The mixer
The mixer is normally where software is let down. The more complicated and powerful the software that you buy, the better control you have over the tunes and the sound of the mix. Effects, beat counters, and Master Tempo are very useful, but if you don’t have full control over the mix from one tune to the other, you won’t be able to realise your full creative potential in the first place.
Make sure that you can change the volume of each tune you play indepen- dently, and can change the EQ of each track separately.
Hardware controllers
To make controlling the playback of the tunes a lot easier, and also make DJing with the PC look a lot more like conventional DJing, hardware controllers are available to control the software. These controllers can be quite expensive though, and sometimes don’t include hardware to emulate the mixer, so you still have to use the keyboard/mouse to mix from one track to the other.
Each software title has a range of different controllers that you can use with their programs, so check out their Web sites before buying the software to see what’s available to you.
Futureproofing with Live and Traktor
Nearly all software DJ solutions emulate a twin CD set-up like BPM Studio.
This is great for mixing from one tune to the other, but Live by Ableton (for Mac OS and PC Windows) uses more of a sequencer approach to put together
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the mix, taking mixing on PC (or Mac) a step further by allowing the DJ to remix any of the tunes live, during the mix.
Live
Live has been designed to be used through each stage of the musical process;
so you create the music, and then perform that creation to the crowd as a DJ.
The software is so versatile that the DJ using Live can remix the tunes ‘on- the-fly’, live to the crowd and add MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) controllable instruments to the mix, to create a completely unique remix, and a DJ set that nobody else has ever heard, or may ever hear again.
You need to do a fair bit of prep-work before you can beatmatch with Live, which is one argument that some people have against using it to DJ with.
Instead of having a pitch control to affect the speed of your tracks, Live uses a warpfunction that helps to change the tempo of the tune. The warped songs in Live are linked to the program’s internal BPM clock, so changing the BPM of a tune from 135 BPM to 138 BPM is effortless, and takes no time at all during a performance. For this technique to beeffortless, you need to give the software reference points to know how to adjust a tune’s BPM quickly, and in Live, these are called warp markers,which you add to the waveform display in the Live software.
The set-up process sounds quite complicated, but it’s not. If you ripped your entire CD collection into Live for a mix, you would need to take a little time to analyse the tracks, and prepare each of the songs with warp markers in order for Live to be able to change the BPM when you’re beatmatching.
Many people accuse Live DJs of cheating, lacking the skill to beatmatch, and say that sets performed on Live are preconceived, and no better than a mix tape played through the sound system. Sasha, John Digweed, and Gabriel &
Dresden are typical of the DJs that use Live: they’ve all proven that they’re already masters of their craft, and use Live to expand their creativity, rather than cheat the DJ skills. Because the beatmatching is essentially done for you by Live, the DJ is left to focus more on what tunes they want to mix, how the mixes between tunes are put together, and create the effects and track layer- ing that build up a unique sound to the mix.
A whole host of controllers and options are available for whatever stage of the music process you use Live for, so you aren’t faced with a DJ staring at an iMac, clicking a mouse. With audio interfaces and controllers for making music, and mixer and output interfaces to control Live for DJ performances, no one can be accused of lacking in aesthetics when using a computer with Live and a few controllers attached to it.
Sasha has fully embraced Live for DJing, using a custom-designed controller (which he’s called ‘The Maven’) and (currently) an iMac G5. With other big name DJs also getting the Live bug, it seems that Ableton’s Live software looks to become one of the industry standards for computer DJing. Check out www.ableton.comfor more information.
Traktor
For DJs who still prefer a bit more control over the music they use, Traktor by Native Instruments is definitely emerging as a leader. The interface is similar to the other software titles (like BPM Studio and PCDJ), but Traktor takes every- thing to a new level. By offering four players (instead of two on some other titles), you can mix four tracks at the same time, or drop insamples (play sec- tions of other tunes or sound clips) over an existing mix and transform an ordi- nary tune into something spectacular that no one has ever heard before.
