VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition CONTENTS 1) INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 3 2) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .................................................................... 3 a) PC...................................................................................................... 3 b) Mac .................................................................................................... 3 3) VIRTUALDJ 5 DJC EDITION OVERVIEW ...................
ii) iii) iv) Changing a Cue point position ............................................... 18 Going to a Cue point .............................................................. 18 Deleting a Cue point ............................................................... 18 6) BEAT MATCHING MUSIC FILES ......................................................... 19 a) Sync button ...................................................................................... 20 b) Pitch fader (and Master Tempo) ...........
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition 1) Introduction VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition is a dedicated version of VirtualDJ, developed by Atomix Production, tailored for the Hercules DJ controllers series. Atomix Productions and its suppliers retain all intellectual property rights with respect to the software.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition Operating system: Mac OS® 10.4 (Tiger) or Mac OS® 10.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition a) Browser area In this area, you can browse through your computer or network drives to select the audio files you will load and mix on both decks. The browser area consists of two sub-sections: z the folder browser on the left, where you can select a folder, disk or playlist, z the file browser on the right, where you can select the music track you want to load.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition c) Mixer The virtual mixer area, in the center, lets you set the volumes, the cross fader, add gain and change the equalization for Deck A and Deck B. It also includes a view meter in the center where you can see the volume on each deck and the CPU usage. It also includes BPM counters on top of each gain button, as well as a timer for each deck.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition d) Deck B Deck B is the virtual deck on the right: you can load music files on this deck, move within tracks, play music files, add a bookmark to a song position (called a Cue point), change the pitch (the playback speed), or apply effects to the track loaded on Deck B.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition e) Waveform area This area displays 2 waveforms (1 in red and 1 in blue) for the 2 audio tracks loaded on Decks A and B: the Deck A music track is in blue, while the Deck B track is in red. You can choose the resolution of the waveform area by selecting preset display modes 1, 2 or 3 to the right of the waveform.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition 4) The first time you use VirtualDJ 5 DJC a) Serial number The first time you run VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition, you are asked to enter a serial number.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition c) BPM (Beats Per Minute) rate of your music files The BPM rate is the number of beats per minute in the music, which indicates how fast the music is: a BPM rate below 85 is slow, a BPM rate over 130 is fast.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition analyzing the music files. Since BPM analysis takes a lot of processing time, mixing while VirtualDJ 5 DJC is analyzing your full library is not recommend as your computer will not respond as fast as it should.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition i) Customizing the tag display You can select which fields of the music tag you want to display in the music browser by right-clicking with your mouse on the music browser headlines (or Ctrl + click on Mac if you use a mouse without a right-click button). ii) Ordering You can order your music files by each tag item (by song name, artist name, BPM, music genre...) by clicking the headline of the tag you want to use.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition e) Playlist = Virtual folder You can create playlists in the folder area by clicking the blue + sign with a red folder in its background, near the Search field. This virtual folder is a playlist in which you can place bookmarks for music files.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition 5) Playing audio files a) Loading and playing an audio file When you have selected an audio file in your music browser, you can load it: on the left VirtualDJ deck by pressing the Load Deck A button on your DJ controller, or on the right VirtualDJ deck by pressing the Load Deck B button on your DJ controller.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition ii) DRM-protected files VirtualDJ 5 DJC cannot play files with DRM protection, so if you have purchased AAC files with DRM protection, the solution to play the music in VirtualDJ 5 DJC is to either: 1) burn an audio CD with the music file(s) and mix using the audio CD instead of the AAC file(s) with DRM protection, 2) or connect your portable music player which supports this media file to the audio input and mix this analog source in VirtualDJ with the music stored on your computer.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition ii) Steps To preview a music file, you must: 1) Connect headphones to your audio interface (with the DJ Console Rmx, on either the top or front face: preferably headphones with a low impedance, below 80 Ohms, in order to get a strong output level), or to an external mixer, 2) Set the Monitor Select knob to the Cue position on your DJ controller or your mixer, 3) Load the music file on the deck opposite the position of the cross fader (so that the audience cannot hear the preview), 4)
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition d) Moving within a music track You can move within a music track using 3 controls: Play the music track with your DJ controller's Play buttons. This is the easiest way: simply press the Play button on the selected deck of your DJ controller, and you can hear on your headphones where you are within the track, Move within the track by turning the DJ controller's jog wheels.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition e) Setting a Cue point A Cue point is a bookmark of the moment in the music file where you start playing the file for the audience, for example to avoid a slower beginning of the track if it's too slow for dancing. This bookmark is intended to start playing the music file only once its beat is clear enough for dancing, to avoid a slow introduction of the music which may interrupt the rhythm of dancing.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition 6) Beat matching music files The DJ's task is to provide the audience with the music they need to dance, which includes: playing tracks adapted to the audience, keeping a dancing rhythm, with a good vibe and avoiding breaks in the rhythm, such as empty spaces or BPM rates which change too quickly, making transitions easy for dancers by synchronizing the next music track to the current music track wherever possible: this synchronization is called beat matching.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition a) Sync button Pressing the Sync button on a deck instantly synchronizes the beat of the music file loaded on this deck with the beat of the music file on the other deck. Beat matching is done immediately and easily. You can synchronize a track with another track using the Sync button as long as the BPM difference between both tracks is within the limit of the pitch scale.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition ii) Pitch scale The pitch scale is the percentage of speed variation you can achieve with the pitch fader: a pitch scale of 6% means the pitch fader's upper position corresponds to a 6% slowdown in music playback, and the pitch fader's lower position corresponds to a 6% acceleration in music playback (a 100 BPM rate becomes a 94 BPM rate when moving the fader to the top, and 106 BPM when moving the fader to the bottom).
