softcore
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softcore
Member“Be a professional”
+1000
If the above phrase isnt persuasive enough, think about all the guys who will call you a “twat that DJs just to get some…” next time one of “these” girls approaches you….
Memberlast time a “checkdisk” for errors was performed on your laptop?
last time “defragment” of hard disk was performed on your laptop?MemberAmen!
MemberBy together, you mean Traktor and Ableton Live? if so, in the same computer or two different ones?
If in two diffrent ones, a good start would be to have midi interfaces in both of them and sync one application to the other via midi clock
If in the same, and assuming your computer can handle the burdain of two audio applications running side by side, you can also sync them internally via midi clock by using a virtual midi cable like LoopBe.MemberBTW for anyone starting to dabble with Ableton Live and DJing…you will most likely need a DJ-styled EQ to get started….Here is one…;)
MemberJust to add to point 3:
The main aspects of Ableton Live that are different when it comes to DJing are:
1. Tracks need to be “warped” beforehand (what Traktor calls “analysing”) and most often than not, the warping needs adjustments. In other words it kind of limits the spontaneity – you cant just insert a track you bought yesterday into Live while in gig-djing hoping that it will “align” both in BPM and measures without further editing. In that sense you have 2 choices when DJing with Live:
either a. you invest a LOT of time, warping all your tracks to be ready to be inserted into Live
or
b. you somewhat predict what kind-styles of track you will most likely play at a given event and only warp-prepare thoseRelative to this difference in workflow, is the difference that when using Live, in essense all you have is what in traktor you’d call “Master BPM”….You can’t really “nudge” a track on a deck independently from another deck (track) – they either all align perfectly (have been correctly warped) or you are screwed. There is no sync button – the tracks are supposed to be synced from the minute they are inserted into Live and have been correctly wapped. That said, you can however “nudge” the “master BPM” to be able to sync with other sources (vinyl, CDJs) or other DJs when DJing back to back. But the difference is, this happens on a global level, on the “Master BPM”
2. There are no decks, no effects, nada – unless you create them. Live’s “freedom” relies on this – you need to set up your own environment within Live before you can start DJing with it. In simpler words, you need to create a template project, with the things you will most likely need when DJing – how many decks, what kind of effects, the internal routing (insert effects, send effects, pre-post fader etc etc) and how to midi control them is all up to you to create, use and abuse – its not like traktor where you instantly have the decks, the effects and the internal routing all configured.
Memberhttp://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/
OOOooops sorry, just saw it was already posted….anyways, besides the humorous descriptions, listen to the given examples of each subgenre which most of the times are quite on spot and will help you categorise some stuff in your mind!
The problem with on-line shops like beatport etc etc is that most often than not a track may be cetegorised in false genres for promotion reasons. The same goes to lots of Youtube stuff and whatnot – do not base your assumptions on how a genre sounds only on these sources. Ishkur’s guide to electronic music (link above) is the most accurate I have ever found as far as the audio examples go.
MemberI think in most of the cases, new technologies have somewhat made “older” DJs sometimes feel like the new guys have everything ready and easy….So besides the “feeling threatened” parameter there is sometimes the “prove what you got and I may notice you and help you” kinda mendality.
Of course there will always be the snobbery kind of people and the “threatened” ones. My only advice to new DJs, if Im entitled to give one, would be to not bother too much – do your thing, be yourself, work and make sure you indeed are not one of the “lazy new DJs who got everything set up and ready for them” and eventually, the people who indeed can help you and mentor you with no strings attached will appear. 😉
That said, I feel sad about people who could “pass it on” to the next generation and instead, they choose to alienate themselves by being too snob or too “stuck in their ways”….Personally, Im a learner and I always have something to learn from older AND younger people than me! 😉MemberI agree with Terry…But Im a litle of a more “extremist”!!! Just decide what you want to do…make money or make a scene….Sometimes these two actions are contradictable and you cant have both. I respect people’s choice to just be the “entertainer” for the crowd and give it what it wants – but on the same time, I also respect the DJ who makes more artistic choices and finds himself and his music appealing only to a select few….Its all a matter of choice…And when you have to live with DJing-earned money, you really dont have a choice, do ya?
I had somewhat the same dillemas when called upon to play music on big clubs where I knew that my “dark, minimal techno” tunes would absolutely move noone…I had a choice to make: either go with the crowd, trigger their curiosity about my “brand” and possibly use a few tunes here and there to attract them to one of my “other” gigs where I am me….or just alienate myself totally from the crowd and just sit there brag how “intelligent” my music is and how “sheep” they are for not getting it….I chose the first choice! 😉MemberTerry_42, post: 36177, member: 1843 wrote: And still in 90% of the really big clubs: Their whole sound system goes into a nice stereo mixer, is mixed down into a mono channel, then goes into a mono line amp system and then is blasted in full quality mono to the array of speakers….
