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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: The Sync Button......... - Page: 1

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I have been a DJ for 45 years, longer than most of you have been breathing. I taught myself how to mix. When I started, we did not even mix. At first we switched from input one to input two. My first mixer was a Sony battery powered six channel mic mixer. No cue features with headphone, we just faded one to the other. There were no how to videos, no forums. You could not even ask a DJ what song he was playing. As a matter of fact, there was only one other DJ in my state, that I knew of, and we were fierce competitors. No mixers, no direct drive turntables, no bpms, no loops. All the music we played was from real musicians, so the beats never stayed in sync. You had to learn when you could mix a song. It was not easy, but we practiced every day. We had to pound the pavement every day to hunt for new music, because we broke the new music, not the radio. We did not steal our music from the Internet, because there were no personal computers. The basics that most of you know, came from guys like me. There were no clubs, we bought equipment into halls, back rooms of bars, etc. I learned to mix on wheel drive, and belt drive turntables. I am not telling you this for praise or adulation, I give that to myself. I just want to give you a feel of where I came from. So mister A Man & his Music, what do you have to say.

I USE THE SYNC BUTTON ALL THE PUCKING TIME

When I load a track into the player, I hit the sync button to bring it to the bpm of the track that is playing. What is wrong with that? Are you trying to tell me, that some of you are using the pitch slider to get from 127.05 to 129.66? Why? Why would I waste time trying to push a slider up to a precise point, when I have a button that will get me there, now? I had to do that with turntables, why would I not use this tool? I use loops to extend the beginning or the end of a track. Is there something wrong with that? I analyze all my tracks, and get the time, bpm, key, etc. Is there something wrong with that? I have multiple cue points per track, is that cheating? Maybe I'm missing something, but there seems to be more aggression lately towards sync button users, and I would like to know why. Are you smelling what I'm putting down?

I'm getting on the road now, because I work in a club every Friday, Sunday & Monday, so will not be around to respond right away. Don't worry, I'm here.
 
Posted Fri 31 Aug 12 @ 4:57 pm
i agree. moving the pitch fader to match the VISIBLE BPM readout is not talent. we had to count out the bpms MANUALLY for every song. had to hunt multiple record stores to find the gems. the internet has opened the dj game up to allot of people, but the cream rises.
 
26yrs and counting here brotha
 
I think it's fear, AMaHM. The people who hate the sync button are afraid. They are afraid that they can be replaced. Which, if you have been at it as long as you have, and as long as I have, we know we can be replaced. (sure, they usually come back but I digress). So, rather than work on their skills, they do what seems to be more and more prevalent in our world today. They hate.

I too use the sync button. I'm not ashamed. This is a historical fact. In the old west, the person who won the gun fights wasn't always the fastest. He, most often, was the one that utilized the newest technology, and kept his cool.

So, you keep cool my brother...
 
 
100% agree!!!!!! Even still you have to check the songs you load so that the sync works correctly. When i first load a song in VDJ, I check to see if the scanned bpms are correct by doing different loops if off i beat tap the correct bpms in then re test looping. I also set my joggle wheel "loose" so i can get it tight.
 
You been djing 45 years!!

I enjoy listening to all sides of every discussion on these forums. It helps me figure out what direction to go.
I do understand the hate for the waveforms/CBG grid. About 40% of the time they are off but its about knowing the song and knowing where the first beat is. Depending on the song sometimes it will show my one beat being number three etc...

But I don't understand the hate for sync. Like others mentioned it doesn't make much sense to nudge a 127.34 to a 128.00 track(just an example).
 
I dont hate the Sync feature but, I will never use it. Ive been mixng since 1985 and i am very strick when it comes to blending. I just like doing it hands on because i preffer to be in control.
 
And that's the point... each to their own... sync or no sync... it's a tool to use like anything else.

It's the misuse we are hating on... not the sync button itself...

