Your advice to DJs using the sync button

Dj iceman, post: 23499, member: 187 wrote: can we be TOTALLY HONEST here? why is everyone talking like beatmatching is some magical,mystical technique developed over years of hard work and rigorous training in some dark chamber in the shaolin temple?? its not rocket science!! its dj 101!!i taught my son how to do this when he was 6!! the boy hasnt fully mastered the english language,or learned to shoot a steady stream (if you know what i mean) but he could beatmatch!! and a 4/4 beat at that!! for real?? now dont get me wrong it is an essential skill for all djs, but its not the hardest thing in the world!! and the sync button dosent get it totally right. and here some food for thought most of this technology replicates things that can be EASILY DONE (like syncing and looping) to get those tasks out the way so to be able to focus on harder tasks. why do you think most of this stuff dont have “scratch” buttons or a “beat juggle” button,or i would love a button that would be able to sense the mood of the crowd for me or one that will flare,orbit,and pryzim for me. the tools are there for a reason. either use them or not but people really need to stop crying about it!!

People these days wants instant gratification and don’t want to learn techniques that could take a while to master. Whilst its not a particularly hard skill to learn, its not super easy when you’re starting out. To get really good at it (match beats quickly and perfectly in sync) does take time and practice.

Rodders, post: 21180, member: 2248 wrote: I use the sync button (or pre-warp my tracks) but having DJ’d for over 20 years I feel like I’ve earned that right 🙂

Echoing the comments above, I’d advise learning the fundamentals so you know what to do when things go wrong. If a mix is done well then it makes no difference whether it’s manual or sync’d, but if it’s a trainwreck due to poor beat gridding / warping / whatever, you’re going to make yourself look stupid if you don’t know how to immediately rectify it.

Heh heh, I agree with this, many years under the belt and feel I’ve earnt it too! 🙂 Can still hop on to the 1210’s and do it classically no problem, bit like riding a bike really. I think it is worth new DJ’s learning to manually beatmatch, it really helps tune your ear to phase and song structure as well as pointed out already, kit failure; you need to be able to hop on to the CDJ’s/TT’s if your lappy/controller falls over.