DJ Mixing

[Catalyst]

I know a fair few people on here have done a bit of mixing or DJ'ing at one point or another and i'm seriously looking at trying to get into it. Never even as much as touched a set of decks or CDJ's etc, played guitar for about 5 years but that's it.

I seem to be able to hear and pick out a good DJ when listening to sets and want to start doing my own. Anyone know the best place to start? I'm looking to mix Drum & Bass, Breakbeat and maybe a bit of Dubstep as well.

What equipment & software is best to start with, without blowing my bank account to bits? I've looked on a few DJ forums but they all seem a bit wishy washy or too technical.

Any help much appreciated
____________________
|--Previous--|:2007 Aprilia SX50...--Current--|: 2007 Kawasaki ER-6N
SlimRick - I can cook really well - but it's a useless skill, as I'm not a woman and it's their fucking job!

[iMark]

FL Studios aka "Fruity Loops"

Music making program, you can also connect a keyboard, guitar etc etc. if you have the right leads and components on your PC.

That's the only thing I can suggest for music making Not sure on any specific DJ things.

That program with time can be learned and used quiet easily from what I've heard and seen.
____________________
K8 GSXR 1000
"G" : you got him to have a look at a forum which seems to have established a picture of an erect penis in a cat's mouth as it's mascot and thought he might consider it ok?

[D O G]

Get one of these, and torrent Virtual DJ Pro. An easy find, or ask someone to chuck it on a USB and send it to you if you are not au fait with the torrenting.

This will allow you to mix digitally with your laptop for essentially fuck all money. You will need an amp or a hi-fi with an input, but I suspect you have that already.

The Herc mk4 and VDJ will let you do a lot of stuff, and is a great way of getting into (or back into in my case) mixing. Very user friendly, good results and dirt cheap. If you don't get into it, sell it on, lose maybe £50. Easy.

[5v3d3b0]

While the hercules might be a bit of fun it's not "real" mixing with VDJ as you just press sync to beatmatch the tracks.
It's a good starting point though and if you enjoy it later down the line you can get some vinyl turntables or cdjs.
I got a pair of vinyl tts for 100 quid on ebay, pretty shit decks but they did the job for learning. Later down the line I got a pair of cd players (stanton c.324) and am now sharing equipment with a housemate so we've got 2 Technics sl 1200s along with my cd players and a decent mixer.

[Frost]

A mate had a really cool system. It was 2 decks with special records on hooked up to his PC which acted as the mixer. You then selected mp3's for each deck and the special records controlled their playback allowing you to mix like it was vinyl.

[D O G]

Which entirely defeats the point of digital mixing.

You have all the drawbacks of vinyl, but lose the sound quality.

[oldpink]

you could try the local hospital radio station if they have one
there always looking for volunteers and its a good place to start
____________________
I have become comfortably numb

Theory & hazard 24-may 2016, CBT 8th June 2016, MOD 1 2nd Aug 2016 Mod 2 2nd-Nov 2016 - Current bike CBR 600 RR

[Frost]

[D O G]

Main drawback of vinyl is the perfect syncing of the beat, and lack of flexibility when in the track for looping, instant changing to different points in the track seamlessly etc etc, which are the benefits of digital mixing.

I agree with the sound quality bit - wav files are so good that you have to be an incredibly sensitive listener to tell them from vinyl. And the setup has to be very good.

In fact, a couple of weekends ago my friend conducted an experiment on quality of sound from digital files of mp3's at 128, 192, 256 & 320 kbps, and a wav file for the same track. His system is very good. The difference once above 192kbps was only very slight, and neither of us could tell between the 320 and the wav file.

Back to the timecode vinyl - IMO that was only really a bit of a 'gimmick' to allow those used to mixing on turntables to start using digital media. I don't think anyone seriously uses it. Certainly not professionally.

[Marcg868]

I used to use timecode vinyl with a expensive pair of Turntables and Serato.

Now i have a Traktor kontrol s4 using Traktor pro. Its a more expensive version of a Hercules. You don't have to use beat sync and can use it as you would a pair of CDJ's.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ykTn-YE6QFM/TVB80uFlzMI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/_0s8ldfxuv4/s1600/a.provider%252Cm.159811%252Cmod.media%252Cdown.true%252Cth.normal%252Cs.pictures.jpg

Great piece of kit for when you get into. But try a Hercules or Numark mixtrack pro to start off with. Don't use VDJ its shit try traktor.
____________________
JACK, MISS YOU LOADS YOU LEGEND.

[deleted111]

Watching this thread with interest!