Where the mixer has been the letdown on some of the other software titles, Traktor really has this part of the interface licked. With an initial design based on the fantastic Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer, the mixer section of Traktor already offers you everything you need to control the sound of the mix. But Traktor takes it a step further by letting you switch individual chan- nels on the mixer so their EQ sections emulate the Pioneer DJM-600 and Ecler Nuo4! Traktor truly caters for the fussy DJ who prefers a certain sound to the mix and can be left frustrated by the sound control of other software titles.
With a host of controllers to make the DJing experience a performance as well as something technically fascinating, Traktor is sure to find a place as the cream of the DJ emulation systems.
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Chapter 8
Stirring It Up with Mixers
In This Chapter
Finding out about the mixer’s most common features Looking at the advanced options available
Choosing the right mixer for your DJ style Keeping your mixer in tip-top condition
Mixers are a very demanding breed of animal. They come with many functions and features, and can manipulate the music in many ways, but in the end, mixers only do what youtell them to do.
This chapter explains how the vital controls on a mixer function and how they relate to your DJ mixing style. Understanding that much sets you on your way to buying the right mixer.
Getting Familiar with Mixer Controls
In your journey as a DJ, you’ll come across a vast range of mixers. Some you may already know about, and some you won’t ever have seen before. If you understand what the features are on a mixer, and how to use them, you need never accidentally press the wrong button and cut out the sound.
Well, maybe neveris too strong a word . . .
Inputs
The common DJ mixer accepts three different input methods:
Phonoinputs for turntables.
MICinputs for microphones.
Lineinputs for everything else.
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Some digital mixers also have USB and Firewire inputs to connect digital sources (such as CD, MiniDisc, and PC inputs) and keep the music playing at the best possible quality. For information on how to connect these, and the standard inputs mentioned above, head to Chapter 11.
Records are recorded in a special way in order to fit all the information onto the vinyl. The mixer needs to translate the signal it receives from the turntable in a completely different way to a CD player or any other device, and it is the phono inputthat is used for this translation.
All other equipment (CD players, MiniDisc players, MP3 players, the audio output from your computer and DVD player and so on) sends out a Line signal to the mixer. When you want to use any of these, you use the Line input on the mixer.
Both input channels on a two-channel mixer have a line and a phono input connection. This means that you can connect two turntables and two CD players to a two-channel mixer, and use the Line/Phono switch that selects whether to use the CD player or turntable input for either channel.
As well as accepting playback devices like turntables and CD players, most mixers also have XLRor 1⁄4-inchjack inputsfor connecting a microphone.
There’s usually a separate volume and EQ (equaliser) control(to affect the bass, mid, or high frequencies in your voice) so that you can sound great speaking to the crowd.
Outputs
Basic mixers usually have two outputs, with the better ones having at least three outputs.
Master Outis connected to an amplifier. The LED display on the mixer relates to how strong a music signal you’re sending to the amplifier. The stronger the signal, the less you have to turn up the amplifier. Too strong a signal though, and you may cause the sound to distort because the amplifier can’t process it properly.
Record Outis for sending music to a recording device. The output LEDs on the mixer have no bearing on how strong a signal you send to a recording device (tape recorder, CD recorder, PC, and so on) through this connection. Only the channel-faders(the vertical faders) and the gain con- trol(which changes how strong a signal comes in from the turntables or CD players) affect the level of signal you send to a recording device.
Booth Outis for sending to a separate speaker in the DJ booth so that you can hear the music too! This is vital in a large club where the main speakers are far away. The delay in sound between those speakers and your ears can make beatmatching very difficult.
For more on each of these outputs, and how to connect them to their intended recipients, check out Chapter 11.
Multiple channels
Although you can have two turntables and two CD players plugged into a two channel mixer and flick from Line to Phono, having a dedicated channel for each input is more convenient.
You also need more than two channels on your mixer if you want to use three CDs or three turntables because you can’t plug a turntable into the Line input, and you can’t plug a CD deck into the Phono input on a mixer. You can buy a converter that changes a phono signal into a line signal, so you can have one turntable in the phono input, and another in the line input of one channel, but it’s a lot of trouble, expense, and potential confusion.
