Digital DJing the New Standard?

With the advent of digital DJing getting more popular everyday making the old school more uncomfortable and almost angry about the new ways of doing basics that were considered skill back in the day. But digital DJing can give the masses the opportunity to spin great sets but some core skills have been automated now and I think that’s where the argument comes in. Lets start out with beat-matching this used to be done by carefully selecting songs that had the same beats per minutes. In digital DJing they use the Sync button and it automatically lines up the beats to match. Now I strongly advise every DJ learn the method of beat-matching old school for a backup plan because using software that guesses the BPM and if the software guesses wrong your going to sound horrible and if you haven't learned how to beat-match by ear you going to find your self without a solution. But if you can push a button and instantly achieve the same result why not and this gives you more freedom with the crossfader and everything stays tight. Looping is built into all DJ software and every controller on the market now even though this not new digital DJing has made it super easy. Most dance music is based on loop technology anyway so this can be very powerful tool with the right musical understanding to supercharge your set. But not everyone has musical prowess some newbie mistakes happen here because they let the loop run to long and it gets tedious and it doesn't line up right with the next song. Next are waveforms on the computer software can be a good thing for seeing how many beats are left, correcting beat-mixes but like in recording studios I think the engineer like the DJ gets to depended on visually looking at the screen and their not relying on their ears and it's distracting it keeps the DJ from being the party. Use your ears that's why you have them. And remember that DJ's are not jukebox's and the tools I talked about do not make a DJ. For more tips go to www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com

Drumming a passion

Drumming is an art and the oldest known instrument and that is why I have a very strong passion for it. Drums where my first instrument to learn how to play. Now I 'm a multi-instrumentalist I play anything with strings on it and piano. But I really can't stay away from my drum set for very long it is like a magnet and I'm a piece of steel. That is where the passionate part comes in and you can include percussion instruments as well. I recently bought the Simmons SD7PK electronic kit but out of necessity I had to turn it into a hybrid kit half real and half electronic. You see when I would record with it you couldn't hear the kick drum no matter where I panned in the mix “big problem”. So I went down to the local pawn shop and bought a used black Pearl 22” kick drum that someone had gotten rid of separately I was in luck. So I removed the bottom bracket in the front on the Simmons rack frame installed the Pearl kick drum with a few new heads problem solved now I could here the kick in the mix. Now this kind of set up requires a few things I had to add a small six channel mixer and some good Audix microphones so I could record the real part to the mix. This is my setup I ran a Audix D6 in front of the kick drum (you can use the D6 for bass cabinet recording as well and it sounds great) an Audix i5 to my cowbell and woodblocks and a Audix i5 to my tambourine all of them ran back to the first three channels of the small mixer. Then I take the outs from the Simmons power module left and right plug them into a stereo channel on the mixer for the electronic toms, snare and cymbals then I ran the main outs on the mixer to my recording setup and that is how you can record an hybrid kit. Pretty easy to do now I know that none of the drummers from past did this but now we have better technology and if you are truly passionate about playing drums like I am this is a good place to start. For more drumming tips or lessons go to www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com  

Understanding Live Sound

Live sound applies to both the musician and the DJ. The first thing you need to learn about sound is sound itself. What is sound? Sound is nothing more than waves of changing air pressure that cause your eardrums to move. Sound starts with a physical resonant source this could be your vocal cords, a speaker or anything else that makes sound. This vibration causes air to move. And when this moving air hits your eardrum, your eardrum will resonate in proportion with the source. This is the essence of sound. It takes all three ingredients; a source, a medium to pass it through and something to receive it. OK now let's talk about dispersion. Dispersion is the direction that sound will go, after it has left the source. You'll usually hear the term dispersion in reference to live PA speakers. You know, 90X60, 60X40 and so on. Once sound leaves a piezo or compression driver it needs to be controlled. A horn attached to a driver will do just that. At the base of the horn, is the throat. The throat is a narrow channel that the sound squeezes through. Once the sound leaves the throat, it wants to explosively spread out in all directions. Now it's up to the horn flare to control the angles of dispersion. Some horn designs are better than others though. If you have a 90X60 horn, you would expect that all the frequencies would be dispersed in this pattern. This is not always the case. The best horn designs that we deal with are waveguides and constant directivity or CD horns. These are both designed to disperse all audible frequencies in the specified angles. Waveguides look like round dishes and naturally, they give a cone shaped dispersion. CD horns are what you see in most PA cabinets today. They offer a more horizontal dispersion. www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com 

