In order to understand the art and process of DJing, one must know the language of a DJ. This section attempts to explain some of the terminology associated with DJing.

Backspin

This refers to spinning a record backwards for a short and quick spurt. It is used as a special sound effect and can be used to give the peak of a build some more energy or to end songs abruptly.

Bleeding

This occurs when a crossfader breaks after long use. When the crossfader is completely on one side, the opposing channel should not be detected in the output but the broken crossfader will allow some of the opposing channel to "bleed" through. Crossfaders that bleed need to be replaced so that the DJ has control over which channel is played to the audience.

Break

This has several definitions, depending on the context.

1) When referring to "the breaks", it is the part of a song where a drum solo occurs and dancers often pull off their best move. These types of breaks are known to be the best part of the song a culture of hunting down "the breaks" and playing sets consisting solely of "the breaks" now exists.

2) A moment in a musical track where the main beat changes and becomes more subtle. This gives a chance for the dancers to relax a bit and allows for drama to occur as breaks provide a change in the mood of a song. A break will usually occur between downbeats of a track and may span for more than one loop.

3) A genre of elecrontic music that consists of "broken beats" (i.e. beat patterns where not every note in a 4/4 beat structure consists of a bass drum).

4) To "break a track" refers to being the first DJ to play a song.

Build

A moment in a musical track signified by a strong building sensation, climaxing with an explosion of sound and followed by either a break or a main beat. Builds are usually the most exciting part of a song and are very useful in creating energy within a crowd. The climaxing explosion will occur on a downbeat.

Crossfader

A sliding control device on the mixing board that allows the DJ to transfer the audio output from one source to another in a smooth manner. As the crossfader moves from left to right, the volume of one source decreases while the volume of the other source increases. If the crossfader is completly on one side, only one audio source is played. It is also called a fader for short.

Cueing

This is the act of finding the correct starting point of a track. With vinyl records, this is done by placing the needle on a certain groove and then moving it back or forth until the needle is above the point that the DJ wants to play. On a CD player, this is done by selecting the track that the DJ wants to play and then scanning through the track (if necessary) to find the correct starting point.

Downbeat

The is the first beat of a loop and is usually signified with an accent or extra burst of sound from and instrument such as a crash symbol or hi hat. If a musical track consists of 16 beat loops, we should hear a downbeat once every 16 beats.

Loop

Most modern electronic dance music consists of loops of sound. A loop is a piece of sound that can be played again and again in a coherent sequence. Dance music consists of many types of loops layered on top of each other to create music. One track can contain many loops which may not necessarily be played throughout the entire track. Typically a loop will consist of 16 beats although loops of 4,8,16,32,etc. can also be found.

Scratching

This is the act of moving the needle back and forth along a groove in a record causing the sound contained within the groove to be played forwards and backwards at various speeds. A DJ will usually have one hand on the record and the other hand on the crossfader located on the mixer. By using the crossfader to cut the volume of the record in and out and moving the record back and forth at various speeds, the DJ can create many unique sounds. The type of sound sample used on the record also affects the sound of the scratch. For more information see the scratching section of this site.

Train Wreck

A train wreck is a term used to explain when two tracks that are playing at the same time have different tempos and/or their beats out of phase. When the audience can hear this, it will sound like incoherent beats occuring at odd times and not making much sense. The term comes from the idea that when your tracks cross, your train will crash, thus a train wreck. This is always a bad thing in a musical mix and is the mark of an amateur DJ.

Turntablist

A person who uses vinyl records and turntables in a manner that involves scratching and cutting the records back and forth to produce new musical output from fractions of the music contained on the records. Turntabilists perform the art of turntabism and know how to perform a varity of scratches and tricks involving playing music from two or more records.