My top mixing tip...

[auditory hallucinations]

Hi,

Well I'm feeling generous today so I thought I'd share something with you - my little mixing secret that I discovered a while back.

Before we go on though, I need to point a couple of things out - this advice will probably be best soaked in by people who've a decent standard of mixing already, so if you're new to mixing I wouldn't recommend paying much attention as it may screw it up for you a bit.

Also, I don't fully understand how this technique works as it does - so I won't be able to explain much more than what I offer here. And finally, as far as I can tell, this will only work on Technics decks...ok, here we go:

When mucking around on my decks, I noticed something a bit strange. You know the strobe dots in the bottom left-hand corner of your 1210? Well, those are precise dots marked out very carefully - you'll see that from the legend on the deck, you can tell what speed the platter is spinning at by checking which dot is "frozen".

As far as I can work out, when a dot is frozen, the platter is spinning in complete sync with the quartz frequency. Anway, I digress...

I noticed that when my incoming track (B for short) was a little fast or slow, if I pushed or pulled the platter to sort it out, at the exact nano-second it caught up exactly, one of those little dots would always freeze for the briefest of moments.

So I've now developed a method for mixing whereby I get it as accurate as I can - I can then visually just make a dot freeze by pushing or pulling the platter (whatever is appropriate) and I know it's then ultra accurate. Doing this, in conjuction with moving the pitch, has gotten me some very nice mixes.

You can even do it without using h/phones - for some reason that tiny freeze of a dot always coincides with when your mix locks up. Try it out, you'll see.

Anyway, that's it - hope this is of interest and help to someone. If anyone does something similar, and can maybe expand and possibly explain what causes this, I'd love to hear about it.

Peace.

[Hakka]

So what your saying is that when the dot freezes, the pitch won't vary +/% any marginal % and will therefore stay mixed in longer if matched to another deck with a record that is as mixed in but the dot on the platter has froze too?

Sorry, but stoned and trying to understand what your saying.

[yeswehavetheright]

Problem is it only works if your playing 2 copies....

[auditory hallucinations]

No, it's much simpler. All I am saying is to check this out - next time your record is too fast or too slow, push or pull it very gently with your hand and at the same time keep your eyes on the red light and the strobe dots.

If you're using Technics, I guarantee that as soon as you hear your mix snap to a tight locked sound in your headphones, one of the four dots will freeze for the briefest of moments.

That's all I'm saying - I'll leave it up to you how useful you decide this information to be, and to create a method for applying it. All I'm saying is that it's observable, and works every time.

It will work with any two records - hip into techno into country and western, whatever you like. I've done it on decks mixing against beats from my 909, it still works. It's mad, it's like the deck "knows" when it's bang on (I realise this can't be true, and am hoping for a better explanation).

[Hakka]

No, it's much simpler. All I am saying is to check this out - next time your record is too fast or too slow, push or pull it very gently with your hand and at the same time keep your eyes on the red light and the strobe dots.

If you're using Technics, I guarantee that as soon as you hear your mix snap to a tight locked sound in your headphones, one of the four dots will freeze for the briefest of moments.

That's all I'm saying - I'll leave it up to you how useful you decide this information to be, and to create a method for applying it. All I'm saying is that it's observable, and works every time.

It will work with any two records - hip into techno into country and western, whatever you like. I've done it on decks mixing against beats from my 909, it still works. It's mad, it's like the deck "knows" when it's bang on (I realise this can't be true, and am hoping for a better explanation).

Cool.

Wouldn't a frozen dot suggest that the deck spinning at a perfect constant speed? I mean Technics are accurate enough, but what perhaps the tho whole relation between torque, power, balance and pitch accuracy is at moment where its at a good snyc?

Bah I can't explain what I mean.

But yeah, thanks for the info. I will go have a play now and see if I can see it.

[auditory hallucinations]

Wouldn't a frozen dot suggest that the deck spinning at a perfect constant speed? I mean Technics are accurate enough, but what perhaps the tho whole relation between torque, power, balance and pitch accuracy is at moment where its at a good snyc?
Yeh, I think it would - you're right, in fact when the dots freezes the little legend beside the strobe light tells you that it's spinning at the exact quartz reference frequency for that particular dot. So when the fattest dot freezes, you're at exactly 33.3 or 45 rpm.

So, for example, when you push it a little faster - and there is a bit of a knack to it that I couldn't hope to explain in text, but would take two seconds to show you in front of a deck - it's like it "grabs" the true reference frequency for the briefest of moments. For some reason, if you're pretty accurate already, this will just nail it and the sounds just lock together.

Of course, it'll start slowly going out again after that - so I use this in conjunction with pitch control to home in very accurately to where the pitch lies, "re-locking" it as necessary. But once you're used to it and have done it a while, you instinctively know, just by looking, which way it needs to go to "lock"and can do it without even using headphones.

You sound like you've got the idea though - let me know how you get on.

