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A simple mix using the crossfader

Lesson Beginner Stage 1: Your First Setup November 2023

On YouTube this video is called Complete Beginner DJ Mixing Lessons Video 16 a Simple Mix Using the Cross Fade X Fader

What this lesson teaches

This is where the series stops explaining controls and starts asking you to do something. Everything in it has appeared already; the lesson is putting it together.

Setting up

Same track on both decks, tempo reset so the pitch is out of the equation. He uses the crossfader rather than the channel faders.

The headphones

Start one side playing. Cue the other and press play on it, then bring the headphone level up until the cued track sits at the same loudness as the speaker.

Wear them the usual way: one cup on, one ear free. Right cup on the right ear for the cue, left ear open to the room. The two sources are then equally present, which is the condition you need.

Matching those two levels is the step people skip, and it is why their cued track seems inaudible. The headphone is close to your ear and the speaker is across the room, so the speaker has to be much louder in absolute terms to arrive at the same strength - which means setting it by ear and not by the numbers.

The routine

Press play on the side the crossfader is on, and count from the first kick:

One two three four, one two three four, one two three four, one two three four.

That is four bars. He goes to eight, then presses play on the other side on the one.

Then listen. If you hear that echo, the two are not together - and the jog wheel is how you remove it.

The direction test

The part to memorise, because it is the thing you will use forever:

Move the jog wheel one way and listen. If the echo gets worse, that is the wrong direction - go the other way. If it gets smaller, keep going.

You are not calculating anything. You are testing, observing, and correcting - and when the two taps become one, you are there.

Then do it again

Cue both sides back up and repeat. And again. This is the exercise that the rest of the course rests on, and the only way through it is repetition.

Contents of the video

Right, video 16 and we're going to do a bit of a mix. Very simple but I will explain and I'm going to show you now what you need to do to set up ready for this. Now first of all I've got the same track on both sides. I have, I'm going to sorry not have, going to make sure I've got the tempo reset set so both sides exactly the same mirror image. I'm not using the up-faders, I'm going to use the crossfade for this demonstration. I'm also not using my headphones but I will run you through the process of using your headphones, might be a good idea for you. So again plug your headphones in and start one of the sides, make sure it's not too overpowering. What you need to do then is cue up the opposite side and press play and then while you've got your headphones on

Remember slowly bring the volume up on the other side so the audio is the same as the side that's playing. Now something quite important here that you may see a lot of DJs do is they will have one ear cup of the headphones over one ear and the other ear they'll have left out in the open. So try that, so maybe have your right hand ear

Cup over that ear, the left side remove the ear cup take that off and so you've just got your headphones almost at an angle on your head. So the left ear is free to listen to the audio through the speakers and your right ear is now listening to the headphone. Try that. Okay so what you're also want to try and do is make sure when you turn the volume, the level up on your headphone volume that the actual audio level on your headphone on the right hand side is equivalent, is the same as the speaker. Now even though the speaker's louder because that's further away you're going to have to have that turned up whereas the headphone because it's right next

To the speaker. So what you're going to do is press play on one side, make sure it's the side that the crossfade is on and as soon as you hear that first kick we'll count our bars. Remember previous video bars and phrases here we go 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 now after eight I'm going to press play on the other side two three four one two three four play. over can you hear that sort of echo let's move the jog wheel there we go I'm gonna cue up the other side now press Q on the vault on the up fader 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 start on the other side for one two three four crossfade over four one two three four one two three four press Q again on the side that we've just brought in and cue again on the other side

Q on the turntable and now repeat the process one two three four one two three four so whenever you hear that slight echo move the jog wheel to get rid of that echo. Now you may find if you move it one way the echo increases so that's the wrong way move it the other direction if when you move it one direction and the echo decreases that means you're moving it in the right direction all right give it a go practice and enjoy thank you

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.

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