Numark Mix Academy video
Intro #
0:00hey everyone i’m jake with numark and if you’re brand new to the world of djing
0:03this episode of mix academy is for you i’m going to teach you how to mix in three easy steps
Matching Tempos #
0:14step number one of mixing match your tempos you’ll see on the Mixstream Pro here i have two tracks
0:20loaded up on the left deck we have a track playing at 103 beats per minute that’s down here you can
0:26see it says 103 that is the bpm or the tempo of the track that’s basically saying that is a speed
0:33that the track is playing back the next song i’m loading in on the right deck that i will mix in
0:39is at 100 beats per minute so we need to get this number 100 to match 103.
0:47i chose a track with 100 bpm tempo because it’s going to be easy to explain how the pitch slider
0:53works which is right here on the side of the deck this is a percentage change slider that will
1:00adjust the speed of the track and right now i have the pitch slider set to plus or minus four percent
1:06so that means this tempo slider will go all the way down to minus four percent by go sliding it up
1:12or it’ll add four percent sliding down now what i need to do is just add three percent to this
1:19track so that it matches 103 beats per minute so i’m going to slide the slider down two plus three
1:30and we’re pretty close there plus three percent now you’ll notice that the tempo says 103. that’s
1:36where we need to be so that exactly matches the tempo of this track now that we have the tempos
Understanding Song Structure #
1:41matched the next step is to mix in at the right time so to understand where to mix in your track
1:46we first need to talk about song structure so most modern music is in four four time so that means
1:52there’s four beats per a measure or you could say a major or a bar so how the structure would
1:58work is you have four beats per bar or measure and then usually those are grouped into chunks of four
2:04bars so you know 16 beats at a time typically in most music you’ll find that there will be a
2:12intro usually 32 beats there’ll be a verse number one after the intro usually 32 beats there’ll be
2:18a chorus after that which is 32 beats followed by verse number two 32 beats followed by chorus
2:25number two 32 beats see the pattern here 32 beats there’s usually something major happening in the
2:30song every 32 beats with exceptions of course but that’s a general rule to follow for example this
2:36track we’re playing on this side levitating it has a 32-bit intro which is eight bars
2:42it has a verse number one of 32 beats and it has a pre-chorus which is before the actual chorus the
2:49pre-chorus is 4 bars or 16 beats then the chorus starts and the chorus is 8 bars or 32 beats so the
3:00goal really is to mix in the intro of the new song as soon as the chorus starts of the playing song
3:09so that way when the chorus ends verse number one of the new song begins so let’s illustrate
3:15that let’s count this one out we’ll count out levitating a little bit you’ll see the structure
Counting Beats #
3:20at the beginning 32-bit intro two three four two two three four three two three four four two three
3:30four one two three four two two three four three two three four four here comes verse number one
3:56[Music]
3:57here comes the pre-chorus one [Music] two remember there’s only four of these bars [Music]
4:06almost ready for the chorus here we go one
4:11two
4:16here comes the next set of four bars one
4:20two three four here comes verse number two
4:32[Music]
4:33now what we’re gonna do is mix in the new track starting at the beginning of
4:37the first chorus of the playing track so since this track has a 32 beat intro
4:43it’ll align perfectly we’ve already matched the tempo so we know it’s going to align
4:46rhythmically but then it’s going to phrase properly because as soon as this chorus ends
4:51verse number one will start on this deck and then we can fade it over completely to get to that
4:58point let’s go back to that uh pre-chorus area so we know that that is four bars so we’ll count
5:04out four bars and then we know to mix this in now it’s worth noting a pre-chorus isn’t in every song
5:10just remember that the chorus is the part that gets repeated usually two or three times
5:14in a song and that is typically 32 beats just listen for the chorus it’ll be easy to identify
5:21and it’s really important to understand your music ahead of time or at least have an understanding of
5:25what the song structure is so you know when to mix in let’s get to the mix we’re going to play
Mixing Two Songs #
5:30this pre-chorus and as soon as the actual chorus starts we’re going to hit play on deck 2 and that
5:3632-bit intro is going to start we’re going to keep the volumes up on both decks as we mix
5:44[Music] okay that pre-chorus is going to start
