FutureAeons
Ex-Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2001
- Messages
- 3,492
Thanks and credit for this goes to RavinRabbi for writing this much needed FAQ on beatmatching.
--------------------------------------------
Ok, here we go:
Everything you ever wanted to know about beatmatching....well, ok, here's something I pulled out of my ass anyway.
Beatmatching, if you didn't know, is simply getting the beats of two records to hit at exactly the same time. First lets get some basic definitions out of the way.
Straightbeat- Beats hit on the one, two, three and four of a measure.
Breakbeats- Centered around the snare hitting on the 2 and 4. This includes all breakbeats(breaks, jungle etc)
Measure- In electronic music it's always 4/4. In case you forgot what you learned in elementary music class, this means that there's essentially 4 beats to the measure.
Stanza aka Phrasing- Groups of measures that make up the standard loop in electronic music. Actual number may vary, but they're always in multiples of 8.
So, now you know some of the terms, so let's get on to some of the basic concepts. Matching breakbeats and straightbeats work the same, except that you're only matching the 2 and 4 in breaks. So here's the lowdown on how you get about doing this. First, you have the first record playing over the speakers, we'll call this record A. The record you intend to mix into is on the other table, which we'll call record B. The first step in matching the beats is called cueing. Listen to the record play for a second and figure out where the measures are starting. Now, count along for a couple measures. What you're going to do, is, using your hand, hold the record in place when it hits the beat on one. You can make sure you've got the record in the right spot by pushing and pulling it under the needle and hearing the beat hit(this will be sort of a whomp sound, trust me, it sounds alot different than anything in between the beats.) Now, listen to Record A in the same way that you did Record B. Count along with the measures for a little bit and get a good feel for the beats. Your goal is to start Record B at the same time that Record A is dropping the one beat. At this time(if you're really fucking lucky-cause it's gonna take you a while to get this down) the records are playing in synch. Of course, chances are the records aren't recorded at the same speed. This means that the beats are going to start separating. The key to beatmatching is being able to tell if the record that you're cuing(Record B) is getting ahead of, or behind, Record A. As this happens, push on the label, or rub your finger along the dots on the side of the platter(people do this in other places, it's completely up to you) to speed up, or slow down the record. As you do this, adjust the pitch bar accordingly to try and match the speeds of the two records. It's gonna take practice to get used to how much adjusting you're going to have to do.
Don't get frusturated at first if you can't manage to do this before Record A ends. A good way to start is to get two copies of the same record, and match those. Your goal right now is to learn to hear whether the cued record is going faster or slower than the one playing. Once the speeds of the records are very close, go back to the beginning of Record B. Find the first beat of the first measure, and hold the record there. If you've got a while to go before the end of Record A, hit the stop button, and just leave the record there until you're ready.
Now, this is where measures and phrasing come in. As you learn more about the style of music you play, you'll start picking up on what kind of phrasing the producers are using. What you want to do, is find the start of a stanza on Record A, and start Record B at this point. This isn't very important to you right now, but keep it in mind because you'll want to get back to it once you have beatmatching pretty solidly.
I guess now on to some tips and tricks. For one, never manipulate the record that is either playing over the system, or is louder on the system. A person with a good ear can hear this. Second, learn to not only hear the beat, but to feel it. Sometimes the beat is either very difficult to hear(downtempo and ambient) or drops out for a while(such as during a break.) If you're good, you can feel the beat, and keep adjusting the record through this time. Also try and match beats that sound somewhat similar. Some beats that sound drastically different can be extremely difficult to mix.
I guess since we're talking about beatmatching, I'll throw in a bit about pitch bending. If you're just learning to mix, don't even look at this right now. I wouldn't suggest learning to pitch bend until you've completely mastered beatmatching. So what is pitch bending? Pitch bending is matching the records using only the pitch bar, and not actually touching the record. So how do you do this? Overcompensate when adjusting the pitch. Lets say a record sounds like it's about .5% too slow. What you would do is adjust past .5(how much is completely up to you) until the records are back in synch, then move it back to .5. It's ackward at first, but force yourself not to touch the record and it'll become second nature to you.
This is far from a comprehensive guide to beatmatching, but hopefully it'll help get you on your way. No amount of reading or watching others can subsitute for practice, and that's the only way you're going to get it down(plus you're friends/roommates are probably gonna hate you for a few weeks ). I'd also advise with starting simple. Stick with solid straight beats(simple house or hard house is pretty easy to learn on) or fairly straight forward breaks. More complicated beats will just confuse you when you're starting out. So I wouldn't exactly advise jumping straight into the amens, or abstract beats. So, practice practice practice, and give it about a month or so.
Good luck!
