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T i p - o f - t h e - M o n t h - ( A r c h i v e )
Intro to Tricks with Two Identical Records Part II: Echo/Delay and Triples/Looping
by DJ Rob WegnerFebruary 2002
Last month, I presented three easy to learn turntable tricks based on playing two identical records on each turntable at the same time. This month, I will discuss two additional (slightly harder to learn) tricks: Echo/Delay and Triples/Looping.
Trick Four: Echo/Delay
To begin, you may have to read last month's Tip of the Month to learn how to sync two identical records. I recommend practicing these tricks with 12" hip hop tracks (i.e., around 100 bpm).
First, sync two identical records. Second, once the records are perfectly aligned (be sure both pitch adjust settings on the turntables are in the same spot - if you're new, leave both settings at zero), place your hand on the turntable that's not being heard on the speaker system and hold it for one beat - and then release it. If you listen to that turntable through your headphones, you'll notice that the record is exactly one beat off of the record that's playing. In other words, the turntable that you held for one beat is "delayed." We'll call this delayed turntable - "Turntable B."
If you slide your crossfader over to Turntable B (cutting the volume of the song that was playing, or "Turntable A"), then you will have delayed the song for one beat. Since it will sound as if the record skipped, you'll want to slide the crossfader back-over to Turntable A on the next beat.
This may be made clearer if you count to the song "in-time" (i.e., 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, etc.). If the song said "dance" every first beat, it would count like this: "dance-2-3-4," dance-2-3-4," etc. If you've delayed the song for one beat, it would count as follows: "dance-dance-3-4," "dance-dance-3-4," etc. You may want to picture your hand sliding the mixer's crossfader over-and-back to get that "dance" on every second beat.
Many hip hop DJ's will delay the snare drum by half-a-beat. In other words, the DJ holds the record (where the snare drum hits), counts for half-a-beat (i.e., 1-AND-2-and-3-and-4), and then releases the record. The DJ will then time the crossfader to quickly slide-over-and-back to sample the snare drum (for half-a-beat). To the audience, it sounds as if the drummer (in the song) hit his or her snare drum twice.
You can practice delaying the other turntable in different beat combinations (i.e., two beats, half beat on bass drum, etc.). When you hold the record for an entire measure (i.e., four-beats), you're beginning to get an "echo" effect. Thus, in the counting example above, if you held the record for four beats (and the vocalist in the song only said the word "dance" once), it would look like this: "dance-2-3-4," "dance-2-3-4." You've "echoed" the measure of the song one time - or played the same measure twice.
Trick Five: Triples/Looping
The "Triple" is essentially playing the same effect or sample on a record three times. "Looping" refers to playing an effect or sample repeatedly (as if you looped a cassette tape so that it plays the same thing over-and-over again). Since you must learn how to Triple before you can loop, we'll begin with the Triple.
To Triple, you follow the same procedure as Delay/Echo above. Since the above procedure will let you play a sample twice (i.e., "dance-2-3-4," "dance-2-3-4"), you'll have to take one hand, reach over, and pull the first record (Turntable A) back to the beginning of the sample point - while the crossfader is sampling the second record (on Turntable B). Next, to sample the record that you've just pulled back, you'll have to slide the crossfader back over (in time to Turntable A).
The key to this trick is to visualize the point that you're going to replay. This is why many hip hop DJ's "mark" their records. When the record (Turntable A) plays the sample the first time, you should mentally "snap a picture" of the needle's relation to the mark so that you'll know how far to pull-back the record.
Looping entails repeating the above procedure repeatedly. In other words, following the Triple example above, while your crossfader is sampling Turntable A (i.e., getting the third sample), you'll want to reach over and pull-back the other record to the sample point. After you've pulled the record back, slide the crossfader over - in time - to get your fourth sample. As you can see, you can repeat the steps indefinitely - thereby looping a sample.
A word of advice: Looping takes considerable practice. First learn how to sync two records, then learn how to Delay/Echo a sample. Once you're comfortable with Delays/Echoes, proceed to Triples. You'll find that learning Triples takes time. However, you'll need to polish your tripling technique in order to advance to indefinite looping.
Industry NewsWorld DJ Day. The world's biggest DJ's will come together on March 9, 2002 to raise money for charity. DJ's and promoters that would like to participate should contact World DJ Day to organize local events (see How to Run a Successful Event).
"Club DJ" Class at Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale, Arizona begins February 4, 2002. The class is taught by Rob Wegner and will feature guest speakers: DJ Radar, DJ Emile, Timothy Heit, Kevin Brown, DJ Shad, and Steve Ratz, Jr. of DMA Magazine.
DJ HumorTop Ten Signs That It's Time To Hire A New DJ:
1. You can hear crickets chirp between songs.
2. The mixes sound like shoes in a dryer.
3. The needles in the DJ booth aren't meant for records.
4. The DJ shouts out existential philosophy quotes on the mic between mixes.
5. At a house music club, the DJ gets a request for Elvis and says "cool, I finally get to play some real music."
6. The mixes seem to be in the same order as that new Ministry of Sound CD you just bought.
7. There's a sudden demand for earplugs..
8. The DJ attracts more cops than dancers (or alternatively, you haven't noticed those siren sounds in that song before).
9. The DJ brings eight track tapes.
10. The club sounds like a train station.
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