5:47soon right here we go three chords starting four bars [Music]
5:59all right almost ready [Music]
6:10all right four more runners i’m gonna fade over one two
6:17three [Music]
6:23verse number one starts the next track
6:28step number three of mixing is adjustments one of those adjustments is adjusting the pitch
Making Adjustments (Pitch Bend, EQ, Effects, Filter) #
6:33temporarily so we would call that a pitch bend and we would use that when we maybe miss our
6:38drop uh we started the track we’re mixing maybe like a little too early or a little too late
6:43and the beats aren’t lining up so we know that the tempos are matched because we already did that
6:48adjustment at the beginning so we know we just need to temporarily
6:52speed up the track or slow it down to nudge everything in place so that everything aligns
6:56so what i’m going to do i’m going to go back to that pre-chorus of levitating uh i’m gonna start
7:02the new track just a hair too short and then i’m gonna nudge it in place using the outside
7:08ring of the jog wheel or alternatively i could use the pitch bend buttons plus or minus [Music]
7:28all right four more beats i’m going to start this one late [Music] [Applause]
7:34all right now i’m going to speed it up
7:38all right i got it back in line same thing if i was off i could use the pitch bin button [Music]
7:51and i saved the mix by pitch binding so another adjustment we can make would be adjusting the eq
7:57as we mix now i typically like to cut the base of the chorus while i’m bringing in the next track
8:05and so i’m hinting of the baseline of the incoming track so the audience is thinking okay something’s
8:11coming up what is it and it creates a little drama and a little excitement to the dance floor
8:17so let’s go back to that pre-chorus again as i start mixing at the beginning of this 32 beat
8:22chorus with this 32-bit intro i’m gonna kill the bass in the chorus and leave the bass in
8:27the intro so that way we’ll have the bass of the new song combined with the chorus of the current
8:33song to create a little drama and excitement on the dance floor okay so we’re gonna go back to
8:37that pre-chorus again need a little bit of company remember the pre-chorus and this one’s four bars
8:48[Music]
8:49all right i’m gonna kill the bass when i mix them [Music]
9:02and now when i mix up i’m gonna add an effect on the chorus i’ll do an echo
9:15[Music]
9:16and effects are another great adjustment you can make to the mix
9:19just uh add whatever you like on the mixer and pro we have echo flanger delay and phaser echo
9:24is a great effect just to add on the chorus right at that last beat and then that way that vocal
9:29trails off as the new verse starts in the new song it’s worth noting also on the mixtream pro
9:34the effects are post fader so that means you can engage the effect with the volume fader up
9:41and then as you bring it down the effect will still trail off so for example
9:48another really great fun adjustment you can make is using the filter knobs so we have a
9:53combined low pass and high pass filter how that works is if i turn it to the high pass filter
10:00you only hear the high frequencies of the track if i turn it to the low pass filter side you only
10:06hear the low frequencies so low pass it means it’s passing through the low frequencies only
10:13so what i would do is let’s go back to that pre-chorus again [Music]
10:27all right here comes our chorus [Music] so this song is playing but it’s [Music] the
10:37filter knob is engaged so i’m going to bring this filter down and bring this one back to the zero
10:52[Music]
10:53and there you have it so using the filter knobs is a great fun way to add some flavor to your mix
10:58adjusting the eq you know primarily base is the one i adjust on that one
11:02and then adding effects it really just makes the mix your own you can personalize it and
11:06really just have fun with it and that’s it that’s how you dj and three easy steps
Conclusion #
11:11match your tempo mix at the right time and make adjustments really it’s all about finding your
11:17own sound being creative and having fun with music that’s what djing is all about if you
11:21have additional questions regarding djing mixing or equipment just let us know in the comment
11:25section below and we’ll do our best to help you out i’m jake with numark thank you for watching
Part 2 #
Video 2 transcript #
ntro #
0:00are these two new controllers about to
0:02take the top spot for best entry-level
0:04controllers on the market what we’re
0:06about to find out hey welcome back Jamey
0:12hartley here from crossfader and today
0:14we’re looking at two brand new
0:15controllers from new mark here we have
0:18the Numark Mixtrack Pro effects and the
0:20Numark Mixtrack platinum FX these are
0:24entry level controllers that have been
0:25designed by numark upgrades to their
