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  • Mix Club - The Remedial Class

Dubman no. That’s what I meant about it being piss easy. I didn’t know you could do that? I’m not putting a piece of electrical tape on a touch screen. 😃

      Homegrove Forgive ignorance etc etc.

      So using your XDJs, you guarantee the two records are moving at the exact same speed, but as not using sync, you’re in control of releasing and aligning them before you start your transition?

      I ask, because like you, I get piss bored using the ‘full’ sync on Traktor…

          vinnyt77 yes. Well it’s not exactly the same speed, but with 0.02 pitch accuracy with the +/- 6 setting it’s almost as close as.

            Homegrove
            Have found using synch is boring as fuck.

            Use it as a cheat every now and then if I can’t quite time it

              Over the last 5 or 6 weeks I’ve started to record my mixes. It’s amazing the difference that practice makes to the process. I know that sounds like an obvious thing to say, but I had just never been bothered to do it before. I’ve just listened back to a 90 minute mix I did yesterday and it is so much better than the mix I did 6 weeks ago - nowhere near perfect or something I would want to publish, nor is it anywhere near the standards of the Hannu/Unbroken mixes that get posted.

              It’s really kept me motivated to keep practicing - although saying that, there is the odd time where you listen back and think ‘could that have been any worse!’

                gcw
                Good man, great to hear.

                @303abuser and @Dubman encouraged me to post one to get some feedback. Took me a while to get the balls to do but was well worth it.

                Wise heads 👍

                  4 months later

                  After about 4 years I got a new residency in town, the bar/ lounge section of a new restaurant once a month playing electronica and indie. Should be a lot of fun, and I’ve badly needed a reason to start buying that kind of music again. I’ve just listened to it on Tidal. I used to do those gigs a lot up until 2018 or so.

                  • gcw replied to this.

                    Homegrove good stuff Hannu. Its a proper buzz playing out isn’t it. I may have a gig lined up for early next year, my first actual non wedding/party gif for about 15 years lol. I may actually have to buy new music for it!

                      Christ, getting together a playlist for a six hour gig where you can’t just belt out your current prog favorites is a lot of work. Especially with my method for gigs where I take double the tunes I have time to play and do the night out of those.

                        14 days later

                        Played my first wedding gig last night in ages. I stopped doing them awhile ago, because despite the good pay they are too much work. Made an exception last night because a couple approached me and said it’s a horror-themed wedding. That sounded interesting, and after getting a Spotify-list with the kind of music they were after I was firmly on board. It was so much fun, got paid great, and I almost never get to play these kinds of sets anymore. Tracklist from Rekordbox:

                        1 Danny Elfman - This is Halloween
                        2 John Carpenter - Halloween
                        3 Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi’s Dead
                        4 Kyle Dixon - Stranger Things
                        5 John Carpenter - Escape from New York
                        6 Julee Cruise - Into the Night
                        7 Wet Waxies - Queen Knight
                        8 Death In Vegas - Witchdance Dub (Dub)
                        9 Da Iguana - Sombra Selvatica
                        10 Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
                        11 Massive Attack - Teardrop
                        12 The Cure - Lullaby
                        13 Róisín Murphy - Overpowered
                        14 Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
                        15 Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels
                        16 The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf
                        17 Screamin’ Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell On You (Alternate Take)
                        18 Depeche Mode - I Feel You
                        19 KC & The Sunshine Band - I’m Your Boogie Man
                        20 David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
                        21 Type O Negative - Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare -All)
                        22 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
                        23 Ramones - Pet Sematary
                        24 Siouxsie And The Banshees - Spellbound
                        25 Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions
                        26 Goldfrapp - Strict Machine
                        27 The Knife - Heartbeats
                        28 Placebo - Every You Every Me
                        29 We Have Band - Divisive
                        30 Depeche Mode - Behind the Wheel
                        31 New Order - Blue Monday (2011 Total Version)
                        32 Pet Shop Boys - It’s a Sin
                        33 House of Pain - Jump Around
                        34 Beastie Boys - Sabotage
                        35 Timo Maas - Help Me (feat. Kelis)
                        36 Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up (Pt. 1)
                        37 Moloko - Sing It Back (Boris Dlugosch Mix)
                        38 SNAP! - Rhythm Is A Dancer (12′' Version)
                        39 Underworld - Born Slippy (Nuxx)
                        40 The Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance)
                        41 Blur - Song 2
                        42 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
                        43 Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade
                        44 Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
                        45 Garbage - #1 Crush (Nellee Hooper Mix)
                        46 Nine Inch Nails - Closer
                        47 Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

                          Sounds fun H. I’m guessing there wasn’t much in the way of mixing and it was more of a one track stops the next track starts thing?

                            Earlier this year, after taking guidance from this very board, I purchased a Pioneer DJ controller - the DDJ400. I had never previously had any experience of digital mixing or dj’ing at that point, I had only ever used vinyl.

                            My initial thoughts are that it almost feels a little bit like cheating? Being able to see the BPM of the track, and the key, as well as the beat counter along the top means that the actual basics of beatmatching are totally covered arent they? It allows freedom to focus on the actual transition itself, but it still feels a bit too ‘easy’ if you get what I mean? And then there is the master sync button which has got me wondering - is that used a lot do you think? What is to stop a DJ turning up, and using master sync on every single mix in a set?

                            I can see that there are hot cues, and loops etc but I havent looked into that yet really. It’s certainly a fun piece of kit and has opened up a whole new library for me - I go to beatport/bandcamp now and pick up about £20 worth of tunes and that tides me over for a month or so. Although file management is probably going to be an issue over time as my library grows.

                            Would be keen to hear others experiences of digital mixing - is the functionality of the DDJ400 similar across all of these digital mixers/controllers? I would be worried that I’d go to a gig expecting it to work like my kit, but then it would be a whole different interface!