Snoman R. Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques

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with younger clients and scratch DJs alike, as the straight tone arm skips less

when performing in DJ battles. Vestax keeps updating its range regularly, with

new and innovative models coming out all the time, so it’s difﬁ cult to keep up

and recommend a speciﬁ c turntable.

Stanton, a name associated and regarded highly for cartridges and stylus ’ (the

classic 500MkII has been an industry standard for many years), have also turned

their knowledge to turntables, with ground-breaking effect. A little over a year

and a half ago, they released the ‘ST’ range to critical acclaim. Not only does it

come in two different models, STR8 100, with more traditional S-shaped arm,

and ST150 (their latest model), with straight (str8) tone arm, but also it had

some very interesting features. They are as rock solid as a Technics with a 10%

greater motor torque, they have an instant reverse (I’ve never quite ﬁ gured out

the reason for this function yet!), a pitch bend of up to ⫾25% and a line directly

through the deck for connecting portable media such as Minidisk, DAT or CD

players. This allows you to play them directly through the mixer, so there is no

need to plug anything into the sound system halfway through your set! What’s

more, they also have a master tempo function with key aDJust which allows you

to speed up the track but keep the vocals at the same pitch, so not to wind up

with Mickey Mouse vocals! If you have any doubts, Ministry of Sound were so

impressed that they have just installed six pairs of them in the main and box

room and done away with Technics completely!

CD DECKS

Over recent years, CD mixing has come to the fore. What were once received

as rather shoddy twin-slot CD decks with a basic mixer rack at the bottom and

a few buttons and lights have now come into their own. Many DJs used to be

totally 100% vinyl purists (some still are) including myself until about 2 years

ago, as we love our back-breaking heavy black blobs of plastic with a passion!

But with huge advancements in the technology market from the likes of Pioneer

and Denon, CD mixing and stand-alone decks have really come up to speed

with the twenty-ﬁ rst century. In fact, you’ll ﬁ nd that most pro DJ booths will

now have quality CD decks or dual players nestling alongside the turntables and

mixer. These offer numerous beneﬁ ts over vinyl, since if you also produce your

own music, CD media is incredibly cheap as you can copy your music and road

test it at your next gig. What’s more, boxes containing a hundred CDs will weigh

considerably less than a hundred vinyl records, and as some professional decks

now play the MP3 format (for instance, the Pioneer’s DMP-555 MP3), it’s pos-

sible to ﬁ t over 30 tracks on one CD that you can spin like vinyl.

Some of the most prominent CD decks are from Pioneer with CDJ1000 and

CDJ800. These both use jog-wheel technology that cleverly emulates the prac-

ticalities of mixing with vinyl – you can spin the wheel the same as you would

spin the vinyl to create scratching effects. Pioneer were also the ﬁ rst to introduce

smart card slots in their CD players that enable DJs to turn up at any club that

are using them, insert their smart card, and the decks automatically conﬁ gure the

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players for that particular DJ, recalling all the cue points from the DJ’s personal

collection. These decks also feature a plethora of effects and useful real-time

functions, such as instant reverse, internal cue/loop memory, real-time seam-

less looping, anti-shock and much more. It’s a serious deck with heavyweight

clout from a well-respected maker of quality DJ gear ( Figure 23.3 ).

Slightly more expensive than the CDJ1000 is the Pioneer DMP-555 MP3 CD

player, which is the world’s ﬁ rst digital media player. It offers all the effects that

are available for the CDJ1000, plus it’s also capable of playing MP3 directly

from a CD. Again, you can use Smart Media cards to store all your local settings

and it also features full EQ trickery. What’s more, you can hook it up to your

PC via digital output or USB, and hit comes with a DJ booth CD software that

allows you to control virtual decks and make loops and samples ( Figure 23.4 ).

While these decks are considered to be the best by many DJs, if you require

more effects and scratch capabilities for DJ’ing hip-hop, then American Audio’s

Pro Scratch 2 deck, or the PSX, could be the answer. It offers features similar

to the Pioneer decks along with digital scratching, loads of effects, ﬂ ash cue,

hyper pitch and a host of other facilities that are suited towards ‘cutting’ beats.

Notably, there are also many other ﬁ ne makes and models of dual CD decks in

the market such as Denon, Vestax, Numark, Tascam and Gemini. Some of these

have built-in mixer and effects, all of which are good, and they all have ranges

to suit different budgets and needs. If you want an option easier on the pocket,

then there are many makes out there that will do the job.

FIGURE 23.3

The Pioneer CDJ 1000.

Photograph printed

with permission.