0:27previous editions of these controllers
0:30and big upgrades indeed in this video
0:33we’re going to do two things the first
0:35half I’m going to break down and review
0:37these two products explain the
0:38differences and give you my opinions to
0:41help you better make a purchasing
0:42decision if you are looking for your
0:44first piece of DJ gear or potentially an
0:47upgrade to one of these and in the
0:49second half of this video we’re going to
0:51deep dive into all the features of the
0:53controllers and you’ll learn what all of
0:56the buttons do basically so if you want
0:58to jump straight into what all the
1:00features are then just go to this time
1:02stamp now if not and you want to hear
1:05about my thoughts about these two
1:06controllers then let’s get stuck in as
1:08always remember to Like comment share
1:10subscribe on these videos to help us
1:12keep making more and let’s look at the
1:15essential new features on these two
1:17controllers
1:22on the top we have the Mixtrack Pro
1:23effects and at the bottom the Mixtrack
1:25platinum effects as you can see both
1:28controllers are basically the same shell
1:30of each other and feature a lot of the
1:32same buttons and pads and knobs however
1:35there are a few small differences which
1:37I’m going to explain shortly first of
1:39all the Mixtrack Pro effects is the
1:41cheaper of the two are one hundred and
1:42ninety-nine dollars as of making this
1:44video and the bottom one the Platinum
1:46effects is two hundred and forty-nine
1:48dollars as of making this video that
1:51pretty much fifty dollar difference
1:52comes in with two things the Mixtrack
1:55Pro effects is a two channel two debt
1:59controller whereas the Mixtrack platinum
2:01effects has access to up to four decks
2:03this means you can lay it channels three
2:06and four over the top of one and two and
2:08basically mix up to four different
2:10tracks at the same time there is another
2:12visual difference that you can tell
2:14straight away the Mixtrack platinum
2:16platinum effects has the onboard center
2:18displays on the jog wheels whereas the
2:21pro effects doesn’t these Center
2:23displays show things like your BPM
2:25information that how far into the track
2:27you are by the time the key information
2:29and just some really useful things that
2:32beginner DJs are going to need to be
2:34aware of when mixing so that’s a really
2:36nice feature
2:37these jog wheels are both six inch
2:39capacitive touch jog wheels they feel
2:41the same no matter which one you go for
2:43so they are the main differences really
2:45between these two controllers four decks
2:48can be mixed on this one two on that one
2:50you have Center displays to view key
2:52information and you don’t have Center
2:54displays saying that these jog wheels on
2:57the Mixtrack Pro FX do have this line
2:59printed on what is this line for well a
3:02lot of scratch DJ’s will need to have a
3:05marker on their jog wheels to know where
3:07their scratch sound is so this has been
3:09added on just like on something like the
3:12Rain 12s which are scratch controllers
3:15this has been added on so anyone
3:17learning to scratch can find where their
3:19scratch sound is and set their marker
3:20really easily this is a really nice
3:22visual reference so right off the bat if
3:26you are looking to be a scratch DJ down
3:28the line I would actually recommend this
3:29controller over this controller scratch
3:32DJ’s don’t need to mix four channels but
3:34they do want some nice V
3:35jewelle markers to see where their
3:37scratch sounds are if you are a DJ
3:39that’s not going to be scratching and
3:40focusing on mixing then I would
3:42recommend this controller because you
3:44have that key information to help you
3:46mix seamlessly between songs each
3:49controller is designed to work with
3:51Serato DJ light out of the box it is a
3:54free software with a paid upgrade to
3:56Serato DJ Pro if you choose as of making
3:59this video there are software’s that are
4:01supported but I can imagine in the
4:03future that Virtual DJ and algorithm DJ
4:06will also support these controllers the
4:09essential things that all DJ is starting
4:11out need a responsive jog wheels which
4:13these both have the six-inch drug wheels
4:15are probably the best on the market and
4:17I’m going to explain why later on in the
4:20video the tempo just Tsar full-size
4:22which means you have full control really
4:25nice precise control of your tempo
4:27adjust something else that is really
4:29essential for a DJ starting out that a
4:31lot of other entry level controllers
4:33don’t have they’re a lot smaller on
4:34other ones also the buttons and pads
4:37that you will need such as the cue and
4:39play buttons are nice and tactile the
4:41performance pads are really responsive
4:43I’m going to explain why these are so
