|
Being a DJ: An Introduction
edited by
Steve Shah
assisted by: Danny Bastian, Jim,
William Kelly, Joncas D., Aaron J. Grier,
ProformDJ,Will E. Reburn, Artie, DJ Ellis Dee, Michael Erb
With a special thanks to Al Weltha for his valuable
feedback and suggestions.
This paper is an excerpt from Steve Shah's alt.music.makers.dj FAQ that he edited.
More info about the FAQ can be
found at the bottom of this paper.
Contents
So, What is A DJ • What Are the Different Kinds of DJ's •
Terminology
"I want to learn, what should I do?"
So, What is a DJ?
Tough question. A DJ (disc jockey) takes many forms. The three most
common forms is: Radio DJs, Mobile DJs, and Club DJs. All three share the
common goal of providing an entertainment for a wide variety of people through
various means, mostly however, through music.
A DJ's job is to combine all the elements necessary for their
performance into one fluid package which can be easily swallowed by all of his
or her's listeners. For some DJs this includes talk and games, while for
others it means spinning the latest and greatest to the hippest people in
town.
All DJs, however, deserve respect for the job they do. This gets
really tough among DJs themselves simply because you can't fit too many
ego-inflated heads into one room without some of them bumping into each other
(and believe me, the average DJ has an ego-inflated head... =). But in the
end, we're all trying to accomplish the same thing -- providing entertainment.
Respect that.
Contents
What are the Different Kind of DJs?
There are three major kinds of DJs: Mobile, Radio, and Club.
Mobile DJs are the most common. They generally work parties and
special events (ie: weddings, birthdays, etc.) onsite. This sort of work
usually entails entertaining a wide array of tastes and age groups, as well as
a bit of MC'ing.
Radio DJs are the least common. Their task is to make sure there is
never any dead air time by filling it with either their words, or music.
Again, there is a certain mass appeal that needs to be worked on and
being a Mr. Personality is important.
Club DJs can be found, but aren't nearly as prominent at mobile DJs.
They have a very specific clientele (age group wise) and are expected to play
the latest and greatest all the time. This sort of DJing often requires the
most technical know-how on mixing since style and uniqueness are critical to
establish a name for yourself and the club you work for.
Contents
Terminology
Before we can even get to the interesting stuff, we all have to be
speaking the same language. Here are a few terms you should know to
communicate with other DJs effectively...
Pitch control -
The ability of a device to change the tempo of a song. This is very
important if you are beatmixing.
Pitch lock -
The ability of a device to change the tempo of a song, without
changing the pitch. This lets you drastically speed up songs with
vocals without a "chipmunk" effect.
Pitch bend -
The temporary changing of pitch to get beats in phase. Vinyl DJs
typically use their fingers to speed up or slow down the record
by pushing/pulling the record by the label. Some twist the spindle
in the center to change the pitch momentarily. CD players offer this
as buttons. Once the DJ stops bending the pitch, the decks will
automatically snap back to the current pitch control settings. This
is necessary since its possible for two songs to be playing at the
exact same tempo yet have their beats out of phase. By bending
the pitch momentarily, the beats come into phase and the DJ doesn't
have to worry about readjusting the pitch control.
Tempo -
The speed of a song. Usually measured in Beats Per Minute (BPM).
Mixers -
The essence of a mixer is that it can combine two or more audio
signals into one output signal. It should be noted though that most
mixers can do much more than just combine signals.
Turntables (alias: TT's) -
The proper term for a "record player." Now -- if you ever hear anyone
say the "rec.. player" term again, you must take the time to either
severely hurt them or educate them. Whichever you deem appropriate.
Beats Per Minute (BPM) -
The number of beats during one minute of a song. An identifier of a
song's tempo.
Cueing -
Using your headphones to find the spot you want to start the next
song.