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MIXERS

Having two decks or two DJ CD players isn’t much use unless you have a mixer to

join the two together and though many starter kits include these, some of the more

professional gear will not. Nevertheless, I’m going to be brief here, as the market

is absolutely ﬂ ooded with DJ mixers, some with fancy ﬂ ashing lights, and knobs,

while others have a host of various bells and whistles (that can be confusing

FIGURE 23.4

The Pioneer DMP-555.

Photograph printed

with permission.

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if you’re just learning). Again, which to choose would depend on what you want

and how much gear you have to plug into the mixer. For instance, if you have

only two decks (CD or vinyl, it doesn’t really matter), then you will probably only

need a two-channel, four-input mixer, i.e. 2 ⫻ phono and 2 ⫻ line. On the other

hand, if you have untold number, then you will need to invest in more channels.

Some mixers have built-in beat counters, and effects, but these won’t neces-

sarily help you mix any better. Personally, I’ve found that the more the ﬂ ashy

parameters, the more it tends to put you off the job at hand since they tend to

be a hindrance more than anything else. It is worth trying them out, though,

and seeing what you think – it’s all about what suits you and your budget. If

I were to recommend one, however, then it would be the Ecler Smac 32. I had

one of these for ages and it was a brilliant mixer with a lovely warm sound and

very slim line to ﬁ t between the decks. Ecler makes some ﬁ ne stuff, with an

expanding range like the impressive HAK 310 and 360 series.

Alternatively, Vestax has a staggering range of quality mixers such as the classic

PMC-05 Pro, or the PCV 275. Equally, Stanton also has a good line with the

SMX401 and 501 and SA8, all of which with are two channels, and Pioneer

has also made some DJ mixers that are worth checking. The most notable is

the DJM300, 500 and 600 series with two and four channels, respectively. The

500/600s have a built-in FX and sampler that are very user-friendly. All these

makes are some of the best I have ever used, but the true cr ème de la cr ème has

to be Soundcraft range of DJ mixers, but these are very expensive and so are

usually limited to the DJs who earn substantial amounts of money.

MP3

I mentioned MP3 earlier when talking about the Pioneer CD DJ decks, but

while some say the difference in sound quality is noticeable when compared to

CD or Minidisk, there really isn’t a lot in it for the average listener. If it’s played

on a quality system, it’s still going to sound good, but watch it if you’re mix-

ing vinyl into it! The sound difference between MP3, and CD for that matter, is

quite substantial because vinyl wins every time for warmth and depth of sound.

Nonetheless, the technology around the MP3 format has, as I’ve mentioned,

evolved into the DJ market, and programmes have started to appear that are spe-

ciﬁ cally for DJ/performance use, whether live at the club/festival or in the studio

or at home. There are fantastic programmes like Native Instruments ’ (NI) Traktor

DJ studio and Soundgraph’s D-Vinyl and PC-DJ, but the real daddy of them all is

Stanton’s Final Scratch system. This is certainly leading the way for this technol-

ogy while very cleverly keeping exactly the same techniques DJs use.

Tracktor, D-Vinyl and PC-DJ are merely software-based in that they allow MP3

and wav ﬁ les to be mixed together via a computer, and are extremely good.

The look is similar to a dual CD analogue desk and the layout is pretty much

the same, with similar buttons, pitch bend/aDJust, etc., with NI’s Traktor being

one of the leaders. With Stanton’s (FS1and2) Final Scratch, however, they have

gone one step further, and then some!

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They have cleverly devised a system that comprises of a central hub, to which you

hook your turntables up before connecting to your mixer and then into your PC.

By then using two pieces of time-coded ‘vinyl ’ you can ‘virtually’ play, scratch,

mix and blend the wav and MP3 ﬁ les together, using a clever piece of software,

but exactly the same as mixing two records together on your turntables. There

isn’t actually any sound on these special ‘vinyl ’ records; they just transmit special

signals to the software. Essentially, this means that you can record your music

collection into your PC, plus new tracks, and literally have hundreds and thou-

sands of tunes in your ‘virtual’ record box (hard drive) that you can then mix in

the same physical manner as normal vinyl! Plus, this system is truly portable, so

all you need to take to a gig is a hi-spec laptop, the FS hub and your two pieces

of special vinyl. We are seeing increased popularity at gigs now that include this

set-up, alongside the traditional gear, and it seems to be gaining momentum and

respect from a quality name in the industry at the forefront of technology.

