In various discussions with non-DJs, I noticed a lack of understanding of what DJs actually do when they are spinning records. This can result in both a lack of respect for a DJ’s work as well as a certain mysticism around DJs.

So for all of you who ever wondered about this, here’s a little explanation of what the people at the decks actually do. I will concentrate on electronic music DJing here, but some things can be generalized to other genres. However, blending tracks into one another so that it’s hard to tell where one track ends and the next one begins is a quality that is valued more in electronic music than in other genres.

Beatmatching

Beatmatching can be considered as the core skill that any electronic music DJ has to master. The underlying principle is quite simple: Every track runs at its own speed, so if you want to mix two tracks seamlessly, you have to make sure they are running at the same speed.

You normally do that by using the pitch slider that every DJ turntable or CD-player has. This slider does nothing more than make the track play a little faster or slower.

The speed of a track is usually measured in beats per minute (BPM). Let’s assume we have track A at 130 BPM and track B at 125 BPM and you want to play track A first and then mix track B into it. That means you have to change the speed of track B by +4% so that both tracks run at the same speed.

Once both tracks have the same tempo, you also have to synchronize their rhythms. In electronic dance music, rhythms are usually based on a 4-beat measure. That means that elements are usually repeating after a number of beats that can be divided by 4. In order to have two tracks run synchronously, you have to start the track B so that it starts precisely at the beginning of the rhythmic pattern of track A.

A DJ software such as Traktor or Cue can help with this process, but many DJs still find it important to be able to do this by hand.

Fading and Equalizing

DJs typically use a mixing console that allows them to pre-listen to the next track while the current track is still playing through the main audio system. This also facilitates beatmatching as it is quite hard to sync two tracks without being able to listen to both at the same time.

Once both tracks are beatmatched, the DJ can simply use his mixing console to fade out the current track and fade in the new track. The simplest way to do this is to use the so-called Crossfader that automatically reduces the volume of one track while increasing the volume of another.

However, many DJs like to use the equalizer to make their mixing even smoother. The equalizer is used to emphasize or de-emphasize various frequencies of a particular track.

Example: If you emphasize the lower frequencies of a track, the bass becomes louder. If you emphasize the higher frequencies of a track, the hi-hats or vocals become more dominant.

By using the equalizer to emphasize or de-emphasize certain parts of a track, they can make the transition between two tracks very smooth.

Is that it?

These techniques are usually considered the basics of electronic music DJing. Beatmatching, fading and using the equalizer are usually the biggest part of a DJ’s performance. The theory behind those two techniques is not that hard, but it usually takes aspiring DJs a few weeks or months to master these.

However, a big part of being a good DJ is about having a good library of tracks to play. DJs often spend a considerable amount of time and money to build their library and to find tracks they (and their audience) like.

The order in which tracks are played also makes a big difference. Some tracks sound especially good when played after each other while some tracks don’t match well even though they are running at similar speeds. Many DJs also find it important to have a certain dynamic component in their set and  - for example – start with rather smooth tracks and work track by track towards music with a higher energy level.

I am just telling you all this to make you understand that the basic skills necessary to become a DJ are not magic at all. DJing is mostly a skillset that can be taught, understood, practiced and mastered. There is no big difference between what your local club DJ does and what a superstar DJ does when they are performing behind the decks.

I will write a bit more about what makes a famous DJ famous in a future blog post.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smeerch/225107882/ // CC-by-nc-sa

After exploring the melodic side of Drum&Bass in Sweet Headache 003: Snowball Fight , I wanted to record a darker and harder DnB-mix. It’s still kinda playful, so it shouldn’t really be rocket science to enjoy this mix. A glass of jet fuel might be a good drink along with this.

Tracklist:

1. Sub Focus – Rock It
2. Rob Sparks – Disintegration
3. Jade – Pulp Friction
4. Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank (Mulder’s Urban Takeover Remix)
5. Enea – Kill
6. Sub Focus – Timewarp
7. Enter Shikaru – Juggernauts (Nero Remix)
8. Gimbal&Sinan – Take Off (Dreadmaul Remix)
9. Bennie G. & Zeven – Anthem
10. Santogold – Unstoppable (Calculon and Eric Yo! Remix)
11. Dieselboy & Kaos – Barrier Break
12. Psidream & MC Mecha – Atomsmash
13. Concord Dawn – Raining Blood

Nerditional Information: It took me a while to remember why the vocal sample in Enea’s “Kill” sounded familiar: “HAL, despite your enormous intellect, are you ever frustrated by your dependence on people to carry out actions?” – “Not in the slightest bit. I enjoy working with people.” This is a quote from Stanley Kubrick’s classic “2001″ – and using this quote in a track called “Kill” can certainly be interpreted as dark irony.

