DJ + Synth

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1

Lately I’m trying to incorporate my Moog LP to my DJ act.

I’ve encoutered a problem, since mixing requires tempo matching, the pitch of the tracks is shifted. When I practice and jam to records at home I can figure out what key I’m in, but when the tempo is shifted let’s say 2,73% the whole tuning goes out the window. And there is little time to tune my synth to every track that comes in.

The easiest way would be to use CD’s as CD-Players have a Master Tempo function (as well as some turntables) that maintains the pitch, but I’m spinning vinyl so that’s not possible for me.

I know that eventually my ear will be trained that I can tune relatively fast, but maybe someone has found a way around the problem.

I can think of 3 solutions at the moment:

  1. Train my ear and tune the synth, but honestly I would like to make the track maintain the key rather than tune the synth, because drifting away from standard tuning may sound strange.

  2. Make a table/graph that gives approximations of pitch change as a function of tempo change (which I can read from the turntable pitch slider)
    and try to tune the synth.

  3. Maybe there’s a hardware processors that can learn/maintain the pitch of a signal while the tempo changes (maybe the tempo change will need to be entered) - sort of a pitch analyzer (I know that there is software that can give me the key of the song from mp3, maybe there’s some piece of hardware like this that can do it in real-time (an outboard Master Tempo device) - that’s the geek expensive version, even if possible.

2

That seems like something you can overcome with a bit of practice. When the pitch fader is 2 ticks down, then you tune the synth up +23 or whatever. It should be relatively constant, right? Or does the pitch difference change with the position of the record, since it spins faster at the center?

3

No, the pitch is constant through the record. I think the tuning table would be nice, but LP gives strange tuning values in TUNE: ON mode. +23. +675 +1042. I have 1.03OS Tribute. Has the tuning display changed to semitones and cents in 1.04?

4

Here’s an idea:

Send an Aux of your mix into a computer
Get the pitch information from your mix in software
Send a MIDI transpose control in real time to the Little Phatty
Play the synth as normal, but in tune with your mix

This works in theory, but might not in practice. Here’s one program that may do it anyway: http://www.allformp3.com/mp3_other/mtm.htm

It’s a polyphonic pitch-to-MIDI converter. It has controls to gate the pitch and volume to prevent mistracking. And a graphic EQ to select/deselect regions to analyse.

It has an autotune function, which I’m guessing generates the MIDI transpose controller.

Now, it will also generate Note On messages, so it will play the Phatty for you! One way around this is to filter out Note information (with a MIDI filter). Hopefully this will preserve the tuning info.

Hope that helps.