A mixer with three or four inputs can cater to most DJs’ needs, and if you need more than four channels to use all your equipment, I’d be more worried about the electricity bills than where to plug it all in!
Cross-faders
The cross-fader(see Figure 8-1) is a simple horizontal slider that enables you to change the output of the mixer from one input device to another – from what you’re currently playing to music playing into another channel of the mixer. The cross-fader is a lot like the control on your shower that lets you adjust how much hot and cold water comes out. You can have only cold, only hot, and many, many different combinations in between.
Figure 8-1:
A cross- fader on a mixer.
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After you’ve towelled off thoroughly, go to your DJ setup.Tune A plays into Channel 1 on a two-channel mixer (and is usually the turntable or CD deck positioned on the left side of the mixer) and Tune Bplays into Channel 2 (on the right-hand side of the mixer).
With the cross-fader positioned to the far left, you only hear Tune A. When the cross-fader is all the way to the right, all you hear is Tune B.
However, the cross-fader comes into its own when it’s anywhere in between.
If the cross-fader is in the middle, the output of the mixer is both Tune Aand Tune B, and if the cross-fader is to the left of middle, you can hear more of Tune Athan Tune B(and vice versa).
How much louder Tune Ais than Tune Bis dictated by something called the cross-fader curve. The cross-fader curve controls how quickly one tune gets louder as the other one gets quieter when you move the cross-fader from side to side. The following figures show some common cross-fader curves you’ll encounter. Figure 8-2 shows a simple cross-fader curve.
At Position 1 marked on the cross-fader, Channel 1 is at full, Channel 2 is silent.
By Position 2, both tunes are playing at around 90 per cent of their loud- est volume.
By Position 3, Channel 2 is at its loudest, and Channel 1 is silent.
Tune B
1 2 3
Tune A Figure 8-2:
A simple cross-fader curve.
The cross-fader curve in Figure 8-3 helps to stop both your tunes blaring out of the speakers simultaneously at near to full volume.
At Position 1, Channel 1 is full, Channel 2 is off.
At Position A, Channel 1 is still full; Channel 2 is starting to come in (playing at about 10 per cent of its full volume by this stage).
At Position 2, both tunes are at 80 per cent of their normal volume.
By Position B, Channel 2 is now playing at full volume, and Channel 1 is playing at 10 per cent volume.
And by Position 3, Channel 2 is playing at full volume, with Channel 1 silent.
Although this curve is similar to the first example, the straight line in the
‘curve’ gradually brings in one tune while removing the other one, whereas the swooping curve in the first example kept the tunes playing together for longer at a higher volume level.
Figure 8-4 shows the cross-fader curve preferred by many scratch DJs due to the speed at which the second tune can be cut in(made audible) at full volume.
Position 1 shows Channel 1 playing full, Channel 2 is off.
At Position A, both channels are playing full volume, and it only took a small amount of cross-fader movement to get there.
This situation stays constant until Position B.
At position 3, Channel 2 is full, and Channel 1 has been removed.
Tune B
1 A 2 3
Tune A
B Figure 8-3:
A faster cut-in on the
cross-fader curve.
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You can also get a straight X-shape curve, which fades one tune out while bringing the other tune in at exactly the same ratio throughout the move. If Tune Ais playing at 10 per cent, Tune Bis at 90 per cent – if Tune Ais at 73 per cent, Tune Bplays at 27 per cent, and so on. (That’s likely to be the cross- fader curveof your shower control, too.)
A number of mixers come with just one kind of cross-fader curve, but most mid- to high-range mixers have a way to change the cross-fader curve by selecting pre-defined curves with a switch, or with a control that enables you to create any kind of curve you like.
Channel-faders
Channel-fadersare the up and downfaders that control how loud the music comes out of the mixer when the cross-fader is all the way over to one side, allowing the full power of a channel to play.
