CDJ's and BPM matching

Matching the BPMs doesn’t mean that the beats are in sync. That’s a good place to start. It’s easiest (I have never used CDJs but I learned manual beatmatching for peace of mind via this website’s course – How to DJ Fast) to, with two tracks you know are at 128 bpm, place the track you are bringing in at 126, and the other at 128. You know the 126 is going to be the one behind. Otherwise it can be hard to tell which beat is out front, and which is behind. You can then adjust the pitch fader/tempo adjust up slowly until they are perfect as your ears can tell.

Thats what I love about DDJing. My mixes in Traktor are tighter than my ears can even detect and as good as anything I hear in clubs or in podcasts/internet radio. It frees me up to worry more about other things in the mix: track volumes, eqs, using filters or FX, etc… I’ve only been at this a couple months. I highly recommend Digital DJ Tips Course.

Honestly, now that you can use Pioneer CDJs to actually control Traktor, I think it is the CDJ swan song. Prominent DJs I know, buy all their music digitally, then burn it to CDs for club use. Why bother anymore? Bring your laptop, use the CDJs and the clubs mixer, maybe add an X1/F1 or two, and off you go. With the X1, you really don’t even need the CDJ.

This is a classic argument whether its having to walk to school versus ride the bus, use a payphone versus cellphone, or go to the library reference section versus the using the internet. DJs who have half a brain can see this and are adjusting as the technology comes along. I practiced a little, and feel like I could do it if I needed to. Not as good as some old school DJs of course, but, do they understand the finer points of Traktor Pro’s preferences or how to map a DJ controller or pretty much any USB/MIDI device to do exactly what you want it to in the software? Probably not.

Out with the old, in with the new. C’est la vie!

Hey,

Just as Traktor doesn’t always get the BPM right all of the time, neither do the CDJs. Too often they get it wrong. But, if you used the bpm count in the display, you will have already told yourself that they are identical or real close and that might get in the way of getting them matched if they are actually a bit further apart than you think they are.

I prefer just throwing it in and doing the manual beatmatch for every track if I use CDJs. I have to admit that I don’t play that much EDM but a lot of earlier stuff that isn’t as tight on the BPM anyway and has a tendency to fluctuate throughout the songs.

And if your CDJs only display whole number BPM (so 128 instead of 128.1) the margin is way too big anyway. You could be having a 0.9 BPM difference even though both displays say they are at 128.

The sync button in Traktor (or other software) makes sure that they are identical in BPM down to 1,2 or (in some cases) 3 digits behind the comma. 128,45 on your master gives you 128,45 on your slave.

As for why some DJs have these issues … much discussed here on the forum. I personally worry about myself most of the time and as long as my customers are happy I don’t worry too much. To each his own I say.

Greetinx,
C.

Beatmatch with your ears, not your eyes.

well cdjs read the bpms accurately 99% of the times. count and match. it is a technique learn it, use it
vynil,cds,digital no matter what beatmaching is a skill as is scratching even if you don’t use it it is nice to know how to do it

learn how to manual beat match, it gives a greater feeling of accomplishment and you’re not dependent on technology, you’ll feel much more confident as a DJ. I hate using the sync button, even though I use a controller, though it’s definitely useful in some situations (like 4 deck techno mixes ect).

In all honesty this discussion is at this point beating a dead horse with a tank.Sync is here to stay and it’s a valuable tool,people need to get over it and people need to stop encouraging people who don’t approve of the faeture to speak up.No one really cares weather you use the sync button or not,DJing is about the music,weather it’s digital djing using CDJs,controllers,vinyl,old school with vynil or just djing with a laptop,it is always about the music.

Getting BPMs correctly 99% of the time? Holy shish, what type are you using? The first CDJs I used were Pioneer 850s and OMG that BPM reader would jump every 5 seconds. It would be at 128, 5 seconds later it would be at 130 then back to 128 and I’d be like WTF? I use Traktor majority of the time and people automatically assume I use the sync button but I don’t, I’ve even threatened to mutilate my controller to where it won’t have a sync button, but then there’s still sync in the program *shrugs*. I’m opposed to using sync although I have used it when I first started DJing with VDJ. Never have I used it when I switched to Traktor though.