General Mixing...

[djalexlaine]

DJing has never been about the technical aspects like beatmatching. it has always been about playing the tracks that will make people dance. before beatmatching was possible, was it still DJing? yes, because it was about the music.
that being said, i firmly think that beatmatching is something that is necessary to learn. even if your not that great. i am working on beatgriding each track in my collection so that i can spend my time looking at where i want to go with the night, what track would be great, how do i want to bring it in, what effects am i going to use and where, if the track goes well, where do i need to loop so that i can bring it back in.
beatmatching was just a tool used to keep the energy of a night going, now that beatmatching is a common place (anyone with any musical ability can do it if they put their mind to it). now that it has sort of gone and past, we need to look at what is next.

[Peter Willis]

I think you can't be a real DJ if you don't know how to beatmach...
I started DJing with Virtual DJ an a Hercules DJ Console...At that time I couldn't beatmatch at all...Then I got CD Decks and that's when I started learning it, and now it's being automatic. The thing I've noticed is that it helped me not only beatmatching, but mixing on cd's without any visual wafe forms of bpm allowd me to listen much more to the music, and really develop my feel for mixing...plus now i can mix a track from traktor with a track on a cd without any problem...and you get much more satisfaction when you know you've beatmatched by yourself

[djalexlaine]

i never said that it wasnt important. but i see so many people saying that if you cant beatmatch perfectly, you cant dj. i also remember when people said if you werent using vinyl, you werent a real DJ. shoot, i remember saying that.

[EanGolden]

I might add that I have Dj'd many a house party and small club/bar/establishment with nothing but my Macbook, Vci-100, and my soundcard, and it has always been a fun time (I usually get tons of complements, mostly in the form of girls screaming with hands in the air and the occasional pound from a punter) As long as there is booze, babes, and loud music the party is sure to be a success. I actually have gotten quite a few compliments as well as curious party people eager to see how I'm doing it all with just my unassuming mac.

That just about sums it up. After 12 years of playing in many clubs around the world big and small from Rio de Janeiro to Ibiza I can honestly say doing less is usually better. Especially these days, play rocking tunes- pay attention to the crowd and mix well- you will get hired again.

Now once or twice in the night, whip out some mad skills like grabbing a beat and completely re-arranging it controllerism style and people will be amazed. Then the rest of the night, just let the songs play them selves and everyone will go home happy AND impressed.

[djalexlaine]

That just about sums it up. After 12 years of playing in many clubs around the world big and small from Rio de Janeiro to Ibiza I can honestly say doing less is usually better. Especially these days, play rocking tunes- pay attention to the crowd and mix well- you will get hired again.

Now once or twice in the night, whip out some mad skills like grabbing a beat and completely re-arranging it controllerism style and people will be amazed. Then the rest of the night, just let the songs play them selves and everyone will go home happy AND impressed.

im gonna have to agree 100%

[steveboyett]

Beatmatching can be both necessary AND overrated, y'know. By that I mean that it's one of the fundamental tools in a DJ's toolbox, but it's myopic to think that DJing is ABOUT beatmatching. The seminal Larry Levine (sorry if I misspelled that) was reputedly not much for beatmatching, but he made a room so crazy that nobody cared.

I show up at gigs with a controller, laptop, and soundcard, and lay my stuff down and believe that what I do there speaks for itself more than any lame defense I'd care to offer. I taught myself to beatmatch for a couple of reasons. The main one was because it is WAY too easy for a laptop DJ to rely on his eyes and not his ears, and that way lies madness. The club is listening more than watching, folks. I don't care how big moby locked-in your display says the thing is, if it sounds wrong and you can fix it by nudging a deck and messing up all the pretty lights, that's what you do.

I also knew early on (especially before laptopping was becoming more common) that I'd be following vinyl DJs, and what did I think I was gonna do when the guy handed off on me? Bring down the houselights and play Wagner and fake my way in with some epic Tiesto-break opening?

But you don't even need turntables or CD players to learn to beatmatch. If it's too easy to cheat using your DJ app, bring up tracks in WinAmp and imagine they're the outgoing DJ and he's got the room all hands-in-the-air for your lame digital ass cuz he's the nicest DJ on the face of the planet, and you bygod better match to him with your blinkylightz DJ app or everyone will head for the bar or the jungle room. Never underestimate the learning motivator of fear of public ridicule.