4:45good later in the video – as a beginner
4:48DJ you might want to play around with
4:50effects and both of these controllers
4:51now have these new onboard access to
4:54effects in the Serato DJ light and pro
4:57software where you can just toggle
4:58between different effects and then they
5:00have this pedal action for turning the
5:03effects on and keeping it on or holding
5:05it down for a temporary on and off
5:07switch these are found on a lot of
5:10scratch mixers they’re standard now for
5:12scratch DJ’s just be able to flick an
5:14effect on or just to activate an effect
5:16quickly and they are really tactile I
5:18love this way of displaying and using
5:22the effects each controller has
5:24high-quality 24-bit audio via an RCA
5:28output on the back we have a quarter and
5:30eight inch jack for headphones on the
5:33front and you’ve even got a microphone
5:35import on the back as well with
5:37microphone controls each controller also
5:40has your four different performance pads
5:44in Serato DJ light and more in Serato DJ
5:46Pro something new on these controllers
5:49fada cuts which can automate cutting
5:51sounds like this with an up fader or a
5:53cross fader if you want to practice some
5:55scratches and see how that sounds I’ll
5:58show you this later in the video both
6:00controllers have dedicated loop controls
6:02down at the bottom which are really
6:04intuitive for beginner djs and lastly as
6:07standard on all entry level controllers
6:09are 3 band eq s level controls fader
6:13controls and a cross fader we’re going
6:16to dive deep into all of these features
6:17in the second half of this video so if
6:20you want to find out what all of these
6:21buttons knobs faders and things do then
6:24keep watching
Pros #
6:28before I deep dive into all of the
6:30features on these controllers I just
6:32want to explain to you why I think these
6:34are possibly the best entry level
6:36controllers on the market now first
6:39thing you need to understand is that
6:40Newmark as a brand is owned by a bigger
6:44umbrella called in music that same
6:47company owns Denon DJ rain and acai
6:51amongst lots of other music brands this
6:53means they can spread the manufacturing
6:55between their brands they can spread the
6:57cost between their brands and more than
6:59anything what I’ve seen on these
7:01controllers for the first time is these
7:03controllers have inherited parts from
7:07different brands such as denim DJ so
7:09these jog wheels are actually the same
7:12or to me they feel exactly the same as
7:15the jog wheels on the Denon DJ prime –
7:17that’s a unit that’s worth over $1,000
7:20on this entry-level controller now that
7:23is something that hasn’t been seen
7:25before these are high-quality jog wheels
7:27on something that is at the beginning
7:30the entry-level
7:31point in the market for that I think
7:34these controllers actually should
7:35probably be worth more money because of
7:37the way they feel they are definitely
7:38the best jog wheels that have felt on
7:40the market and jog wheels are one of the
7:42most important things to have as a
7:44beginner DJ and something that you’re
7:45going to be using over and over again
7:48especially if you are looking to become
7:50a scratch DJ which leads me on to things
7:54like the paddle effects to take those
7:56pedals off the Newmark scratch mixer
7:58again a more premium product and put
8:00them in an entry-level product is
8:02amazing they feel great they’re really
8:04intuitive to use and if you are looking
8:07to be a scratch DJ in the future then
8:09this is the best place to start for sure
8:11because on those scratch setups that all
8:14mixers have those paddle effects even on
8:17the Numark Mixtrack Pro FX with the
8:19marker that I mentioned to find your
8:21scratch point that’s something that’s
8:23featured on something like the brain 12
8:25turntable controller it’s a really
8:28useful tool to have there on an entry
8:31level product so for those reasons these
8:34products are bumping up there is
8:35probably my favorite inch level
8:38controllers on the market
8:39now the performance pads and the last
8:42thing I just wanted to mention the
8:44performance pads are really tactile they
8:46don’t have the dreaded click that a lot
8:48of entry-level controllers do where when
8:50you push it down you get this little
8:51click performance pads you want to be
8:54able to perform on them and bat away on
8:56them doing finger drumming and all sorts
8:58of intuitive things when it comes to
9:00deejaying
9:01and you want them to be responsive these
9:03pads are taken from Akai controllers
9:06they’re found on things like the Denon
9:08SC 5000 prime players and even the Denon
9:11DJ prime – so again you’re getting more
9:15premium quality in something that is
9:17entry level because of the spread of
9:19manufacturing across these different
