Comments | djunderfoot: For you industrial DJs who don't bother to beatmatch..

djunderfoot

For you industrial DJs who don't bother to beatmatch..

Nov 06, 2006 15:39

...someone has done the work for you. This thing also auto-levels and EQs. All you have to do is drag, drop and crossfade. No more excuses!

http://www.virtualdj.com/

Pass it along.

Comments 15

ex_maehymn November 6 2006, 21:10:11 UTC

you have returned!
i hope things went swimmingly.

djunderfoot November 6 2006, 23:18:20 UTC

Back in full effect, yo. If you go to Inferno this Wed, I can bring you up to date.

ex_maehymn November 6 2006, 23:26:17 UTC

DUDE.

i will SOOOO be there.

frigidsiberia November 6 2006, 21:44:51 UTC

really? that takes all the fun out of dj'ing (IMO). i can't say my beatmatching skills are great, but i think using intros and outros as a creative tool can avoid a train wreck.

djunderfoot November 6 2006, 22:07:55 UTC

If you're mixing stuff of wildly different tempos, that's one thing -- definitely use intros and outros for that -- but if it's all moving along at more or less the same clip (125-135 BPM in your case), overlap those beats! Nothing takes a dancer out of the mood quicker than having to momentarily pause between tracks. You know this. I've heard you beatmatch ( ... )

frigidsiberia November 6 2006, 22:29:22 UTC

you're right, but i think while it could be a great help, i think learning to beatmatch is the best way instead of relying on software to do it. the only way to get better is to practice...

i think new material needs to get played and the more people hear it, the morefamiliar they get with it. a good way to try it out is to sandwich it between familiar songs. might not go over well but once people here it enough...they might dance.

i also think the instros/outros thing does kill the floor, but only if they are like a minute. i've had to use some creative ones that were very short 10 seconds or less. i suppose its all where you put your hot start and know when your song ends. :)

acidbathlove November 6 2006, 21:53:43 UTC

now they just need to make a plugin for it that reprimands the user when they play too many songs from 1998.

djunderfoot November 6 2006, 23:18:46 UTC

Yeah...no accounting for antiquated taste.

dubnobasswithme November 7 2006, 02:40:32 UTC

heh. while i too am not in a position to use something like this, it's an interesting idea. as you say, hopefully it will keep a few more dancefloors moving along.

also:

if it's all moving along at more or less the same clip (125-135 BPM in your case), overlap those beats!

i agree 100%. once i did BPM counts for all the tracks in my cd binder, it's really easy to piece together a set that not only is within a particular genre, but also is +/-5 BPM with all the other tracks. makes for fun mixing : ) when using the 9000s, you can even use that "key adjust" option to increase the BPM range since with that feature, speeding up the tracks won't make the vocalist sound like alvin, simon, or theodore.

djwhiterabbit November 7 2006, 16:05:27 UTC

automating mixing always == megalame.

you're no longer a dj at that point. why even bother to show up? just drop off your computer and leave.

i find myself more and more bored with djs who don't beatmatch, or at least who don't actively and creatively mix. i'm personally much more interested in the performance/mixing aspect of djing - otherwise if you're not going to mix, once again you might as well just make a compilation cd, drop it off, and leave.

djunderfoot November 8 2006, 04:42:38 UTC

As a dancer, I'd rather hear people "drag and drop" than "stop and start." Whatever makes the mix sound better. Some people don't need the assist, but some -- let's face it -- do.

I'm surprised that you'd totally poo-poo the idea of automixing. Imagine if you didn't have to spend the 1.5-2 minutes cueing -- you could mix 10 tracks in 10 minutes if you wanted. Sad in a way, but liberating in another. Think about it. You'd be more adventurous. You'd wind up tossing in different tracks and making tricky combinations you wouldn't have bothered with before. You know that book you keep? Gone.

I don't feel threatened by the technology, because anyone can be taught to go through the technical motions of beatmatching and EQing. That isn't special. Your taste in music and its arrangement, however, is.

djwhiterabbit November 8 2006, 14:46:17 UTC

first of all, i don't have to spend 1.5-2 minutes cueing - for almost all of my tracks, i have a cue point (and often one or two loops) written into the memory of the denons. i simply press Memo Call and in five seconds i have my cue points and loops ready to go ( ... )

djunderfoot November 11 2006, 03:18:15 UTC

'anyone' can be taught to go through the technical motions of beatmatching and EQing // I stand by that statement 100%. It's purely technical. Look at some levels...align some beats...move some faders and some knobs in the correct sequence...boom. It's not that those djs that aren't doing it CAN'T do it -- they're just not bothering to take the time to learn.

Similarly, anyone can be taught how to draw. But the real question is -- as with DJing -- will they bring any personal style/flair to it? Therein lies the key.