5:44
Beatmatching on a turntable
On YouTube this video is called DJ Beat Matching tutorial on a vinyl Turntable
What this lesson teaches
A practice drill rather than a technique, aimed at somebody who can already beatmatch and wants to be better. It is also the single hardest thing anybody is asked to do anywhere in these lessons.
The exercise
Start a track on one deck. Get a second record roughly in beat on the other - roughly is the word he uses, and he means it.
Then turn the power off on the second turntable.
The platter begins to slow. Your job is to keep the record in time using nothing but a finger on the top of it.
What you are actually doing
Two things at once, and the combination is what makes it hard.
Supplying the motion. With no motor, every bit of forward movement comes from you, continuously, for as long as the exercise lasts. That needs a steadiness of hand that most people do not have and only get from doing this.
Listening and correcting simultaneously. You are hearing the other record, judging whether you are ahead or behind, and adjusting the speed of your own hand - all in real time, with no control to fall back on.
Why "roughly in beat" is the instruction
His point is that fluctuating around the beat is fine. Slightly behind, slightly ahead, drifting back and forth across the correct position - that is the exercise working.
What you are training is not precision at a single instant but the loop: hear the error, correct it, hear the result, correct again. Being permanently right is not the goal and is not achievable by hand. Being continuously nearly right is.
What it builds
The reason a drill this extreme is worth the frustration: everything easier becomes trivial afterwards.
If you can hold a record in time with a dead motor, then nudging a powered deck back into place is nothing. The feedback loop you built here runs much faster than the one you need for ordinary beatmatching, so ordinary beatmatching stops feeling like work.
It is the equivalent of practising on something heavier than you will ever have to lift.
And it will not work at first
It is genuinely very difficult, and the first dozen attempts will fall apart in seconds. That is expected. Nobody does this well early, and the value is in the attempt rather than the result.
Contents of the video
Alright folks, demo and mainly a tutorial for you but also more importantly this is about practice. Now loads of people are always asking me the best way of learning how to beatmatch. Okay now this could be classed as maybe a little bit more for the sort of DJ who to a certain degree knows how to beatmatch but maybe wants to get that little bit better. Now mainly here it's about using your finger And also, logically using your ears and trying to match that with that with a track that's playing. Now first of all what I'm going to do, by the way look in the description to the side of the video for the names of the tracks. We'll start this one off here. Now I'm going to get this one ready. What I'm going to do first of all is just get them in beat roughly. You'll see where I'm coming at, well where I'm going in a minute, sorry. It's on 45. Right now don't get this perfectly in beat.
2:00 And I'll show you
It's about trying to keep it in beat. In other words, if you go slightly behind, it doesn't matter. If you go slightly forward, it doesn't matter. But, put it this way, if the beat should be here, like there, and you're maybe here and here, and you're fluctuating around this area, it doesn't matter. Now, again, you may think, what on earth is he on about? I'll explain and I'll show you. What I'm going to do, I'm going to start that deck off over there. I'm going to get this one in beat and then I'm going to turn the power off. And I'm going to use my finger to keep it in beat. Basically when there's no power on the turntable, it'll do this. I'll show you. Let's play the track. The track first of all on the left hand side. Play this one as well, get this ready. What you're listening to now is the track on the left hand side. Let's bring it on the right. Both together. They're sort of off. Listen to what happens when I turn the power off.
3:13 Keep this one in beat, but use my finger
Keep this one in beat, but use my finger. Now okay, there's got to be a certain continuity with the movement of my finger, but also I've got to listen to that beat and try and keep it in beat. Now this particular tutorial could be maybe for the person who just wants to try and get that little bit better. So we'll start that one off again, we'll get this one going and let's see what happens. No trickery here by the way. Sorry, that was 33. Let's get it back in beat. What I'm going to do now... All I'm doing is get my finger ready on the top of the turntable and initially I'm going to almost try and follow the deck. Now, I'm not giving any pressure forwards or backwards. All I'm doing is my finger is moving precisely the same speed as the vinyl turntable. Take the power off. Finger off. But it's good practice. And enjoy. Thank you very much.
This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.