9:20brands so for that reason all of those
9:23features are really what make these
9:25controllers stand out for me personally
9:27and make it a really valuable purchasing
9:30decision for this entry level in the
9:32market if you’re ready to deep dive
9:35tutorial on these controllers and learn
9:37what all of the buttons knobs and faders
9:39do then stick around we’re about to go
9:41into that right now
Mixtrack Pro FX #
9:46we’re first going to deep dive into the
9:48Mixtrack Pro FX pretty much everything
9:51that I explained on this controller is
9:53featured on the Mixtrack Platinum
9:55effects as well and I will showcase
9:56those extra things after on the Mixtrack
9:59platinum first of all the Mixtrack Pro
10:02effects it comes with the Serato DJ lite
10:05software for free all of the buttons and
10:07pads access different features on that
10:09software and if you pay to upgrade to
10:12the Serato DJ pro software you’ll be
10:14able to access things like being able to
10:16record your effects more performance
10:18features and a few other things within
10:19that software but to get started as a
10:22beginner this is all you’re going to
10:23need Serato DJ lite is a great software
10:26for getting started because you can use
10:28streaming services now in there such as
10:29soundcloud go and tidal so you can sign
10:32up to those and access a world of music
10:34or you can just use your own music from
10:36your computer as well the controller
Controls #
10:39features nice tactile cue and play
10:41buttons a cue point is set at the start
10:43of the song you can hold the cue button
10:45to temporarily play the song or you can
10:47press the play button to start
10:49there are sync features for syncing both
10:51decks to each other we can turn them off
10:54by holding shift and pressing sync again
10:56each controller has these nice six inch
10:59capacitive jog wheels that means that
11:02when you touch the top you can scroll
11:04the shop forwards and backwards and
11:06they’re really responsive I mentioned
11:08earlier on in this review that this
11:10controller the pro FX has a marker
11:12printed onto it when you’re learning to
11:14scratch this is great because you can
11:16set up a cue point on your marker and it
11:19will always stay at that position until
11:21you let go of the track these markers
11:26are featured on rotating controllers
11:28that just the brain 12 something that if
11:30you went down the scratch DJ route you
11:33would then get familiar with in enhances
11:36your scratch performance but it’s
11:37something introduced here at the entry
11:39level and something that’s quite nice I
11:41like to see on this controller we also
11:43have full throat pitch or tempo faders
11:47which means you’ve got really nice
11:48control over your tempo just something
11:51that a lot of entry level controllers
11:53don’t feature so that is I really like
11:55seeing that on this controller and
11:57there’s some nice tension there as well
11:59for fine
12:00tuning your BPM control and
12:02beat-matching moving over to the center
Center Controls #
12:05we have a 3-band EQ with bass mid and
12:08treble or also known as high
12:10we’ve got level or trim controls which
12:13control the overall level of that
12:15channel as well as our up faders which
12:17control the overall level here you can
12:20hear the 3 band EQ these are total kill
12:23eq’s and we have the cross fader here
12:28which is very light it is good for
12:31scratching if maybe it just feels a
12:34little bit flimsy but it works well for
12:38scratching so as far as entry level
12:40controllers go it’s a great cross fader
12:44we also have a nice big filter pot so
12:47these sound great and you get a nice
12:50filter sweep and it’s nice that these
12:52are bigger than the eq’s they stand out
12:55and it means you’ve got nice control
12:56over them as well these are common
12:58things used by DJ’s when it comes to
13:00mixing in the center of the mixer we can
Effects #
13:04access up to six different inbuilt
13:06Serato effects right here on the
13:08hardware so over on the software if we
13:10click on the effects tab here we can see
13:12the different effects now you don’t
13:14really need to touch the software now
13:16because we can do it all on the hardware
13:18you can choose an effect by just tapping
13:20one of the buttons and then for example
13:22if I leave it on echo I can change how
13:25much I want the echo to be applied by
13:27this dry and wet knob here I can change
13:29the beat fraction so that’s how often I
13:32want the echo to be applied let’s say
13:33half a beat and then it’s as simple as
13:35we can flick the paddle up and it will
13:39hold in position and leave the effect on
13:42the button flashes when it’s active and
13:44these work post-fader such as the echo
13:47and reverb they both work per se de you
