by Erik Leu Who’s the DJ tonight? When you say this, are you looking forward to hearing the voice of a DJ on the radio, or do you want to take to the dance floor? Whenever DJs are mentioned, we start to imagine a person behind turntables holding his headphones up with one shoulder and rubbing plates or tweaking knobs with his hands. Yet, have you ever wondered what a DJ actually does behind the deck? We know a DJ is supposed to play music, so DJ-ing is just playing out one song after another? As the main equipment for this job, the turntable is a device that reads vinyl and plays out music through the speaker.
Most of the time, turntables appear in twos, since no one likes the sudden silence of switching records at parties. Between the turntables is the mixer, where sounds of the two turntables come in, are mixed, adjusted, and then sent out. For example, using the mixer we can raise the volume of one deck and lower the other, or we can boost the bass until it is pumping through our body. In addition, there are three important faders on the mixer: the left and right volume fader and the crossfader. These faders are especially important to DJs who use the so-called “scratch technique.“ When the crossfader is in the middle, it sends out an equal volume from the left and the right turntables; when it is slightly moved to the left, the right deck’s volume decreases while the left deck’s volume increases. The scratch technique was popularized by hip hop, but nowadays it is also used in other music genres, such as Linkin Park’s nu-metal. It is a technique where the vinyl on the turntable is moved back and forth, creating a very distinctive sound, while the other hand manipulates the crossfader or other faders on the DJ mixer, making the sound even more interesting. It takes a lot of practice to master this skill. When we talk about the phonograph turntable and the DJ mixer, we should not forget to mention the term “turntablism,” which is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using turntables and mixers. You can produce and rearrange sounds using some amazing techniques such as matching beats, scratching, and anything you care to develop. A wild imagination is called for in this art, and words cannot fully describe it so you have to see DJs in action yourself. The DMC World DJ Championship competition is definitely the place to see the most creative turntablist DJs showing off their skills. If you’re curious about what they sound like, grab the nearest computer and check out some videos online. In order to stay in control of the whole night’s music, choosing the right order of tracks and the right timing to drop in new tracks is essential. A DJ playing at a party or a club normally needs to make the music last for 3 to 4 hours and, whether it’s drum & bass, trance, house, or techno, there are no songs to date of that length. Hence melting tracks together became the only solution. The main problem here is the transporting of hundreds of vinyl records while on tour. This brought in the CDJs. CDJs are similar to turntables, but they play compact discs or MP3s instead of vinyls. Despite the convenience though, many DJs are not convinced and remain attached to the touch and sound of vinyl. While traditional musicians create and play their music by the note, DJs use pre-recorded music as the basis of their creations. This is not just a matter of playing songs as they have been recorded, but about using technical skills to reshape old songs and invent new ones. This surely cannot be compared to an iPod playlist! If you ask: What’s a common feature in all DJs? One thing for sure is: they all love music! a
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May 2024
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