I would love to see VirtualDJ be able to make pieces with non-uniform tempo (small variations in tempo due to it being done by feel, etc.) uniform! But note that it should also ignore rallentandos (e.g. slowing down at the end of a song)
I would also love it if users could manually enter the time signature or if VirtualDJ could detect the time signature, since not all pieces are in 4/4...
I would also love it if users could manually enter the time signature or if VirtualDJ could detect the time signature, since not all pieces are in 4/4...
geposted Fri 23 Jun 17 @ 1:56 am
klausmogensen
user15922927 wrote :
I would love to see VirtualDJ be able to make pieces with non-uniform tempo (small variations in tempo due to it being done by feel, etc.) uniform! But note that it should also ignore rallentandos (e.g. slowing down at the end of a song)
It's a pre-processing thing you do before you use the track. Ableton Live can do this with it's Warp feature.
But it's always a big discussion if you want to use it, because it changes the tracks if you want it uniform.
So the track is actually kind of ruined, because it's doesn't have that "70's feel" (or whatever it is) anymore
This means that it should at least always be done on copies of tracks, or be saved as copies of tracks
Or it should be saved as a grid "mask" and applied live. But I don't think the result is as good when using that method
Personally I would never use it because it ruins the feel of the track for me.
The exiting thing about mixing for instance 70's music, is that you have to ride the jogs a little while mixing to make it sound good
geposted Fri 23 Jun 17 @ 6:24 am
PhantomDeejay
user15922927 wrote :
I would also love it if users could manually enter the time signature or if VirtualDJ could detect the time signature, since not all pieces are in 4/4...
Where would that help ?
The only place I can imagine it could be somehow useful is the CBG dots where the big ones could be placed on the start of each bar.
Other than that I can't see any place that knowing the time signature would help the program...
Can you please explain better ?
PS:
If you need the time signature for track selection purposes (like mixing a few 3/4 songs in a row) then you can use one of the User fields in the database to fill in the info and have that column visible on your browser.
geposted Fri 23 Jun 17 @ 6:26 am
groovindj
klausmogensen wrote :
So the track is actually kind of ruined
Not necessarily. I think it's true to say that most "non-uniform" tracks are like that due to the technical limitations at the time of the recording. I wouldn't mind betting that if they could have had a rock steady tempo, they would have done it.
Certainly the tracks that I've corrected and played out live (some with quite large tempo variations) have never caused anyone to notice, and/or come up and complain that the drums aren't wonky any more. :-)
geposted Fri 23 Jun 17 @ 9:17 pm
klausmogensen
groovindj wrote :
Certainly the tracks that I've corrected and played out live (some with quite large tempo variations) have never caused anyone to notice, and/or come up and complain that the drums aren't wonky any more. :-)
klausmogensen wrote :
So the track is actually kind of ruined
Certainly the tracks that I've corrected and played out live (some with quite large tempo variations) have never caused anyone to notice, and/or come up and complain that the drums aren't wonky any more. :-)
Uh, I really don't agree with that. Maybe because I'm also a drummer
The 70's drummers were probably the ones with the best feel in the history of drum recordings
The tempo variations were really adding to the tracks, and done on purpose by the greats, in times where you couldn't just throw an explosion sample or a fake orchestra hit into the mix
In more recent times bands like Rage Against The Machine used it all the time. So does a lot of other none-sterile rock bands
Imagine something like Stevie Wonders Superstition being ruined with warp
If someone played that to me, I would probably leave the party crying
geposted Sun 25 Jun 17 @ 10:39 am
groovindj
klausmogensen wrote :
Imagine something like Stevie Wonders Superstition being ruined with warp
Imagine something like Stevie Wonders Superstition being ruined with warp
That's actually one of the tracks I do have a warped version of - and whenever I've played it, nobody's complained that it's now got a regular beat.
I would challenge you to notice the difference if you heard it in isolation.
In fact I have even had other DJs ask me to warp tracks for them, simply so they can mix them more easily.
Tempo changes "on purpose" are a different story. Usually those are more dramatic/extreme, like Come On Eileen or French Kiss. Of course those should be left untouched. It's the more subtle ones (probably not on purpose) that benefit from warping.
geposted Sun 25 Jun 17 @ 11:10 am
klausmogensen
groovindj wrote :
I would challenge you to notice the difference if you heard it in isolation.
klausmogensen wrote :
Imagine something like Stevie Wonders Superstition being ruined with warp
Imagine something like Stevie Wonders Superstition being ruined with warp
I would challenge you to notice the difference if you heard it in isolation.
That wouldn't be fair. I've studied that track (so has a lot of other musicians because of Stevie Wonders reputation as a "feel" master), so I know the thought process and work that went into varying the speed of the track
The bridges are supposed to be faster because they sound better faster and drive the song forward, whereas the main theme has a much better feel when being played slower and brings the "stability" back into the song.
Even though it's a bit more subtle than Come on Eileen, Superstition absolutely has to be in variable tempos to keep the idea, feel and magic of the track
I agree that there are tracks where it doesn't matter, and it's fine to warp them.
For instance a lot of the 70s disco classics.
There may have been an idea with the time variations in those, but I don't think it brings much to the tracks, so I would use warped versions of those
And of course as a DJ it's legit to warp a track, even if it's was meant to have a variable time signature.
It's just another kind of remix.
But I personally wouldn't do it with these kind of legendary tracks
Actually I try to play these tracks with no pitch change, or if I change the pitch to mix them, I slowly bring them back to the original pitch right after mixing
Because it's my experience that people do notice things like that. I've had people come up to me and ask me to "please change a track to it's original tempo" when the BPM has only been 2-3 beats pr minute away from the original. This has only happened with classic tracks BTW
geposted Sun 25 Jun 17 @ 11:50 am