WTB BPM Counter

[cschle]

I am looking for a new or used BPM counter. Anyone got one? I am just getting into DJing and I heard that they could be helpful? Any truth to that?

[Oscuro]

Originally Posted by cschle

I am looking for a new or used BPM counter. Anyone got one? I am just getting into DJing and I heard that they could be helpful? Any truth to that?

Listen bro, let me save you the trouble. Do not get a bpm counter, just practice as much as you can and trust your ears. You are not going to have a bpm counter there everytime you dj. With dj'ing you just need to jump right in and put in the work. hope this helps

-nm (if you have any questions private message me)

[kalamu]

you can get a free bpm counter on the internet that is a tap counter

or you can buy a mixer that has a BPM counter built-in like on the Pioneer mixers

[Deff Gordon]

when i was starting out i had one of those mini hand held digital bpm counters. you can get them at most places that sell pianos. it's a great way to tune your ear and match beats. i also used to BPM all my records and label them appropriately. that made for easy retrieval in a loud & crazy club or party.

[mal1ce]

I agree with Nick, you don't need one.
As long as you have a general idea of how fast your records are (bpm) in relation to each other, you should be ok when you mix them together.
Besides, just knowing the BPM isn't really going to help you IMO, you're still going to have to learn to ride the pitch to match the bpm's.
A record that has a faster bpm, like a DnB record, will be affected more by the same adjustment of pitch than a slower record, like a house record. Beat matching is just one of those things you learn by practicing.

The things you should focus on are phrasing, key matching, and reading a crowd.

[kalamu]

Originally Posted by nitetripp

i also used to BPM all my records and label them appropriately. that made for easy retrieval in a loud & crazy club or party.

i did the same thing

[la dj]

in 96, after sasha was finishing up his first set here in dallas, that was one of the questions i asked him.

i said, "i'm just starting out as a dj. do you have any advice?" he said, "Practice. You'll catch on at some point." I then asked him if I should label all of my records with bpms.

His response, and I'll never forget this, "That's a bit anal. Don't you think?"

[kalamu]

it may be anal, but doing things like that to help yourself out is just fine.

i've never subscribed to this idea that you must make dj'ing as hard on yourself as possible in order to be a "real" dj. use a bpm counter, use cdj's, label your records, do whatever you want. the only thing you MUST learn how to do in order to be a great dj is to read a crowd.

[la dj]

i took from his response that what with all the time i'd be spending actually writing little numbers on each record.....i could be practicing beatmatching, phrasing, key, etc.

the crowd thing comes later. unless you wanna consider my cat a crowd back when i was just getting started 10 years ago.

[cschle]

thanks a lot for all the advice. i got one of those BPM counters off the net where i have to tap the beat into it, i havent tried it out yet though. thanks again for the advice. i appreciate it.

[Deff Gordon]

Originally Posted by la dj

in 96, after sasha was finishing up his first set here in dallas, that was one of the questions i asked him.

i said, "i'm just starting out as a dj. do you have any advice?" he said, "Practice. You'll catch on at some point." I then asked him if I should label all of my records with bpms.

His response, and I'll never forget this, "That's a bit anal. Don't you think?"

lolz. when you play songs that last 14min each... i guess it would be kinda anal.

[Tyler J]

you dont need to learn how to beatmatch... use ableton... right guys? everyone knows abletons for djs who dont know how to beatmatch.

[la dj]

Originally Posted by nitetripp

lolz. when you play songs that last 14min each... i guess it would be kinda anal.

yeah back then they were getting berated on playing long sets with minimal numbers of tracks. i remember that being the talk when that show rolled through the states.

personally, i really dug that old "epic house" sound. that night was insane for me. ronnie, some chick and i sat on the center monitor during most of sasha's set that night at the dmc. i remember going completely apeshit when i heard him mix in the first few bars of seven days and one week. sasha had this "how the fuck do you know this track" look on his face. lol

fortier pawned his mixtape off to me in orlando just a couple of weeks prior to the show. i had the thing memorized by the time they got here. that track changed everything for me.

it's funny how i can go back and pinpoint that ten years later.

[david austin]

i dont think bpm counters are a bad idea under a few basic circumstances...

a counter greatly helps in association of the actual bpms of each song. if you really have little basic knowledge of music you will start to see standard genre breakdowns within a numerical scale and understand the limits of bpm progressions in standard mixing.

granted it shouldnt ever be used as a crutch, but it can greatly improve associations alongside learning basic phrasing and beatmatching.

[Roos]

Don't buy a BPM counter.

Old man voice: Back in my day those didn't exist!

Look at your watch or a stopwatch. Start counting the beats at a certain point. When you reach 30 seconds, take the number of beats you have counted and double it. If you want to be more precise, count for a full minute and that will give you the Beats Per Minute/Tempo.

Ex: If you have counted 62 beats in 30 seconds, then your BPM is approximately 124.

This is assuming the song you are counting was made with a sequencer or electronic instrument that keeps a steady tempo. If it was made with a live drummer, then your BPM may vary. This will be harder for you to mix, but it will make you a better DJ in the long run if you can mix tracks like this with no problem.