And Mix two soundcloud.com

is this for real?

If you have constructive criticism, please share with me, If not, please don't bother making comments .

THanks

I'd recommend listening to other DJs and try to pay attention to what they are doing. Additionally, your beatmatching is off, so practice that a LOT. It's very important or else you will confuse your crowd beyond sanity when you're mixing tracks. Also, when you put the shots acapella over the levels remix, it didn't sound right. The part where lmfao screams "shots shots shots" has tons of energy and it just didn't fit right. You've been DJing for 6 months on what?

Thanks Esco for the feedback, i appreciate you taking the time to do that. I used a beginner Numark Mixtrack Pro until i was able get the equipment i did now. I don't have much experience at all on the 1200s or 57SL so Im trying to learn as much as I can. I never had a mentor to help me, so i taught myself by practicing, reading and listening. But will def take your opinions.

DO you have a Sound Cloud Esco? When i go to your profile and click on your sound cloud it take me to mine?

Yea I do. You can check it out with this link

soundcloud.com

Thanks Esco, i will def listen to your stuff, thanks again for the feedback..unlikes some people you actually took the time time to help a peer out who is new. have a nice one

sorry, it really was an honest question I wasn't trying to be mean im not like that. good luck man hope you all the best

That's all right. I started on Virtual DJ, just mixing without any equipment. I had some people critique my mixes, when I first got my equipment and it helped. I listen to my stuff from my first 6 months, and it sounds terrible lol. It's all about practice, and knowing your equipment. The more you put in, the more you get out. Learn how to beatmatch well, learn how to phrase your music 100% perfectly. practice and you'll get better.

I followed you on Sound Cloud.

Kind of reminds of this guy.
www.mixcrate.com

Spair, I would def appreciate some good advice from you, considering I see that you are a seasoned veteran . I am learning from my mistakes and I can't learn overnight

Im wondering the same thing. Check my post above. =)

yeah that specific mix was why I was wondering if this wasn't something similar. It really was an honest question. I'm glad he's learning on 1200's and serato though, at least no auto sync so the progression will be more natural and beneficial.

working on beat matching is my number one priority

i never had a mentor or anyone to help me out, so i can't make miracles, only more practice, thats why i needed 2nd hand opinions...but i guess some will to help some won't and thats ok

DJ Spair, you haven't added any benefit or helped me at all in this thread, why even take the time to post something negative man? I would have appreciated some insight, tips, would have gladly taken look at your work as well.

ay
DJ Bojan I haven't listened to your mix but what are you using?
yep

1200s with 57SL

Sorry man.Thought you were playing a joke on us. Definitely practice more on beat matching. My best advice is to start with instrumentals. This way you won't deal with any vocal clashing and you can concentrate on just matching those drums. Youtubes also a really good resource for tutorials.

Your gonna have to develop a thicker skin if you really want help on this forum. In between the jabs and mean comments are some good advice. But you cant have one without the other.

I understand CMOS, it all comes with being a rookie. But with the jabs, i would appreciate some good insight and direction form those same people as well. We all have to start somewhere.

ay
I'll help you out dude. What is the main issue that you have? I saw where you said beat matching. One thing you want to remember when beat matching is that you want to select your songs where the bpms are close together. If a track is at 98, you can't blend it to a track that is 82. You'd have to do a funky clever transition or use effects such as echoes. So you'd want to make sure the bpms are close. On 1200s, I'd say within a 5 bpm range. If a track is 83 bpm, the lowest to blend should be 78 and the highest should be 88. Also as a beginner, use the headphone cue to match the songs together before sliding the fader over. Try to bring the song on a kick (the bass) or a snare (the high slap). So on deck A, when the the snare comes, match it with snare on deck B. Also if the track is bpm matched but one seems to be faster than the other which on 1200s that will happen, run your finger on the platter (the steel wheels with the dots). I'll give you more advice when you ask for it.
yep

heres a tip that helped me when i started.

"On hip hop, match the snares. On house, match the kicks"

Sorry man.Thought you were playing a joke on us. Definitely practice more on beat matching. My best advice is to start with instrumentals. This way you won't deal with any vocal clashing and you can concentrate on just matching those drums. Youtubes also a really good resource for tutorials.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll take a look at working with some instrumentals.

Thanks CMOS, I am trying to find a good video on Youtube on a step by step guide on how to read the waveforms in order to identify these. I understand listening is priority and being able to count beats as well..

Thanks Ced, I appreciate that, I will give this a try in my next practice session.

Thats mistake 1. Dont watch the waveforms. Seriously if you want to get good, press the space bar and hide them.

Take the same song on both decks, let one play, then mix the 2nd one into it. Being its the same song it doesnt need to move the pitch.

Then when you get good at mixing the same song into itself, move the pitch around and try to match the 2nd record. Its not perfect, the decks fluctuate, you cant just move each side to +4 and have it work.

Make sure its a song you dont love as you will be SICK of this song by time you get the hang of it.

If you want to know, the snares are usually the blue-ish color. The wavforms are colored based on frequency.

Also forget about relative mode for a while, while learning you should be in absolute mode, you want as little features as possible or you will learn to use them as a crutch.

This is some great stuff, when i practice next:

A. I will practice in ABS mode.
B. Practice without using waveforms.
C. Practice using instrumentals.
D. Then practice using two of the same song.
E. Work with messing around with the pitch control.