13:50can change beat fraction while it’s on
13:54make it louder or quieter and flick it
13:59back off again if you want to have it on
14:00temporarily you can just hold it down so
14:03when you let go it will flick back to
14:04the center and deactivate you can see
14:07this is responding on the software as
14:09well and turning it on and off on the
14:11software let me just show you all of the
14:14effects we have reverb phaser flanger
14:25[Music]
14:27low-pass filter and high-pass filter the
14:37effects can be manually tapped in as
14:38well if the BPM is wrong you can tap in
14:41how often you think the track is playing
14:43and it will apply the effects at that
14:45speed that you’ve tapped in to this is
Features #
14:48really nice
14:49I love seeing these paddle effects on
14:51such an entry level controller I think
14:53if you are ever going to become a
14:54scratch DJ then this is definitely one
14:57of the controllers for you because
14:58you’re going to be using paddle effects
15:00like this no matter what scratch
15:02equipment you upgrade to is pretty much
15:04industry standard now on scratch battle
15:06mixers in the center here we also have
15:09our headphone cue control to activate
15:11the headphones via either a quatrain
15:13inch or 8 inch jack you can mix between
15:17the master and the cue here and you can
15:20turn the level of your headphones up
15:22here this is to preview your tracks and
15:25get them beat matched in your headphones
15:26prior to mixing you can select different
15:30songs by scrolling up and down with this
15:32browse knob here and then loading onto
15:34decks one or two there are also an
15:36instant doubles feature if you know all
15:38that is if you want to do things like
15:40beat juggling you can quickly instant
15:41double a song so it’s playing on both
15:43sides at the same time we have a master
15:46control for the master level up on the
15:48top right and a mic control for the
15:50microphone level on the top left moving
15:53to the performance pads and the
15:54performance features on these
15:56controllers there are four different
15:58performance pads available we have cue
16:00mode which when the track is playing you
16:02can jump to different sections of the
16:04song
16:05you can set up new set new pads you can
16:10delete them by holding shift and
16:11deleting that pad no matter what mode
16:14you are in when in Serato DJ light the
16:16bottom four pads will act as these icons
16:20here so the first one is just to which
16:21means it will jump back to the start of
16:23the track and start playing if the track
16:25is kuda it will automatically start the
16:27track just like the play button
16:29this next pad goes back to the start as
16:33well however if you accidentally pause
16:35and set a new cue point accidentally
16:37press this button once and you can go
16:39back to the start of the song then we
16:41have standards fast forward and rewind
16:45the next performance pad mode is auto
16:48loop when the tracks play you can set
16:50either at one beat to beat for beat or
16:58eight beat loop tap the pad again to
17:01deactivate fader cuts is something quite
17:04new for this controller it tries to
17:06replicate cuts like this with a cross
17:08fader or not fader on the track itself
17:11so if you have a listen I hold the pad
17:17down and it performs this now it just
17:21sounds not great on a track playing but
17:25if I were to get a scratch sample loaded
17:28up and I were to push the scratch sample
17:31forwards and backwards it cuts the sound
17:37up this is a cool way of introducing
17:48scratching and hearing what scratch
17:51sounds sound like there is obviously a
17:53rival controller that has another
17:55similar scratch mode built-in to Serato
17:59software this is just approaching it in
18:01a slightly different way you still have
18:03to move the jog wheel
18:09but apply the cuts with the pads instead
18:13of using a crossfader
18:15obviously this is just a way of learning
18:17and getting familiar with scratch sounds
18:19I would always recommend then learning
18:20how to actually scratch using a cross
18:22fader as well but that’s your fader cuts
18:24mode and there are four more available
18:26if you upgrade to Serato DJ Pro
18:29obviously these bottom four pads still
18:32act the same in Serato DJ light has just
18:35mentioned then lastly we have the
18:37sampler mode if I just open up the
18:40sample Bank here we’ve got some samples
18:41that come with Serato DJ light explosion
18:46glass breaking pawn and laser these
18:52samples are obviously great for putting
18:54in between your transitions they used a
18:57lot with hip-hop mixing just for filling
18:59the gaps in between your cuts and it’s
19:01really nice to have that access there on
19:03the controller lastly we have dedicated
19:06loop controls down here this is a really