[Barely Human]

Seams like a vary laborious proccess when beats can be matched by a trained ear in 10 secs anyway And the fact that one of the dots stops for a bried moment to me seams conicidental, and cannot logically be an actual refference to each mix. It wont matter if the beats are matched or not, put 2 identical tracks on your decks, set one to -6 and one to +6, so these tracks are completley out of sync. Now push the platter on one and look at the dots, and im sure you will find that the dots will stop for a brief moment...

[Louis Theroux]

Is this not a piss-take?

How can the platter know if the beats are matched?

Am I just picking this up incorrectly?

[MangaFish]

Is this not a piss-take?

How can the platter know if the beats are matched?

Am I just picking this up incorrectly?

i've read it twice and have came to the same conclusion as yourself :lol:

but humouring this guy for a second, i cant see how this technique would work on decks in a club environment (ie stobes going off from all angles) or even on decks which are slightly out of calabration (ie the deck spins a tad too quick/slowly at 0%)

re the original poster: mix with your ears mate - its ALWAYS going to be more precice!

[MangaFish]

Seams like a vary laborious proccess when beats can be matched by a trained ear in 10 secs anyway And the fact that one of the dots stops for a bried moment to me seams conicidental, and cannot logically be an actual refference to each mix. It wont matter if the beats are matched or not, put 2 identical tracks on your decks, set one to -6 and one to +6, so these tracks are completley out of sync. Now push the platter on one and look at the dots, and im sure you will find that the dots will stop for a brief moment...

i totally agree with you.

[Hakka]

Is this not a piss-take?

How can the platter know if the beats are matched?

Am I just picking this up incorrectly?

No its not the platter knowing the beats are matched, but if the platter has the dots still then the deck is running at a perfect constant pitch speed I think he's suggesting.

What I think the suggestion is that if both decks are pitched correctly for the two tracks being mixed and it happens to be that dots on platter on both decks are still, you will have beats that won't fall out.

I dunno, that's what I think he's trying to say. I've had a play, but never found that two different records can be matched and coincidently have the platter on both decks having still dots. One might, but the other won't.

Either way, I don't exactly have a problem with beat matching... as IQ said, a well trained ear can do it in roughly 10 seconds...]

Interesting read though.

[cascade]

i kinda get what hes saying but again agreeing with everyone else, how can platters tell if beats are matched?

the dot freezing for a second after jogging is simply a thing that happens anyways, how can it be related to mixing,

while where on the subject, what use to the dots have other then showing you what speed your going at?
as if you didnt know, look at what LED is lit up on the speed selector. lol.

[auditory hallucinations]

Hey all,

Right, first up - I'm not taking the pi$$ - I've got better things to be doing with my time than trying to wind up people I've never met before.

I'm just trying to explain something that I noticed that might be of use to some people, and yeh I was hoping someone could explain what I've now found out as I don't understand why / how it works...

"What I think the suggestion is that if both decks are pitched correctly for the two tracks being mixed and it happens to be that dots on platter on both decks are still, you will have beats that won't fall out."

That is kinda right, yeh...but, the dots don't need to be still for you to notice the effect. In fact it'd be a rare, rare conincidence for a mix to have both dots still (unless you start @ 0% with two different but 130bpm records).

Those dots...just watch them. Watch them as you push / pull the platter - you'll see that one of them will "freeze" for a brief flash the exact instant your mix goes from "out" to "super tight bang on thank you".

And I know, it's mad - how can a deck "know" when it's in time??? Impossible...but check out those dots, if you manage to see them, and try to come up with some ideas - that's what I was hoping for.

Peace.

[Kube 72]

TBH honest isn't it more skill if you just use your ears? I wanna hear it not see it...

[auditory hallucinations]

Yeh totally agree, and of course in use it comes down to a mixture of both

But don't you think it weird, assuming for a second you belive what I say (and please try to check it out), that you could get a record bang in time with another without even having to hear it?

IE the frozen dot tells you when it's SPOT on...

(ok slight exaggeration, of course you need to hear it to get it in the ball-park, but it describes my point)

I'm not out to try to make anyone believe, just thought it might stike a chord with someone...it's certainly made my mixing much more accurate and consistent though :lol:

[Evil G]

sorry to be a downer, but this is nonsense. what you have noticed with the dots is pure coincidence. whether the dots stand still or move forward or back or are a blur depends on the platter speed compaired to the quartz clock (which is at 60hz, i believe, inherited from the ac switch).

they have nothing to do with the tempo of the record on that deck, and certainly have nothing to do with the tempo of the record on the other deck. touching the platter will cause the dots to jump around, but it means nothing to the mix.

[curly]

Learn trust your hearing, after all people want to hear something that sounds right.

I just had a go and got the dots to freeze nearly every time i touch that platter, reguardless of what the records were doing, even with no records playing i got the same results.

[eyes without a face]

haha hilarious

[eyes without a face]

ive just let my right hand side technic 1200 run at 45 rpm on 0 +/- pitch and the 2nd dot from the bottom on the platter stays still exactly all the time...

does this mean every record i play on that deck will mix with the other perfectly? :lol:

[curly]

Better still. If both decks are at 0 pitch then all mixes will automaticly be in time. Is this the case?