Which program should i use?

I almost @ end of my 2nd year course studying music technology

All the teachers there taught us that Pro Tools, Pro Logic and Cubase the most professional of DAW's for sequencing, programming and mastering. thruogh i would go with cubase 5..........

If you looking for on the fly remixes and mash-up's apparently Ableton is the best (its award winning lol) if get into uni ok will be using ableton myself :)
 
And how hard is beatmatching? Ive never tried it

lke riding a bike, in short its piss easy! hence why every1 is so dope on the 1's n 2's, y even your next door neighbours gran is a hard trance dj...........

through after time you eventually realise, ppl give as fuck more about the tunes you pick in a mix rather than how fast u cut a beat and how many layers of fx u can apply over a mix while ripping a bong or something fancy lke that
 
im not saying dont eventually get 1210's, cause they are good. I just meant they are expensive, and not worth buying for your first set unless your parents are making like $500k+ a year and buying them for you. there are good to decent turntables that are much cheaper, and that will allow a beginner to practice.

Plus, if you get shitty turntables and learn on them, anything better will be a piece of cake. Wisdom told to me from a DJ whos been doing his thing for 15 years.

I made the mistake of getting a cheap set of belt drive Numark turntables when I was 16, after a while I found out how crap they were and brought a set of Citronic direct drive but again after a while reliesed I needed Technics, had I known I'd of saved up from the start and got a set of 1210's.
 
lke riding a bike, in short its piss easy! hence why every1 is so dope on the 1's n 2's, y even your next door neighbours gran is a hard trance dj...........

through after time you eventually realise, ppl give as fuck more about the tunes you pick in a mix rather than how fast u cut a beat and how many layers of fx u can apply over a mix while ripping a bong or something fancy lke that

Load of rubbish. The amount of bedroom dj's who think they can mix when in reality they cant is unreal. I have loads of mates that think the same as you untill they actually try to mix 2 tunes together. I have seen plenty of dj's who can play great at home play out for the 1st time and crumble behind the decks and bang out loads of dogey mixes. Nobody can beat match 100% perfect consistantly with vinyl and it takes year upon years to get close.
 
Load of rubbish. The amount of bedroom dj's who think they can mix when in reality they cant is unreal. I have loads of mates that think the same as you untill they actually try to mix 2 tunes together. I have seen plenty of dj's who can play great at home play out for the 1st time and crumble behind the decks and bang out loads of dogey mixes. Nobody can beat match 100% perfect consistantly with vinyl and it takes year upon years to get close.

well ok if we going to ge techmnical here, are you on about mixing in your bedroom or mixing live in front of couple hundred ppl on say 2k P.A ?

Oviously no-1 can beatmatch 100% perfectly (scientifically its imposs) but mixing two tunes together in heart of ya own home or mates house aint exactly the complex

I learnt beatmatching in 2004/5 by accident, it took me around 2-3 months to gtet it preety much right

but sorry bollocks it dont take year upon year (i been doing it 7 years) and it did'nt take me that long at all, the feeling is mutual with ppl i work with @ college.
 
if its live thats different story, i have done few festivals, 1 club and couple of partys in all honesty and majority of my mixes when playing live are shit! but thats down mainly to my nerves, dj equip playing on, atmosphere and how ya feeling (and fairplay my 1st decks were citronic pd1's to)
 
beatmatching aint exactly a piece of piss.
even if you have an affinity for it it takes years to really perfect it.
I could beat match decent 2-3 minute mixes after a year.
Now I can match a record in seconds to within a fraction of the amount of pitch adjustment required, its instinctual.
I like using 3 turntables... thats a challenge!

Personally I almost never actually fuck up a mix, and i havent train wrecked in about 10 years, but, its my job, and im an old man! Having said that, just matching the bpm aint enough, its all about the perfect moment to mix in and out, to cut, to drop, and the perfect eq balance as your new record comes in.

oh, and sorry if its long winded, but some of the following info may be helpful for those trying to figure out what they want out of electronic music....

The definition of a DJ gets disputed here and there and to be honest I dont have time to devote to splitting hairs on forums, but what essentially a DJ does is mix tracks together by matching the bpm (manually/anologue/digital whatever) and bringing in the selected track to fit the one playing already and then by whatever means fading from one to the other.
of course their is lots more to it than that especially when it comes to turntablism and scratching.

ableton is great, i love to use it, but its not the first choice for mixing. in fact you cant really "DJ" with it easily, as it is best for making music/designing a set etc.

if you want to get started with DJing and you have a PC I suggest you use software that emulates turntables.
Virtual DJ is a good starter - but you will need an audio interface (cheapest adequate one is M-Audio Connectiv)
the reason you need this is to seperate the sound to two channels of a Dj mixer, and so you can hear the upcoming track in your phones.
without this, you only have one audio output so you cant easily mix from one track to another.
Another thing you'll need is a cheap DJ mixer. Anything will do. just make sure it has two channels and a crossfader. something like vestax Pcv will suffice.
Using virtual Dj you can load mp3s to two virtual turtables and manipulate them as you would real records.