Throwing -
Giving a record a little push when it starts up so you don't have any
lag time while it gets up to speed. CD players do this by featuring
instant start. (normal CD players may take a few tenths of a second
before a song starts) Throwing a record nulls the lag time while it
accelerates from zero to 33ish RPM. It sounds silly at first but it
is actually very critical for beatmixing. (see below)
Cross fader (alias: x-fader, fader) -
A slider control which moves from one input channel to another in a
very smooth fashion. The volume on each channel is inversely
proportional to each other, so if the x-fader is completely on the
left side, you will only hear the input for that channel. Once you
start moving it to the right, you will gradually hear the right
channel becoming louder. When the x-fader is in the middle, each
channel will be of equal volume. As the x-fader continues to the
right, the right channel will approach full volume, and the left
channel will diminish.
Beatmixing (alias: beat matching, beat synching, hot mixing, mixing)
The art of bringing the beats of two different songs into phase
with one another and fading across. For example, if the song the
crowd is hearing is 130 BPM, and the next song you want to play is 132
-- you slow the second song down to 130 bpm using pitch control, and
cue it up to the beat. When you are ready to bring the second song
into play, throw the record so the beats stay aligned and listen to it
on your headphones. MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN SYNC!!! Once you are sure
things are in order, use your cross fader to let the new song blend
into the old one, and eventually go completely across so only the new
song is playing. This will give the illusion that the song never
ended.
Once you get the hang of getting beats into sync, you will quickly
find many more interesting ways to fade in and out of songs.
Decks -
A very generalized description of gear used by a DJ to play music.
Most often referred to turntables and CD players.
Vinyl (alias: records, wax, 12" (reference to LP), 7" (reference to single)
-
If you aren't clear on what a record is, then this probably isn't the
sort of thing you should be doing...
Contents
"I want to learn how to DJ? What should I do?"
The single greatest piece of advice that can be given to someone
starting out is -- PRACTICE! Many aspects of DJing are reasonably intuitive
and will present themselves the more you practice. The core of being this sort
of entertainer is being able to work your music. Learn your songs well, and
get your beatmixing down solid. A natural progression will start from there.
The hardest part about writing this document is covering all the
different choices available. From my experience and listening to other
professional DJs, I've learned that most decisions are personal choices which
only you can make. If you find yourself unsure about what direction you want
to take, examine both for yourself. Its not nearly as easy as someone telling
you "decision X is the best way to go," but you will be much more confident in
your choice and will have much less room for bad decisions.
The first few questions you have to ask yourself are common amongst
beginners, and they are:
Do I really want to do this?
This may seem like a terribly odd question to be asking, but it is
something that you need to evaluate carefully. DJing requires a lot of
time, energy, money, and patience. If you aren't sure you have these
sort of facilities, avoid making any commitments until you are sure.
What sort of equipment do I need to start with?
If you aren't sure about whether this is something you want to
seriously pursue -- don't buy anything. Find a friend who'll let you
use their equipment and practice on it a bit. (Don't forget to take
them out to dinner in exchange! =)
Once you're sure you want to get into this some more, be ready to drop
serious money on gear. Professional level gear should run you about
$1000 to get started. This will include either a pair of turntables or
a pair of CD players, and a mixer. You can use a home stereo as your
amps and speakers while you get started.
If you aren't sure that you're going to be doing this for the long
haul and can't drop $1000 for equipment, then skimp as much as you can
and save for the real stuff once you're sure. This means getting
turntables with minimum features (ie: Gemini XL-BD10's) and a simple
mixer. If you're going to spin CDs, this becomes tough real quick...
the minimum priced pitch control CD decks are from Gemini and cost
about $250 a piece. They are good starter decks, but moving up to
better CD players in the future is something to seriously consider.
Bottom line: Spend the least you can if you aren't sure. Buy the real
stuff as soon as you can afford it and are sure thats the direction
you want to take.
And don't forget to buy a pair of good headphones! You can get them
from Circuit City or similar stores for about $40 for a decent pair.
Contents
Notes:
For the complete and updated version of the FAQ please go to this site:
http://www.djmix.com/mixpoint/ammdj_faq.html
| 
