I'm going to show you the basics of how to mix with Serato DJ Lite. Beat matching
is the method of mixing two tracks
together by matching the tempo of one
track with another. Typically you will
choose the first track which will
dictate the tempo of your the next track
you select. Looking through your music
library in Serato DJ you can identify
tracks in the same or similar range of
tempo. I try to stay within a range of
about plus or minus five BPMs of a track
that's already playing, but depending on
the effect you are trying to achieve you,
can choose anything really. Start playing
your first track.
Now drop your second
track in time with the first track you
may need to adjust the new track either
slower or faster. Use the tempo slider on
the hardware to increase or decrease the
tempo. You can either use your ear and
listen on the headphones or use the
on-screen BPM next to the track title to
let you know when you're at the right tempo.
Use the cue button or cue points on the
hardware to bring it back and drop it
again as you please.
If you drop your
track in a little late or early you can
nudge it forward or backwards by using
the side of the platter. It's best to
only nudge the track you're bringing in
and not disturb the playing track.
Once you have the beats matched you can bring the second track into the mix.
Pay attention to when you bring the track in and avoid cutting off the verse or at the
wrong place in the build-up. Bring the
track in with the cross fader or line
faders on the hardware.
Another option is to use the sync
function to beat match. This feature
makes it very fast to match the tempos
and as simple as pressing sync on the
track you aren't playing. So with the
first track playing, press sync on the
other track. Now the tempos are matched I can just focus on when to start the
track. You may still have to nudge the
track forward or backward depending on
when you press Start.
If you press sync again it will try and
snap to the transience of the playing
track.
The sync function will match the BPMs of
both tracks so you don't have to use the
tempo slider at all. The tempo slider
will now affect the tempo of both tracks.
If you want to get out of sync press
shift and the sync button on the
controller. Be sure to disable sync on
the deck that doesn't have sound up as
when you disable the sync the tempo will
jump back to the original tempo or
wherever the tempo slider was set to.
There you have it the basics of beat
matching with Serato DJ lite.
