL1210 decks and a mixer today. 8)



I've just taken my first step into a larger world... :)



Now maybe I should pimp my motor with the decks like in stash's thread. X-D

That is really cool Tyler! Welcome in the world of Decks and Drums and Rock an Roll ;) Not that i know anything about that....but it's still wicked!

Post us a pic of u with youre decks!

I see Christmas has come early for you, Tyler!! Congrats on taking the plunge!

Jeanie Escribi�:

That is really cool Tyler! Welcome in the world of Decks and Drums and Rock an Roll ;) Not that i know anything about that....but it's still wicked!

Post us a pic of u with youre decks!

Will do, Jeanie, just not made room to set it all up yet as I've just got back from a 250-mile round trip in freezing fog to get them here. See, I've already paid my dues and bonded with the decks from the experience. X-D



And Decksandrumsandrockandroll by the Propellerheads is a totally wicked album. it's also the name of the DJing and music-making section of my board. ;-)



Any tips on mixing and beatmatching warmly welcomed! Maybe Ed can tell me how to keep playing when someone spills champagne on the decks for example. X-D



And thanks, whirly! We've all so got to meet up again some time. And sorry I've been off the forum for so long, folks. I got roped into going somewhere else for NYE, so was ashamed to show my face round here for a while. 8O

Tyler Escribi�:

Any tips on mixing and beatmatching warmly welcomed!

I'm sure if you've been mixing on a laptop, that you're already familiar with the structures of songs from a DJing point of view, and about EQ's and fading. With regard to beatmatching, perseverance is the key here, it'll take months of total disasters before you get proficient. It's a bit like driving - it'll seem so hard, and you'll want to give up, and then one day it'll just click, and it'll be almost second nature.



When I learnt to DJ, to give myself a sporting chance of selecting appropriate tunes, I catalogued the tempo of all my tunes, and then only selected tracks that were of similar tempo. Plus, when you know the tempo, you know roughly how much it needs to be adjusted (+/- 1%, 2%, etc.) To find the tempo, you count how many beats fall in 10/15 seconds, and multiply it by 6/4 respectively to get the Beats Per Minute (BPM). Or, as this is the 21st century, you can use a program for this (that's what i did). Do a internet search for a program called BeatIt, should be a tiny thing. You just tap the beat out using the computer keyboard, and it tells you the tempo! I'd recommend doing it for at least 45 seconds to get a decent average.



Good luck mate!

That's excellent news, Tyler. Hope you have fun and perhaps you can even send some remixes to us :D

buy how to dj properly by bill brewser & frank broughton.



it's a fantastically well written book. covers everything from the technical stuff to how to build a collection, work a room and more...



as chemfan said: keep at it. it'll come



I'm going to disagree with chemicalfan here though.



I wouldn't bpm all your tunes.



grab your records and try things out... I think you'll become aware of tempo quicker if you're *listening* rather than looking at it's BPM written on the sleeve. plus having all the bpms will box you in a little, it'll effect your decision when you reach for another record.



you'll soon get a feel for what will go and what won't. and you'll learn your tunes well and that's key. learning where things happen and where things will fit together.



my biggest tip for learning to beat match is move to the music. bop about to the track playing while you cue up the next one. get to the first beat of your next record, keep moving, drop it on the beat...bom...bom bom....if you're moving to the record playing out of the speakers it's much easier to feel them syncing if that makes any sense?



well thats how it worked for me anyway.



"feel the beats"



etc



I should be in bed....



m'chebne

M'Chebne Escribi�:

buy how to dj properly by bill brewser & frank broughton.

Already on its way to me from Amazon. :)

That's a shame about NYE Tyler, but I am sure you will make up for lost time when the Chems come back around with some live gigs! And no worries about being ashamed to show your face around here - at least you have plans for NYE!!

M'Chebne Escribi�:

buy how to dj properly by bill brewser & frank broughton.

Really good book. Read a lot of it w/out buying it. It's hard to type one-handed while smoking a spliff. :D

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

It's hard to type one-handed while smoking a spliff. :D

Parents were out then? X-D

Fairplay Tyler. One day I hope to get a set of decks myself, maybe next year, not sure.

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

M'Chebne Escribi�:

buy how to dj properly by bill brewser & frank broughton.

Really good book. Read a lot of it w/out buying it. It's hard to type one-handed while smoking a spliff. :D

It arrived today, only had time to skim through it so far but I like the way it has a good balance of views on vinyl, CD and mp3 mixing, giving the pros and cons of each.



I do think you have to be good with all three in this day and age and I'll be getting CD decks as well at some point. Will probably get some very basic ones to learn on - the problem with all the automated beatmatch stuff is that half the time it gets the bpm wrong and I'm better off learning how to do it using the tempo and pitch bend manually anyway.