This obviously makes MP3s a viable DJ format and although most jocks still

have a passion for vinyl – I know I do – this technology has embraced the past

as well as the future, so there’s no need to give your priceless collection of vinyl

to Oxfam just yet! You can indeed use both, to a staggering effect. If you want

to embrace new technology, yet still use all the essential skills of mixing, then

this is certainly a way to go. It’s an amazing, forward-thinking system, and is

rock solid, as it has been road tested by Ritchie Hawtin for many years.

COULD YOU OFFER ANY TIPS FOR ASPIRING DJs?

First and most important, you need a passion for music. Getting into the

scene just for fame, sex and money will not get you very far; it’s a hard slog

being a DJ and the only way you’ll be able to stick at it is if you love what

you do. The obvious place to start is by learning the basic skills of DJ’ing ﬁ rst.

This means learning the fundamentals such as cueing up a record (assuming

your chosen medium will be vinyl), becoming accustomed to the weight of the

vinyl (heavier vinyl has a better sound quality) along with ﬁ guring out how

to drop a record on the ﬁ rst beat and where the beats are by simply looking

at the vinyl. When you are comfortable with this, try the basics of beat mixing

by syncing two records together and mixing between them. Of course, at the

moment these may seem incredibly simple and you may be twitching to get

to the more advanced techniques, but trying to learn the advance techniques

before you can even beat match will inevitably end in disaster. If you take it

easy, it will come and even though you may get the hang of the basics quickly

it doesn’t mean that you can DJ.

Once you feel conﬁ dent enough, start doing small parties, playing on small

sound systems and in front of small crowds. It’s a whole different ball game

than playing at home in your bedroom, you’ll be amazed at the difference in

sound, plus you have many other distractions in a club, the lights, the smoke,

rude people pestering you in the mix! But just do it for a laugh at ﬁ rst and see

how you go, if you want to be the next Cutmaster Swift or Judge Jules, you need

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to learn the basics of mixing ﬁ rst. DJ’ing is in some ways an art, but hip-hop

scratching/cutting, etc. is an art form in itself, and like advance DJ’ing skills it

literally takes years to learn and perfect. The only real way is to start from the

very bottom and work your way up. This means you will need to do gigs for

free until you’re at a proﬁ cient level and have proved yourself to be worthy of

rubbing shoulders with the major players. It certainly won’t happen overnight,

but be persistent, believe in what you do and try to be individual – it’s always a

mistake to play all the same tracks as your peers.

When you feel conﬁ dent enough, it’s prudent to start recording your sets and

then listen back to them with a critical ear. Ask yourself questions such as is the

mixing tight and are the songs well synced. More importantly, be honest with

yourself because even the DJs at the very top will admit that they do not ‘know

it all ’ and are constantly learning new techniques.

If at ﬁ rst you don’t succeed, try again and then again, and then again until you

do. As boring as this will probably sound, if your ‘practiced’ demo sounds

dodgy then you won’t get a look in, so keep practising until it is right, and it

will gradually become easier. You have to be dedicated, as there are plenty of

quality DJs out there and you have to outshine them to stand a chance.

It’s also worth putting your best polished demo onto CD or minidisk to use as

an advertisement for your skills (more on promoting yourself in a moment).

The best demo in the world won’t get played if it looks pants; a crappy dusty

old tape with a name and number scribbled in dodgy biro isn’t going to do

you any favours. A large number of demos I get look like dog’s dinner ! If that’s

the amount of trouble they’ve gone on the outside, what’s the recording and

mixing going to be like? Naturally, I’m not saying you have to get a gold-plated

CD and cover, but a little presentation doesn’t go amiss. Don’t forget the big-

ger promoters receive hundreds of demos all the time, so you need to make an

effort for them to notice you. Get together a DJ biography, what you’ve been

up to, what clubs and radio gigs you’ve done, etc. and print it on a nice paper.

Also, learn how to network, pester promoters and be knowledgeable. The inter-

net is a good way to promote yourself, so construct a site or get a few pages

on various free sites and upload your MP3 mixes to it. I do lots of radio work,

both internet and FM, and that’s another angle to get you out to a wider audi-

ence; it boosts your conﬁ dence and is another string to your musical bow.

HOW DO DJs PROMOTE THEMSELVES?

There are various ways you can do this, some of which I’ve just touched upon,

but it depends on what level you are at and how much experience you have.

As I’ve mentioned, the internet is probably one of the best ways and its worth-

while building a website and placing a biography and an MP3 mix on there.

When you’re at a reasonable level, consider joining an agency, as they will pro-

ﬁ le you, but obviously you need to have a certain amount of experience and

achievement behind you.

