Basic DJ

The Basics

Know what you are dealing with, and know how to deal with it before you start. This chapter will explain something about the general track structure and how one can manipulate vinyl. This is where you can start to leave fingerprints on the records.

So, this chapter will tell you how a track is build up, all the way from beats to stages, how to manipulate the rotationspeed of the vinyl and how to align a record with another one. The basics you need for DJ-ing

Track Structure

In order to "chain" tracks together, you have to know something about the general way they are build up. On the lowest level, club/techno/trance (from now on I will refer to this as "house") consists of 4/4 beats. In other words: the smallest "part" is a bar with 4 beats.

(Compare this to a Waltz which has 3 beats in a bar, "one-two-three, one-two-three". Good ol' Rock & Roll is, like house, 4/4 beats. Remember the cliche "a one, a two, a one-two-three-four").

If you look at a track one step less detailed, there are different stages which make up a track. This is usually something like this:

| Intro | Body | Break : Build up : Climax | Exit |

This is a general description of track structure. You will notice that most tracks will follow these general rules but exceptions are very common. When you mix tracks you have to be able to recognise the different parts and more important: you have to recognise the transitions between the different stages.

Note: The 'break' is also often called 'breakdown'.

The intro is usually a lean version of the main theme. A lot of sounds which are part of the main body can not be heard. Sometimes the intro starts with just the bass drum. In other cases the bass is left out of it untill the 2nd stage: the body.

The body represents the full all-sounds-included main theme of the track. In some cases there is a break WITHIN the body without actually leading up to the big climax. Those are not of great importance to the actual DJ-ing. This is not to say you can ignore them easily. You still have to be aware of them, but you do not have to avoid mixing this kind of break with the other record.

This is in contrast to the breaks(downs) which build up to the climax.

In general terms: a break is that part of the track where MOST of the music stops, as the proverbial "silence before the storm", in order to build up the tension. The climax, of course, is the moment where this build up tension is released by bringing back the bass and main theme of the track. (This is also the moment where -in case of a very good build up and climax- the crowd starts to yell... Chills down your spine and/or goose bumps are also indications that it is a brilliantly composed climax.)

( In the rest of the text: when I refer to a break, I mean the type that builds up to the climax. )

Some DJs state that the build up is holy. Never Ever Ever "touch" a build up by mixing another record through it. In most cases I agree, but there are always exceptions to that rule. The fact is one can ruin a beautiful build up by putting in a beat from another track.

4 Beats make up a bar, several bars make a loop, repeat the loop a few times and you have the theme (the characteristic melody of the track) and repeat the theme a few times and you have a Stage. Loops are 4 or 8 bars, most of the time, themes are 16 to 32 bars (2 to 8 loops) and 2 to 8 times the theme makes the intro, body, break/build up/climax or exit.

If you are new to DJ-ing, this is all there is to know for now. Once you are familiar with your records and you can rely more on your skills you will learn to line up the stage of the incoming record with the stage of the current one, so the exit of outgoing record will co-incide with the body of the incoming record. See the ADVANCED section further down.