19:09simple to use you can 1/2 or 2 times the
19:11loop and you’ll see this shown up on the
19:13screen one beat two beats four beats or
19:16eight beats and then you can just
19:17activate the loop on and off as you
19:19please with the button above anything
19:22that is highlighted red on the
19:24controller is a secondary function so if
19:27I hold shift and press loop now it will
19:29reload that section or if I press shift
19:32and the halftimes button it will set an
19:34in-point press play and I can set an out
19:37point as well as we’re talking about
19:40secondary functions we also have pitch
19:43range and key lock underneath the pitch
19:45Bend buttons this allows you to change
19:47the range of the tempo adjust to a much
19:51larger range so if I just get my other
19:53track loaded back on at the moment we
19:58can speed the track up by eight percent
20:00faster as shown here and eight percent
20:03slower now if I hold shift and press
20:05pitch range I can do it sixteen percent
20:08faster or sixteen percent slower press
20:11it again fifty percent faster and fifty
20:14percent slower this is great for making
20:16really wide transitions to move between
20:18genres lastly we have shift and the plus
20:22on the
20:22and which will do a key lock this locks
20:25the key of the track or unlocks a key of
20:27the track so if I slow it down the pitch
20:30of the track gets lower if I put key
20:32lock on it keeps it in the same key but
20:35speeds the track up or slows it down if
20:38you want to turn scratch mode off where
20:40you touch the top of the jog wheel and
20:42it stops and allows you to scratch you
20:46can just toggle this button here now the
20:48top of the jog wheel acts as a nudge
20:50just like the edge of the jog wheel this
20:52is great for getting your tracks in time
20:54and for beat-matching
20:55[Music]
20:57underneath the scratch mode is it says
21:00bleep but it’s a sensor button so if I
21:02hold shift and press stretch it reverses
21:04the track and then jumps back to where
21:07it would be if you have done it at all
21:09it’s basically to eliminate any swear
21:12words if you are playing tracks that
21:13have swear words in but you don’t want
21:15the audience to hear them then you’ve
21:17got to get your timing right and you can
21:18censor them out now I’m going to show
Mixtrack Platinum FX #
21:21you the mixed track Platinum effects and
21:23just the key differences there are only
21:25a couple so let’s make this quick first
21:27of all you can tell that we’ve got the
21:30center displays on the jog wheel
21:32this shows key information like the BPM
21:34of a song so you can easily match the
21:36bpms between both tracks it shows you
21:39the time elapsed and the knee which
21:42shows you what percent you’ve sped the
21:44track up or slowed it down and what
21:46pitch range you are on when I spoke
21:47about the pitch range here you can see
21:50the track playing the playhead moving
21:53rounds now if you are a scratch DJ this
21:56isn’t as tight as just having it printed
21:58on the top like on the Mixtrack Pro
21:59effects so that’s why I would probably
22:02sway towards a cheaper controller if
22:04you’re really wanting to be a scratch DJ
22:06down the line but it still works really
22:08well you can see how far into the track
22:10you are as well by this white marker if
22:12I jump in you can see the white markers
22:13now about a quarter of the way through
22:15that’s really useful to visualize just
22:17how long is left in your song and how
22:19long you’ve got left to mix so those
22:21sensor displays really welcomed and one
22:24of the main upgrades compared to the
22:26Mixtrack Pro FX the other thing is you
22:29can access up to four channels or should
22:32I say four decks because we only have
22:34two channels here but
22:35by pressing this button here we can
22:38access Dex 3 and X 4 as you can see on
22:42the screen and what this does is it
22:45layers the other deck on top of that
22:48channel so for example if I were to just
22:52get another song lined up and press
22:56decks select and then load another song
22:58in I can control this deck with all the
23:02same features but it works independently
23:04so if I move the tempo just now it’s
23:05only affecting deck 3
23:08I’m on deck 1 if I’m playing deck 1
23:10I could sync it up and then I could mix
23:20as you can see the controls only control
23:24deck 3 I could set a cue point
23:29scrub back and it works independently
23:31all the EQ is worked independently as
23:34well but the only thing is I would say
23:36if you are looking to mix up to four
23:39decks at the same time
23:40this really is an introduction to it you
23:43can’t do anything complex because you
23:44only have the two channels to control
23:47the sound and the eq’s so you really
23:50want to be looking at a 4 channel
