Beat matching habits (Page 1 of 2)

people don't really listen, unless they are djs themselves, then they will keep bragging if the beat was correctly matched or not, blah blah blah. Nevertheless people will feel, just make your transition as they would sound proper, beat matching or not it is all the same, as long as it sounds good. Beat matching tracks that don't fit together, even to the perfect beat, will sound awful, or trying to play disco like you'd play techno, will also sound horrible, 3 beat matched, one not, whatever, there are no rules, just do it with your ears.

if you are good, you'll make a nice flow.

http://www.robotsforrobots.net/viewtopic.php?id=9161

We had an allday halloween party in a club the other week, every dj had a different approach.. some pre-plan the set to the extent of writing every track down with the according pitch & time to be mixed wtf..i mean where is the fun in that? Me i just wing it, drink beer & try not to make it sound like a herd of wildebeest falling down a flight of stairs.  
I think getting caught up in linear beat mixing only is just dj's getting self indulgent.....blending tracks correctly, ie eq'ing, mix a track with a beatless intro all valid and can have an impackt, depending on the context bar/club.
Anyway, if you bring dope records...they'll like what you tell them to like

Edit: i should point out that i can't beat match to save myself....

@ most complicated robot
"people don't really listen, unless they are djs themselves,..."
-> i'm not a dj. but i listen. especially when on the dancefloor. nothing worse than a bad transition (okay, bad music is even more worse)... it can ruin the whole vibe.

DumbBot name and shame the BPM/track writer.

I find it more relaxing to play out, than say doing mixes for home listening.  Seem to be more carefee; stop one tune to play another at diff tempo and the like.
Still sounds shite tho.

im with the queen here, 100%. im no dj either, cannot even mix. but i listen. and i dance. and theres just few things worse than bad transitions. a bad transition can totally interrupt your flow, your mood, your fun on the dancefloor. even worse when the records have no connection to each other at all, when they neither match in style, tempo nor atmosphere. think: an uplifting disco track, then a tranition that hurts, then a sad cosmic ambient track. and i believe most people will feel the same, even if they dont collect records, but just care a little. i agree though that it depends on the records a lot, too, of course. okay transitions are fine, no need to be the perfect dj. as long as the records are great.
it can be different though for other occasions. i used to do tapes that i used to listen to while driving. no mixing, just whole track after whole track. and that was okay for me.

Play great tunes and make smooth transitions or you're a crap dj
No, of course selection is an important part of the job, but no one likes a trainwreck mix either..
Blending (many) different styles in one set is not everyone's cup of tea.. better give it some trial and error at home before playing out in public

@Ray: I fully agree about the laptop dj's, but there's still a difference between playing digital with vinyl timecode + regular mixer and playing the whole thing with just a controller.. For me the first option is the same as playing with cd's e.g.
You can extend some parts of the track (idem with pioneer cdj's), but in the end you still have to mix them like a normal record

@ fossa
"that the fine quartz phasing system in the sl1200's makes the platter slow down or speed up in "increments" if nudged around."
-> this is because of the magnet and coils that are inside the technics. if you nudge the platter the position detected coils try to detect the position of the platter by picking up the magnetic fields of the coils that are mounted on the axle. i don't know, but i guess if there were more position detected coils inside it wouldn't do that slow down and speed up in increments thing. maybe there is someone (for ex herr 66) here who has more technical knowledge than me to explain it better.

also check: http://www.djresource.eu/Topics/story/7 … Principle/ and scroll down to "The Technics SL1200 Platter with Permanent magnet" and "Position Detection and Drive Coils"

"I'd like to hear some comments about using this to your advantage or what i can do differently with this..."
-> i don't think that you can use this to your advantage... i think this is more some kind of disadvantage, no? that's why mick for ex always uses the pitch (you will never really see him nudging around when playing) or ig for ex uses a lot the 33/45 buttons to adjust the beats.

@ rude66
"but aehm.. isn't this what slipmats were invented for? so you nudge the record on vit mat but the platter still spins?"
-> i always thought the slipmat was invented for making it easier to scratch, etc. because with the rubber underneath the vinyl would stick to the rubber and than the needle can easily skip. but yeah, you are right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipmat
so i guess it depends on your aehm... nudging skills.

but... with nudging skills i mean the way you nudge. if you only nudge the record then it works. but if you nudge the platter it won't work means it will do that slow down and speed up in increments thing. sie verstehen?

A very interesting topic indeed Sorcerio!

I feel that a combination of beat mixing as well as melodies mixing or whatever you could call it, is the ideal way to play, especially if you work at a bar or a cafe where music is not supposed to make people dance as if they are in a club.

Funny you mention that. The thing that got me thinking about this was listening to my music library on random. It went from a Patrick Cowley track to a Space Art track and the mood brought about by the change was excellent. They really went together well. Of course the tempos were vastly different. I'm always looking for good-sounding combinations and transitions, and you can only do so much when you limit yourself to the tracks that are within 5 beats of each other.

I guess there is such a thing as an eclectic dj. That term turns me off though. I get thoughts of somebody going from Eazy-E to John Denver to Negativland to Mozart to whatever.

I'm not dancing... you suck?