Learning to DJ

[ravan]

If you plan to play out, I would advise against Live, as the warping algorithms that are required to quantize and beat-match the music are fairly destructive and your clips would need a good deal of processing to get them to decent quality again. I hear too many DJs who just warp their tracks and play them without paying attention to what warping algorithm they're using, or re-normalizing the gain because warping will actually cause the tracks to clip due to how it processes the grains. Without the right processing, which is way way way too time-consuming for the average working DJ, you'll get digital clipping, reduced bass playback, extremely harsh highs, and graining artifacts.

Traktor and Serato both have the same basic functionality as VDJ and Mixx, except they're more widely used by the working DJ community. There are also minor feature and layout differences, like Traktor having 4-deck playback, remix decks, wayyy more effects (designed in Reaktor), more flexible midi-programming for controllers, and a great abundance of controllers designed specifically for it (Kontrol S2/S4, X1, F1). Traktor is also slightly more affordable than Serato, although Serato does video playback and is or maybe already has introduced 4-deck playback.

I personally use Traktor, using digital vinyl control, and a custom APC40 mapping that handles track playback, transport, file transport, and effects so I never need to touch the computer. In general, Serato is quite popular in the US, Traktor in the UK, and you'll find that clubs will tend to have in-house gear accordingly. digitaldjtips.com is a most excellent resource to acquaint you with the finer points of digital DJing, and I think they might even have a buying guide.

[kennyda]

Great post Ravan! Lots of stuff to think over for me there, thanks!

The stuff you said about warping reducing sound quality. Let's say I drag a tack into Live and warp it. Surely there's and original version untouched, or you can just un-warp it? No?

[AndreBenoit]

If I were you I would take the time to learn to beatmatch with vinyl before moving onto the more technologically advanced equipment. One day you will agree to play a small venue in the early stages of your career & their setup will be utter turd, you will stand wondering how the hell any of your stuff is going to plug in to the mixer & how your CDs will play on this dusty old thing that says 1210 on it.
Once you can do it with vinyl, everything else with all it's creature comforts will feel like an absolute doddle....and you will be prepared for the nightmare situation of turning up to a club to have the owner tell you the cdjs are bust & his mixer was last updated in the 80s!

Andre

[kennyda]

Originally Posted by AndreBenoit

If I were you I would take the time to learn to beatmatch with vinyl before moving onto the more technologically advanced equipment. One day you will agree to play a small venue in the early stages of your career & their setup will be utter turd, you will stand wondering how the hell any of your stuff is going to plug in to the mixer & how your CDs will play on this dusty old thing that says 1210 on it.
Once you can do it with vinyl, everything else with all it's creature comforts will feel like an absolute doddle....and you will be prepared for the nightmare situation of turning up to a club to have the owner tell you the cdjs are bust & his mixer was last updated in the 80s!

Andre

It's a thought. Only snag is I have no decks, no recent records and no money. I'm not looking to become a DJ by the way, I want to blog the learning process. Do you carry a load of vinyl round just in case?

[ravan]

Originally Posted by kennyda

Great post Ravan! Lots of stuff to think over for me there, thanks!

The stuff you said about warping reducing sound quality. Let's say I drag a tack into Live and warp it. Surely there's and original version untouched, or you can just un-warp it? No?

You can definitely turn off warping. However, let's say you have one clip playing one song, and you are ready to launch a new clip/track to mix in. They may not be at the same bpm, and Live has no way of manipulating the pitch/playback speed of individual tracks or even clips. So in order for your new song to play back on beat, you have to have it warped so that all of the major transients (kicks and snares, basically) are quantized to the beat divisions. So in order to DJ with Live, you have to warp the audio and do so pretty accurately so it doesn't sound like sneakers in the dryer!

Live is still a very powerful performance and DJ tool, but it also has feature drawbacks that are covered by more traditional styles of DJing. I actually plan to sync Live with Traktor and use them together. I would highly recommend trying out a digital vinyl, cd, or midi control (w/ jog wheel) system just to get that visceral experience of interacting with the music, learning to beatmatch manually, etc... It's more emotionally involving, and I think it comes out in sets. Manual beat-matchng is mocked by some younger DJs I think because they're afraid of doing it, but the stress is a powerful emotional tool that is challenging and perhaps even unpleasant at first, but the emotional release that comes with each successful mix mounts, building your own energy, and you play different as such. It's like driving stick vs. automatic. One way draws you into the process, one way tries to make the process "easier." But with music, it's all about the process. Just my $0.02 (USD). Hah. Best regards.

