I play 70-90’s dance music and aware this window of music has it’s problems (live drummer, etc.). Is there anything I am missing to help improve the Beat Grids. Manual adjust is a pain in the rear and manual gridding on 12 inch disco is a nightmare. Rekordbox has a dynamic analysis feature which works pretty well on songs that are relatively close or wavey but can’t get the grids to import into Engine DJ Software.
I am looking for the best practice for this style of music with the least amount of beat grid editing possible. I have access to Rekordbox, Serato and Engine - they all have their issues but I feel like I am missing something no matter how many tutorials I watch or posts I read. I like the grids to be on point for loops and yes I know I “should be mixing by ear”, but until they fine tune the pitch nudge and make it more granular it doesn’t work as consistently as one would like. Not complaining, just sayin’. Any help, thoughts or processes are appreciated.
My idea is still to drop anchor at the downbeat you detected as improper and commencing from this point, the beatgrid feature should analyze the rest of the track by itself automatically (without manipulating the speed) up to the next improper down beat and start again … and so on and so on
Alternatively: You could buy one or more of the Mastermix Re-Grid packages: https://mastermixdj.com/product/dj-re-grids-collection-1/ At 40 euros for a collection of 50 tracks its cheap and it will noticeably up your 70’s 80’s and 90’s sets.
Alternatively you can use Ableton Live’s excellent warping technology to straighten out those wobbly old tracks yourself. Probably how the re-grids were done (althought many DAWs can do it now).
Thank you all for the replies. Just doesn’t make sense that everything seems to be based on the beat grid, bpm, analysis being accurate and the foundation of loops and sync but nobody can figure it out. I think they are sacrificing analysis accuracy for speed.
You would think someone would come up with a format where the DJ puts in a dozen or so markers/anchors on trouble tracks and the software analyzes the song from there with dynamic capability. Or maybe a fast analysis for on the fly and detailed analysis for track prep when you are not DJing. I don’t know, maybe I’m over thinking it. Definitely going to try the DAW route.
Thank you all again - if anyone one has other suggestions I’d love to hear it.
Yes, AL’s gotten really good at warping with a few caveats. You need to check as it can occasionally cause audible anomalies. If it glitches somewhere you can reset the warp marker and rewarp from there. AL doesn’t support ID3 metadata for export, so you’ll have to add tags back in. Worse, I notice exported AIF files often don’t support ID3 tags. If you want an AIFF, you have to export to FLAC then convert.
This is time consuming, but the track will be forever fixed and work across platforms. It may be worth it for some tracks, but, consider that you don’t actually need a perfect grid throughout a track. You can use Engine DJ to mark (anchor) the few sections where you wish for cues and loops.
I did some testing with RekordBox variable BPM analysis. You can usually import those grids, but it is tricky. You must delete the tracks from Engine DJ and put them in a new RB playlist and import that. Auto analysis has to be off. Unfortunately, I think the tracks are excessively littered with anchors.
Don’t overlook all the wonderful new remixes! The BPM are evened out and they have better EQ.
They’re not for me if they stray too far from the original production. It’s OK if it’s literally just straightened out the wayward BPM, but when they increase the tempo, add a House beat, chop it up and rearrange it etc. (a la LF System) I’m out.
Agreed. I especially dislike a few samples being looped with an overbearing beat. But there are many with a gentle touch that are great additions. As mentioned before, I love Walter Verdi’s work.
One other consideration, more than one way to skin a cat. There is a modern obsession with every single track having to be ‘beatmatched’ into each other…. A carefully timed cut can sound just as good as any blended mix… also using a reprise to mix between tracks could be another method.
Quantize, it also works for fx, mixing by ear would mean having to use only the noise and the filter, the rest would be useless in reality, since the real beat would not coincide with the grid
I am also disappointed to find this out. I recently bought the SC6000 players. All my older disco music and live drummer tracks have wonky beat grids. Setting the beat anchors at every temp change process can take a while. Ive settled with only adjusting the beginning and ends of the tracks only to save time. I also now save loops for mix in and mix out areas of the tracks so i know the beats wont move around too much when im doing a transition.
I have so many more songs to go through and wish there was a better way to go about it. Really annoying bc its tough to grab a loop on the fly and I need to do more beat grid work and have less fun.
If you want to grab a quick loop you need to hit the in and out buttons exactly on the beat or have a perfect beat grid. Not the end of the world, but it would be nice to have the recordbox dynamic analysis feature.
Can you show me any DJ system or software that can perfectly beat grid the coked out drumming from old Disco and Funk without destroying the swing that makes it great? I’m betting no.
Yep - at the moment DJay Pro is the leader, and really the only reason I have their software on my phone and laptop. That’s the one thing it has going for it.
I’m sure others will follow eventually (people hoped Traktor 4 would, but it’s still manual) but for now it’s a one horse race.
