Beginner Vinyl Mixing Lesson BY Ellaskins the DJ Tutor

0:00 I had quite a few people ask me for more lessons on using vinyl

Alright guys, I had quite a few people ask me for more lessons on using vinyl. So very quickly, there are many differences between using vinyl and say a controller or CDJs, but believe it or not, there are still differences between real vinyl and even virtual vinyl. The two most important, I would say, you may beg to differ, is number one, when using real vinyl, you can, by the action of you increasing or decreasing the speed, also increase or decrease the pitch of the track. Also, with using real vinyl as opposed to virtual vinyl, if the needle jumps, the track will jump. With virtual vinyl, you can set it up in a way that you don't need to set it up. So, you can have key lock and also you can set it so if the needle accidentally jumps, the track will still carry on playing.

So, for the purists out there, real vinyl is real in many, many ways. Now, the two tracks I'm using on the right hand side is Fierce Child, a track entitled Men Adore Whore. On the left side, it's the Bee Crew and Party Feeling. I'm using the Colour Systems Ink Amber Dub on the left. On this side here, hold on, where are we now, this side is the main, oh gosh, the writing's too small. I'll try and write it down for you. Right, now what I'm going to do first is show you how, the best way of throwing a track in. Now, my actions that you're going to hear now, the sounds that the DJ would hear if he or she was getting the track ready to throw it into the mix over their headphones. So, let's have a listen.

2:05 For example, we might get this sort of sound

Okay, so what's going on here? We have the vinyl, underneath the vinyl we have a slip mat, underneath the slip mat, of course we've got the turntable itself. Now, what's happening is I am, okay, from this point here, that is where the track starts. Now, that's where I need to lift my finger off and no longer have any form of contact with the vinyl at all. Because if I do... For example, we might get this sort of sound.

I could change the sound of the track. Also, change the sound, change the speed which in turn may not then beat match with the track that we're trying to play it with. What I need to do is I need to get the track ready.

There, bring it back about, I don't know, probably an eighth of a turn and then try, if I can, and this is a technique that you need to practice, and eventually you'll do it without even thinking of it. What you're doing is you're going with the record and just a millisecond before the sound starts, you're lifting your finger off and then you're letting the platter take control of the speed of the record. Now, this is something that turntablists are very, very good at doing because they have such a light touch. If we go back to when turntablism started... There was no form of any kind of program and their actions by themselves moved and made the sounds of the records. Nowadays, with virtual vinyl, like I said, if you do have a needle skip,

You very, very, very rarely now hear records skip because the program is listening to a skip and go, The needle jumped. We're going to maybe not use that. And just let it go. Let the record carry on playing. Whereas if you go to the 90s with turntablists, if there was a slight mistake, you could definitely hear it. So I'm not saying there's cheating going on nowadays. It's just that there's a lot more sticky back plastic and sellotape covering things up. That's my analogy for you. Right. So let's play the B-Crew party feeling. We're going to go towards the end of that. Here we go.

4:36 Is what the DJ would be hearing on their headphones

So what you're about to hear now... Is what the DJ would be hearing on their headphones. So right hand side, let's just take the needle off the record and take the record off the slip mat and take the slip mat off the platter. And there it is. Now, what I have noticed here is that when I bring this record back, there does seem to be a kind of not friction, but almost as though the platter seems to be pulling. Now, this is what we don't want. Ideally, what you need to be able to do is you need to be able to spin the piece of vinyl back and it spin naturally. It's almost as though there's nothing holding it back at the moment. There does feel seem to be a little bit of tension there. Now, not all the time, but it's highly likely it could be the slip mat you're using, believe it or not, is damp.

7:05 Alternatively, just sort of shake it around, stick it above a heater

Yes, it is possibly damp. A tiny bit. A tiny bit of water or condensation on there can stop its natural movement. So an easy way of trying first to see if it is damp is a hairdryer or put it outside underneath the sun, not in the rain, of course. Alternatively, just sort of shake it around, stick it above a heater. It doesn't have to be for long. Outside for two minutes, hairdryer, few seconds. Heater, a couple of hours. A couple of minutes and then give it a go. Now, if that fails, then, of course, you can revert back to the oldest school of slip mat known to man, which is a piece of A4. Fold it in half, fold it in half again so it's a quarter and then cut away at the corner. Of course, you'll cut, remove four corners, take about two centimetres away, open it out.

Then, of course, you'll have a natural centre with the cross where you've crossed it. Press it down. Believe it or not, a piece of paper will do. If you haven't got a piece of paper, greaseproof paper, anything that's thin, even the likes of a plastic bag. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a plastic bag will do. Cut out a plastic wood. All right, yeah. Rip the plastic bag. Make sure you don't pull it. Put a piece of vinyl on the top. Draw a circle around it. Draw a little squiggle for the hole. Cut around the circle. Poke something through the hole. Put that on the platter. And believe it or not, you have got an exceedingly cheap slip mat that costs you two and a half pence because in the UK at the moment, a plastic bag is 5p.

You can make two slip mats from a plastic bag. So yes, it's cost you 2.5p. Look at that. Isn't that amazing? Right, so that's a bit of a help for you. Now also, if the needle, the styli is skipping, then that's where the anti-skating comes in. I'm going to do another video on that in the future because setting up vinyl in itself can be an absolute nightmare. All right, so there you go. Sort of an insight into using vinyl. If you are interested in using vinyl, then I would do a bit of research first. Okay? Because you've got to have a couple of good turntables. You've got to buy your vinyl collection, which can be expensive. You've got to buy your styli and there's a lot of carrying stuff around. So I hope that has been a help.

There will be more videos on vinyl in the future. Practice and enjoy. Thank you.

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