Top 4 Free DJ Mixing Software
The next time you throw a party at home, you might want to create a DJ setlist of all your MP3s, rather than a boring playlist. Another cool thing would be to remix a Himesh track with Polefolder (imagine the ring modulation!). All this is easy today; there’s even free software that can make you a good amateur DJ. This article is a small list of (very) elementary software available for mixing audio tracks, creating setlists, and of course, bobbing your head. Both Windows and Mac users have been kept in mind.
Basic Gyaan
Before becoming a DJ, you need to be familiar with the concept of timing in a song. The unit used is BPM, which stands for beats per minute. It is pretty self-explanatory: the songs can divided into a particular number of beats per minute (for the sake of convenience) and thus essentially the DJ must match the BPMs of songs for them to play properly, or the rhythm will go awry.
Next is the key of the song, which can be explained simply as a group of pitches used in music. When mixing two tracks, their keys must be ideally the same, or related to each other. The good thing is our ears can detect any mess-ups in beats or keys, and an aspiring DJ must concentrate on developing a discerning ear.
The software listed in this feature help in changing aspects like keys and BPMs, with the simple use of knobs (or faders) in the GUI, thus making things simpler.
DJ Music Mixer v3.6 (Windows XP)
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This is a straight-up emulation of a Hardware DJ deck, with playlists on the left and right for selecting your two tracks. Features include MP3 and WAV player with two independent decks, and beat-sync display, pitch control, and fast-seek mode. There is a crossfader, which is the most important control for any DJ. It basically is a fader that moves to and fro horizontally, and plays the two tracks on the left and right deck depending on its position. If the fader is moved completely to the left, the left track alone will play. It also has an autofade function.
I Am The Mighty Jungulator v.4.3.1(Mac OSX)
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The name says it all. This is one powerful piece, though very light on the system. It has support for multiple audio files, and may seem a little daunting when you encounter it for the first time, as it also includes some synthesizing features. Nevertheless, it works wonders and is loads of fun, as you can also make grooves and trigger off sound effects even as your main track is playing. This is the perfect tool for a budding remixer.
DeKstasy v1.3.6 (Mac OSX)
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This one is different. While it is aimed at DJs of all levels, amateurs and absolute beginners will love it, as it has a more friendly GUI, where the tracks run horizontally and display their waveform. There is a lot of automatable stuff, and you can also beat match your two tracks with just a few clicks (there’s no need to listen for BPM matching). You can play MIDI beats with your main tracks, so all you remixers might want to try this one.
KraMixer DJ Software v1.0.3 (Windows Vista)
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This too resembles a hardware DJ system, with two decks and controls thrown in. It comes with a fancy sound engine called FMOD, and has automatic BPM counters, so you can enter BPMs by hand and match two tracks. It allows real-time recording into MP3 format, automatic BPM matching, support for MP3, WAV and OGG file formats, a variable frequency range (from +/-1% to +/-49%), and 8 built-in sound effects (including Echo, Flange, Reverb and Compressor). These effects can be used while transitioning from one track to another.
So that concludes our line-up. The main role of all these software is to pick tracks that have inherently interlockable beats. Simply put, try out two tracks and move the BPM faders until both sounds are playing in exact sync. Trust me, you will know when that happens. Then see if you need to move the pitch of the song a bit, but remember, too much change in the pitch department is not good, for it can create artifacts. And if there are vocals in the tracks, it will sound like Akon!
