A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO DJing

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(a beginners guide, written by a beginner. No better way to learn than that, eh?! )

Index

PREFACE

This is a document about skills. This document will not cover what you should get to become a DJ, modifications to your tables, popular records or music styles, or any of that. This doc is strictly limited to the skills required to be a beat-matching dj, firing upon those silvery wheels of steel, and hopefully will turn a "just starting" dj into an ameteur "just starting" DJ who has the confidence enough to evolve into a future professional. The techniques displayed in this document are in no way, "IT." There are no boundries in mixing, no set way to do things, no rules to follow... this is why this is an art, and not a career, and should never be taken as such.

DISTRIBUTION

If you feel that this document is a valuable asset, and you would like to include it in your own web page, bulletin board or whatever, please feel free to share this document with anyone you wish. The only thing that I ask, is that you leave the contents within this document unscathed. Leave all contents within this document alone, including the header and footer.

Thank you. 

CUEING

Cueing is an integral part of mixing, and one that is VERY very important. When cueing a record, you are attempting to gather a lot of information about the record that you want to mix. You learn about the beat style, rhythm patterns, approximate speed, vocals, and for the more advanced, there is the advanced cueing where you learn the records breaks, where they come in and where the beat drops off. All of this information is vital to making a seamless mix of two individual sound sources.

BEAT STYLE

Learn the records beat style and how it will compare with the record that is already playing. If a beat is simple, (like most techno musik) then try to mix a record with a simple beat, if a beat pattern is complex and hard to follow, you may need to back off, and attempt a mix other than a beat matched mix. (ie, mixing in the down time of the record that is currently playing).

RHYTHM PATTERNS

Some musik like Detroit Acid and GOA have a lot of complex sounds that are confusing to say the least. When introducing a record like this to another like itself, you could create havoc. When mixing a record that has a lot of activity, it is not a very good idea to mix it with a record of it's same type, because of the amount of instruments involved in such a record, you could end up with a big clashing mess.

APPROX SPEEDS

Here is how I do it. Sometimes just listening to them isn't quite enough. How do I KNOW which record is faster? Here is what I do, and it works great, and keeps me waiting for the records rather than trying to keep up with the records. When cueing the record that you wish to mix, scratch the record back and forth to the beat of the musik that is currently playing. When you hit an even count of 4/8/16 whatever, then just release the record on the beat of the other record that is playing. Unless your record is COMPLETELY different in speed (ie. playing at 45 when it should be on 33) then you should have a couple beat hits before the beats become mis-aligned. At the very instant that you can hear the beats are not hitting at the same time, give the record that you are cueing a slight push delicately), if the beat sounds more fouled up than before then you know that your record is spinning too fast. In which case you decrease your pitch fader accordingly. Simply repeat this process until you can successfully keep the beat alignment for about 4 measures. As you get better at this technique you can try several different versions of this technique such as braking the record instead of pushing it (and adjusting the pitch down). Also, as you improve, you'll notice that you need to do this repetitive process less and less. Sometimes, I can do this whole process just 1 time before getting a propper beat match.

ADVANCED CUEING

Basically, when you say advanced cueing, it doesn't mean for advanced DJ's. It just means to simply know your musik before playing it. When I cue a record, the first thing that I try to do (unless time just doesn't permit) is know where the breaks are, the finishing style of the trak and of course how the intro starts.

THE BREAKS

When locating the breaks of a song, you are trying to find where the song drops the beat. The main drum used to create your rhythm. You'll notice that in most cases, your tracking light will aid you in actually finding the breaks. A beat carries a much deeper groove in the record than the other instruments. So, when the beat stops, the physical grooves on the record look different. Study the record and you'll see what I am talking about. Knowing what the different grooves of are can benefit you tremendously. If you know approximately how fast your record is spinning (revolutions) then you can look at the needles current position, and the position where the songs break comes in and you can estimate the amount of time you have left before the songs break comes in. This will aid you in situations where you want the down time of the song to go into a rhythm the instant the other songs goes from rhythm to the down time (picking up where the other record had left off). The breaks are REALLY handy to use. When doing a standard beat matched mix, in which you slide the fader from one record to another, it really doesn't matter how long you draw it out... about 50% of the time, it just sounds like you faded it out... revealling your new song. Using breaks aids you, it gives the illusion as though the songs is continuing a new pattern dropping certain instruments and using new ones. Why not take advantage of this?

FINALE'/ENDINGS

Here is another important thing, you must know when your musik drops off, and how it does it. Gradually? Instantaneous? How? To know this is important to the song you are mixing. If the song you are trying to mix is slow getting started (ie. lots of chorus, vocals, hats etc.. before the actual beat comes in) and the record that is playing has a rather fast ending, you will definately want to start your mix way ahead of the ending, as to sort of let your new record "catch up" with the records beat that is already playing. That way, when the other record dies out, then your record is already there, to pick up the beat that just left. Just food for thought.