DJ Beatmatching and Mixing Techniques

A lot of new DJs start to get beatmatching down and then they quickly jump onto advanced mixing techniques. They can't learn the advanced mixing techniques and they don't understand why.... Here is why:

You need to get the basics of Beatmatching, Cueing, Throwing, Pitch Riding and other fundamental skills down before moving on. Learning different mixes or effects before you can beatmatch flawlessly every time is like trying to put up the different floors of a building before digging out and pouring the foundation. It's the total mastery of these commonly overlooked basic skills that allows the pro DJs you love to effortlessly put together mix after mix. You can learn more advanced tips here www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com The thing that all Pro DJs have locked down that amateur DJs don't is that their levels are TIGHT. The volume (level) of each of their tracks is perfect so the tracks blend together well. When an amateur is bringing in a new song, he or she will usually misjudge the volume of the song and will bring in the song too loud or too quiet. If a song is brought in too loud it is overpowering. If a song is brought in too quiet it kills the energy of the mix. The pros have their levels nailed perfectly and here is how they do it: Before you bring in the next song that you have beatmatched, get it playing in your headphones. Once the song is playing listen to both songs at the same time in your headphones by choosing both channels using the headphone "cue" button or dial on your mixer. Now that you can hear both songs playing in your headphones, turn all of the EQs up on the song you are going to mix in, so it sounds normal. (When you mix a new song it is common to have one or all of the Bass, Mid or High EQs turned down so the certain parts of the new song, like a melody, won't clash with the song that is currently playing.) Put your headphones on both ears and simply switch back and forth between songs using the "cue" dial on your mixer. You can hear the first song and then the new song... then back to the current song that is playing out loud.. then back to the new song. Doing this and adjusting the "gain" knobs will get you're levels right and everyone listening will think you are a total pro! Pitch Riding is one of those skills that really separates the Pro DJs and the intermediate DJs that can mix but make mistakes. Its only the DJs with perfect mixing that get the big gigs. "Trainspotting" is when you sit behind, or to the side, of the DJ booth and watch every move the DJ makes. Its called trainspotting because this is how DJs catch other DJs "trainwrecking" (which is a term that refers to the sound your mix makes if you don't have the beats matched – a train crashing). Trainspotting is awesome because you can see little tricks DJs use and you quickly learn how they mix their songs together. You can then try the same tricks at home. Keep what works for you and forget the tricks that don't. Some of the best mixes and tricks are learned this way. You can learn even more DJ tips from here www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com 

Computer Based Beat Machines vs Online Beat Creation

In the early eighties we saw the introduction of the very first drum machines. They were small, functionally awkward and just didn't sound well. They were very stiff robotic beats and it was almost impossible to setup multiple functions like drum rolls. The Alesis SR-16 was a vast improvement and the actual sounds were sampled in studios but they still had a stiffness to them they did not breath, they were to automatic. That's OK if you're playing New Wave or your music just doesn't have much ambition but most people need more than that and they want to groove with the beat. Then in the nineties virtual beat making came onto the scene this was loaded on to your computer expanding the sounds available to a few thousand and your were able to program, edit and save what you've produced. Now we are moving into online beat creation and many of the problems with computer based beat making will fade away. Producers/musicians who can move to online beat making will be in a better position to build their beats and put the problems of the past behind them. Let's examine the benefits of online beat creation and what it will do for you. On your computer you are limited to others using your computer when it comes to collaborations and you're restricted to either Mac or PC. Online you have the ability to access your projects from anywhere, on any computer, using any OS anywhere in the world just go online pull up your sessions and continue your session. Computer based software is hard on your computers processor and memory making it were your computer freezes and possibly crash leaving you in frustration. But because the actual process of online beat creation it is hosted by that companies servers you will not need that over burdening software on your computer anymore making your work-flow more efficient. You can go online and download the beats to your studios recording software no more burning CD's with drum and rhythm files. You can share edits and ideas with everyone on the project without emailing large audio files to each other. Check out the beat machines here at www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com these are easy to use and sound great you owe to yourself to check them out and they are very affordable. Compared to a  Akai APC40 or something like it. Never buy your beats make your own.

