How to Set Perfect Beatgrids for Difficult Tracks / Songs in Pioneer Rekordbox DJ
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 7 июн 2021
- As a mobile DJ, it's important to let our software help us deliver a great performance. Having an accurate beat grid, or rhythm map, on your tracks is essential to help us in mixing, performing. effects, setting effective cue points, setting loops, and more.
Setting the perfect beat grid for your tracks can be super simple because most DJ software will do it for you automatically. However there are tracks that are difficult for software to analyze properly, and thus you have to manual adjust.
I'm not talking about live recordings or music produced more than a couple decades ago, which likely has slight variation in BPMs. Most DJ software can do an OK job with even these songs because of "dynamic analysis" mode. I'm referring to songs that are produced and have a consistent BPM but for some reason, throws the DJ software analyzer off.
I show 2 examples of this and how I go about "fixing" the beatgrid. Hope this helps you!
Content provided by Kevin Summers, owner and DJ at Smilestones DJ Services (www.smilestones...). 
Развлечения
Kevin you are making the "how to" videos for Rekordbox that Pioneer should be making. Excellent song examples. Super presentation. Just a quick reminder to lock the beatgrid when you finish a song.
Thank you so much man!!
Yes, agreed, lock that grid - a best practice that I forget sometimes 😜
Not sure if this got mentioned but I reckon once you've done this, put a one bar loop in at the beginning, middle and end of the track and check if it sounds on beat. if it does then congrats 😁
This was so clear and precise, you're a brilliant teacher thank you!
Glad it was helpful
cool!! thanks for the tips. That micro changing of the BPM a new one for me. Will definitely peep that.
Awesome!!
Good and helpful video. I dream of a day when someone will invent an algorithm that frees us dj's up from having to make adjustments to so many tracks particularly older music eg. 70s/80s disco. We could be coming up with transitions and being creative but instead we are getting annoyed and frustrated by beatgrids!
Yes Craig I’d love that too!! :)
OMG...I hear you. I was a vinyl DJ for years in the late 70's and 90's and then stepped away until just this past March when I got my first DJ controller. This guys channel is awesome and I will be glad to share whatever I learn as well. Thank you thank you. I thought there were short cuts to beatgridding, but guess not.
Happy spinning guys.
Wowww.....that made a huge difference in many of my 90s dance tunes. Thanks a ton master.
So glad to help!
This is so useful!! Thanks sir.
Really good explanation it took me a long while to get this down pat years ago .
Great article 🙏
Thanks Allan
Hey 👋 I’ve my track beat grid is fine until the middle and then it goes off but I analysed it in dynamic and it worked But the only problem is the track is 139.69 Bpm but it will go to like 139.40 ect and back to 139.69 through the track ??? HELP
Hey!! Oh yeah that’s going to happen, especially with tracks that are produced manually without the aid of a computer. What I suggest, and what I do in these cases with tracks like this, is set up your beat grid during the points in your song that you would most likely mix in or mix out. For example the first 16 or so bars of the track, the first chorus, the second chorus, and the end of the track. There’s some spots you probably want to mix in or out of. The rest of the song really doesn’t have to have a perfect credit, so don’t sweat it!
Ok thankyou
So that's why 😂😂 . Thanks for the tips
So helpful thanks bud!
I had noticed that after fixing the beatgrids. the original bpm of 92.57 went down to 81.02, it is slower.
OK, please help me.
I have a track that's set to the grid for the first half of the song. Then there's a breakdown. Then the beatgrid changes. The BPM doesn't change - just the grid. How do I readjust the grid from the point where it change. I can't seem to understand any video tutorial about this. It's like people are leaving steps out.
Thanks.
Hey bro check out this guys article. Jump down to his description of the rekordbox icons… you want number 11.
Good luck!!
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures found out how. tks!
which article? TY
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures
Good explanation of those ridiculously laid out options. You struggled to find where the beat was a few times and you were using your eyes… I was wondering why you didn’t engage the metronome. (EDIT:) That metronome clicks exactly like the grid and it is a lot more definitive whether whether or not you’re on point.
Thanks! Yeah I probably am biasing toward using my eyes and trying to see the beat in the grid - metronome is a good idea to use!
awesome explanation you saved me a ton of time. thanks!
Hey thanks appreciate that!
Thanks for the tips, I’m using Rekordbox now and it seems to have a better beatgridding system to me. I try the anchor but it moves for some reason, I’ll double check what I’m doing and get it better. Thank you for the video!
Thank you for this video! I'm using Serato and have a few songs that are really hard to get the beat grids aligned throughout the entire song which has been very frustrating for me. I will try your techniques but don't think Serato software has the exact tool adjustments like RBox.
Great video!!
This is pretty much my only gripe with rekordbox, I really hope they Improve the analysis feature in a software update.
It can be challenging to work with for live played/recorded music. But with using the tools in RB we can make it work. And usually most recent music is produced by a computer and much easier for RB to analyze!
Smh mines too bro, they need to cuz I'm considering going back to serato
@@qmixent Serato ain't much better. Try analysing something like Led Zeppelin on any software.. Bonham's drumming is brilliant but also as human as it gets. It's a masterclass in screwing with algorithms. I use Serato, Traktor and Rekordbox and they all suck equally. There is a limit to how far AI and machine learning will take you when it comes to quantifying products of human creativity.
