Mix Club - The Remedial Class
Good advice from amps, check the mix in a different environment.
Also, itās possible to have two track that are synced too well and you get phase cancellation on the kicks, causing them to sound hollow and a bit off. A slight drag on the platter to nudge them off time should fix that quickly though. I
If the center hole of the record is a bit too big/loose, that can cause the tempo wobble; thatās easily fixed with a bit of folded paper jammed in.
Vinyl is finicky, thatās why I find those mixes way more interesting to listen to. Perfect is boring.
- Edited
Agree with all the points above. Would just add that the older the track is, the more likely that the tempo will drift because it was made by a human using a basic drum machine trying to keep time, whereas these days it will be perfect because it is computer-generated. Added to that you are basically using lumps of plastic that can warp over time, the quality of the signal it produces can deteriorate if played too much or scratched or just general wear and tear. Plus, you probably didnāt notice beats that were out of time 20 years ago as much but because everyone is now accustomed to nice clean digital mixes, vinyl fluctuations are much more noticeable.
Even with current technology available, modern music producers like to inject an element of swing into the tracks to stop them sounding too robotic. It might be that the kicks sound fine but the quarter and sixteenth notes sound a bit off which is done intentionally because it provides the swing or the groove of the track. Think about soulful house that may use a lot of percussive effects or techno tracks that are meant to sound slightly behind the beat even though they arenāt.
Thanks, good insight.
Agree on the clean digital comment. Weāre so used to perfect mixes that itās a real surprise when a beat is off.
whatever Even with current technology available, modern music producers like to inject an element of swing into the tracks to stop them sounding too robotic. It might be that the kicks sound fine but the quarter and sixteenth notes sound a bit off which is done intentionally because it provides the swing or the groove of the track. Think about soulful house that may use a lot of percussive effects or techno tracks that are meant to sound slightly behind the beat even though they arenāt.
Thatās a really good point too. I know that kicks are usually the only percussion I put right on the grid. My snares are always a touch early, the main ātime keepingā hat is usually late, the rest of the hats and percs are manually nudged to fit a groove. Throw in delays that arenāt time-synced and that will explain why even modern tracks can be difficult to mix together, even when the keys match.
- Edited
gcw two x technics
In how good condition are the technics and how old are they? Have they been repaired or recalibrated recently? Is the pitch fader smooth? etc.
A solid pair of technics can stay steady remarkably well, but itās also possible to have decks that can drift a bit, and where the speed might be a tad inconsistent even if youāre not moving the pitch bend at the time. This can make super smooth transitions very tough.
What did the service cost out of interest?
Canāt remember exactly but I wanna say Ā£100 or less. It was a chap that only works within the m25. So I had to drag my decks to work (which was within the m25) and he met me there.
Was an interesting character , he was/is a sound engineer and had been involved in the scene for many years
- Edited
Did you have the details mate. Iām within the M25 and Iāve got an issue with sound only coming out of one speaker with one of my decks. Probably only a loose connection and will take a look myself, but might need a bit of professional help depending on the problem.
Edit - is it this guy?
https://en-gb.facebook.com/theoriginaldeckdoctor/
Edit 2 - Iāve just taken the deck down and given the cables a bit of a wiggle and itās working again so might not need him after all.
Cheers. Iāve heard others recommend him in the past but forgot his name. Hopefully my own service will hold out but will get him in if required.
The hard-wired cables on 1210s are a bit of a ball-ache - the Vestax PDX-2000ās I had prior to the Technics had jacks out of the decks which was much better
Old-Dutch Edit 2 - Iāve just taken the deck down and given the cables a bit of a wiggle and itās working again so might not need him after all.
You beat me to it. Iāve got the same problem. I thought it was my mixer to start with but once I started fiddling with the cables it sounded much better. I really need to buy some new cartridges & needles.
This took an interesting turn.
Out for a couple of hours and suddenly everyoneās meeting random blokes round the m25 for a āserviceā
Soundcheck done, everything worked as itās supposed to. I like the way theyād set it up, neither digi DJ or vinyl DJ feels worse then the other.