Dub turbo in review

Dub turbo is a 16 track software program that is a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) it has everything that you need to make the awesome beats like Rap, Urban, House, Trance and Hip Hop even R&B tracks. In order to get the sounds you would hear in your favorite dance tunes you would have to have a minimum of a mid level studio. This software is excellent for mobile DJs, laptop production or in conjunction with a recording studio many users of this popular software are studio owners using the beats from Dub turbo and integrating them into programs like Ableton Live. It comes with an easy point and click interface you use your keyboard to control the triggers, play keys, drum pads and all the shortcut keys producers love this as it makes the work flow faster and easier. It is extremely powerful and wait to you here this software in action simply amazing sounds main features are the 16 tracks to lay down your sounds. Either drums, keys or vocals a fully functioning four octave keyboard to do bass rhythms, chords. Also a drum machine sequencer with 10 pads, and the best part is that you can edit each individual sounds and even import your own. You can lay down a beat then change the kit from a hip hop track and switch it into a awesome house beat with a click of the mouse. And there are hundreds of sounds and kits to choose from stop buying your beats make your own. www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com The Keyboard editor is easy to use just make a rhythm to go with your beat all the sounds are there guitar, keyboard, hip hop stabs, bass lines, scratches, voices, hits, power samples, effects you name it Dub turbo got it. Featuring a full set of tutorial videos to get anyone up and running and making tracks in no time and it has a complete drum kit. You can make all the beats you need rap, hip hop, music effects, dub-plate, jungle, power mixes, techno, sounds-capes, R&B and backgrounds fast and easy. Thousands of pro samples to pick from and fully updated so there is always new fresh sounds. Dub turbo stands in a league of its own it just simply out preforms everything else out there and cost the same or less! Click on this link today to find more about this amazing sequencer and beat maker www.musicanddjinstructionalmedia.com this is exactly what your looking for!

Isn't It Time You Start Really Playing Guitar?

Wouldn't it be nice if you could express yourself on the guitar like your favorite players do? Or imagine being able to join any band you want. Guitarist of all ages get stuck in a rut and stop learning new techniques, new songs and then they get bored with it and the guitar ends up in a corner collecting dust. It's sad to say, but most people who ever try to play guitar will never be any better than average. Doesn’t matter how hard they work at it. There are musicians who have played for years, and are still stuck on the basics of knowing which notes to play. I bet some of these musicians payed out hundreds of dollars in lessons only to be where their at. So many students get bored or frustrated and quit when they desperately want to play guitar like an expert. I can tell you one little secret if everyone played in a band your skills would have to improve you would have to learn new songs that’s a motivator. It's like having a personal coach giving you bits of advice as you're learning it can make a big difference. But this to has it's down side you are always having to tune up with the CD to learn the riffs or slow it down and try to match the notes very time consuming. Then you would have to be in the band for a long time to have any effect and most bands do not stay together very long. Believe me I get it you probably paid a lot of money for that guitar and you would like to get good use out of it. The Guitar Success System http://tinyurl.com/7ddulss it's like getting hundreds of dollars of high quality lessons for the price of one lesson. (YES ONE LESSON) Unbelievable is the only way to describe it I've been a guitarist for 36 years when they asked me to review their courses I was pretty amazed how professional and in depth it was. You get access to so much for so little from the very basic rudiments, to more highly advanced Guitar Success has got it all. Check it out! Like it says the only guitar course you'll ever need. Isn't it time you started really playing guitar?