Beatmatching and Pitch Question

[Jamie D Music]

Whenever I've made a mix I've decided on the BPM at the beginning and then set all the MP3 tracks at that speed and made a note of the pitch settings. This means I have bits of paper everywhere and need to refer to it whenever I load a track. It also means if I wanted to play the track at a speed other than the BPM I originally set it to I wouldn't know where to set the pitch slider. I've got a book called DJ'ing for Dummies which explains about the % settings on pitch sliders but I'm still unclear on what I need to do if I want to be able to set a track at any BPM. I know vinyl DJ's write the normal BPM of the record on the sleeve so would a digital DJ using MP3 files do something similar and then calculate where they need to put the pitch slider to obtain the BPM they want based on the tracks BPM when the pitch slider is at zero?

I'm working on a mix which is 162 BPM but I want to gradually speed up the set which I've not done before. I have 20 tracks and I know the pitch settings to play all the tracks at 162 BPM but I want to become more versatile when setting the BPM. I can count the beats and calculate the BPM myself but this doesn't seem the most accurate way especially if I wanted to do precise beatmatching at a fast speed such as 190 BPM. I would imagine the speeds need to be exact so there is no drifting and I'm not spending the whole time making corrections.

In a nutshell what is the best way for me to start labelling my MP3 files so I know the exact starting BPM and can then set it at a BPM of choice within the range of the pitch slider?

[Era 7]

learn to beatmatch consistantly by ear? :shrug:

[DTR]

learn to beatmatch consistantly by ear? :shrug:

:stupid:

[Jamie D Music]

I can beatmatch by ear but I'm looking for a good method of labelling my MP3 files so I can instantly know the starting BPM and know where I need to set the pitch slider so it plays at a certain tempo which would make beatmatching easier as well. I've tried different software and on all of them the BPM it 'detects' on a track never seems to be accurate so I never rely on it and never use sync buttons. I want to learn the hard way and the first issue I need to look at is how to get in to a good habit of keeping on top of all my tracks BPM speeds so I dont have to refer to a piece of paper with pitch settings on it. If I can start relying on the pitch slider I will automatically improve at beatmatching. I've also tried the technique of riding the pitch control and it seems to be an effective way of quickly getting a cued track in sync but I've only just got a controller and could never try this technique properly with software so its a skill that will take time.

I'm interested to know how professional digital DJ's catalogue their tracks to make life easier when cuing a track.

[Hausgeist]

Whenever I've made a mix I've decided on the BPM at the beginning and then set all the MP3 tracks at that speed and made a note of the pitch settings.


I want to learn the hard way and the first issue I need to look at is how to get in to a good habit of keeping on top of all my tracks BPM speeds so I dont have to refer to a piece of paper with pitch settings on it. If I can start relying on the pitch slider I will automatically improve at beatmatching.

No. You're doing it wrong. Learn how to beatmatch by ear on the fly.


I've also tried the technique of riding the pitch control and it seems to be an effective way of quickly getting a cued track in sync

This.


its a skill that will take time.

And this. Get practicing.

[Finnish_Fox]

I'll sell you Traktor Pro 2... you can auto-sync and won't have to worry about any of this.

[Budzak]

Yea, you really shouldn't have to write notes like that. Honestly, just match by ear. It takes time and practice, but once you got it down, this whole business of trying to figure out percentages and stuff won't matter anymore.

And 'making corrections' is a thing you'll just have to do. That's why most DJ gear has platters, so you can nudge a track forward or back to get it on beat.

[Phi]

If you are mixing one track into another, letting it play out, and mixing into another there is No reason why you need to have a quick-traslation guide for bpms. If you know the starting bpms of both tracks, you know if you need to go up or down, and if you practice you turn this into muscle memory and kind of "know" where in the range of your pitchslider to go to, which is far better/easy/quicker than a reference guide.

[Jamie D Music]

Finnish Fox, Thanks for the offer and I plan on buying Traktor or Virtual DJ in the future but for now my software does the job. It has no auto sync and the visual display is small so when I mix I look away from the screen so I can really hear the music and learn the structure. I've also promised myself I wont use an auto sync function until I'm experienced at beatmatching and quickly finding a pitch (without bits of paper). If I used autosync now it would be like me learning how to use an auto pilot without being able to actually fly the plane!

Thanks for the advice guys thats made it clearer for me. I only got a controller a few weeks ago and until then I had spent 4 years just using a keyboard and mouse. Now I finally have faders and pitch sliders I can use it's already added a new dimension to my mixing and I've started experimenting with the pitch slider to get tracks in sync. Having a controller makes life so much easier I just wish I had got it 4 years ago!

[shepe]

im definitely with everyone else, it will take some practise but honestly stop using the paper scraps with your pitch settings on them now, it will only make it harder to learn by ear which you really need to do! thet key is just practise a lot!

[BurntToast]

Using the BPM readouts will drive you nuts. Two songs with the same readouts will not necessarily be in sync (even with the %'s given), and they sometimes jump around during the track, even when BPM doesn't change.

Use them as a starting point, but trust your ears after that.