True that….but in any case, if we are to also include the problems that arise from poor drivers of built-in soundcards (for audio real-time applications) such as big latency, I’d strongly recommend to anyone trying to dabble with DJing to save money and get a cheap but quality DJ-dedicated soundcard. NI’s Audio 2 (I believe it is now named Traktor 2) is less than 100 euros. I know it may seem like a lot of cash for a guy who just wants to sart up a hobby (or a young fellah trying to make ends with his/her parents money) but the truth is I never, as a kid, had any hobby requiring less money. Go see the prices of a skateboard or of a football and a pair of football shoes. 😉
My personal opinion is that AT LEAST 100 euros to be spent on a “real” soundcard is nothing compared to the amount of money a DJ would need 10 years ago (hobbyist or not). There really is no excuse….again IMHO – and believe me, Im not in the upper-class of my country economically, barely middle!MemberFrankly I dont even listen to music on iStuff nor through my laptop speakers – and Im dead serious about it. Even if I receive a promo during working on my laptop I wait till I get to my studio and listen through proper speakers. 😉
….and then I read all the stuff about how MP3s are bad quality and I just lough….Listening through shitty systems is, for me, way more severe than listening to 320kbps mp3s.
MemberStill to this day wondering why these “splitter” cables ever came to existence….Its 2013 for christ’s sake…Mono? Really? They are a joke, IMHO!
MemberDj R. driver, post: 36140, member: 5499 wrote: this is geared more for monitor listing in your studio or room. im talking about playing out in bars or small clubs/lounges. have your sub in the middle of the dance floor per se isnt an option. ive found through my experience that corner loading your subwoofer creates a big gain in out put
Obviously, I was off topic big time! Didnt see “gig” mentioned in the first post – I thought we were talking about a bedroom-home studio!
Member1. Place the sub exactly where you sit when you produce-listen to music
2.Walk-crawl around the room
3.Spot the place where the bass sounds more powerful and natural to you
4.Place the sub there
5.profitJanuary 30, 2013 at 7:52 am in reply to: What do you absolutely need to know when starting to produce? #35956MemberLots of good advice has already been posted….I’ll just add a few points:
1. There is no shortcut for knowledge – learn the basics of terminology even before starting to watch tutorials and read more advanced books – if you dont know what swing is, if you dont know wnat unison or glide is, if you dont know what oscillator is, you ‘ll have a big trouble comprehending lots of stuff written in books and shown in tutorials. Get the terminology down first.
2. Listen to your favourite music – AS A PRODUCER. Throughout the years, the main problem I have seen DJs face is the lack of interpretating what they hear to meaningful, measurable, scientific terms that can help them go along. Listening a track and thinking “ohhhh I want that “warm” bass” wont get you far – why? Because sound doesnt have temperature. You need to find the ways to translate your “DJ” interpretation of sound to a producer’s interpretation of sound…..What did you really mean by saying warm? Bassy? The lack of very high frequencies? Perhaps a litle distortion – saturation?
Always remember, sound is 99.99% of all times described by amplitude and frequency range – even notation doesnt escape this rule. Notes and tonality are essentially frequency ranges….The rest of the everyday characterisations (warm, dirty, crystal, raw, thumping, pumping) are “people’s” notion.3. Music is an illusion! (following the idea introduced in no2 tip). Producers are the David Copperfields of sound. A frequency spectrum and the levels of sounds is all they will ever have to set the “stage” and “trick” their audience into hearing what they want them to hear.
Was that a sound that just came into my face, exploded and left away or was it just a rising noise followed by sampled explosion and then reverb with automated low pass filtering applied to it? 😉4. Listen to your favourite music – AS A PRODUCER no2. Study the structure, composition wise of your favourite tunes. Notice when and how elements go in and out of the mix. Timing is very important in music. Also take notice of their relative amplitude, their levels against other elements’ levels in the mix.
5. Experience is indeed a “key element”. Dont get stuck in one tune for the rest of your life, trying to make it perfect. You ‘ll have progressed far more by having finished 10 “mediocre” tunes than just a super-worked one in the same amount of time. Finish your tunes….Finish your tunes….FINISH your tunes – ready, wav files to be played in your buddy’s hi-fi, in your car, anywhere. FINISH your tunes!
6. Did I mention finishing your tunes?
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