Taking another visit to your bathroom, think of channel-faders like the taps on the bathroom shower. Even though the water mixer (the cross-fader) is set to only let out cold water, if you don’t turn on the cold tap, nothing comes out.
So although the cross-fader lets you mix hot and cold water to the perfect temperature through the showerhead, the channel-faders control how much hot and how much cold water is available to mix together in the first place.
Getting back into the DJ booth then, the ability to vary the volume of the two channels, as well as mixing with the cross-fader gives incredibly precise con- trol over the mix. If you use the channel-faders in conjunction with the cross- fader to their extremes, you get the kind of curve shown in Figure 8-5.
Tune B
1 A 2 3
Tune A
B Figure 8-4:
The more immediate
‘Scratch’
curve for the cross- fader.
Chapter 15 covers how to use your channel-faders to help your mixes sound really professional.
Headphone monitoring
The headphone section on the mixer is simple, but extremely important. Plug your headphones into the quarter-inch jack socket (if you’re using a mini-jack, which is on the end of your iPod headphones, you need a converter from the mini jack to quarter-inch jack to do this). Use the headphone volume control (which doesn’t need to be set to full, please) along with the cue controls to listen to individual channels on your mixer (or a few of them together at the same time).
Headphone cue controls can be split into two functions:
Choosing what plays into your headphones.
Controlling how you hear the music in your headphones.
Each channel on the mixer has a Cueor PFL(pre-fade listen) button assigned to it. When you press it, you can listen to the music in that channel without having to play it through the main speakers. This function means that you can listen to any combination of any of the channels on the mixer at any one time. You can listen to Channel 1 on its own or with Channel 2 playing at the same time — or have Channels 1, 2, 3, and 4 all playing in the headphones.
That might not sound very good, though.
For beatmatching DJs, headphones are used to find the start point of the next tune you want to play (called the cue), and they’re also used to make sure that the beats of both tunes are playing at the same time. This is called Figure 8-5:
The cross- fader curves are unlimited when the channel- faders are used as well as the cross-fader.
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beatmatching, and it is the fundamental concept of DJing. Go to Chapter 12 to discover how the headphones are used to enable the DJ to do this, and how the following ways of listening to music in the headphones can give you more control over the beatmatching process:
Headphone Mixenables you to play both tunes in stereo in your head- phones, and a mini cross-fader or rotary knob gives you control over how loud each tune plays over the other (exactly like a cross-fader, except for your headphones). This function is especially useful because you can check how the two tunes sound playing together before letting the dance floor hear, and check that the beats of both tunes really are playing in time.
Split Cuesends one selected channel into the left earpiece of the head- phones, and another one into the right earpiece (as if you are listening to one tune in the headphones and have one ear to the dance floor).
This feature is a lifesaver when you don’t have a monitor (speaker) in the DJ booth and the delay in sound from the dance floor speakers makes it hard to check if the bass beats are playing at the same time.
EQs and kills
The EQ controlson a mixer enable you to increase or decrease three broad musical frequency bands: high, mid, and low. The amount of change is mea- sured in decibels (abbreviated as dB), and although mixers let you increase the EQ bands by +12 dB or more, the amount they take out is actually of more importance to the DJ.
Acutsetting on an EQ pot(a professional term for any rotary knob) removes the EQ frequency band from the tune completely. So when you cut the bass from a tune, all you hear is the tinny hi-hats(the tchsss tchssssound made by the cymbals on a drum kit) and the mid-range (which carries the vocals and main melody of a tune).
The difference between an EQ pot and a kill switch is that an EQ enables the DJ to vary the amount of frequency cut out, from just a little to the entire band, whereas a kill switch instantly removes the bass frequency at the push of a button, and then puts it back in when pressed again. No grey areas here!
EQs on a mixer serve two purposes. Firstly, they let you make the tune you’re playing sound great; if the bass is too loud through the speakers, you can reduce it using the Bass EQ, and if the music sounds a little too shrill, reduc- ing the high and mid controls can fix the problem.