if you have a bit more cash i suggest using something like serato or traktor and buying the audio interfaces that come with them.
this is because you can use vinyl control records to manipulate the mp3s, and therefore "beatmatch" on real turntables. this is not necessary but it will gain you more respect (if you care - personally i think anything goes), but most importantly it will give you better experience as a dj, and make you more versatile and able to mix using a range of media. For example, you will be able to go "back to back" with another DJ, where you each play a track and mix in to the others last track. if that person is playing records or cds, you wouldnt be able to do this if you dont learn to beatmatch. Also if your pc crashes, you cant resque the situation by whacking on a cd or records and mixing in.

if your broke go M-Audio and cheap mixer. and use the supplied Torq soft or "Virtual DJ" which is better if you aren't planning to use vinyl control.


If you want to keep it old school and learn from the turntable upwards, It is the best way to really discover how to mix and tune your ears to beat matching. It is also SO FUCKING PLEASING when you pull of mix after mix, where the records are bang in time and you dont even need to make any adjustments. That is a great feeling.
But for those here saying technics 1210’s are the only way.... I say this;
everyone has their own advice.
I am not saying by any means that my advice is correct and others are incorrect, however i can give you my subjective opinion, based on 20 years in the music industry, Currently DJing and organising/producing/promoting in far east Asia, whilst running my own record label. Not trying to boast. Just confirming that i feel qualified to be confident in my advice.
Which is Dont hold out for technic 1210s.
You know how many people i know who could have started years ago, and become fantastic DJs, grown up with the rest of us, but are now just learning the ropes and have missed the boat entirely cause they "held out" for technics.
Bollocks mate.
get any old pair of Direct Drive turntables you can, and a basic 2 channel mixer with crossfader and rock and roll. I didnt even use technics until I got my first gig, didn't even buy them until I'd set up my own label, and you know what, it'll make you a better DJ!
I learnt on belt drive gemini's i believe, and my next upgrade were battered old stanton ST direct drives, which i still have in blighty.
you get what you can afford and learn on them. you will learn a very fine touch and understanding of analogue bpm adjustment, and when you step up to DJ at a gig or perform at a club/party, it will feel like a piece of piss!
I was well nervous my first gig, 2 mixes in i thought FUCK ME! this is easy!

Having played around the world in squats, clubs, pubs, bars, raves, festivals etc im thankful i had a shit set up at home. cause you'll encounter a great many sketchy set ups on your way through the DJ scene, but you'll be able to cope with them. Half the guys i know who learnt on the best of the best, get absolutely panic stricken when they play out and say, one deck is fucked, or the needle jumps, or the weight aint right, or the torque has dissapeared from lack of service/overuse. me? its no biggie. however thankfully i dont encounter many sketchy set ups these days.
even my set up at home aint as good as the one in my shop!
i like it that way.
learn on anything that you can get your hands on man!

though 1) get good/medium range headphones 2) make sure your speakers/monitors aint toooo shoddy 3) make sure the tables are direct drive 4) make sure your needles are decent enough 5) make sure the tone arms/weights aren't in too bad condition on the tables


rock on

DJ
 
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if its live thats different story, i have done few festivals, 1 club and couple of partys in all honesty and majority of my mixes when playing live are shit! but thats down mainly to my nerves, dj equip playing on, atmosphere and how ya feeling (and fairplay my 1st decks were citronic pd1's to)

But if beat matching is a piece of piss and so easy nerves should make little difference mate?
I used to love my Citronics when I had them, 1st direct drive deck I had and not made of total plastic. Usless fact -The Citronic HQ/Plant used to be just down the road from me.
 
well posted mate.


If anyone has any detailed queries about the differences and quirks of each indiviidual software, Im available for q's.
Im a music producer and record label owner/dj and know most software pretty well.

happy mixing guys and girls

=]

Do you have any experience playing live in Ableton?
I'll be taking stems (Kick, Bass, Perc, Pads, FX, Leads) into Ableton from Cubase as 16bit WAV (I produce in Cubase).

Having some issues with the mixing of the tracks and dealing with varying BPMs. I'm not going to hijack this thread, but may have to PM you if you think you can help :)
 
=]

Do you have any experience playing live in Ableton?
I'll be taking stems (Kick, Bass, Perc, Pads, FX, Leads) into Ableton from Cubase as 16bit WAV (I produce in Cubase).

Having some issues with the mixing of the tracks and dealing with varying BPMs. I'm not going to hijack this thread, but may have to PM you if you think you can help :)

pm me mate.
Im flying over to Seoul this morning to Dj tonight, but ill get back to you when feet hit studio on sunday.

peace
 
Gah, how do I stop being green light? Can I respond to PMs sent to me?

If not, Mr 303; here is some of the issues I've had which I asked on another forum too.

Click Me

Should be ableton hehe to see this :)
 
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