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I still spend many, many hours tirelessly sending hundreds and hundreds of

e-mails out and spending a lot of time on courtesy and follow-up calls, chas-

ing promoters, making new contacts, following up contacts and networking all

the time. You have to try to have something going on all the time and in the

future, even several months away. The busier you become, the further down the

line you have to plan, and it helps if you have a few ﬁ ngers in a few musical

pies so to speak, be determined, have drive, as it’s a very cut-throat business. I

review my website regularly and always make an effort to keep abreast of any

new music that comes out.

More importantly, you need to be adventurous. I’ve found myself accept-

ing bookings in many weird and wonderful places resulting in me DJ’ing up

mountainsides, at the edge of lakes, in Russia during wintertime, at festivals in

Armenia in front of 40 000 people, in swanky clubs of Bulgaria and even in dis-

used military arms bases in Germany ! If you have an audacious streak, you’ll

have the chance to play at some amazing places and meet some wonderful

people and make new friends. What’s more, they will value you much, much

more than your local club in whichever major city you live in. This will allow

you to build up a massive fan base, a lot of whom are budding DJs themselves,

and will strive to get you more work in these places.

Another good tip to promote yourself is to get a portfolio together, achieve-

ments, ﬂ yers, discography if that applies, DJ biography, etc., but make it osten-

tatious so that you will have something presentable to show to the promoters

and the like. Also, you have to start building up a reputation for yourself, and

it’s hard, you have to take the rough with the smooth. If you’re on the lower

level, you’ll often ﬁ nd yourself playing the warm ups and earlier times, and

you’ll probably be playing to the ﬂ oorboards for quite some time. Most of this

will be for gratis, but it will give you the vital experience you need. When I

started DJ’ing, it was almost a dirty word and I had to collect glasses in between

playing. What’s more, when the club shut I had to clear up and sweep the ﬂ oor

before I could get paid. That’s what a resident meant back in the early 1980s,

there certainly wasn’t such a thing as the ‘superstar’ DJ nonsense that there is

today. You learnt the hard way, but gained invaluable experience along the way,

playing to tough demanding crowds, learning essential skills of dance ﬂ oor

dynamics. It’s the only way to get the experience you need to be a DJ. All too

often I see the sorry sight of ‘DJs’ with 40 records and 12 months of experience

under their belt with a pair of dodgy Sound Labs who think they are something

special. Remember who you are and be true to yourself, that’s what counts, and

know where you’re at and where you would like to be, because if you disappear

up your own backside, you’ll quickly lose respect from everyone.

ANY OTHER ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER?

Possibly the best advice I can offer is to look after yourself. I’m going to go into

some aspects quite deeply here but it’s not to put you off; on the contrary, it is

an insight into the potential hazards of being a DJ.

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Firstly, I’ll start with what is the most important aspect of the job – your hear-

ing! It’s all too easy to have the opinion that it ‘won’t bother me ’, but if you

spend a lot of time in clubs subjecting yourself to very high levels of sound

as DJs, rock musicians, lighting and sound engineers do, then I would fully

recommend investing in some professional musician’s ear protectors. These

work by using a diaphragm that vibrates at a lower level than your eardrum,

therefore reducing the noise by 15 –25 dB. In layman’s terms this means that

in a loud environment such as a club you can still hear everyone very clearly

and the plugs don’t spoil any of the enjoyment of the music; it just feels as if

someone has turned down the volume control at the back of your head. These

are very different from the traditional foam plugs that just block out noise and

make everything appear mufﬂ ed. Without protecting your ears you can suffer

from tinnitus. This is the medical term for a ringing in the ears, which is often

the case after a night out working/clubbing. The ringing is our body’s natural

defence mechanism when we have been subjected to too much noise; for most

of us this will pass, but the damage that the ringing has signalled won’t. Many

old skool DJs, including myself, used to play and listen to massive amounts of

noise on monstrous sound systems which admittedly were great at the time,

but we were unaware of the damage we were doing to our hearing. We never

had this kind of advice back then, so I’m glad to be able to share some of my

knowledge with you now.

TIPS FOR YOU EARS

■ Wear specialist earplugs if you’re working in or frequently attending loud

clubs/concerts, etc.

■ Take regular breaks from the dance ﬂ oor if you’re a clubber or pro dancer.

■ Be careful on drink or drugs, as your perception of what is too loud will

be impaired.

■ Don’t get dehydrated, as it can increase the risk of tinnitus.

■ Don’t push the levels to the max when DJ’ing (as is too easy to do on a

big system).

■ Avoid shouting conversations into each other’s ears, remember those

earplugs!?

■ Don’t stand next to big speaker stacks at big clubs and festivals.

Another hazard for the DJ (especially those that play mostly vinyl) is back pain.