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition In the VirtualDJ waveform window, the start of each beat is marked with a small square below the waveform, so: if the squares of both music tracks overlap, the music tracks are synchronized, if the squares of both music tracks don't overlap, the music tracks are not synchronized.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition With your DJ Console Rmx, you can set the Pitch Bend functions on buttons 1 to 6: the easiest way is to set Pitch Bend - on button 1, 2 or 3 and Pitch Bend + on the same line: If you map Button 1 as the Pitch Bend - button, you should set Button 4 as the Pitch Bend + button, If you map Button 2 as the Pitch Bend - button, you should set Button 5 as the Pitch Bend + button, If you map Button 3 as the Pitch Bend - button, you should set Button 6 as the Pitch Bend + button.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition In the VirtualDJ waveform window, the start of each beat is marked with a small square below the waveform, so: if the squares of both music tracks overlap, the music tracks are synchronized, if the squares of both music tracks don't overlap, the music tracks are not synchronized.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition 7) Loops, effects and samples The DJ's task is not only to play music tracks with no blank spaces, but also to tweak existing music tracks to enhance their energy to stimulate the dancers. The functions included in VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition are: Loops Sampler Backspin Beatgrid Brake Flanger Flipping Double Overloop Scratch These functions can be mapped to Hercules DJ controller buttons 1 to 6.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition reached the Loop Out point, returns to the Loop In point and the cycle continues. Loops are a way to remain on a specific part of a track without stopping its rhythm. ii) Mapping the Loop function In VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition with your DJ Console Rmx, you can set one of buttons 1 to 6 of the deck as the Loop In button and another one of buttons 1 to 6 as the Loop Out button.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition iii) Procedure You place the start of a loop with the Loop In button, and you place the end of the loop with the Loop Out button. You are then inside the loop. When you are inside a loop, you can: leave the loop by pressing the Loop Out button, reduce the loop length by pressing the Loop In button.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition b) Sampler i) Function The sampler mode is a mode where you record a loop of a music track, store it and assign it on a button, and play it back later in addition to your music file. This recorded loop is called a sample. Playing back a sample over a music track may add rhythm to the music, or make it sound more interesting, or keep a stable beat while you are busy preparing the next track.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition iv) Tips Changing the sample length In VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition the default sample is a 4-beat loop, so if you push the Sampler Rec button, you instantly record a 4-beat loop, whether you release the button immediately or whether you keep the button pressed down. To record a different length than 4 beats for your sample, you must set a loop and record the sample while you are in loop mode: you record the loop you have set as a sample.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition c) Backspin The backspin function sends an impulse backward on the music track, as if you had momentarily pushed a vinyl record counterclockwise. The backspin action must be short, otherwise you stop playback of the track. The backspin effect stops when you push the button again.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition f) Brake The Brake effect slows down playback, which gradually returns to its default speed when you release the Brake button, if you didn't push the Brake button long enough to completely stop the track's playback. Setting the Brake effect You can set the brake effect by pressing the Brake button and turning the left jog wheel at the same time: instant brake is at the maximum counterclockwise position, and a slow brake is at the maximum clockwise position.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition g) Flanger The flanger consists of adding a cycle of stretching and compressing on some frequencies of the music while keeping the other frequencies unchanged, so that you keep the tempo and the tone of the music but change its sound. Flanger is very frequently used in techno music. To enable the flanger, press the Flanger button; to stop it, press the button again.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition j) Mic Chorus Mic Chorus adds a chorus effect on the microphone input. When you enable this function, the microphone input replaces the audio track on Deck A so you cannot use this function in talk-over mode, as you cannot hear the music file loaded on Deck A when Mic Chorus is enabled. To restore playback of the track loaded on Deck A, you must switch off the Mic Chorus function by pressing the Mic Chorus button again.
VirtualDJ 5 DJC Edition m)Scratching Scratching is the action of stopping a vinyl record playing on a turntable with your hand, and moving the record back and forth, creating a distinctive sound: the vinyl record moves at the speed of your hand instead of at the speed of the turntable (since the slip mat isolates it from the turntable's rotation).
