23/02/2025
Probably one of the best posts I’ve seen on the manual vs sync mixing debate
Nice one Amber D
Sync Vs Manual Beat Matching Debate //
I've seen lots written about it online, so here's my take on it. Personally, I think you should use whatever you want to use because its your life.
BUT… there are a few things to consider.
If someone has never learned to beat match by ear, they are more likely not to understand beats, bars and phrasing.
By learning to beat match by ear, we teach ourselves to hear the music in more depth. We learn to separate the different parts to the music in our minds.
We learn to hear audible clues in the music that help us to know where we are in the track, so that we don't internally panic. Remember, most of the battle is with your mind as a DJ. So being calm and confident will allow more of the real you to shine as a DJ and people will be attracted to that (your fans). A big part of this confidence comes from your skillset and experience.
Understanding beats bars and phrases gives you the keys to understanding this aspect of music theory very, very quickly. It's sometimes referred to as “knowing your tunes” but happens much quicker when you understand musical structure and arrangement; something that is embedded in the skill of learning manual beatmatching.
That theory can then be applied to literally ANY track in any dance music genre in 4/4.
This ability gets taken away from us when we start to look at a waveform on a screen rather than listen to the actual music with our ears.
We should try to imagine seeing the music in our minds eye instead.
If anyone has ever reverse parked their car into a parking space while the radio is on, you will know the first thing we do is turn the music down. This is so we can focus more intensely on parking the car.
Similarly, if our attention is being taken up by visual stimuli on the DJ equipment, we automatically direct our attention away from active listening.
Additionally the software used for sync can get it wrong and if you don't know how to deal with that kind of a situation, it can be very stressful and give off a bad impression if this happens at a gig, even more so if not analysing correctly in the first place.
This being said, Sync can also be a wonderful tool for DJs who already understand beatmatching and want to free up brain space and their hands for creative DJ mixing such as using 3 or 4 decks at a time, or using a hybrid set up or perhaps preforming fast mixes, adding acapellas, live remixing… and if that's where your expression lives as an artist, then you need that functionality to freely create new and exciting cuts, edits and mash ups in real time. That's progress! I'm always trying out new setups, DVS, adding synths to my DJ setup etc. I love to push boundaries as much as I love the old skool methods.
Sync is also a vital tool for my disabled students, allowing them to express themselves and have actual DJ careers (such as DJ Wheels and DJ Gold S, both students of mine, who were born with cerebral palsy. The sync functionality is very inclusive.
In summary, use sync if you want, but it might end up taking enjoyment away or capping your skill level. Much more goes into manual beatmatching than just the beatmatching itself.
From training your ears to perceive music, broken into EQ bands and to detecting tempo fluctuations, learning manual beatmatching makes you way more sensitive to sound, in a very similar way to producers / audio engineers have different hearing to “normal” casual listeners of music.
I personally get a massive dopamine hit from beatmatching by ear. DJing is very closely linked to my mental health. For me, it's meditation. I get that feeling on both CDJS and Vinyl, just from mixing one track into another. It takes me to another world, sometimes quite literally. This is often referred to as “flow state”.
If you can tap into the flow state, you will find you can mix for hours and not get tired. Following your bliss, keeps you young.
Stop thinking. Let your intuition guide the way.
Close your eyes
… and open your mind 💫
My page for ranting and raving
