Interested in trying to mix

This is a serious post. I have like no idea how to do any of this.

How do I start?

Where do I start?

With what?

WATMM's music and mixing skill are so impressive, how did you guys get started?

I bet there are a millllllllion threads like this but I'm not looking them up. Do a favor for ur ollllll pal dr lopez.

Pwease?

i'm not a dj but i don't think you should start on decks unless you want to put a lot of time in... cdj's or traktor or something i would recommend

dj dieselboy

dowload traktor dj studio 3, open it, load a playlist and start tweaking from there. the fun comes when you start picking tracks in a hurry from folders because you didn't like the ones of the tracklist. and you pick them right.

bpm counters and instant cue is all you need for hardware

If your doing the abelton + FX thang which is more a performance if you mash it up well or complete lazyness if you cue up 20mins of tracks then jump around like a tit pretending your doing something

Traktor DJ falls somewhere inbetween these two and seems to be the way to go for a lot of DJ's now

You should check out that Dj Girl film.

Ableton is the way to go most definitely and will be the far easiest. From there you need to get to grips with beat warping, eq cuts/gains, finding good cue points and of course mixing in key or by key shifts.

Want any specific advice let me know!

So I'm getting Live or Traktor vibes. Should I just get one and fiddle around?

What's someone's process when you want to make a mix? Find some tunes and form a playlist then start mixing?

i wouldnt waste ur time with dj-ing, theres no more art to it anymore now that anyone can use software and just do dumb shit like soundwave said. taking djing seriously now would be akin to having massive fun with calculators since we dont have to use an abacus anymore.

my sister and her friends used that star-9 program on her ipod touch to dj an entire party for example and they arent even into electronic music

I would start off using Traktor DJ. First you're going to want to find the BPM's of your tracks. Then you'll probably want to set up a "beat grid" so you can sync the tracks together. If you're going to be using Traktor for performance I seriously recommend getting some kind of MIDI controller to control the software externally. People get really turned off by the mouseclick DJ. Google/Youtube Traktor tutorials. Ableton sets are lame.

I'd say Traktor over Ableton to start out. Ableton's cool for doing loops, oodles of tracks, and complex shit, but isn't really like normal DJing at all. Traktor is super intuitive and quick. I'll be using Traktor once I get my new laptop (and VCI-100 ).

these are popular

http://www.hercules.com/us/DJ-Music/

and some /all(?) work with traktor

Go and buy some Technics secondhand and some records, 10x more fun

  On 10/8/2010 at 11:30 AM, soundwave said:

bpm counters and instant cue is all you need for hardware

 

If your doing the abelton + FX thang which is more a performance if you mash it up well or complete lazyness if you cue up 20mins of tracks then jump around like a tit pretending your doing something

 

Traktor DJ falls somewhere inbetween these two and seems to be the way to go for a lot of DJ's now

Yeah, but with respect Soundwave it still takes a certain skill and knowledge to mix with Ableton and with that experience an amateur would be able to then move on to something more complicated and convenient such as DJing with CDJs.

  On 10/8/2010 at 5:25 PM, dr lopez said:

So I'm getting Live or Traktor vibes. Should I just get one and fiddle around?

 

What's someone's process when you want to make a mix? Find some tunes and form a playlist then start mixing?

A good way to mix is to just start the process of mixing various tracks together sequentially to see what gels well. Find good cue points i.e. parts in the track where mixing something else with it will sit well both in terms of frequency and key.

The more you know what gels well together the more you'll be able to react to the crowd as to what they're feeling and where you should go next. That said I always prepare my sets so I know exactly what I'm doing. I do this by having notepad up with all the tunes I'm playing (set list) and all my cue points (bar number). Being organised is important as there is nothing worse than hearing sloppy mixing. Remember there are all sorts of things that can go wrong in a live situation so its wise to be totally prepared.

So I would start with Ableton because in my experience beat warping tracks in Traktor is a nightmare and its far easier in Ableton. I can literally beat warp a tune in 3/4 mins in Ableton. Also there's tonnes you can do in Ableton as its all down to your imagination.

I've done the set list thing before when I was starting off, but seriously and with all due respect just sack all of that nonsense off, play what you're feeling at the time and just roll with it. It's all about intuition, not endless planning. Have fun with it!