Steps
1
Download the software from the Virtual DJ Download Center and follow the installation guide to install the software onto your computer.
2
Open the program and familiarize yourself with the layout. There are 4 main areas of the layout that you need to learn about.
Active Waveform: this is the rhythm window where you can see the running rhythm of the song and perform visual matching to synchronize your music to the underlying beat. Active form consists of 2 parts. The part on top (the waveform) shows the musical dynamic. The (often square) marks below represent sharp sounds like the hit of the drum. This part helps you follow the main beat of your mixed track. The lower part shows the CBG (Computed Beat Grid). This part evenly paces out your song tempo so you can continue following the beat even when it cannot be heard. This makes the CGB very useful during song intros, bridges and outros. The left deck is represented by a blue display on the waveform, and the right deck by a red display. You should try to keep the high peaks on the waveform and the square marks below, synchronised and overlapped, (or one above the other) as this will usually mean that the beats are "in sync" and the mix should be sounding good. Sometimes however, Virtual DJ does not analyse a track correctly and the CBG can be incorrect, for this reason you should learn to beatmatch by ear and not rely on visual aids.
Left Desk: this is a virtual version of a DJ desk on your left that copies the functions of a conventional phonogram.
Right Desk: the right desk is the same as the left desk but on your right hand side to allow you to play and edit tracks simultaneously.
Mix Table: you can adjust the volumes of the right and left desk as well as left/right speaker balance and other aspects of your audio using the mix table.
Take a closer look at the features of the layout so you know what the software is capable of. Most of the virtual buttons are marked with symbols that can be easily understood.
Play/Pause: allows you to pause a song and play a song from the beginning or any paused position.
Stop: stops the song and rewinds it to the beginning.
Beatlock: locks the tempo of the song and makes sure that all of your performed tasks are synchronized to match the beat. For example, if you try to scratch a disk on the left or right desk beatlock will make sure that the disk continue playing to match the rhythm of the song after you are done scratching. Beatlock is the feature that gives Virtual DJ the advantage over conventional disc jockey equipment.
Pitch: lets you increase or decrease the speed of the song, also known as BPM (Beats Per Minute). Moving the control up slows the song and moving the control down increases the beats per minute. This sound editing feature is useful when you want to increase or decrease the speed of combined tracks.
Tips
The best thing is setting the beat of the song on loop and playing other song on other deck.This will create a quick remix song.
You can make most audio mixing controls return to their original level by releasing the control and right-clicking on it.
Try using flanger to add a remix effect in your song.
Use Virtual DJ Home Edition if you want to just use basic features of the software. This will save space on your hard drive and also give you a simpler user interface to work with.
Warnings
Beatlock is inappropriate for some songs that have shifts in tempo, or if Virtual DJ has not correctly analysed the electronic beat grid. In this case, you can always turn off beatlock and follow the beat as it displays on the active waveform window to synchronize music manually. After some time and experience you will develop the ability to keep songs in sync by how it sounds, rather than relying on the software to do this for you. Using beatlock and waveform display should not be relied upon as the software isn't always correct, so you need to develop your DJing so that you can mix manually without such aids.
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