I’m a towering 6 ⬘2⬙ and occasionally get it so chronically that I have to cancel

gigs! Carrying heavy record boxes and bags about is fundamental for DJs because

you have to get your precious records or CDs to the gig. Over the years of doing

this, I now have one shoulder higher than the other, as well as a trapped nerve in

my neck (as does Tall Paul), which is worsened with stress, and being cramped

in airplane seats and cars for long journeys does not help things. This is unfortu-

nately one of the inherent and unglamorous elements of the job.

Apart from these problems, the most damage is done is when you’re actually

standing, stooped over the decks for hours. This can cause a lot of damage and is

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hazardous for your spine, especially over a number of years. Mobile jocks are even

more susceptible as they will be carrying even more cumbersome heavy equipment

around. Also, another problem is hunching one shoulder, pressing the headphones

to one ear, which is not good for you neck. It isn’t just me, a lot of DJs, especially

tall ones, have the same problem; Judge Jules and Tiesto are two high-proﬁ le jocks

who are equally affected. Obviously, any stance that stops you bending over the

decks unnecessarily is a good thing. As mentioned, I’m particularly tall, so some-

times have to part my legs when the decks are a bit low, as this eases the stress on

your lumber region. Try and ﬁ nd a stance that is good for you, as it’s in your inter-

est to adopt this pose when you’re playing regularly; try and make it a habit.

TIPS FOR YOUR BACK

■ Invest in a pair of decent headphones you can use on one ear without

hunching your shoulders too much; it will make a lot of difference.

■ Change position and stretch regularly when you’re playing.

■ Be careful on drinks so as not to strain while dancing/throwing shapes!

■ Carry equipment/boxes, etc. close to your body, with the heaviest side

closest to you. Share heavy loads between friends where possible.

■ Get some strong painkillers that will ease the pain if it gets chronic.

■ Back pain can become serious, get it checked out and see a specialist if

necessary.

■ Carry a muscle relief spray or gel with you when you travel.

■ Physical exercise plays a big part in keeping your back healthy, so try

some stretching exercises, especially after you land from a ﬂ ight, and

after you’re set.

■ If playing gigs internationally, have a massage when you get to your des-

tination, at a reputable place, as this helps unwind the stress and tension

that causes back and neck pain.

Also tied in with the lifestyle of the DJ is the stress and fatigue factor. On the sur-

face of what appears to be a very glamorous, never-ending party image of the busy

international DJ, there are gruelling physical and mental demands. With hectic

schedules and busy ﬂ ight patterns, jocks can burn out if not too careful. Many

of the top DJs are now coming clean about how demanding this actually is, with

people like Sasha admitting that he has suffered years of serious panic attacks, and

many other top DJs collapsing from exhaustion. Some not so wise DJs started to

abuse heavy amounts of narcotics to deal with the near superhuman aspect of the

job and ended up getting in a spectacular mess as a result. Both Brandon Block

and Nicky Holloway have been into rehab through this. It’s vital that you try and

look after yourself; it is still possible to enjoy the highlights of the lifestyle if you

take care of yourself and keep your mind and body in good shape.

TIPS FOR FATIGUE

■ Allow yourself to fully recover after a long period awake (sleep and

rest well).

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■ Carry effervescent multi-vitamin energy tablets with you and take them

after a long journey to give you a boost and combat exhaustion.

■ Avoid dehydration by staying off booze and caffeine during and after

ﬂ ights, even though it’s tempting with complimentary sauce; drink lot of

mineral water instead.

■ Get a good, undisturbed sleep, using eye mask and earplugs if necessary

but not tranquilisers, as they can mess up sleep patterns (if necessary,

use herbal remedies).

■ Exhaustion affects the immune system, leading to illness, so try and main-

tain a healthy diet. Eat lots of fruits and take daily vitamin supplements.

■ Take melatonin tablets, a natural remedy thought to help promote sleep

and reduce the effects of jet lag (unfortunately not available in the UK,

so stock them up in places like America).

USEFUL LINKS

■ www.energyinternetradio.com (Miami’s best radio station)

■ www.grooveexponents.co.uk (DJ agency)

■ www.elacin.nl or call 0207 323 2076 (musicians ear protectors)

■ www.hearnet.com (useful tips on your hearing gear)

■ www.backcare.org.uk (Look after that back of yours)

■ http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur (forward thinking DJ gear)

■ www.technics.co.uk (home of the world leaders and the mighty Technics

deck)

■ www.stantonDJ.com (home to the ﬁ nest cartridges, and the world

famous Final Scratch)

■ www.vestax.co.uk (purveyors of quality DJ gear)

■ www.dmcworld.com