[deleted111]

Whilst I'm here, what minimum PC specs would you guys recommend? I run FruityLoops on my machine but it's slow as hell, my pc is ancient.

[5v3d3b0]

I know of several professionals that use serato, Dj Hype for example who is one of the biggest drum and bass djs out there.
If you scratch a lot serato is great because you can easily make your own scratch sample mp3s, and you can still loop beats etc on top of tracks. And the feeling of using vinyl appeals to me much more than cd players.

[D O G]

I use Serato. But Itch, not scratch, much more designed for non-scratching purposes.

Controlled by one of these...

https://www.allen-heath.com/Assets/Images/Products/Xone-DX/L_Gal_3_Xone_DX_Front.jpg

Only had it a couple of months, having had 1210's in the past and borrowing friend's Hercules a few months ago got me back into it and wanting more control.

[Shaft]

[smegballs]

Had a few quick goes on CDJ's at house parties, when everyone is passed out , but would like to actually get an ear for it and learn it half-decent.

Gonna try and have a few mixing lessons of mates while I'm on my xmas break from uni.

Got some of my friends who are psytrance producers/dj's who have their own gear so that seems the way forward for the moment.

Was pretty fun using a pair of linked CDJ-900s and a USB HDD.

[hellbound]

Mix miester is quite a good program, I use this to "cheat" when I DJ, make a mix at home and stick it on when I want 15 minutes to go to the bar or for a pee.

add your mp3's you want to mix and it tells you the BPM and then you can adjust where they mix and various other stuff but it pretty much automatically beat mixes for you.
____________________
May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[0l0dom0l0]

Virtual DJ pro is a good place to start.

Go on youtube and its tells you where to download and how to crack it so you can have flexibility with sound cards and things.

I've got a youtube account called MrDJDomR if you want to take a listen to the 2 mixes I've done using virtual dj.

Also, if you do get virtual dj make sure you get the mix lab 3.1 skin as its much better than the others.
____________________
CBT Passed: 30/08/2009, Theory Passed: 31/08/2010, Mod 1 Passed: 6/9/2010, Mod 2 Passed: 13/09/2010. Restriction ended 13/09/2012.

Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.

[Marcg868]

[5v3d3b0]

Seeing as you want to mix dnb, here is a nice piece of info:
Most dnb tracks have a 32 bar intro, then you get the occasional 16 and 64 bar intros. (im sure there are plenty of variations but out of the many tunes I've played around withthis seems to be the most common)
Once you get comfortable with beat matching (or after you know your software of choice reasonably well) you'll probably want to start double dropping tunes, especially if you mix techstep or jumpup dnb. (in liquid dnb double drops aren't as common because the mids often clash, but a good vocal liquid tune stacked onto a heavy bassline usually sounds good too)
To double drop 2 tunes you'll need to know how long the intro of the second tune is, and usually how long the breakdown of the first one is.
For example, the first one I pulled off was Chase and Status - Take Me Away + Interface - Get Lo
Take me away has a 32 bar intro (from when the drums start) and breakdown, and get lo has a 16 bar intro, so to double drop them you first need to beat match them (as early as you can so you have time to set up for the drop), then half way through the breakdown on take me away you'd drop get lo so they both hit the bassline simultaneously.
To pull it off consistently you need to really know your tunes and plan ahead, although once you get better at it you can anticipate it more often and do it first time.
Anyone can sync on VDJ, and most people can learn how to beat match, but in my opinion what separates the good from the great djs is the little details like double dropping or just finding tunes that sound better than great together.
Maybe one day you'll be triple dropping like Andy C

Andy C triple drop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkaTJVSvmOs
Chase and Status - Take Me Away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTM_sdDXk_4
Interface - Get Lo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgCEnUxUh1M

Also if you mix in key tunes will most likely sound good together, but it's only a rule of thumb and doesn't necessarily need to be followed for mixes to sound good.

[D O G]

You can get the same effect by using filters, which would be particularly good for dnb. Stick a high pass filter on any track, it will totally remove the bass (and mids, and everything if you twist it far enough).

You can then drop the filter off in time with the other drop on the other track, and it will sound exactly like a double drop you are describing, with a sort of 'whoosh' noise at the same time (the amplitude of which you can vary through other settings).

Just looked at a vid of Andy C using that exact technique.

This one.

If you're not using vinyl, then you can go even further and set individual cue points at the drops and hit them on multiple tracks at the same time.

Key for it not sounding totally shit is track selection tho - always the most difficult part.

[Shaft]

[D O G]