Tutorial

Many DJs use symmetrical loops to loop melodies or drum patterns in continuous cycles. Asymmetrical loops, however, have distinct beginnings and endings. They can be used to change rhythms and create patterns on the fly.

Watch the Beat Refinery‘s Obeyah explain how to use them on this episode of Turntable Techniques.

Related: Using Loop Techniques to Mimic the Echo Effect

69Beats at Suzet Music Club in Poland. (Photo source: Suzet Music Club)

69Beats, the 2016 Red Bull 3Style Poland Champion, has started a new tutorial series called Button Pushing for DJs.

The lessons help DJs of all types learn advanced techniques like tone play, finger drumming, and pitch playing, and integrate them into their party sets.

69Beats is known for his creative and well-executed routines, and more recently for tutorials. He was featured on DJcityTV’s Bedroom Sessions and Tone Play series in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

“[The techniques] help you make your set more entertaining and add a whole new vibe to the tracks you play,” the 28-year-old DJ says in the first episode. “And they can help you get out of some trouble if something unwanted happens. And the best thing about them, in my opinion, is that they really help you get the attention of the crowd.”

The first episode takes a look at basic finger drumming patterns. He encourages DJs to follow along using his tutorials on the educational software, Melodics.

Watch the video below.

Related: 69Beats Shares Advice on How to Create a Thre3style Routine

Custom cue points can streamline and open up new options for your DJ sets. On this episode of Turntable Techniques, the Beat Refinery‘s DJ As-One discusses how to create and use them in Serato DJ.

Related: How to Use ‘Transition Stingers’

DJcityTV and Beat Refinery are back with a new episode of the tutorial series, Turntable Techniques. This time, DJ As-One demonstrates how to use “transition stingers” in DJ sets.

Transition stingers are exclusive performance tools that start at one tempo and end with a sample. They enable DJs to drop a song of any tempo immediately after the current track. By being able to jump around different BPM ranges, DJs can add creativity to their sets.

Watch As-One break down how to use stingers above and download them only on DJcity.

Related: How to DJ House Music Like a Dancehall DJ

Reggae and dancehall DJs are known for mixing together multiple versions of the same instrumental a.k.a. riddim. The technique can also be used outside of those genres and is a great way to add creativity to your sets.

On this episode of Turntable Techniques, Beat Refinery instructor DJ Obeyah shows how to apply the reggae and dancehall style of mixing to house music.

Related: How to Perform the ‘Rockit’ Scratch

DJcity and Beat Refinery have released a new episode of the tutorial series, Turntable Techniques. In the video, DJ As-One explains how to do the “Rockit” scratch, which Grandmixer D.ST performed on Herbie Hancock’s 1983 hit of the same name.

The song was the lead single off Hancock’s landmark album, Future Shock, which saw him venture into the worlds of electro-funk and instrumental hip-hop. “Rockit” is recognized as the first popular single to feature scratching and has been cited by DJ QBert and Mix Master Mike as a pivotal influence on them.

“You can gauge a DJ’s skills by when they use [the ‘Rockit’ scratch],” QBert said in the documentary Scratch.

Watch As-One break it down below.

Related: How to Make Acapella Edits for Your DJ Sets Using Ableton Live

The first two episodes of DJcityTV and Beat Refinery‘s Turntable Techniques series focused on using acapella-in and acapella-out edits in your DJ sets. Now, DJcityTV and Beat Refinery have returned with a tutorial that explains how to make the edits using Ableton Live. Watch above to see Trayze, a Red Bull Thre3style USA Finalist, take you through the process.

Related: Using Acapella Edits to Enhance Your DJ Sets, Part 2

Berlin-based producer Mad Zach has shared a new finger drumming tutorial via DJ TechTools. Using his Sentient Being sound pack, Zach discusses his approach when assigning specific tasks to specific fingers, working and playing on a single beat before adding variants, and keeping the core drumming on the dominant hand. He also shares a couple of Ableton tricks.

Watch the video above.

Related: ASADI Live Remixes ‘The Office’ Theme Song

69Beats at the Red Bull Thre3style Poland Final in Krakow on May 7, 2016. (Gniewko Głogowski/Red Bull)

Poland’s DJ 69Beats has made a tutorial that explains how to perform advanced tone play routines with Traktor and a piano-like controller. Fans had asked him to shed light on the technique after he won the Red Bull Thre3style Poland Finals in May

The method, which was first introduced in 2010 and recently explained by DJ Rafik, is a crucial breakthrough in tone playing. As 69Beats points out in his video, it is impossible to play certain melodies with traditional DJ controllers due to a limited amount of pads. That, combined with the fact that not all songs are in the same key, has resulted in a prevalence of out-of-tune tone play routines, a topic of criticism in the DJ community.

The technique is also possible with Serato DJ via the Pitch ‘n Time plug-in, as explained in a recent episode of DJcityTV’s Tips & Tricks.

Watch 69Beats’ tutorial and winning Thre3style set below.

Related: MIDI Mapping Pitched Cue Points in Serato DJ

 
DJcityTV and Beat Refinery have returned with a new episode of Turntable Techniques, this time focusing on the “silent cue point start” in Serato DJ. The technique enables DJs to keep their crossfaders and upfaders open while mixing in new tracks. It is essential for certain kinds of routines, especially those that require DJs to have both hands on one deck. Watch above to see instructor DJ Trayze, a former Red Bull Thre3style USA finalist, demonstrate the technique with two examples.
 
Related: Using Acapella Edits to Enhance Your DJ Sets, Part 2