The software is already good at phase detection and if the track was quantized, the beatgrid is just a matter of applying some math.
there are already a number of music library management apps (many free and open-source) that use massive cloud-based databases with data collected from thousands of anonymized user files that will scan your MP3s, WAVs etc and automatically correct filenames, add missing ID3 tags, album art etc. DJ software companies should take a page out of those apps and incorporate a similar system for manual beatgrid adjustments. Basically using a community-driven dataset to compare other users' manual beatgrid adjustments and apply them automatically to a user's music collection. They wouldn't even have to start maintaining their own proprietary databases for this either. Just a matter of adding to one of the (already existing) online open-source music databases.
it's actually a little bit shocking that none of these companies have implemented anything like this as yet.. wouldn't be surprised if the reason they have been delaying something like this is because they're looking for a way to monetize it.
great tips. you ever notice the metronome in DBDJ does not work in performance mode?
Thanks Troy! No never noticed that! Sounds like a software defect
Om my DDJ-400 it works in performance mode but only through my headphones! I assume that's not your problem though
Best video I've found but can you not anchor multiple points? I hate that you can just lock a grid in place move up 32 bars lock another grid in place. How stupid this is compared to serato. If I'm missing something please help me thanks.
You;re probably right... I know about cues and of course, hot cues but not anchor points.
I'm having a problem with beat grid of a song. The bpm is 75 bpm and its called , "Just the way you are" by Barry White. I tried to beat grid this song five times and just doesn't lined up and on the beat. I manually tap the beat and it was 75bpm. How can I beat grid this song and have it play on each beat. Thanks.
Hey Gerald. My biggest tip for you on a tough track like that is - only get the beat grid set on the parts where you’ll be mixing (or regularly using a specific effect). I’d beat grid the mix in and mix out points, and call it a day :)
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures Thx
Does anyone think Rekords boxes "Make an Adjustment from Current Position" works better the Serato's "Set" marker setting? It seems like serato changes the grid to left of the new marker even after a new anchor point it set. Maybe I'm missing something.
I’m not very familiar with Serato. Rekordbox’s grid edit tool works great!
For beat gridding, Serato is the worst. You have to fix just about every one. I don't believe Serato has that same feature. If you look RB, you'll see it has 2 options. Set from the current position and change the entire grid from this position. Serato just has the 2nd one. However, Serato allows you to set warp markers, but you should need them only if the song has a tempo change. Warp markers force the grid to conform to tempo changes withing the song.
If you need to fix the grid, its always best to see if you can just slide it left or right. Once you start expanding and contracting, it becomes a pain. On modern electronic music, the BPM is consistent throughout the whole song. If you have the correct BPM for the song, you should only have to slide the grid.
If you want to save some time, download Engine Prime software. Its free to use. Of all the DJ software, Engine probably has the best gridding. Analize the problem song in Engine, and if the BPM is different than what Serato came up with, use that as your tempo. If that tempo is correct, the grid should slide into place.
I thought expanding or shrinking the beat intervals at the start of the track then later affects the middle/ end of the track
100% correct, BUT you can easily go in and split the beatgrid and start editing from the split forward. Unless you're trying to do tricks or effects throughout the song you will be fine to only have a perfect beatgrid around transition points. :)
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures Thanks for your help. This is exactly what I'm doing now
You ended up dropping this song by 10 bpm though? How would I keep the bpm the same but change the beat grid?
Lee, for the Oh Boy track, the way to think about it is this-the software analyzed the track incorrectly and that resulted in the wrong BPM ( it was too high). By fitting the beat grid to the track, we reduced the BPM to the correct value.
With a track like that, get Ableton and use warp mode. I've redone classic disco tracks ripped from vinyl. It's way more accurate.
Sorry but this is not my definition of analyzing a difficult song. Some tracks require even after dynamic analysis an "adjust marker form this position" just about every 2 bars. Bit like warping impossible songs in ableton. Maybe if you take up 21 minutes to explain advanced grid work, you could include this as well ( i mean its not THAT hard). just a tip. good work tho (Y)
True bro that sounds like next level :) I’m coming at it from a mobile DJ perspective, when the beat grid doesn’t align easily to allow us to mix in or out. But your point is definitely spot on - there are more difficult (near impossible, ha!) tracks to have to beat grid. I’m just hoping some folks having a tough time with this kind of use case :)
is it possible to adjust every single marker on the beat grid in Rekordbox? if yes can you help me with some links please?
Hey m8 i have a problem with rekordbox sometimes some beats have higher volume levels compared to other parts of the song dont know if its analysis related or the song is just flawed but i always buy my songs from itunes or original covers directly from the producer/ any chances to change the volume levels of beats in a specific song using just the rekordbox ?
Hmmm I think rekordbox's built in processor does a good job normalizing the audio level for most high quality tracks. I'd make sure to be using 320 MP3's or WAVs. Also could it be an issue with your monitors or headphones - maybe try some new ones? Sorry man I'm not sure...
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures thanks for the reply i know there is actually an issue with the gear im using at the place where im playing, but i need to listen to the songs as well probably seperately in my home gear
So that's the reason eventhough I beat match the songs still misplacing when I mix them?
Well the positive thing is that not all songs are misplaced lol
Yes! It’s good for DJs that most newer music is electronically produced and can be analyzed with a consistent beat grid!
whats your soundcloud or wherever your demo sets are?
Hey! I have some mixes posted here www.mixcloud.com/smilestonesdj/
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures ty, u don't like to spin club music?
@@el3man I do! Don’t often get hired to do that much though ;). HBU?
@@SmilestonesDJAdventures just like mixing u should check out my video section on my channel, let me know what u think
Do you have an inbox? I have some questions for you
kvnsmmrs (at) gmail :)
We shouldn't have to do this I never used to have to with my tunes but now I do and have to with thousands of tracks I'm p***ed