Cheers,

Roy
 
djxlbass wrote :
i agree. moving the pitch fader to match the VISIBLE BPM readout is not talent. we had to count out the bpms MANUALLY for every song. had to hunt multiple record stores to find the gems. the internet has opened the dj game up to allot of people, but the cream rises.


And so does the "scum". Juss sayin. :)
 
GadgetMan wrote :
And that's the point... each to their own... sync or no sync... it's a tool to use like anything else.

It's the misuse we are hating on... not the sync button itself...

Cheers,

Roy


^^THIS.........

Can we all stop kicking the dead horse now..........
 
(In my TV commercial voice)

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Call 1-800-USE-SYNC
Once again, that number is 1 - 8 0 0 - U S E - S Y N C

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Operators are standing by.
 
I have been DJing for 30 years. I personally don't use sync because I learned how to DJ on turntables and I like moving the pitch fader. Having said that, I don't care if another person uses sync or not. Djing is not just the ability to blend and beat match music. (Even though some people can't even do that WITH the sync button). Djing is knowing what to play when, interacting with your crowd, pulling out that old school jam and mixing it with a current jam! It is knowing your crowd and actually entertaining them. In my opinion if you are not doing that then you are not a DJ. I refuse to define what I do by the use of one button.

While I am on it. Why is everyone worried about what another person does. Let them do what they do! Stop hating! Some use this, some use that. Some spin vinyl, some VDJ, some Serato or Tractor or whatever. I work in a club where I am the only person who uses VDJ and no one else but the DJ's know or care! I do what I do very well. It is not what you use it is how you use it!

DO THE PEOPLE ENJOY WHAT YOU DO? (yeah)
DO THEY DANCE AND HAVE A GOOD TIME (yeah)
THEN TELL YOUR CRITICS TO HAVE A COKE AND A SMILE AND SHUT THE PUCK UP!!!!!!

VCI 400! IN THIS BIIIAAAAAA!!!!!!!
 
LMMFAO!!!
And just so were clear, I'M STEALING THIS!! lol!!
 
IMO learn first to mix.properly without sync button but personally i rarely use it its more fun the manual way imo
 
AMaHM, send what you wrote to a DJ magazine or something.

it's definitely worth reading. I really enjoyed the little time-trip you gave us there. At the very least, I'd like to see a picture of either you, or one of those old battery mixers in a poster kinda-way, with your message on it. That way we could share it in facebook.

Anyways, thanx for sharing that.
 
Been DJing for almost 40 years... started with 2 8 track players and modified the motors to make a pitch control in the end. I built a mixer out of old telephone equipment from the 60s. then moved up to reel to reel for better sound quality. Next to cassette decks for ease of use. By 12 years old I added a Pioneer turntable with a "built in pitch fader". Then a year later bought my 1st technics belt drive turntable. The next xmas I got a Telec mixer with a cue button for each input. That was the best christmas I ever had!! Shit, I didn't have headphones to use the cueing. Horrible xmas, all the radio shacks were closed for 2 days. couldn't sleep... Built my first pro speakers out of 1" pressed wood. Amazing sound quality with ev drivers. I used a 60's Bogen PA mono tube amp and it all impressed the crap out of people. Paint cans for lights with wall dimmers in a box. Was a great time carrying 14 milk crates of 12" remixes up and down stairs, sometimes way down the street in heavy snow to get to my dads LTD. Enough of that... Today I own a car with power steering, automatic transmission, 4x4. I used the pitch on my 1200s for 30 years. I LOVE THE SYNC BUTTON and everything else that makes my life easier as today doing DJing as my fulltime business I like to stop and smell the roses as much as I can... Spending 30 seconds to align the pitch for each song mix at the end of the day is too much time lost. I can focus more on my other talents at an event. To be honest the only thing I miss about the old days of vinyl is even with 14 crates of records It was easier to find my next song to play just by scanning the covers quickly with my fingers. The different record covers and labels were in my face. Searching for the next song to play using a computer is more difficult to scan. Especially with over 80,000 songs in my database. Anyway, nice to go back down memory lane before I lose it(my memory)!
 
pretty sure i know what he meant when he said 125bpm will not sync with 95bpm.... but then i got to thinkin'

it's VDJ... and i gotta do it!

and yes the video quality crap... lost my codecs and havent put them back yet. just like my marbles.
 
