i'm no expert

1. the tempo/bpm might be slightly off, that leads to the grid being off slightly

2. set your beatmarker, scroll into the track and adjust as needed.

3. even in ableton the warpmarkers go off.

4. going through this slow process will let you know your tracks better

I already know the bpm's of most of my tracks.. i use mixmeister which is very accurate to detect bpm's and in the rare case that it gets it wrong i look up the track bpm on beatport. Getting the correct bpm is not a worry for me. I need tips for making the beatgrids good and editing them well and quickly

It takes me 15 - 20 secs to grid a track (edm/hiphop)

I grid whilst i'm importing new tunes and in some situations i grid whilst playing live.

my method is as i described previously.

serato.com

so your telling me that some tracks are impossible to beat grid properly!? this sucks… im strongly considering switching over to traktor. I love everything about serato except its beat grids. I hate everything about traktor except its beatgrids… :(

What I do which has helped alot is I just clear the grid first then I go to the first down beat and set it. This does a very good job is getting it right. Even though the music is straight 4 on the floor it sometimes drifts because of:

1. BPM is not accurate. The track my read 128bpm when it's really 128.2bpm and this will cause it to drift over time.
2. Sometimes it may drift after a breakdown or after some "stutter" edits.
3. You can always tap tempo which may help tighten it up a bit. Always go back and double check and adjust as necessary. You really only have to check the beginning and towards the end where you plan to mix out the track.

Good luck and happy gridding!

I am really trying to wonder what is worth it, sacrificing the serato interface which has tons of stability and efficiency and dealing with shit beat grids, or using traktor where i don't even have to worry about in-accurate beat grids

I have both Traktor and Serato and I much prefer Serato. Especially as I mobile DJ using external hard drive. Traktor is PAINFULLY slow in loading the track collection and folders on the external hard drive. This is really important should you ever have a technical issue and need to reboot where time is of the essence. Of course you could always put the main tracks on your internal hard drive. I just like having everything on external drives.

I can deal with beat grids being off since I mix be ear and don't rely on them anyway. I am just starting to beat grid some tracks to experiment with some remixing. Of course your needs may be different and Traktor might be a better choice for you.

wait but couldn't you analyze your files on your hard drive through traktor? i have used the demo version of traktor and it loads the tracks just as fast as serato. The thing with me is that i dont transition most of my songs in the intro or the outro. I usually do it during a buildup or a break down. For example during a buildup of one song i will slowly switch it and merge in the drop of the next song. I find it very hard to do this without beat grids.. It is really painful to me to see how such a nice program like serato can't make decent beat grids!!!! i hate the interface of traktor! but i might end up being forced to use it. Virtual dj is also always an option. Serato is really unique in the dj industry as it is currently the only program that can't make decent beat grids!

I do analyze the files on the external HD. I was trying to explain that I really don't use the beat grids. I am starting to see if beat griding some songs might helps with remixing songs and using the SP6 sampler so that everything stays in time.

Serato has a big advantage over Traktor in that you can "warp" the beat grids as needed. You can not do the same in Traktor. I don't know if Virtual DJ has a flexible beat grid option.

I really doesn't take long to correct Serato beat grids. With some practice you should be able to beat grid in less then a minute.

hey what is warping? i am kind of confused as to what it is. Also between the last two messages i have mentally accepted that serato will be what i am going to use and beat gridding is just something i will have to deal with.

"Warping' is similar to what you can do with Ableton Live. You are able to take a song (think funk or anything with a live drummer) and "quantize" it so that the beats fall perfectly as if it was created using a drum machine (timing is tight).

One thing you can try to do is listen to the parts of the songs that you like to mix and try to make sure you beat grid is lined up at the part.You don't have to do the whole song. As I mentioned before you might want to clear the beat grid first and drop or "set" the new beat grid from the first down beat. It may take a little experimenting but once you get it, it should be pretty quick to beat grid.

Wait so does warping speed up some parts of the song and slow down others?

I am not sure exactly what it is doing but that's probably what is going on. Since you are making minor corrections it's not noticeable.

the warping isnt that important to me since all i do is electronic music. What confuses me though is how the beatgrid is correct for some parts then goes out later on. I usually fix it by placing the markers correctly later in the track. so am i warping the track. why would i need to do that if the song is electronic with a locked in bpm?

Try this with a song that you know if off and let me know if this makes it easier/better:

1. Go into edit mode and "Clear" the beat grid.
2. Find the first down beat the drop a marker.
3. Goto the part of the song that you know was off before and see if this makes a difference.
4. If it's still drifting try doing a tap tempo and see if that helps to tighten it up.

Like I said I am just starting a play around with this so I am still experimenting myself. Let me know if this helps you.

+1

Hey,

I just come form traktor and i changed to Serato for the video plug in. I had the same problem with Traktor, that even with electronic music the grid got mashup up, and this happend a lot of times. So i hed to Warped the tracks first in ableton and then put them back in Traktor. Now in Serato i can directly do this by putting extra beat markers.

It also happend when i was playing live with traktor and i hed by accident a track with a bad grid, i could do nothing, then to do a very bad mix. Now with Serato i can stil live adjust the mix with my jog weel in Tempo Sync mode and do a perfect mix ...

