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Need help with simple technique

Hi all,

Please move this post if it is in the wrong forum.

I would appreciate any help in learning how to do a simple technique. I have been unable to figure out this technique on my own.

I recently started mixing with my Numark Omni Control + Traktor Scratch Pro on my laptop. I got a lot of the basics down, but I would like to add a few nice tricks to my repertoire.

In clubs I often hear DJs build up tension at some point in a song to a very high peak, let the song hang at the peak for a few moments (sometimes in silence), then suddenly release the tension with a heavy bass beat. Usually, the crowd goes nuts when the bass hits since it releases the tension caused by the buildup. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find good examples of this on youtube, mostly because the sound quality of recordings in clubs is often poor. For those of you who go to Circus in LA, Norin and Rad use this technique very often.

It sounds like a short loop is created (~2-4 beats), which is cut in half a couple times while increasing the filter (or something else that enhances the highs). The filter (or whatever) is kept very high for a few moments, then the loop is ended while the filter is killed which sounds like a sudden increase in bass.

Here are a couple of examples that sort of sound like what I'm talking about.

(1) Ben Preston - Repeat After Me (Shawn Mitiska & Ad Brown Remix). Skip to 1:45. At 1:50 the buildup starts but does not stay at the peak for a few moments

(2) Reeves - Call Of Loneliness (Mat Zo Remix). At 3:05 the buildup starts. The highs are enhanced first, then the beat gets faster, eventually ending in a sudden heavy bass beat.

Although both songs do not reach a peak and hold the tension in silence for a few moments, I'm sure you can imagine what it is like.

I realize that the producers of the song put the buildup/release elements into the song. I would like to be able to do it at any point in a song with just my mixer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You will need to map variable loop lengths into your controller.

beat repeat while cutting it smaller and smaller+high pass filter or a delay imo...

BP-filter

Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I need to get the timing right and play around with the filter settings.

quote:

Originally posted by Apeattack Thanks for the responses everyone. I guess I need to get the timing right and play around with the filter settings.

Yeah, mostly the filter. But a lot of tracks out there really are built for a high pass or band pass filter near the end of a "phrase". You don't really have to even loop them half the time. It's a great effect to get the crowd going, I agree.

Also practice the Jesus pose. This is must in order to pull of that technique successfully.

quote:

Originally posted by miamitranceman Yeah, mostly the filter. But a lot of tracks out there really are built for a high pass or band pass filter near the end of a "phrase". You don't really have to even loop them half the time. It's a great effect to get the crowd going, I agree.

Yeah, I've started noticing that the ends of phrases of certain songs are perfectly set up for a filter. Maybe I can set up hotcues 4-8 bars before the peak to have a build-up on demand.

Just for clarity, is a high pass filter a filter that reduces lower frequencies and a band pass filter a filter that reduces both lower and higher frequencies (only keeps a specific band of frequencies)?

I still have a lot to learn

quote:

Originally posted by Cro_Addict Also practice the Jesus pose. This is must in order to pull of that technique successfully.

Hmmmm... how can I do the Jesus pose while playing with the filter and loop buttons? Maybe I can get two fake arms and attach them to my side.

I saw Gareth Emery last night. There were a couple times where he used the type of buildup/release technique I described in the original post, but he didn't touch anything and I know the buildup/release element was not in the original song. Is it possible he edited the song ahead of time to include a buildup/release element? Is that something commonly done?

quote:

Originally posted by Apeattack I saw Gareth Emery last night. There were a couple times where he used the type of buildup/release technique I described in the original post, but he didn't touch anything and I know the buildup/release element was not in the original song. Is it possible he edited the song ahead of time to include a buildup/release element? Is that something commonly done?

It's very possible he did the edits ahead of time. A lot of the big namers will do this. I'm a big fan of the build up technique. This is something I've been messing with for a while. For me it's a matter of finding the right tunes.

I talked with a DJ last night. He suggested that I build up a song on deck A with a loop+delay+filter, and on deck B have a different song with a heavy bass beat loaded. At the end of a few bars of buildup, make the sudden transition between the two decks.

Anyone use this technique much?

quote:

Originally posted by Apeattack I talked with a DJ last night. He suggested that I build up a song on deck A with a loop+delay+filter, and on deck B have a different song with a heavy bass beat loaded. At the end of a few bars of buildup, make the sudden transition between the two decks. Anyone use this technique much?

I've done it. It's good if you wanna make a quick cut to another track.

quote:

Originally posted by Apeattack I talked with a DJ last night. He suggested that I build up a song on deck A with a loop+delay+filter, and on deck B have a different song with a heavy bass beat loaded. At the end of a few bars of buildup, make the sudden transition between the two decks. Anyone use this technique much?

I suppose I also could put the same track in Deck B and start it at a point where the bass is heavy.

Guess I have to goof around with the mixer a bit and see what happens.

i think what you're talking about is the pioneer djm mixer's "roll" function that a lot of djs use nowadays. and i know gareth emery uses it a lot. it may seem like he's doing nothing, because all you have to do is press a button a few times. basically, you select the "roll" function with the effects knob, tweak the parameter knob, and then reduce the sampling rate by hitting the minus button a lot. and then when the tension is at a peak, right before the drop, you just hit "off" and the effect drops.

is this making any sense? again, i don't know how you would do this on numark, but i've seen something similar done on virtual dj, where you mark a particular cue point ahead of time, and when the time is right, just loop it and then shorten the length of the loop.

quote:

Originally posted by Imu i think what you're talking about is the pioneer djm mixer's "roll" function that a lot of djs use nowadays. and i know gareth emery uses it a lot. it may seem like he's doing nothing, because all you have to do is press a button a few times. basically, you select the "roll" function with the effects knob, tweak the parameter knob, and then reduce the sampling rate by hitting the minus button a lot. and then when the tension is at a peak, right before the drop, you just hit "off" and the effect drops. is this making any sense? again, i don't know how you would do this on numark, but i've seen something similar done on virtual dj, where you mark a particular cue point ahead of time, and when the time is right, just loop it and then shorten the length of the loop.

I looked at a few online tutorials for the roll feature on a DJM400. Man, my Omni Control looks so sad now... so, so sad. :P

Traktor Scratch Pro allows setting up hotkeys for cutting the beat in half, which seems to be the same as the +/- button on the DJM400. There are limited number of knobs and buttons on the Omni Control, so I use the keyboard (the "<" and ">" buttons) for cutting the beat in half.

It is possible to hotcue loops too, which may come in handy... haven't done much of this yet though.

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