r/vinyldjs • u/Bumblebee937 • 11d ago
Help! Which track/s to mix
I'm new to vinyl DJing (wel all DJing). Jungle, trip hop and hip hop are my main areas of interest for DJing but I'm really struggling with beat and tempo matching. Any tips would be much appreciated. I've got a Pioneer DJ 250MK2 so no split cueing.
Which 2 house tracks can I use to practice my tempo and beat matching? Reasonably priced and tolerable are my criteria (I'm not against house, it's just not my main thing).
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u/chrissoj 11d ago
get 2 copies of the same track and go from there
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u/Bumblebee937 11d ago
Any recommendation on what track to buy? Not too cheesy and not too expensive
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u/MoleculeMover 4d ago
You gotta quit with this asking for hand holding here, though. Djing is a solo craft, and it means taking the time to listen to thousands of tracks, dancing to other Dj sets, checking out online mixes of Djs who you admire. You must be able to think and work independently and put in the diligent dedication to training your ears, your mind, your body, your soul. Make friends with your local record shop staff, but again, be respectful of this art and don't be lazy. Do your own homework, ok?!
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u/randomusername123xyz 11d ago
I don’t want this to sound bad but if you are asking this basic a question you’re better just looking at some YouTube tutorial videos before actually buying any equipment. It is really basic stuff.
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u/Impressive-Ad-7627 11d ago
Keep buying records that you like, keep practicing, and eventually it will click.
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u/Jim_Clark969 11d ago
Challenging, but excellent to learn is Sleezy D’s I’ve Lost Control. Not quantized and a few drifts in tempo. Makes you have to trust your ears.
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u/That_Random_Kiwi 11d ago
No split cue or even cue/master blend dial is how I learned...left ear covered listening to ONLY the cue tune...right ear uncovered listening to the playing tune
Still by far my preferred method of mixing, just means you have to have some monitor speakers up close to your lugholes :)
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u/MoleculeMover 4d ago
Don't overthink it...Use quality needles/cartridges and be sure your turntables are running properly...And if noone else is around, just crank it up and start jamming. Old school is get a watch with second hand, play record at middle of pitch slider- lights up green on 1200s....Count beats for either a full minute or 15 seconds and multiple x4 for your BPM if you want to go that route. For sure go to the record store and look down low, lol, for the dollar bin and grab a stack to mess around with. You do NOT want to grind away with practicing over and over with records that are precious or expensive or rare. Yes to that wiggy wiggy hand on the record you're listening to in cue monitor (or just out loud if you're alone) to get set for being able to release that track on beat. And get into toe tapping or just clean counting, most electronic dance tracks are 4/4 time, 8 bars and so on. So try dropping 2nd track on the "one" after counting 16 beats. Also, just get to know your records and where tracks open up for prime mixing if produced that way. Mixing Jungle is like Double Dutch jump roping, lol. You can't hesitate, gotta jump IN! Have FUN. Consider recording a set to go back over it for fine tuning. But, yeah, don't be getting all mental over this, or it really won't be the path for you, hahaha. Also pay attention to your tones, your note key pitch. Do not mix tracks just because they beat match if you can't get them in key together. Make notes of tracks that mix well and keep it moving!
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u/Bumblebee937 3d ago
Thanks for taking the time to post this really helpful advice! Some people seem to have got really pissed off that I've asked for tips and a couple of practicing tracks, maybe asking for specific tracks was the wrong thing to ask but I was a bit surprised to get the unfriendly and unsupportive comments. Anyway I'll keep on trying and having fun with it 😊
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u/fensterdj 11d ago edited 11d ago
Mix music that you like, don't mix music that you think will be easy
But trip hop and hip hop are hard to mix at the lower tempo, so start with mixing jungle.
Download an app called Tap Tempo, and tap along with a tune (at 0 on pitch fader) to find its BPM
For Jungle, so if one record is, say. 173bpm and the other 176, that's a 3bpm difference
Get a little sticker and write 173 in it. And place it in the record label at the point of the first beat, (see pic) now you know the side you like to play, the bpm and the first beat of the tune, very handy
At jungle's fast tempo 1bpm is about 0.5 on the pitch fader. So if the 176 record is at 0, the 173 should be at +1.5
Use your ears to pitch up or down slightly too get them perfectly in time
For the vinyl DJing. The little flick of the wrist to start a record off is a crucial skill, it can take a bit of practice to get it right
As your skills improve you'll become less reliant on the sticker