I feel very happy now ;)

I find the beatgridding in Serato one of the easiest to use out of any program I've come accross.
Sure use the automatic analysis first, but even many electronic originated tracks vary slightly throughout their length and any auto grid can be thrown out slightly throughout its length so you have to check them afterwards.

this is extremely simple in Serato.
Once you have the first downbeat marker in place (usually automatic is correct but often have to adjust with the slip control) scroll through the track to see if all is well, a quick check towards the end of the track will tell you if its drfted off a bit. you then just click edit & adjust the grid length + or - to get the downbeats at the end of the track to match. This will adjust all of them throughout to hopefully line up. Check again then throughout the track as some will even require set points throughout the song to jeep them in line.
Especially if there are breakdowns which may not be exactly a full bar length.
One point here though is if you put a new set point in the middle of a track you have to then check and probably adjust any bar length adjustment you may have already done after that point, as it affects them, so adjust again
This is not a Serato problem but how the songs have been made.
I don't believe you can complain about this and expect a program to do everything for you, it's music goddammit and if you can't get to grips with this simple process then just put on a CD and forget about DJing!
Just spend some time practising like anything else.
I can adjust a new track like this on the fly in the middle of a set within about 20 secs no problem.
Thanks Serato it seems pretty perfect to me

Or you can learn how to actually **DJ**. Then you won't need beatgrids in order to mix (sync) properly.

Just a suggestion. Since I mix Old School...R&B, Disco, Funk and other tracks that always need to be gridded (much was recorded live) I am always trying to find ways to make gridding less tedious. For years I have had to bear with the "Learn How To DJ without Grids" response and determined that this is no help.
At a gig where the floor is full and people are really moving to your mixes, you need to be able to continue that groove and sometimes having the perfect transition is the difference between your crowd continuing and them stopping. Having the skills to ride the tempo is great for this situation, but less focused on the crowd, and more focused on the DJ.
If you need to use sync when called for to augment your mixing skills, Virtual DJ 8 does what I think is a better job at the analyze stage, it also allows you to ride the tempo with pitch bend, nudging the platter or both.
Even if you effortlessly mix by hand, it is good to have all of your tracks analyzed and gridded and ready for your next transition.
No matter the method, your crowd and your gig need to enjoy the experience...the good DJ will use every tool available to deliver. The DJ that is shaking his head because you used the sync button will be less important than the people patting you on the back for the great time they had.

Im having crashes in the offline player for sdj 1.8. no crashes yet live, but it happened 2x in like 15 mins.

anyone else have these? usually when you hit clear. to reset a beat grid.

Can someone post up a mix of someone using beat grids vs. someone not using them. Are they really that needed? Just curious I don't use them so I don't have to worry about editing anything.

you dont really need them if you are not in sync and/or more of play by ear dj.

i like to have them becuase i got used to it in SSL (if you had ableton and clicked the bridge option).

i like being able to see certain areas like 17-33-65 bars, even if i dont have them cued in those areas.

Yup. The numbers on the grid are like extra cues to me.

Indeed. Beat grids are far more useful than JUST for sync.

effects also use the grid for timing.

4 decks mixing will be a struggle without the beatgrids. If you only use 2 decks, you can get by without them.

With correct grids you open up so much of the software features, Slicer, Effects, autoloops, Rolls, Quantized cues all require accurate grids to perform correctly.

Grids are fun!

"Potential crash when editing beatgrids"

Should be fixed in the beta @Mr. Goodkat serato.com

why do 6 month old posts get re-enlivened like this. my guess is the original writer of the post figured out how to properly implement beat grids and went away. now we are just having a discussion about beat grids at the bottom of an old dead thread...which means fewer people will weigh in...

Here is the best Beatgrid tutorial for any music youtu.be

None of these links you have posted work

Here is a working link pass it on if this video helps you out

youtu.be

Bahahhahhaha!!!!!

That takes entirely way to long. Nice video but who has that much time??

This is how started and can still do this anytime.
But if you remain in this way, you are MISSING A LOT, my friend.

How anyone djs is all a preference, some have learned a different way and that works for you.
Time has brought a new change in the way we do things. We now have text messaging and everyone uses that or know of it. Social media which has changed the way we all interact and share information, were using it now. We dress different, we have developed a whole new language, time has evolved and change effects all. What and how a person deals with the old way or the new way has no bearing on their ability to be the best they can be, You Tube is full of djs from each era doing amazing mind blow things from each platform. We all want to dj for different reasons, but at the end of the night of djing to the best of your abilities. Most people do not care if you are from the old school or new, do you own a Turntable or Controller. Do you mix by ear or did you use the sync button. If you are not a fellow dj they don't know or care All the want to do is party and have good time. How you made that happen is of little concern to them.

im in this boat. the beat grid recognition is an actual joke on Serato. do I need to move back to Traktor? did you get anywhere?

thanks

I can help you with your beatgrids I'm a master expert on this topic and I can explain to how and why beatgrids work in a easy to understand language. We can do a zoom and you can ask me me any grid question and I will give you the answer. This is no charge no strings attached you dont have to like or love me. It's free to all my Serato Djs! Hit me up and let's schedule a zoom DJ Ronn