dim

Hello mate, although i'm in the U.K. I do a lot of work like this and am sure I can offer some ideas. I generally run projects, short courses and workshops in youth clubs, centres, schools etc... then hold the type of event you are talking about as a showcase of talent we have worked with previously. I do this with DJs mostly but also team up with a Rock School who do bands. The collaborations that can come from this have been excellent. I'm interested to know: Is your event a private profit-based enterprise or is it supported by govt funding for youth work purposes?

mate, no worries about the past. who cares? have you heard of the bridge? i think wazza is on it? lets you still use dex but they control ableton too so you add whatever controller has buttons to suit you and only use the tables for mixing/nudging etc. That way you dont end up sounding 100% digital but you do have all the benefits of buttons... or are you trying to remove turntables/platters entriely? I used to use an akai mpc to supply beats for a live band while i scratched but would never have thought of it alone to run a set. As far as i know the mpd series are the more digital dj controller series. still keeping your vinyl and decks at home? i do...

Sure do ez mannn, you'll prob find out soon enough but as far as i know there's only 2 of us on here that use itch and one who uses serato. you'll find our convos here: http://www.ausdjforums.com/modules.php? ... pic&t=6280 and here: http://www.ausdjforums.com/modules.php? ... pic&t=6265 so if you have any specific q's let us know. for everything else ask anybody, it's all good mate.

ez, you do sound familiar, up to no good i suppose?

^ is a good way to do it, would it be fair to point out that for that to really rock you would have had to take care to line up phrases as well as beats? i like swapping bass too, drop one as you raise the other. also like drop ins: where you're incoming tune is matched but instead of fading it up you just fade up on the snare every other bar then fade back down, then after a few bars of that fade up for more of the beat, it's kind of like a build up effect. cant explain it v well but its a common technique so google drop-ins. can work real well on b-lines + melodies too. also on outro getting a snare sound for scratching out with an echo can be good if the transition doesnt occur on a break. WHat caps said about listening to the songs end is so important. If you know your songs inside out you can do so much more with them and this includes knowing how they end. You may find that doing nothign excpet that basic fade at the right place is the best mix available. for instacne if you know two songs and phrase them so the one tunes intro ends just as the outgoing tunes break begins then you get build of intro to tune 2, then tune 1 bass cuts and breaks without you doing anything and your tune 2 should hvae just kicked off after it;s intro. It isnt always about what you do to it, it;s about where you start it and where they fall after that. in other words - know your tunes and let them do the work for you. finally there are occasionally little outro vox comments or other noises which can be scratched out nicely wihtout needing to know much about scratching, just rock the platter back and forth as you are fading out vol.

you sir should make friends here quite quickly.

aha: isnt oz considerd part of asia? maybe you're gettin sold the u.s. version... see below: SOFTWARE SYNC MIXTRACK PRO comes with the powerful DJ software which makes it easy to mix your favorite music. Virtual DJ LE comes standard in North and South America, while Native Instruments'® Traktor LE is included in Europe and Asia. Both applications integrate with your iTunes library for playback and mixing of songs. Regardless of which software it comes with, MIXTRACK PRO lets you create professional sounding mixes at home or at live performances at parties, functions and clubs. MIXTRACK PRO is also a MIDI-over-USB controller, so it's compatible with virtually all DJ software. from: http://www.numark.com/mixtrackpro i'd go traktor over vdj anyday, esp coz of the midi map options. waiting on hands on review tho

^good skillz mate. wtf tho: the pro version comes with the amatuer sofwtare. they missed a trick there. but will chk it anyway.

^yer, headphones mix lets you choose wether you hear what you have set to play in your headphones or wether you hear what would be playing out of the master out to speakers. i use it when kids are in bed. Not the same as feeling the bass but it gets you going without speakers. and can be an essential skill to learn in case you ever have to play a silent disco or dodgy room with terrible delays. if you dont understand the genius of wazza and the waffle of dim remember the golden rule: "play with it and you'll work it out"

^ that is interesting: on traktor midi maps you can set any button to be a modifier or shift function: so the three hot cues can be hot cues, then you press your shift and they are kills. traktor is clever like that... but the rmx ships with VDJ doesnt it? what does the numark ting come with?

i'm pricing up both for an educational project to begin in septemeber. I'm gettig budget to buy 5 of one or the other so srs lookin fwd to the review cap.

^ haha, unfortunate post timings and that reads so bad now... cupe you dogg! on srs topic hoddi: you know you can mix in headphones until you get speakers dont you? you use the pgm/cue selector.

hercules rmx vs mixtrack pro: fight!

you know what, maybe you should start a new thread called somethin like: best midi controller for cap five?

^ good work hobberz. natural progression mate.

you lot might but i'll never get tired of saying the following: "it aint nothing like hiphop music you like it coz you choose it." but also +rep for that fackedd

ez

^ i know i cant believe him, he's been helping me with queries on the itch forums and i hadnt heard him djing until someone linked me to that. now i'm starstruck!

wow, it's all good guys, i feel like a nobhead name-dropper now lol.

oh shit, s the cd wallet was for playing out? i figured you had dex... no worries then. but yeah that hercules number is ok, def better than bcd3000 and vdj. what software does it come with?

ok mate, heard your mix, you may not believe this but you arent too far off. i think the best bit of advice for you is: dont run before you can walk. what i mean is: dont try using loops yet. the loops are not set tight and require practising on their own.. even if you did have beatmatching down the tracks wouldnt sync with loops that didnt flow. try and match beats then fade from one to another while only beats are playing for now. When you get better you can start blending at parts of songs where there is more going on but for now just stick to using the parts of the songs with just beats for mixing and let the rest of the song play as a guide to get your next song ready matched. Trying tomix two vocals together sounds like an argument unless you really know what you are doing. avoid mixing in the break to "destination calabria" it has a very odd tempo change whle the sax gets lazy. beatmatching only works where both songs stay at the same tempo. Otherwise keep on trying, keep on listening and please please just concentrate on matching beats smoothly for now. Everything else follows on from that. hope that helps man.

a good demo of what the ns6 can do. i say good, i mean much much better than i could do:

what else is in the setup? timecode? tts, cdjs etc... all details helpful.

i'll pass it on man, they'll buzz of that.

^ good point tubby. i would recommend either of the following options: -a dvs system where you get a soundcard, cables, software and timecode cds or vinyl to use on your existing players. Serato and traktor are the two big players in this field. both supply products with all the bits you need in one package. -or a good controller with audio, i hear the numark NS6 is ok but the pioneer ddjt shoudl suit you too. TBH timecode cds prob suit you best as you have the dex and mixer already dont you? and the external drive tubby mentions.