The problem with any 'SYNC' button discussion is that we (DJs) continue to talk about it like it is some killer disease and if you touch it you will be marked and die. When you go back to the roots of DJ'ng - as the old saying goes "Two turntables and a microphone" is all there was.

But look at almost every DJ today. They don't have just that anymore. Not even the DVS fan-boys can claim it - why because they use a computer. Why? Because technology evolved the "two turntables and the microphone" concept.

We hear the arguments that "DJ'ng is an ART". And if you do anything that would assist you in competing with the 'artists' then you are killing the ART itself. I would state that it has evolved even more and the ART of DJ'ng has had to embrace SCIENCE to allow the ART to grow. It is a collection of skills from knowing the music, knowing the your audience, and knowing how to use the tools that allow you to be the best DJ.

How many DJ's use FX processors in their rig or even use FX right from software? Why are people that use a Flanger FX not criticized like SYNC users? I mean it's a simple audio processing concept that anyone should be able to learn the ART of making it happen. But even for the Beatles it was a bit to much "work" :)

"Tired of the laborious process of re-recording dual vocal tracks, John Lennon asked Townsend if there was some way for the Beatles to get the sound of double-tracked vocals without actually doing the work."
Nice read on Flanging and where the quote came from - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanging


VirtualDJ has gotten beat up over the years for having a SYNC capability. Which is quite amazing considering the history of some of the other software out there. Here are just a couple videos where the capability was discussed or even 'praised' as being great feature (tool) for the DJ to use those other softwares. And then look at how those software products are perceived today??

* Purposely didn't embed this *

Jan 2011 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8qhtg66jD8&feature=player_detailpage#t=422s

Aug 2009 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUroaly88Gk&feature=player_detailpage#t=43s

Oct 2008 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFNVTis1EHI&feature=player_detailpage


My point in making this post is that the SYNC capability was a given evolution that was going to happen as the science of DJ'ng grew over the years. It's something that Yes - takes something that can be, at times; a "laborious process" and simplifies the task "without actually doing the work". But isn't that why we all got into Digital DJ'ng to begin with?

So, why is it that we continue to bash the use and more importantly the people that actually say they use it? Should be all be boycotting the Beatles or any other artist since the use a Flanger FX in their music without putting in the hard work to do it the OLD fashion way?

I will give you a great example of me using SYNC just last night. The controller I was using just couldn't get me DEAD ON for a particular mix that I was doing. The pitch fader's resolution just didn't give me that fine enough adjustment that I needed. And in doing this mix, I typically am doing more than just a blend of the two tracks. I am using some FX on the outgoing track at the same time of trying to blend in the new track. So, instead of being frustrated and constantly having to nudge through the mix and risking the train wreck scenario - I used the SYNC button to get the tracks at the same identical BPM value. This in turn allowed me to no focus on my FX.

So, am I a SYNC button DJ?

Am I someone that doesn't know what I am doing and should be shot for calling myself a DJ?

If No, then why do we consistently still talk about this subject? And treat it like a disease?
 
PRAISE ON my VDJ brothers and sisters!!! sync button is a tool if your aint using it well w.e floats your boat but as stated before... even after sync you still need to adjust and fix up the tracks in case they go out of beat cause well as we all know the sync is never perfect nor truly accurate.... just my two cents



and with that!!!




DAMN i can mix with out the sync button!!! but guess what on every set i do and every gig i do i am smashing the shit out of the sync button even if the tracks are the same bpm lol!!!


its a tool use it -_- to your advantage ( but i encourage every beginning dj to tak ethe time and actually learn how to beat match just a nice skill to have in case anybody ever calls you out and then you can shut them up!)
 
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