Does anyone know if there is a software package that enables a user to effectively serve as a DJ and mix beats and hooks from songs in iTunes to form a new song? The_Conquistador likes to have outstanding music for guests in his home, and what could be more spectacular than original mixes?
Pro Tools or Cool Edit Pro. They can be a bit intimidating at first but are very powerful once you get the hand of it.
Oh, sweet Jesus, please don't let another iPod DJ come into the world. Er.. Native Instruments puts out a program called Traktor that is supposedly pretty good. It will also do automatic beat-matching so, if you're musically challenged as most DJs are, you don't have to worry about knowing time signatures and tempos and stuff. If you're actually talking about using a program that lets you make your own beats - try Fruity Loops Studio. If all you're talking about is doing crossfades between 120BPM dance club songs, then just about any software package (and a well-positioned bucket for any guests who may have accidentally developed good taste) should do the trick. So, the question is, what specifically are you wanting to do? Do you have some breakbeats that you want to layer other stuff over?
If youre trying to take different parts of songs and mix them together I'd recommend Sony Acid Pro Run the songs thru the beat wizard and find out the bpm and then its as simple as copy and pasting from the song that has been chopped up in beats
Actually...this would be a good choice. It comes with a lot of pre-fabricated beats, so people who don't know any better might think you're actually making a song. Go with Acid Pro.
Another vote for Acid Pro. It'll take a short time to learn the ins and outs, but it's a pretty easy program to use.
Why do you have to know what your doing to be able to put together some music that YOU like? If it sounds good, do it. I also recommend Acid Pro, i've used it before.
Acid is ok for making songs, but for mixing at a party use tracktor, or pcdj fx. Tracktor does everything you could want - pitch control w/ master tempo, kills, eq, filters,beat matching, playlists, crossfades, etc. You can even interface with turntables with final scratch. Alternatively, get a hardware mixer and dual cd players or turntables and just mix the old fashioned way. The Behringer vmx 1000 is a good starter. Give the Conquistador some love, y'all. I bet he throws a great party.
Virtual DJ and Atomix MP3 are both good used both to make DJ mixes and do live mixing. You can also hook both to actual hardware like turntables and cd players to basically control your computer and your MP3's if you want. www.atomixmp3.com www.virtualdj.com
Acid Pro comes with a ton of pre-packaged beats, pre-packaged instrument loops, pre-packaged vocal parts - so, you load them into the program, the program automatically makes their tempos and beats match-up, with a teensy amount of extra effort will put them in some sort of key and - voila! - another 'song'. This may very well result in making sounds that you like. But comparing the result from this paint-by-numbers program to real music by a songwriter/band who actually know how to play instruments is like comparing a mildly r****ded 5-year old building a lopsided house out of Legos to an Egyptian priest and some extra-terrestrials designing the pyramids. This isn't to say that it's impossible to make creative and interesting music from loops. But if you're using the same loops that everyone else who bought the program used, or buying a sample CD of pre-recorded beats, and you're not making your own loops or digging through crates searching for that perfect beat that you can hear in your head but haven't found yet, then you're just like any dude with a hobby whether it's collecting comic books or playing X-Box. The fact is - for most DJs - talent, musical knowledge, creativity, and skill are neither enablers nor deterrents to what they do. They're largely irrelevant. Of course, the argument could be made, and has been, that this is the case for many bands as well. But, I'd still have far more respect for someone who either had the native talent or took the time and effort, or both, to actually learn an instrument and/or create a song from nothing but thin air and imagination. So, if you make something that sounds good to you and your buddies, well then, congratulations. So did everyone else using the program and the pre-packaged loops. If all you intend is to entertain some friends (with the same taste and knowledge that you have) at a party, then have fun!
