Black Friday Sale now live: www.clubreadydjschool.com/club-ready-dj-course/ I added so much new content and bonus material - I have been devoting so much love and energy to it these past few months, hopefully you like :)
If you're trying to make sense out of this topic, the most important thing to know is the difference between volume and gain controls. If not, it will always be somewhat of a mystery. They both control how loud the music is, so its easy to think they're the same. 'A gain control is on the input of a component, and can actually boost the signal by making it more powerful. A volume control is on the output of a component, and just attenuates the signal, but not boost it. You need to first start by going over your entire system and locate every control in the system that changes "volume". Your next step is to check each adjustment and determine which ones are actually volume controls, and which ones are gain controls. The single most important thing to remember is this. Only a gain control can distort the signal. A volume control can't. When setting up your system, deal with your gain controls first, and set them to levels to where they don't clip. That's called setting your gain structure. Once that's in place, clipping won't be an issue. You then use your volume controls to achieve desired loudness. As far as red lining goes, it doesn't matter if you red line from volume. You can have them pinned solid red and it won't make a bit of difference. If someone in charge of the house system asks you about red lining, show them your gain structure and how that's not what's causing the red line. If they know what they're doing, they shouldn't have a problem with it. This also helps with trouble shooting. Lets say you are getting distortion from clipping. You can automatically eliminate all your volume controls. It narrows things down quite a bit, and you're not looking at things that can't be the problem.
Your comment on how the club system will perform different when filled with people is outstanding. No one ever takes that into consideration, and its a big factor.
Hey, I bought your course after completing the two top dj courses on udemy. With those courses on udemy I managed to learn but turned out that I was missing on really important basics. I was stuck on using large amount of hot cues(not present on most club equipment) also mixing and blending two songs in under a single phrase which was not sounding good especially when I was mixing the wrong parts ending up having a drop after a drop. Glad I started over because after 2-3 days of following the course and doing the homeworks I have alot more professional sounding transitions with slow and careful eq work over 2 phrases. Even my girlfriend made a compliment that my mixes are sounding great. Thank you! I cannot wait to start the advanced course.
I as introduced to this rule (keeping the trims at 10 PM) back in the early 2000's. It also comes in handy for vinyl rips that are often recorded at low volumes.
as someone who runs a soundsystem, its much better to run at 0db. Much less risk of damage to my speakers and it means I can run my amps higher. The problem is, most DJs don't understand sound engineering.
Great advice on a misunderstood subject Andrew! I’m a studio-bound DJ and I subscribe to the “keep it under 0db” school of thought, at least in the digital domain. So much of music production and performance involves multiple components and interfaces that a solid understanding of the basics of digital and analogue audio as well as gain structure, seems to be essential for a DJ these days. 👍🙌
you should be averaging around 0db with the peaks hitting a maximum of 6db, which then gives you an additional 4db headroom for unexpected peaks in the track.
This was incredibly helpful. I've been so hesitant to DJ at parties because while I feel I can mix decently, I didn't know how to use the trimmers and master volume to maintain or improve sound quality while increasing volume. This video definitely ave me some much needed confidence boost haha
As a sound engineer that I am, In large equipments (15kW RMS or higher), the djs sound with better quality and power when they send me 1 or 2 yellows in the master and the trims at -11, so at that level you make the amplifiers work with full power and you move the speaker cone to its safe limits where it gives you maximum power without damaging the speaker. In some clubs the lack of volume is due to the fact that the equipment is working at reduced power due to the regulations of where the club is located. TL:DR To obtain the best possible sound the tracks almost red and the master with 1 or 2 yellow
Some clubs have a sound engineer on duty all the time and they watch how you are pushing the sound system. Ministry of Sound in London is a classic example. We are told no more than +3db. If they see it touching 6db the sound engineer will step in and throttle you back. But then again thats on a 150,000 watt sound system. (25kW per cabinet).
Great advice Andrew. I sometimes put my main output through an Aphex 204 Aural Exciter to boost the perceived sound level of the PA without actually increasing dB in the room. It's a way of beating a limiter and can improve overall sound quality when tweaked just right.
Some big clubs I played, had a limiter on the PA. So if the signal goes above e.g. +6 db from the master it gets reduced. If you play louder and louder, the sound gets uaaawww. So sometimes it's better to reduce the level, to have the chance to push again when needed ;-)
Thanks for your videos Andrew, now that you are talking about levels would be great if you can actually touch on the hearing protection issue and that can actually leads to hearing problems and tinnitus.. it's something it is not talked about much among DJs and ironically affects a lot of DJs, tinnitus awareness week is coming up would be great if you can do it for that! keep it up
With the controller jazzy is using you can hit reds all day on the individual decks and will only clip if the master hits red. That controller is made for battle djs though so that might have something to do with how it’s handling the sound?
