I find it funny that sooooooo many DJs are raving about how Serato DJ is the best thing since sliced bread all because it's Keylock function, which you have to pay extra for to get the better alogrhythm, yet are the first to bash DJs for using the Sync button....
I am one of the moderators of
http://www.reddit.com/r/beatmatch a community specifically dedicated to teaching new DJs how to master their craft, learn new techniques, and book gigs. Our focus is on electronic music and club/festival format DJing where beatmatching is actually important whether done manually or using the sync button and the sync/manual debate comes up every other week. The official position of our moderators is this:
- Skipping beatmatching during your early learning is robbing yourself of a foundational skill on which you can build you phrasing and timing. When you're learning to beatmatch you need to pay much closer attention to the beat structure and learning to count intuitively will come much more quickly.
- Only knowing how to mix with sync limits you in terms of your ability to mix songs with drastic temp changes, tracks with live drummers, or tracks that you haven't had a chance to perfectly beatgrid.
- Not knowing how to beatmatch means you will be unable to seamlessly mix out of the DJ before you and means you won't be able to participate in tag-team DJ sets where both DJs aren't using Traktor with midi-clock sync.
- If you cannot DJ without sync you cannot use gear without a sync button and there do exist clubs that don't allow laptops or controllers believe it or not... I even know of a club where the owner makes you tag team with him for 30 minutes before he'll book you to make sure you can beatmatch... These places exist.
We're not against sync and we don't tell people not to use it; However, we do suggest people learn to beatmatch without sync (and without visual cues like waveform) first and then transition in to using sync.
Example comments to this effect:
Nothing 'wrong' with it, no-one has the authority to say what is right or wrong in DJing.
Not bothering to learn how to beatmatch by ear though, is pretty lazy and will limit what the DJ can do in various scenarios. They won't be able to mix back to back with another DJ who uses turntables, won't be able to mix out from the previous DJ, won't be able to hop on the decks at a party if a spare slot is going, won't be able to play a set if their computer fucks up or someone spills drink on it, won't get as much satisfaction from nailing a good mix without just pressing a sync button, won't have the skill of being able to process two streams of audio independently......
Nothing wrong with it, but if someone really wants to limit their capabilities and not bother to learn how to beatmatch by ear, it's their loss! - /u/JordanMencel
This question comes up all the time, so I'll just copy and paste one of my old answers
"No-one cares if you DJ using sync. The problem is if you can DJ only when using sync. Sync can't handle tracks that change tempo or tracks with live drummers. Sync can't handle other sources of audio, say if you're mixing into a track off a turntable or off your phone. Software doesn't always detect the tempos correctly, or the grids correctly etc. To be a good DJ you have to be able to do things manually, so you can fix things when sync fails." - /u/delRefugio
These are the same answers you will see every time someone posts "Why is the "sync" button demonized?," "I understand that beatmatching is the fundamental part of Djing but is using the sync button really that bad?," and other such variations on the question.
The whole idea that experienced DJs hate sync or people who use it is bullshit and it's an overreaction to experienced DJs telling new guys they should at least try beatmatching and learn to do it even if they don't use it regularly... You're never going to see someone fault Richie Hawtin for syncing 4 decks or Ian Golden syncing his intricate controller routines. People only fault sync being used as a crutch as it limits the DJ. Sync users seem quick to defend their use of sync and they defend it hotly even when no one is attacking it.
Now, I am surely committing a no true scotsman here as I am sure there are actually people out there who demonise all sync users just to feel superior but it is certainly not the majority position and I don't think the keylock question is anywhere near on the same footing... No one ever talks about it.
Don't they know your not a real DJ if you use Keylock a key needed feature for syncing a track that is more than a 6% key difference, or basically one key higher or lower than the tracks original key.
Harmonic mixing with or without keylock is a fundamental skill that many people lack and I think harping on keylock is silly if you're not also going to harp on Mixed In Key... or why not take it further and harp on the vinyl guys who put a piano beside their turntables so they could key their tracks and write the keys on their sleeves... It's all 'cheating' right?
But hey Serato DJ is for real DJs so it's all good. /end sarcasm
No one thinks Serato DJ is professional, not yet anyway. The competition is between Traktor and Serato Scratch Live and neither is better or seen as being more professional or 'real' they each have strengths and weaknesses and appeal to different types of DJs. Want performance software with endless creative options and effects? Traktor. Want extreme stability and what amounts to an advanced digital record crate? SSL. Different strengths, different target audiences. Most of the hate for one or the other comes from people who bought one, have never tried the other, and want to defend their purchasing decision.
Serato DJ has some good things going for it... Pitch n Time as you mentioned which is miles and above the horrible keylock in SSL, effects (although there's another "pay for more" money grab here), extended mode, slip mode, and so on... HOWEVER MIDI is terrible and it was already anemic in SSL, Pitch N Time is a CPU hog so while it's good it's resource intense, quantize has some issues if your beat grids are not perfect, smart sync doesn't work with timecode, can't reorder cue points, HID/Adv. HID support isn't fully integrated yet, and the list goes on. Serato DJ feels like version 1 software and while it's ahead of SSL in many areas it's behind in quite a few as well.
