Sync or Swim? Comments and Opinions Welcome.

Since the introduction of programs such as Virtual Dj, Traktor, and Ableton has also came sync software. There have been many controllers on the market which have the sync feature built in, which is commonly referred to as the “sync button.” Pioneer has even released their new CDJ-2000 Nexxus to include the sync button.

With the artist Deadmou5 recently blasting djs on his blog, saying the following “beatmatching isn’t even a fucking skill as far as I’m concerned anyway. So what, you can count to 4. Cool. I had that skill down when I was 3, so don’t give me that argument please.”, the subject of sync has recently became the debate to end all dj debates. So for the folks that don’t know what sync is, sync is a software function including a very complex sampling algorithm that auto-beatmatches two songs and puts them musically in time with each other with little to no input from the dj. Unlike most other debates in life, there are only two opinions on this matter. The djs that have mixed by ear for years generally are on the side of “sync sucks and it is a work around for djs that don’t want to take the time to learn beatmatching from the ground up.” On the other hand, the people that are in support of sync generally say “sync frees up the dj’s time to focus on the more creative side of mixing, such as using effects.” So, are the sync’ers just a bunch of lazy, young punks that don’t want to learn the art of mixing by hand, or are the non-sync’ers just a bunch of old farts that are afraid to accept the new technology?

I personally do not like the sync function. I think beatmatching is a big part of what djs do. It is part of your job as a dj. Learning to beatmatch by ear was something that took most of us months to learn and something we all still try to speed up and improve every time we mix. It is like having the icing without the cake. You must have the foundation before you can have the flash. This is only my opinion. Some share it, and many don’t. I consider myself “old school” with 15 years of experience djing on turntables. Perhaps I am stubborn and don’t want to accept where things are heading. I’m okay with that too.

Please share your thought on this matter. All opinions are welcome. Please remember that this blog is a place to share your thoughts on the sync function. It is not the place to blast and insult others for their differing opinion, so please keep it clean and above the belt guys and gals. 1…2…3… GO!

Dex