Pioneer DJ has released a set of new CDJ-3000 tutorials that will guide you through some key features of the Professional DJ Multi-Player. The tutorials cover the customisable Browse section, Touch Preview and Touch Cue and 3 Band Waveform and Stacked Waveform.
CDJ-3000 Overview Tutorial
The CDJ-3000 is a professional DJ Multi-Player with a robust, reliable design, aluminium top plate, redesigned buttons for enhanced durability, redesigned jog wheel and a 9-inch touch screen. An industrial-grade MPU drives the player with two processors, dual-core Arm Cortex – A57 and quad-core Arm Cortex – A53, for enhanced performance and powering the advanced new features.
The CDJ300 is crammed with features including Touch Preview, Touch Cue, Key Sync, Key Shift, Link Cue, eight hot cues, dedicated beat jump buttons and an enhanced auto beat loop. With the 96 kHz/32-bit floating internal audio processing, loading speeds are fast in all audio formats whilst original source details are precise whilst reducing digital noise. The on-jog display and large screen mean an enhanced workflow including browsing of tracks instinctively, stacked waveform, 3-band waveform and the option of adapting the screen brightness to a user’s preference. The player is compatible with rekordbox iOS, where tracks can easily be stored and accessed, rekordbox performance mode where millions of tracks can be accessed via popular streaming services including SoundCloud, Beatsource LINK and Beatportlink and with Pro DJ Link Lighting, where sound and lighting can be effortlessly synced.
Customisable Browse Section Tutorial
The customisable browse section is the first video in the tutorial series. The 3000 has a larger screen than the Pioneer DJ CDJ-2000NXS2, which means you can see more information. You can see all of the track waveforms on the display, including the new 3-band waveform, full track artwork, more extensive tracklist, BMP and Key information.
Navigation of the display is accessible by either using the touchscreen capability or the rotary function knob at the screen's side. By using the touchscreen, the browsing section can be customised to your personal preference. There is even a text size function available that alters the text size between small, medium and large. When the preview option on the display is touched, it hides or shows the waveform display. The fully customisable sort options can also be modified within the rekordbox software itself; this also applies to the Category.
Track sorting couldn’t be easier thanks to the options within the CDJ-3000 display. Lists can be sorted quickly by selecting the arrow at the top of the lists. The screen brightness can be adjusted at any time and offers five brightness levels. This feature is accessed via the short cut button situated under the rotary knob. Form here, the on-jog display brightness can also be selected. There are dedicated hardware buttons at the top of the screen display that will take you to sections quicker, e.g., playlist, search function, etc.
Touch Preview and Touch Cue Tutorial
Touch Preview and Touch Cue work via the Pro DJ Link. Touch Preview is where tracks can be listened to when in the playlist view rather than downloading them directly to the player first. Touch Cue is where different sections of a track can be listened to during its play on the CDJ-3000. To use the features, the 3000 multi player/s needs to be connected to a compatible mixer through a LAN connection as that is how the audio is sent via LINK CUE. The mixers that are compatible with the CDJ-3000 currently are the DJM-900NXS2 and the DJM-V10.
Using Touch Preview is simple. When in Browse mode, you press the waveform via the touch screen display where the audio can be heard through the headphones. Keeping your finger on the waveform will allow the audio to be played continually. When you lift your finger off, the music will stop playing. Touch Cue is available when in full-waveform display view. Again, by holding your finger on the waveform at the bottom, it allows you to scroll through the track listening to different sections. Switching between elapsed time and the remaining time is quickly done by tapping on the countdown timer. Below the waveform, numbers are counting down the remaining time in the track.
3-Band Waveform and Stacked Waveform Tutorial
Now featured on the CDJ-3000 is the new 3-Band Waveform, along with the blue and RGB waveforms that previous CDJs featured. It's easy to change the waveform display by pressing the shortcut button.
The new 3-band waveform allows the waveform to be separated into high, mid and low frequencies by using different colours; blue represents lows, amber represents mids, and white represents highs.
Stacked waveforms can be displayed thanks to the large screen display. It allows the waveform of the master player on a CDJ that a track is cued on. The phase meter can be changed to a stacked waveform and back again by simply pressing on it, or it can be done using the shortcut button. The rotary knob at the side of the screen can be used to zoom in and out of the waveform.
8 Hot Cue Buttons
There eight multi-coloured hot cue buttons that are situated under the waveform display. They have been positioned to provide a more natural and intuitive feel when used according to their position in the track.
Thanks to the powerful internal micro-processing unit, hot cues are released faster than on previous CDJ models. Setting hot cues is done via the same process as usual. Find a point in the track you want to set, then press one of the hot cue buttons. When you have set it, the button itself will light up. You can delete a hot cue by pressing and holding the delete button and then selecting the hot cue button that you want to delete.
When saving hot cue loops, you need to select a hot cue loop and then select an unused hot cue button. You know a loop is saved when the hot cue button turns orange.
Dedicated Beat Jump Buttons
The CDJ-3000 now features dedicated beat jump buttons that effortlessly move forward and backwards within a track. The beat jump value can be altered from half-beat right up to 64 beats via the option that can be located at the top right of the touchscreen. Alternatively, you can change the beat jump beat value via the shortcut button situated below the knob at the right of the touchscreen, then proceed to select the value. A third way to alter the beat jump value is by pressing and holding the call/delete button and using the beat jump buttons.
Beat jump doesn’t have to be Quantized. This can be changed using the dedicated Quantize button to the left of the touchscreen. The beat jump can also be used as loop move. When in a loop, the loop can be moved forwards or backwards using the beat jump buttons.
Instant doubles and beat jump can be used to beat juggle. Beat juggles can be created by setting the beat jump to half beat, then press and hold sync to double the live track on the cued CDJ instantaneously. Finally, press the beat jump backwards button and move the fader across. Repeating this process on the other CDJ creates a beat juggle.
Auto Beat Loop Section
The CDJ 3000 has an improved Beat Loop section with the addition of an 8 Beat Loop button. As always, loops can be set by pressing the IN/OUT buttons. Holding the IN button will allow for a 4-beat loop. Reloop/Exit button either exits the loop or if the 4-beat loop is activated, it will reactivate after a second press.
There are two dedicated buttons below the IN/OUT buttons. One is 4-beat, the other an 8-beat loop button. On the face of it, they do exactly what they say, press the 4 for a 4-beat loop and 8 for an 8-beat loop. However, when in a loop, they alter the beat loop beat value. Pressing the number 4 button during a loop halves the loop length, and pressing the number 8 button doubles the loop length.
When a loop is active, loop mode buttons appear on the touchscreen display. The same is true if the Beat Loop option is selected from the top left of the screen. From here, loops can be triggered and altered as desired directly via the touchscreen. Polyrhythmic Loop lengths can be displayed by switching pages through the 1/2 option. These can be used to create exciting sounds within your mix.
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