I kept with the vinyl right up until last year, when I blew the motor on my Numark turntables, the death dealing blow in a string of problems I had had with my vinyl setup. I haven't since played a single vinyl record, opting instead to "move with the times", and go digital!
Now, as CD decks, even now, aren't exactly affordable, and it seems are already being made obsolete, I opted to go down the software road, going fully digital, mixing mp3's on my PC. Very quickly, the PC in my studio became not only my DAW, but my Decks as well.
However, due to running an on board sound card at the moment, the master output and the cue mix in my headphones are heavily out of sync, and while not making manual beat matching impossible, it makes it a lot more difficult, and cueing up a mix damn right frustrating! To remedy this situation, I have added to my wish list a Focusrite Saffire 6 USB and a Numark Mixtrack Pro (As much as I would like a Traktor Kontrol S4 or, as Slipmatt seems to be loving his, the Pioneer DDJ-T1, I really can't afford that sort of money!), but until I can gather funds for these, I am stuck with using TempoSync.
Now, in the years leading up to the demise of my vinyl decks, I outright despised tempo sync! With a passion. And the thought of having to use it to get my mixes out there made me slightly queasy! But, and its a big but, I am now torn between whether or not I think its a good thing.
On the one hand, yes, it is lazy, and I still think all aspiring DJ's should learn to beat match by ear. Yes, its hard to learn, even harder to master, but the rewards and satisfaction are huge!
On the other hand, I can see its uses. When beat matching by ear, most of your time between mixes is spent beat matching and cueing up the next track, or, for me, having a cheeky cigarette if I can get the tracks synced quick enough! But with the tempo sync done automatically by the software, I found myself suddenly getting extremely bored between mixes. To the point where I was checking Twitter and Facebook while waiting for my next cue.
Suddenly I found myself getting more creative with my mixes. Dropping in bits of this tune or that over the top, or just mixing from one track to another with lightening speed, condensing what would be a 15 track in 1 hour mix, to 20 tracks in 30 minutes. My effects bay had never seen so much use either, as I was using filters, stutters and loops just to alleviate the boredom of not having to beat match!
Take for instance, on of my favorite DJ's, DJ Gammer. I recently listened to his guest mix on the Next Generation Podcast, in which he crammed 21 tracks in 26 minutes. He is known for this type of lightening fast mixing, and by god does he do it well! Now, I don't know if he does use TempoSync, but I can't see anyway he could do it without it to be honest. It seems when you remove the need to spend time beat matching, the creative juices come out, allowing for some serious messing around on the decks!
So I am now torn between the oldskool and the new, in some messed up limbo between hatred and love of temposync. And one question keeps popping into my mind: Would I rather do long and potentially boring mixes, and say with pride that I beat match by ear, or do I use tempo sync and get really creative, exciting mixes out there? I know the answer, but am hesitant to embrace it! I DJ and Produce for the people. I don't do it for money or fame, or anything other than to get the music I love out to like minded people to enjoy. In that light, TempoSync appears to be a god send!
So, I'd like to know your thoughts on the matter people! As in the title, my question to you stands:
TempoSync: Lazy-Evilness, or Creativity-Unleashing Breakthrough?
~Pathogen
I started mixing about 8 months ago, and I've been trying to get better at beat matching by ear. I've gotten better, but I'm still not perfect. Personally, I think mixes can still be exciting this way! It just takes some creativity is all.
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