DJ basics
While all this information is from my personal knowledge and experience I am aware that I do not hold all the answers, this is just a start and a foundation for you to get started, Basically the point of a DJ is to continuously maintain the energy flow of the audience while switching between songs to create a timed set. Within that set it is your responsibility to switch from one song to the other smoothly and this can be done by precisely matching the beats together, this is called BPM matching which is illustrated above in block of 4bars and personally I believe is a requirement that you learn how to beat match by using your ears, While software is quite accurate it is not 100% you still have to maintain grid lines and syncs or software bugs out and cannot rely on an accurate reading so learning to beat match is fairly important in this business which can take months, years or unfortunately may never come natural for some, however don’t worry point of life is that we peal away the layers of ourselves and experience what is. Anyway lets move on!
What are beats you say? A single beat is a single note that is grouped with 3 other notes to form a bar in which continuously repeats unless you make changes this is known as Tempo or Pulse. For example a drum kick or a snare that's following a certain time is normally indicated as 4:4, 3:4, 2:4 etc etc this is referred to as the time signature. Most if not all electronic music is consisted upon the 4:4 time signature, so there are 4 beats in a bar, 4 bars in a phase and 4 phases in a verse while many different artists use different terminology this is simple and easy to remember. Now pull up one of your selected tracks and begin to count the beats in counts of 4 starting with the drum, for example with a
dance song:
Drum – Drum/Snare – Drum – Drum/Snare = repeat = Drum – Drum/Snare – Drum – Drum/Snare = repeat
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Example dubstep song: (Pic Above)
Drum – beat – Snare – beat = Repeat = Drum – beat – Snare – beat = Repeat =
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
These examples follow the 4 by 4 time signature so you are counting the beats always whiling mixing,
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 -4 that is a phase (4 bars).
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 -4,
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 -4,
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 -4,
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 , 1 – 2 – 3 -4 that is a verse (4 phases)
You must also count the beats even when there is no instrument being played, A beat doesn't have to be a sound, It could also be a rest which in turn must match both songs 100% otherwise you will hear clashes and will come across what you know as Trainwreck.
(Half beats or small notes are not counted, just the individual beats, so you don’t count a 1/6 kick drum after a whole note kick drum if you get my drift).
BPM matching is all about matching the 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 of both tracks continuously as you play two or more tracks together, the moment they are out will cause a desynchronization and one deck will be faster then the other, to counter this you must be precise when beat matching and by using the platter to nudge back or forward a beat or bar. This take many hours of practice so have fun and enjoy the experience as your mind will automatically get you costumed to beat matching.
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