Rob587 said:
Well, I now have Traktor DJ Studio, and its really cool. The only problem is that I find it like impossible to use. All I can do is sort of make a loop and play two songs at once.(when I do it sounds really bad, eventhough I try to sync them and match the beats) I just feel like I have no idea how the thing works. Any suggestions?
Ok, I've been mixing with 2 1200s, the old school MK2's for about 15 years. About 2 years ago I bought the original Final Scratch system. Which came with an old version of Traktor. Anyways, I recently moved into a new apartment and do not have any room to set up my turntables
(don't ask me to sell them, I would never part with them). So, I decided to find out what it would be like to mix mp3s with just the traktor software. So I got Traktor DJ Studio 2, and OMG. It took me about a day to discover the Beat Grid. The beat grid lets you make PERFECT mixes without even any headphones and just the software and some good mp3s. Bare in mind if you want to learn how to beatmatch like by ear... don't use the beat grid. But, it's quite a pain to have to constantly adjust the pitch bend and tempo, at least with the Traktor Software (not with Final Scratch).
To break things down. I am gonna show you exactly how to tap into the awesome power of the Beat Grid.
Firstly, you need to understand how electronic music is arranged. You don't need to know anything about measures and time signatures unless you are producing your own stuff. All you need to know is that 99% of all electronic music uses 16 beat loops and after every 32 beats there is a new musical transition. The reason I am explaining this to you is so you know what a 'Downbeat' is. A true 'Downbeat' is the first beat after every 32 beats. It's the beat that starts the new transition. Some lazy Dj's will use the beat right after the 1st 16 beats as their downbeat. Don't get into this habit. You're mixes will sound like they are constantly jumping around and not sound syncronized. Wait for the true 'Downbeat'. This is also called a cue spot. This is where you will start the 2nd track to mix into the 1st track.
Now that you understand how to cue. Let's make our first Beat Grid.
1. Load an mp3 into deck A, Analize it and seek to a clean downbeat (meaning a downbeat that does'nt have any fading in).
2. Click the 'Cue Snap' button. In Traktor DJ Studio 2 (TDJS 2), it's the button right next to the 'rev' button. This will show you precisely where the downbeat starts.
3. Test the downbeat by pressing the 'CUE >'. Then click the 'CUE ||' button to re-initialize to the start of the downbeat.
4. Uncheck the 'Cue Snap' button and right click on 'edit' in the cue section. This will bring up a new menu.
5. Choose the 'Beat Marker' option. This will now show you the Beat Grid. It's the yellow lines on the waveform.
6. Right click on the 'edit' button under the BPM display. This will bring up a new menu.
7. Now watch the beats in the waveform and use the +/- buttons in this menu to get the beat grid to match with the waveform beats.
8. Click the 'Round' button. This should make the BPM exact for the entrire track.
You're done making a Beat Grid. Now do the same with another track in Deck B, and you will have 2 tracks with accurate BPM.
On to beatmatchin without headphones
.
1. Start playing track 1 (which should be in Deck A).
2. Jump to the 'Beat Marker' you made on track 2 (Deck B). This is done by '>|'' button in the Cue Section. In TDJS 2 this is the button directly above the 'CUE ||' button.
3. Now wait for a clean downbeat to play on track 1 and press 'CUE >' on deck B (track 2).
4. Last, press the pitch bend + or - until both blue lights in the pitch bend display for both decks. Note: these +/- buttons are in the pitch bend section not in the Tempo section. These buttons are directly above the 'SYNC' button.
Use the crossfader to mix the tracks. If 1 of the pitch bends turns yellow from blue. Make small adjustments with either pitch bend +/- buttons.
If you followed these lengthy instructions you will have a perfect mix.