23:51controller and spending quite a bit more
23:54money if that is something you want to
23:56do in the future it’s a nice thing to
23:58have available but I’m always a bit
24:00hesitant to use up to 4 decks because
24:02you can easily get lost especially as a
24:04beginner DJ what channels you’ve got
24:06playing what channels you need to mix in
24:08and out with these just 2 layers
24:10available but that is the other feature
24:12that’s available for those $50 extra on
24:15the Mixtrack platinum effects lastly if
Serato DJ Pro #
24:20you decide to pay for the upgrade to
24:22Serato DJ pro you get access to a few
24:24more performance features within the
24:26software the main big thing is being
24:28able to record your sets we have the
24:30record tab here but you can also get
24:32expansion packs such as things like
24:34Serato flip which you can access by
24:37holding shift and pressing Q and this
24:39will access your flips where you can
24:41juggle a track around with the hotkeys
24:44and it will automate that and play it
24:48back you can also access pitch play if
24:52you have that expansion as well which is
24:53shift and sample which then allows you
24:57to pitch the track up and down from a
25:01certain cue point but again these are
25:07expansions that you may have to pay for
25:09within Serato DJ pro to upgrade to the
25:13one downside that I would say is with
25:15Serato DJ Pro you can save loops in the
25:18software I would like to have seen shift
25:21auto loop access these saved loops but
25:24they don’t shift fader cuts and shift
25:26auto loop don’t seem to activate
25:28anything without doing some MIDI mapping
25:30yourself so it’s just one little thing
25:33that I would say is I would have liked
25:35to have seen save loops available with
25:37shift and auto loop but with auto loop
25:39we now have I beat jump activated along
25:42the bottom which we can see in the
25:44software and I can beat jump through the
25:46song and choose a different parameter
25:49length and beat jump that’s in auto loop
25:52mode in cue mode we have up to eight hot
25:54q so you can set all eight hotkeys the
25:58bottom four pads do not work the same
26:00now as they did in Serato DJ light as
26:03mentioned there are a few different
26:04fader cuts too I’ll just quickly show
26:06you them so you can hear what they sound
26:08like those scratch samples so you can
26:25get creative with those too and then you
Conclusion #
26:28have it two new controllers from new
26:31mark the Mixtrack Pro FX and platinum
26:33effects which one would I buy well for
26:35the sake of fifty dollars extra I do
26:38like the onboard displays on the
26:40Platinum effects and I would pay that
26:43extra fifty dollars for those displays
26:45but if you are on a really tight budget
26:47then this does everything feature wise
26:50pretty much as this one apart from those
26:52four channels but again I wouldn’t
26:55encourage mixing four decks on something
26:57such as an entry-level controller like
26:59this you want to be looking at spending
27:00more money and having full control over
27:02four channels with the levels with the
27:05EQ and things like that so it’s up to
27:07you really I think if you can afford it
27:09spend the extra fifty dollars if you’re
27:11on a tight budget go for the pro effects
27:13regardless of which one you go for I now
27:16think that these two stand to be
27:18probably the best entry-level
27:20controllers on the market reason being
27:22is that build quality is amazing for
27:26this price point I would dare say that
27:29they could charge a bit more for the
27:30quality of these controllers especially
27:32those jog wheels they feel amazing and
27:35it’s only when you get on them that you
27:37feel how tactile and responsive things
27:39like the paddle effects and the jog
27:41wheels really are the performance pads
27:43feel great as well and all of those
27:45things combined make these my probably
27:48best buys at the moment which is a big
27:50thing to say now obviously this is at
27:52the time of recording this I will be
27:54doing separate videos on comparisons
27:56between these and the sp3 and the DDJ
27:58400 because I know you’re all going to
28:01want to know which what the differences
28:03are between them and which one you
28:04should buy I’d love to know in the
28:06comments what you think about these
28:08controllers if you think new market
28:10heading in the right direction and if
28:11you think it could be a good year for in
28:12music especially that they’re sharing
28:14manufacturing processes that I mentioned
28:17in this video between their different
28:18brands thank you so much for watching
28:21remember to give it a thumbs up like
28:23comment share do all that good stuff to
28:25help us keep making more videos like
28:27this and I’ll see you in another video
28:28very soon