[ChadP MIK]

Originally Posted by kennyda

The stuff you said about warping reducing sound quality. Let's say I drag a tack into Live and warp it. Surely there's and original version untouched, or you can just un-warp it? No?

Leaving the Ableton Live vs. Serato/Traktor vs. Vinyl debate aside and just answering your question, warping audio in Ableton is non-destructive. The original audio file is not affected. In the hands of an amateur warping can make your songs sound absolutely terrible, but with a little bit of knowledge you can get much better results and it's not that complicated. By default, Live uses the "Beats" algorithm for warping audio. As its name implies, this is meant to be used for basic drum patterns and that's about it. Warp a full arrangement with the beats algorithm and the audio artifacts are simply terrible. Switch to the "Complex" or "Complex Pro" warp modes though, and you can get away with a lot more warping without adversely affecting the audio quality. Your results will vary by how much you are changing the BPM, and the songs themselves. For example, I have noticed artifacts from warping piano and guitar tracks to be a lot more noticeable.

[AndreBenoit]

Originally Posted by kennyda

It's a thought. Only snag is I have no decks, no recent records and no money. I'm not looking to become a DJ by the way, I want to blog the learning process. Do you carry a load of vinyl round just in case?

I always have some vinyl in my gig bag, it's not so much of a just in case thing anymore but I definitely prefer it to scratch with & I have some classics that I enjoy playing from the real thing which always go down well if you hit a tough crowd!
You may not want to dj now but I guarantee you will want to by the end of your learning experience! A good lesson is being able to put all those technical aspects into practise whilst under pressure from a crowd wanting to be entertained, it also carries into a skill you cant learn in a bedroom in front of cdjs....learning to read a crowd & letting the music react accordingly! Its possibly the hardest thing iv ever had to learn & is probably more important than any technical skill because the average joe punter is too smashed to appreciate it on a night out

Andre

[kennyda]

I'm reading the posts with great interest. Got my first lesson next week. In the meantime I've been playing around with Mixed In Key and Mashup.

[AndreBenoit]

Mixed in key is a great tool to take mixes to the next level & "mixing in key" as a technique is great for controlling the energy levels of your mix cd or of the dancefloor. Be careful though because the program isn't infallible, but it has sped things up for me greatly rather than sitting playing tracks going up & down a keyboard but you still have to check at times.
It helped me to understand why some mixes just "work" & others clash or why some mixes feel flat coming out of them, regardless of how smooth the blend of tracks was or how tight the beatmatching.
I hope the lesson goes well, best of luck

Andre

[explorer]

Re: mixing in key - sometimes its nice to have a key clash. Depends on the tracks.

Re: warping - Nine times out of ten I use pitch mode. This is like speeding up or slowing down traditional vinyl or CD decks and gives the best sound quality.

Re: learning - I'd recommend learning the basics on traditional decks/CDJs and then progressing to stuff like Traktor or Ableton Live if you fancy it. For playing live I personally think CD decks are the best option (using memory sticks).

[kennyda]

How does a memory stick work with a CD deck?

[AndreBenoit]

The newer models have a USB port on the top, you just plug it in then scroll thru the tracks on the screen. If you're learning on something like a CDJ800 then this option isn't there, I think the 1000 mk3 onwards did & the 2000s definitely do (if you're lucky enough to be playing with these, you can also link upto 4 to 1 external HD or laptop & select all your tunes from there).
Some of the denon cd decks can play from a hard disc if I remember rightly as well, personally I don't think djs should turn up with nothing more that a headphone bag & pocket full of USBs but I guess for international gigs you dont want to lug loads of stuff about

Andre

[kennyda]

So how do you beat match/scratch and so on? Do you still put a physical CD on the deck if the tracks are on a USB stick?

[AndreBenoit]

The brains of the cdj load the entire track & the scratching / beat matching is done from the top platter/pitch adjust which depending on the make & model, may spin like a proper turntable or just sit until you move it as the pioneer cdjs do.

Andre

[kennyda]

Cool! I've got a Pioneer Ergo coming to learn/review/write tutorial soon, fingers crossed. Should be fun!