BEGINNINGS

Beginnings are important because of the this is the foundation of the song you are about to play. If you sample portions of the beginning into the song that you are already playing, then the foundation is set for your mix to come in. Some things you may wish to consider trying when cueing your record (and after you have a perfect beat alignment) is to try releasing your record from the very first sound it makes in conjunction with the first records already pounding rhythm. You'll be surprised, that a lot of these beginnings are actually in time, and when the beat of the songs finally comes it, it will match with the song that is already playing. But I HIGHLY encourage you to test it in the headphones before going live with that technique. One of my favorite mixes I did like that was the Underground Sounds of Lisbon's song "So Get up" (the junior vasquez's factory dub mix), in which I let the intro to "Wizard's world" play, and when the beat dropped off of "So Get up", we were left with two down time records in which after 4 measures, the beat for wizards world came to pick up where the other song left off.

THE ART OF THE SUBLIME (SAMPLING)

What? The job of a DJ is similar to that of a hypnotist. His job is to work on the subconsious. Every aspect of blending one song into another is subliminal message to his/her audience. When using samples, you are foreshadowing on the record that is to come, and you give off the illusion that the two records that you are playing are one song. Sampling is a very effective way to fill the cracks in a seamless mix. Trickery. That is the best way I can describe it. One of the most effective bits of sampling that I saw was when I was DJing with a local here in germany, Sascha Reder, he just finished a mix, and slapped a new record on the platter to replace the old one that was playing, as soon as he got the record on the table, he set his needle on the beginning voice sample and at the opportune moment, he let it rip. Then backed it up and did it a second time. Then allowed the record to play, and then started his beat matching, when he got a match, and started the mix, that sample was long gone (he was way past the start of the album). He finished the mix, and the mix was right-on. The audience, though still not sure, had a pretty good idea that the song had changedup, but when the voice sample came back, they thought differently. It sounded as though the song went into a sort of remission, and came back.

SCRATCHING

Yeah, you want to be a show DJ, huh? Sorry people, there is not a whole lot I can say about this subject. I am not well versed in this area. I can tell you, however, that even some of the worlds most famous DJ's are more concerned about a clean mix over a mix in which the seams are covered by a fog of scratching. DJ's like Josh Wink, Frankie Knuckles and such are mixers. They take pride in the art of mixing. Making one song blend into another without the listener noticing. I am not downing scratching, there are some very appealing mixes that can only be properly achieved by scratching. If you have ever listened to Coldcut, these two DJ's are phenomanal (sp?) in their style. They cut the piss (excuse my language) out of records. Scratching a record requires a few things (out of experience), QUICK QUICK QUICK and very DELICATE handling of the record, and a turntable that can withstand constant vibrations as you whip the record back and forth. Most importantly, your should fiddle with the weight of your tone arm, and find the best setting in which it can stand the constant sliding of the record. As far as TIPS for better scratching, sorry, like I said, I am not well versed in the art, but I can tell you that what little I have done has bombed. The only time I was able to get good scratching was to either scratch a voice sample in, which is a really cool effect, or to scratch some really high pitched tones.

STUTTERING

Here is a technique that has flavour! If ever you are encountered with a song that has a good vocal breakdown, where maybe some woman is singing her brains off, or someone is just rappin' on about something. If the beat is gone, it is time to play! The best time to try this is in the middle of a long vocal in which the singer has brought a word into a chorus... example: In a Trip-Hop album I have, a woman keeps singing "Give me the feeling..." and keep repeating it until the beat drops of and she sings.... "Give me feliiiiiiiiiiiiahahahahahahahahahah" kinda blends the word feeling into a chorus of ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... during that part, just wet your finger (or if your live, you probably already have sweaty hand! heh) and tap the label of the record in succession ... (keep the beat that just dropped off in your head, and tap with the beat that used to be there) and just listen!!! It sounds great! Stuttering of course has other uses as well... you can even stutter accapella's so that a regular sentence in which every word comes online with the beat, instead comes online with every other beat, etc.

FINALLY, EXPERIMENT

No DJ ever gets anywhere unless he has a style that is fresh. Something new to offer the crowd. Usually music plays a huge part in this, new music that people are unfamiliar with is always a good turn-on, but nothing beats a good DJ who can perform C.P.R. to an old worn out record, and bring it to life with a new spice. Always experiment with new sounds, samples, and such. Keep your mixing on the edge... people will like and appreciate it all the more!

DISCLAIMER/NOTE

These are just my beliefs, they are in no way gospel. Don't think that this way is the right way, because it isn't. It is just a start for you until you find your own comfortable style. For the novice, this could serve as a good learning tool, to help you find yourself. Relax, and enjoy the musik, afterall, musik is fun, and not work!