------------------
For addtional info on beatmatching, mixing, equipment, and most everthing you need to know to get started DJing, click the link below. It's a great site.
http://www.recess.co.uk/beginning.html
[ 05 January 2002: Message edited by: FutureAeons ]
--------------------------------------------
Ok, here we go:
Everything you ever wanted to know about beatmatching....well, ok, here's something I pulled out of my ass anyway.
Beatmatching, if you didn't know, is simply getting the beats of two records to hit at exactly the same time. First lets get some basic definitions out of the way.
Straightbeat- Beats hit on the one, two, three and four of a measure.
Breakbeats- Centered around the snare hitting on the 2 and 4. This includes all breakbeats(breaks, jungle etc)
Measure- In electronic music it's always 4/4. In case you forgot what you learned in elementary music class, this means that there's essentially 4 beats to the measure.
Stanza aka Phrasing- Groups of measures that make up the standard loop in electronic music. Actual number may vary, but they're always in multiples of 8.
So, now you know some of the terms, so let's get on to some of the basic concepts. Matching breakbeats and straightbeats work the same, except that you're only matching the 2 and 4 in breaks. So here's the lowdown on how you get about doing this. First, you have the first record playing over the speakers, we'll call this record A. The record you intend to mix into is on the other table, which we'll call record B. The first step in matching the beats is called cueing. Listen to the record play for a second and figure out where the measures are starting. Now, count along for a couple measures. What you're going to do, is, using your hand, hold the record in place when it hits the beat on one. You can make sure you've got the record in the right spot by pushing and pulling it under the needle and hearing the beat hit(this will be sort of a whomp sound, trust me, it sounds alot different than anything in between the beats.) Now, listen to Record A in the same way that you did Record B. Count along with the measures for a little bit and get a good feel for the beats. Your goal is to start Record B at the same time that Record A is dropping the one beat. At this time(if you're really fucking lucky-cause it's gonna take you a while to get this down) the records are playing in synch. Of course, chances are the records aren't recorded at the same speed. This means that the beats are going to start separating. The key to beatmatching is being able to tell if the record that you're cuing(Record B) is getting ahead of, or behind, Record A. As this happens, push on the label, or rub your finger along the dots on the side of the platter(people do this in other places, it's completely up to you) to speed up, or slow down the record. As you do this, adjust the pitch bar accordingly to try and match the speeds of the two records. It's gonna take practice to get used to how much adjusting you're going to have to do.
Don't get frusturated at first if you can't manage to do this before Record A ends. A good way to start is to get two copies of the same record, and match those. Your goal right now is to learn to hear whether the cued record is going faster or slower than the one playing. Once the speeds of the records are very close, go back to the beginning of Record B. Find the first beat of the first measure, and hold the record there. If you've got a while to go before the end of Record A, hit the stop button, and just leave the record there until you're ready.
Now, this is where measures and phrasing come in. As you learn more about the style of music you play, you'll start picking up on what kind of phrasing the producers are using. What you want to do, is find the start of a stanza on Record A, and start Record B at this point. This isn't very important to you right now, but keep it in mind because you'll want to get back to it once you have beatmatching pretty solidly.
I guess now on to some tips and tricks. For one, never manipulate the record that is either playing over the system, or is louder on the system. A person with a good ear can hear this. Second, learn to not only hear the beat, but to feel it. Sometimes the beat is either very difficult to hear(downtempo and ambient) or drops out for a while(such as during a break.) If you're good, you can feel the beat, and keep adjusting the record through this time. Also try and match beats that sound somewhat similar. Some beats that sound drastically different can be extremely difficult to mix.
I guess since we're talking about beatmatching, I'll throw in a bit about pitch bending. If you're just learning to mix, don't even look at this right now. I wouldn't suggest learning to pitch bend until you've completely mastered beatmatching. So what is pitch bending? Pitch bending is matching the records using only the pitch bar, and not actually touching the record. So how do you do this? Overcompensate when adjusting the pitch. Lets say a record sounds like it's about .5% too slow. What you would do is adjust past .5(how much is completely up to you) until the records are back in synch, then move it back to .5. It's ackward at first, but force yourself not to touch the record and it'll become second nature to you.
This is far from a comprehensive guide to beatmatching, but hopefully it'll help get you on your way. No amount of reading or watching others can subsitute for practice, and that's the only way you're going to get it down(plus you're friends/roommates are probably gonna hate you for a few weeks ). I'd also advise with starting simple. Stick with solid straight beats(simple house or hard house is pretty easy to learn on) or fairly straight forward breaks. More complicated beats will just confuse you when you're starting out. So I wouldn't exactly advise jumping straight into the amens, or abstract beats. So, practice practice practice, and give it about a month or so.
Good luck!
------------------
For addtional info on beatmatching, mixing, equipment, and most everthing you need to know to get started DJing, click the link below. It's a great site.
http://www.recess.co.uk/beginning.html
[ 05 January 2002: Message edited by: FutureAeons ]