The jazzy Jeff video use Serato. Serato use Auto-Gain function which fix the volume difference, you see this clearly next to deck of Serato display. So it don't matter the position of Trim of controller. You should still adjust your Trim/Gain if you don't use DJ Software. Two reason often are Track produces to loud. Depending how many deck and fx you play you need more headroom, better fix overall levels at master output.
Great tips! I've got a weird situation where there are more speakers on one side of the room where I play so I have difficulty evening out the volume. No solution but just felt like sharing 😅
For my opinion is -0db for gain structure, if push too hard and almost reach the maximum red indicator, there's no more head room... Some of the old music need to push it more for reach that volume level 😊
I have ben playing only for a while, but never understood the guys with 10+ years experiences pushing the levels to the red so much, the indicators stopped moving at all. The sound is clipped and with lots of mid and high frequencies melting together into noise, and it was literally ripping the ears apart. Some clubs actually penalise DJs for exceeding top noise levels, which I find totally appropriate. Anyway, I used Platinum notes for equalising the tracks to the same db level, as well as for de-clipping etc. No need to touch the trims then. I guess I am just lazy to do it regularly, as it is another step in the workflow and you have to reimport the tracks and so on. It actually never helped much with some poorly mastered tracks. The other downside is losing the habit of watching and actively adjusting the levels.
i appreciate the videos guv, great help. i'm self taught, and self taught wrong, its been a huge dent to my confidence realising i have been fluking it for ages, my mixes now sound like when other folk do em, i.e decent.
Excellent advice on all counts. I prefer rotary mixers but since I can't afford one that meets my needs(I use Xone 94,96 or Model 1 with an isolator)I generally keep the faders up and bring tracks in with the trim knob not that I recommend this but its more fun for me.
Thank you Andrew for what do you, your amazing positivity, and for making these videos for such a long time already! I'm just starting out on a DDJ400 but I'm quite busy graduating uni so I'm waiting until I have enough time for your course. Until then I'll binge your youtube :D
Try using a very famous dj's trick to play without speakers! He connected a inner ear smaller phone to the controller audio out put ( I think you can set the laptop jack to be this audio out put) And he used his dj headphone on the regular headphone jack of the controller to listen for the decks cue! That way you can practice without any neighbours or flatmates complaining about the noise! Do every day a little of mixing, and get back to studies!
@@neemyn407 That's a really good idea. I usually play in the living room so people don't mind too much, but when I play in my room this earbud trick will come in handy!
@@neemyn407 A much better option is to just set the headphones output of rekordbox to the speakers/digital or analog output of your PC. That way you can just listen to what would normally be master cue through your headphones. Works with any controller; this is pretty much the only way I play at home, and it allows you to hear things _much_ better (if you've got proper headphones powered by a good DAC and amp). It can be a lot of fiddling to get it to work right on certain setups but it _is_ possible
Im so sick of amateurs acting like they are killing it because they are going on red. Past 3db or even 5db you always get an unpleasant distortion on the bass and mid bass. No matter what. To put too loud the music only results into a increased mid-high proportion to the bass, because those harsh frequencies in terms of db are way quieter in the production/mix/master so they have more headroom to get increased before getting squashed too. Not to mention the real chance of permanently damage the speakers.
I think something is wrong with my Serrato when its playing in Serrano its hitting when on the controller not and when using the trims on the controller nothing moves in Serrano with the track help
If you’re in the red will your channel faders get blown out? My channel 1 & 2 are both out because I was red lining on the Rane 4. Anybody else had that problem?
Great video, I’d have liked to see what you do if you’re also using an external mixer with your controller. They also have gains so do you do everything you’ve said with channel and master gains then the mixer can add to the volume by turning their gains up?
I would treat the mixer in the same way I used the club mixer, but not knowing the mixer, always trust your ears. Find point where it starts to distort and always keep it under that point :)
Yes and no. Yes if you're always going to be using the same gear, no - if you want to be ready to play on other systems that may not have this feature, this way you're not relying on tech that not all gear shares.
If the trim is set at 12 o’clock but the new track coming in is recorded at a lower level.can you go past the 12 ,o’clock position without hitting the red? because the track is at a lower level anyway? I always have mine set at just under 12’0clock so I’m not sure to the answer.I’ve never been in the red because of this setting
The Irony that people in 2022 still have to learn what is non harmful / comfortable listning levels for dance-floors or lounges! Small tip, *ALWAYS do your own soundcheck as you have the final responsibility as a dj* Be sure to normalise all your tracks as well!, do not count on that compressors or digital expanders in the rack will do it for you! (True story!) Hey bud, why are you redlining for? Huh? Do you have a drivers-license? Yes! Do you jaywalk or run redlights as well? No! Then why the h3ll are you running the mixer in the reds?, what does it tell you? That people are having fun! Well i rest my case!
