Today was a day filled with mixed emotions. Originally, Hassan and I had planned to meet at his house after school to work on our mix, tackle BPM(beats per minute), and perfecting our transitioning. Throughout the day I was really excited to get back on the turntables and see how my research may have helped my understanding of music. Unfortunately, Hassan and I were unable to meet due to a family conflict... UGH. So instead of DJing for the majority of my afternoon, what did I do? I slept.... (which was really needed as this week of school was brutal) However once I woke up, I didn't know what to do with myself. I could either parooze Youtube for a bunch of cool videos, I could start Les Miserables (Once again, UGH), OR I could combine homework and videos into researching DJing techniques and styles. So for the about three hours, I spent flipping through "How to DJ" videos, and seemed like the information was pretty dry and overall very generic. The standard, "Get your equipment, cue up music, and practice" was said in almost every video and I felt like I wasn't really learning anything. I didn't have the equipment because it was at Hassan's house, which means I couldn't cue up music and practice. Although I have the software, Virtual DJ, it is extremely difficult to mix without the correct setup and equipment. So that was my struggle of the evening...
However after about an hour of aimlessly roaming Youtube in search of an informative guide, I finally found one! It was essentially a video about how to transition from a fast paced song (High BPM) to a slower song (Low BPM) in a way that doesn't simply fade in and fade out of a song. Instead of just turning off the volume of one song in order to transition into a slower song, which doesn't really work because the BPM doesn't match, the video essentially loops the slower song so that it seems to have a higher BPM. Once the slower song is looped really quickly, it seems to have a faster BPM, and then you can just turn off the loop, and that way you can make transitions from high BPM to low BPM very seamlessly. Previously in the original mix Hassan and I made, we had a lot of awkward mixes mainly due to different song tempos. By using this mixing style, I think we can eliminate the awkward transitions and instead go from high to low BPM seamlessly.
Here's the video, and although he messes up at the end, this tactic can be really useful for DJing. Unfortunately I couldn't find this on Vimeo, so if you are in school be sure to go home and watch this because it is really interesting.
The reason why I have done most of my research so far through video is that it is very difficult to understand DJing without actually seeing it happen. There are a lot of moving parts, and jargon that I find it easier to watch videos and then replicate it in practice than to read an article where I don't know exactly what to do.
After my long day of DJ researching, I was craving to mix some music, so I busted out Virtual DJ and just started fiddling around with the software, getting to know it, and discovering some features. I now understand effects like BeatGrid where essentially you can create a beat and then press the effect, and the beat will play through the music. (Once again explaining music through writing is very difficult and next time I film I will be sure to have a video of that) However once I was DJing on my computer, which is once again a frustrating and difficult task, I realized that I REALLY wanted my own set of turntables so that I could practice, and hopefully use my DJ skills in the future. After doing a bunch of research on different DJ sets that were below $200, I narrowed it down to two that really interested me.
1. Numark Mixtrack PRO - $164.99... Probably my top choice as it is cheap, is compatible with Virtual DJ and it is the same as Hassan's so I am already familiar with the equipment.
2. Hercules DJ Controller with "Touch" and "Air" Controls- $149.59... Cheaper of the two, not compatible with Virtual DJ so I would have to reteach myself the equipment, but the looping and effects on it are much better as there is "Magic Looping" which automatically creates looping effects for you to use. Also there is an effect that you can place your hand on a sensor and move your hand away or towards it in order to control effects, however this only works with the program it comes with, DJUICED, and I don't think I want to backtrack and relearn a DJing software.
Overall today was a bum day that turned into a learning day I finally understand BPM and transitioning. Hopefully tomorrow Hassan and I will meet up, or I will order my own turntables so that I can practice. Other than that, here is some more music that I have been listening to these past few days:
TURN UP THE VOLUME AND MAKE WAY FOR SOME CRIZZLY
Way We Ball- Crizzly
https://soundcloud.com/crizzly/way-we-ball-crizzly-remix-by
Snap Back Swag- Aj-Hernz (Crizzly Remix)
https://soundcloud.com/crizzly/aj-hernz-snap-back-swag
Lost Woods- Crizzly Remix --- This is basically the Zelda theme song remixed, it's pretty cool!
https://soundcloud.com/crizzly/lost-woods-crizzly-remix
However after about an hour of aimlessly roaming Youtube in search of an informative guide, I finally found one! It was essentially a video about how to transition from a fast paced song (High BPM) to a slower song (Low BPM) in a way that doesn't simply fade in and fade out of a song. Instead of just turning off the volume of one song in order to transition into a slower song, which doesn't really work because the BPM doesn't match, the video essentially loops the slower song so that it seems to have a higher BPM. Once the slower song is looped really quickly, it seems to have a faster BPM, and then you can just turn off the loop, and that way you can make transitions from high BPM to low BPM very seamlessly. Previously in the original mix Hassan and I made, we had a lot of awkward mixes mainly due to different song tempos. By using this mixing style, I think we can eliminate the awkward transitions and instead go from high to low BPM seamlessly.
Here's the video, and although he messes up at the end, this tactic can be really useful for DJing. Unfortunately I couldn't find this on Vimeo, so if you are in school be sure to go home and watch this because it is really interesting.
The reason why I have done most of my research so far through video is that it is very difficult to understand DJing without actually seeing it happen. There are a lot of moving parts, and jargon that I find it easier to watch videos and then replicate it in practice than to read an article where I don't know exactly what to do.
After my long day of DJ researching, I was craving to mix some music, so I busted out Virtual DJ and just started fiddling around with the software, getting to know it, and discovering some features. I now understand effects like BeatGrid where essentially you can create a beat and then press the effect, and the beat will play through the music. (Once again explaining music through writing is very difficult and next time I film I will be sure to have a video of that) However once I was DJing on my computer, which is once again a frustrating and difficult task, I realized that I REALLY wanted my own set of turntables so that I could practice, and hopefully use my DJ skills in the future. After doing a bunch of research on different DJ sets that were below $200, I narrowed it down to two that really interested me.
1. Numark Mixtrack PRO - $164.99... Probably my top choice as it is cheap, is compatible with Virtual DJ and it is the same as Hassan's so I am already familiar with the equipment.
2. Hercules DJ Controller with "Touch" and "Air" Controls- $149.59... Cheaper of the two, not compatible with Virtual DJ so I would have to reteach myself the equipment, but the looping and effects on it are much better as there is "Magic Looping" which automatically creates looping effects for you to use. Also there is an effect that you can place your hand on a sensor and move your hand away or towards it in order to control effects, however this only works with the program it comes with, DJUICED, and I don't think I want to backtrack and relearn a DJing software.
Overall today was a bum day that turned into a learning day I finally understand BPM and transitioning. Hopefully tomorrow Hassan and I will meet up, or I will order my own turntables so that I can practice. Other than that, here is some more music that I have been listening to these past few days:
TURN UP THE VOLUME AND MAKE WAY FOR SOME CRIZZLY
Way We Ball- Crizzly
https://soundcloud.com/crizzly/way-we-ball-crizzly-remix-by
Snap Back Swag- Aj-Hernz (Crizzly Remix)
https://soundcloud.com/crizzly/aj-hernz-snap-back-swag
Lost Woods- Crizzly Remix --- This is basically the Zelda theme song remixed, it's pretty cool!
https://soundcloud.com/crizzly/lost-woods-crizzly-remix
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