Beat Matching
Everyone has seen or heard a DJ perform at some
point in their life. The type of
disc jockey I am referring to isn’t a radio
DJ that just plays songs for
people to listen to. I am referring to what is
best know as a "club" DJ; one
that uses two turntables and a mixer. Most
people don’t even pay attention to
what exactly the DJ is doing behind the
turntables; and to tell the truth most
people don’t care. The final product
produced is good music that is blended
together to make a continuous mix of
music. It is not a very easy process to
accomplish even though everyone
thinks that it is easy and that anyone can do
it. The process that a DJ goes
through when they are mixing is a process called
beat matching. Beat matching
is a very complex process and takes an extreme
amount of practice. The
process includes about sixteen steps, but can be
described in four steps:
play one record on the turntable and listen to other
record in the
headphones, "grab the beat" of one record and release it on
beat with the
other record using the pitch control, analyze then re-analyze the
two
records, and finally blend the two records using the cross-fader. If
you
don’t know how to match beats it is almost certain you will not succeed
as a
DJ. The main equipment used by a professional DJ is two turntables
hooked up to
mixer in the middle with a cross-fader for selection. There is
other equipment
used such as CD mixers, but the main type is the turntable
set-up. The main
purpose of this process is to make one record blend with the
other record at the
same speed to create one sound. The first step in the
process is to play one
record off of one turntable through the main sound
system. The cross-fader on
the mixer should be to the side of the turntable
that is playing. At the same
time play the second record through the mixer
using the cue switch on the mixer.
That record will not be playing out of
the main sound system, but it will be
playing in the headphones that are
connected to the mixer. By listening to one
record in the headphones this
gives you the opportunity to listen to a record
before you play it. It also
allows you to start the main step in the beat
matching process. Once you have
selected the record you want to play next you
must match the beat to the
record that is playing out of the main sound system.
The way to do is by
"grabbing the beat" of the record in the headphones and
releasing it with the
record playing. Almost all records are produced with a
four/four beat for
easier mixing. "Grabbing the beat," means to use your
hand on the record and
move it back and forth with beat of the record playing.
When the record
playing repeats the four/four beat you release the second record
on the first
count of the four/four. Once you have accomplished that the next
step is to
use the pitch control on the second record to speed up, or slow down
the
record to the same speed as the record playing. That is the part of
mixing
that takes years and years of practice to perfect. There is a lot more
to it,
but that is the main step in the beat matching process. The rest of it
is
relatively easy, but can also be very difficult at the same time. The
final step
in the whole beat matching process is to mix the two records
together. It is
always important to analyze and re-analyze the beats to make
sure they are
matched before you bring the record in. To mix the two records
you use the
cross-fader on the mixer. The record that is playing in the
headphones should
slowly be brought in using the cross-fader. If everything
went as planned both
records should be playing at the same time out of the
main sound system. It
should not sound like two records; it should sound like
one. The only difficult
part of this part is knowing when to mix out of the
record and cross to the one
that was playing in the headphones. The only way
of perfecting it is to
practice. After you complete the mix you start the
whole process again. As you
can see beat matching is a very complex process
and can only be mastered by
practice. It may seem simple to someone who is
watching a DJ play, but is
actually a very hard process to complete. Once you
have learned to match beats
it becomes extremely fun and you won’t want to
stop. Even though there are a
countless amount of steps it can all be summed
up in four steps: playing the
records, "grabbing the beat", analyzing the
record and mixing them together.
Maybe by reading this you will give a
little more credit to the DJ’s that
produce continuous dance mixes for
everyone to enjoy.