Starting to create mixes

Hi Dj's,
I'm fairly new to everything, so please excuse my lack of experience!
I have been using Traktor, though, for a few months and I know my way around (I can play songs, create playlists, apply basic effects, sync tracks, transition between songs). But, I would now like to go a little deeper into DJ'ing and make my own mixes. I've started to look for basic tutorials, but I couldn't find anything. Right now, all I'm trying to do is mess around with some songs (Maybe change the intro and rearrange some things, applying some effects along the way), but I can't quite figure out how to do so without sounding like a total mess! I've located instrumental and acapella versions of the song I want to play with (Let's say Sexy Chick). My first problem is that I can't seem to get the vocals and the music in sync (I'm not quite sure how to beatgrid an acapella song, and to be honest, I have a hard time custom beat-gridding a regular song). Can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial for beginning mixing or maybe even list some tips or methods you find important?
Again I apologize for my total lack of expertise, but I would really appreciate any help that I can get!
Thanks so much,
DJBP (Well I don't know if you can call me a dj yet!)

 

You should practice mixing acapella and instrumental tracks or two instrumental tracks using traditional vinyl instead of Traktor. Get the feel for traditional vinyl first and then move on to digital DJ'ing. I admit I come from the traditional world and there's stuff I don't know how to do like applying effects and loops in the proper places to integrate them into a mix. So I've got the opposite problem that you have

 

Hey markerline! Thanks for replying! I guess I should look into vinyls since they are the traditional way to do it. Maybe the steps I'm taking are just too big. Where do you recommend I get my instrumentals & acapellas from? I usually just search Google, but I'm sure there is a better way!

 

If you're just looking to combine instrumentals and acapellas, start with a version of the song that includes the instrumental track and beatgrid that song. Then take a look at your beatgrid and listen to where the vocals start in. Find a good spot to set the grid on the acapella from there, and then find that same spot in the acapella track. Markerline is right you will get a much better feel for this sort of thing if you practice it with vinyl before moving on to DVS, but I also think we have to deal with the reality that there's a whole new generation of DJs out there, many of whom can't or won't start with vinyl. Use whatever works best for you and practice practice practice.

 

Thanks for your reply DjProben! I guess that would also be a good way to start. I'm not the best at beatgridding, but mastery comes with practice. I'd also really love to try vinyl, but right now it's not in my budget. Hopefully it will be soon, because I would really like to learn the manual way of mixing (And as you said, it would provide good reinforcement for future mixes).

 

redSox,

Not sure what equipment you have access to but sounds like you need to learn basic beatmatching skills. You will NOT learn this by practicing with an acapella and a instrumental. Start with 2 tracks that are identical first (if you have a beat track even better). Learn how to match up the beats on the same track and play with the pitch controls and get a feel for how to figure out if you need to speed up or slow down the track you are monitoring. Speaking of monitoring, I'm making an assumption that you have a traditional setup with a mixer, headphones and monitor. After you start getting the hang of beatmatching, try matching the beats to 2 different tracks (try to keep with tracks that are not too busy so you can focus on the beats).

Good Luck