I think what is going to be hardest for me is identify the different parts of the song, the snares etc.. and identify good entry points(at the drop) and being able to count the beat

ay
If you can get some, get half pound ankle weights and wear them on your wrist. That helps with the heavy handness. I use ankle weights when I'm in the house doing ABS mode and practicing my battle sets. It helps a lot.
yep

Thanks Ced.

For all the guys that originally listened to what I posted..I did a new mix..if you can take a listen to this one and let me know if its worse, the same or some improvement.

soundcloud.com

Thank you

I would say the same. Keep practicing your beatmatching, watch tutorials on youtube and also your phrasing need work. Learn about song structure asap and it will help you sound so much better.

Appreciate it Mike-E! Thanks for that

USE YOUR EARS

All I can say you still need a lot of practice homie. You should make a video of u spinning

I just listen to another mix u posted that fadeing out transition and fading in doesn't sound too good sounds to cheesy , beat matching and phrase matching. As well as counting bars will give u a more smooth transition more fun to Listen too. Just keep practicing You'll get there

Bojan, I think a video would better help people give advice for you. I mean, we all can say "practice beat matching, phrasing, etc." but we don't really know how you're getting to where you currently are. Are you loading the second track in randomly (kind of sounds like it) or are you setting cue points? Stuff like this we need to see.

Thanks guys for taking the time for some feedback. i think you are all right with the video suggestion. Hopefully i can make that soon for you guys for some critique or laughter lol :)

Phonzo you are totally right it is more random than using Cue point. Here is my approach so far so y'all can see where i stand. So i load up one song and then look to find a song in the similar BPM range that i think will work well with that one. I try to find one exactly the same BPM or around it. I then try to find a good spot for a transition(usually not where vocal are), after a drop, or at the end of the song. I have been trying to use my ears as much as possible to match up the beats and some aid from the waveform in Serato. As you have probably noticed i tried to use the looping effect as well, well i think i overuse it totally not in a good way. Like Str8nger said i use a lot of fading, with the controls up top.

Guys that have commented so far, do you guys have any videos of yourself that i could use as tutorials basically or something i can use as a guide, or mixes in general, would really help me?

Thanks!

Sup man,
There's a wealth of good advice in this thread already and a ton more if you search. Google is your friend.

I'm relatively new as well but I can offer you the following advice:

- Always make sure your stuff is calibrated correctly. Always have your tonearm balanced and leveled perfectly. This is key to getting good tracking which is essential for beat matching.

- Don't follow the waveforms (already said, but worth saying again). They're handy for a quick glance to find drops or to see which track is off when u start to bring it in but the most precise device is your ear.

- When it comes to your actual set being organized is majorly important. Use crates to keep your music as segregated as you are comfortable with. I keep club tracks including remixes of hip-hop tracks at faster tempos in one. Hip hop, in another, dubstep in another, etc.
This way when you are moving around you don't have a bunch of other stuff in the crate that you have to sift through.

- Song selection becomes easier when there isn't a bunch of junk in the away as above.
Think of the kind of set you want to have and then keep the tunes similar. If you're throwing down a club set (think LMFAO, David Guetta, Far East Movement, etc) you don't want to suddenly drop some Skrillex just because it's the same tempo.

- Speaking of your set, what kind of story are you telling? A little joke I like to slip in on my practice sessions (I record them all and listen religiously so as to critique and get my friends opinions) is to play Like a G 6, Drink, and Hangover back-to-back. Not saying you need to do that, but try not to clash your subjects. If I want an upbeat party vibe to it, I'm not throwing in Climax is all I'm saying.

- Watch the key -- Look at a piano (better yet, if you have garbage band or a keyboard or something) play some notes together. You'll notice some notes harmonize and sound good, others don't.
There are apps that can write the key, that is, the root note which all others in the song agree with, in the comment tag for you to make this easier. Thus you can mix track in the key of C with a track in the key of E and not cause me to grind my teeth.
For now though, just practice not overlapping 2 songs that just don't 'sound right' together.

- Never overlap vocals. There are rare instances where this will be passable, most of the time, no. It's also ok to give 2 songs some space and, for example, echo out the chorus from one track and have 4 bars before the vocals come in on the next track. It breaks up the assault of lyrics. A lot of DJ's don't do this though so don't agonize about it if it just doesn't feel right.

- Don't overlap melodies.

- Don't let a song play out. After approximately 0:30 to 1:30 minutes I'm completely bored of whatever you're playing, keep it moving. Let some songs breathe more -- your real bangers, the newer stuff that you can't get enough of, but keep the rest short and sweet. Nobody wants to hear 2 versus of "walk it out" anymore (did they ever?). Verse, hook, chorus, next track.

Good luck.

great stuff here and great advice....
When I first started out I was guilty of looking at the waveforms. Of course it gives you a crutch but when I practice at home I usually hit the - key so that the waveforms become stacked closer and closer so that it is more difficult to see each KICK, SNARE, BASS..that way you are still able to see the whole track but not heavily relying on the waveforms..
Or sometimes I just view it as just the track names and no waveforms...

someone might want to clarify this..I know I can do this for the ITCH...but for SSL Im not too sure..

Lots of good info above, OP......



Know your songs!! You should be able to know when the drops are, the lyrics, the breaks.all that..

Play music that you personally like, dont just play songs that the majority already hears, get creative and dont be a sheep..you'll be surprised how many sleepers are on an album on semi known artists or pop artists that are hot but will never get radio spins

Go to a a record store or a used book store and buy some vinyl and practice with those as well.