advanced

the dj reborn guide to that perfect beatmatch

first of all water is relaxing. before you do that demon mixtape to top every mix you've ever done before. jump in the shower or bath and just chill. put on some crisp clothes and get feeling kinda fresh'n'funky. you are now ready to begin so slap a record on deck one. set the pitch control outside of the zero groove. hit record on the tape deck and kick off your first tune. always have a tape recording from day one of getting your decks even if you're just messing about. this will give you more confidence when doing the real thing. put your next record onto deck two and have only this tune you are about to mix in playing in the headphones. always mix off the monitors never mixing two records in your headphones. get the beats as near as possible with a combination of stroking the edge of the platter {to slow it down] or gripping the spindle and twisting it [to speed up] whilst adjusting the pitch shift with your spare hand. always avoid actually touching the record. once you've got them as close as you can stand back and just let them play whilst gradually turning down the volume of the headphones. the quieter the sound in the headphones the nearer the beatmatch. after leaving the records alone for about 30 seconds or so you will easily be able to tell if you have the correct speed. the better you get the shorter the time you will need to leave the records alone. the more your ears get trained the closer you will get to that demon 45 second mix. once you get really good you can be flash and mix without headphones, beatmatching on the fly!

woo hoo you are now ready to release the tune into the monitors. either bring it in from the beatmatch you've just done or take the record, you are about to mix in, back to the head and kick it off again. keep the volume in the headset as low as possible and get the records lined with a combination of stroking the platter or twisting the spindle but don't touch the pitch control you've set. when they're perfectly locked start to shake yo booty and feel tha groove ... :) ... mix in your tune to taste... stirred... shaken whatever suits you! when your mixing in a record keep a headphone on one ear really quiet. this way you will be able to tell which tune is drifting a lot easier than if the beats are on top of each other on a monitor. always have one level slightly higher that the other on the mixer. use your crossfader for quick cuts'n'shifts and use your up'n'down faders for a gradual silky smooth mix. [the longer the length of the fader the smoother the mix]. if the tune starts to drift do not touch the record or the platter if you are in the middle of a mix - cos it can sound very weird and awful. use the pitch shift to nudge a record up or down. this takes a bit of practise at first but you can get away with a lot more than actually handling the record. when you are ready to mix the first tune out switch the headphone monitoring to deck one. leave deck two alone now as this has become your anchor beat. once your ears get really attuned you will notice that the quieter a tune gets it 'appears' to get faster [trainspotter physics of sound left out here] so as you fade out you will need to adjust the pitch shift accordingly until the tune is completely out .... ahhh! next tune on the platter gwarn! a couple of good things for practise are to set a tape off and go frantic trying to cram as many records onto one side of the tape as possible. mixing records in and out as fast as you can physically throw them on and off the decks. on the other side try and do as long and gradual and smooth a mix as you can. the first will train you to get a beatmatch quickly the second will train you to control it.

the most important things are: listen to the music, shake yo booty like real hard and just HAVE IT!!! hold tight! bang! .... bang!