Sub Focus are one of my favorite Drum&Bass acts in recent times. Their last album includes both straight, high-quality DnB-smashers as well as some good and unusual House tunes. I believe that it’s often a good thing if an artist takes a shot at a different genre, so kudos to them! If you haven’t seen it, check out the video for Sub Focus’ “Rock It”!

The last track (“Raining Blood”) is based on a Heavy Metal song (Slayer’s “Raining Blood”). I used to listen to Metal for a while, so may that’s why Concord Dawn’s rework resonates with me. The original is quite different though…

Thanks to Nils for recommending Diesel Boy!

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/2397259329/ // CC

I don’t live in the UK, so maybe I am a little slow in noticing this trend, but UK Garage seems to be back again!

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about: There used to be a musical trend in the late 90s that was known as “Speed Garage”, “UK Garage” or “2Step”. That style was mostly about mixing House, breakbeats and RnB. As a reminder, here is one of the most popular tracks from that time.

After a while, this got a little too cheesy and boring, and other styles took over. However, there seems to be a fresh movement of producers (mostly from the UK) who are picking up on the ideas from that era.

I wouldn’t yet call myself an expert on that style, but a lot of recent releases have caught my attention. This new wave usually goes under the names “Future Garage”, “UK Funky” or simply “UK Garage” (there are subtle differences behind those names, but I am ignoring these for now until I truly understand those differences).

So for now, here are a few current releases that I found and enjoyed.

If you want to dig deeper: There is a very nice article at Pitchfork that nicely sums up the current state of that style.

I recently heard DJ Sven Mergener at one of his Resolution Lounge events, and his melodic Techno sound clearly stood out from what you usually hear in bars and clubs around here. I asked him if he’d be willing to do a feature for Sweet Headache, and he said yes!

First of all, he gave me a DJ set to share with you:

Tracklist:

1. Paul Kalkbrenner -  Steinbeisser (Wighnomy Brothers Remix)
2. Coma – Brown – Dogtown
3. Sarah Goldfarb – 200 (Breaking down remix)
4. Chordian – The End is Night
5. Bukaddor & Fishbeck – Riffpunk
6. Chordian – Closed Eyes – Soniculture
7. Paul Kalkbrenner – Torted
8. m2 – 01.01-00.07.30h
9. Gui Boratto & Martin Eyrer – The Island
10. Gui Boratto – No Turning Back
11. Robert Babicz – Astor
12. Rodriguez jr. – Lila
13. white label
14. Matt K. & boy toy – Kultur

I also asked him to do a real interview, so a few weeks later, we meet at his studio in an old industrial building.

“The purpose of this studio is to kick my own ass.” Sven explains.
“I am serious about music, and I have my goals, so I rented this studio. I just needed a place for my music.”

What struck me about Sven’s sound was that it is very melodic, but still has a strong beat. He tells me that what matters most in a track is “Deepness” by which he means “a sound that comes from below and slowly builds up. Melodies are very important, too. Just rhythm isn’t enough.”

Being a trained event technician by education, Sven certainly knows a thing or two about sound. A great soundsystem is something he describes as necessary to “become one with the music” and to truly enjoy a party.This is also one of the things he misses at most parties:

“Many event organizers just don’t try hard enough when it comes to sound. For my Resolution parties, I definitely want to raise the bar here. I just know how a good sound system is supposed to sound like. For example, the system in Berlin’s Berghain club is fantastic!”

After mentioning the Berlin club scene, it is not surprising that he names Paul Kalkbrenner as one of his favorite artists right now. Paul Kalkbrenner has been getting a lot of attention lately by being the lead actor in the movie “Berlin Calling” where he plays a DJ struggling with his drug problem and a series of other issues. However, Sven Mergener does not attribute the current hype around the movie for naming Paul Kalkbrenner:“He is just a very good musician, and I have known and loved his music years before the movie came out. It’s kinda strange that he gets so much attention lately, but in a way, this is also a good thing since it promotes some very good music.”

For the near future, Sven has two main goals: Apart from establishing his Resolution parties as regular events, he is also eager to be a producing artist, not just a DJ. “I definitely want to have my first release out in the next year. What I absolutely want to use is lots of analogue synthesizers. Digital technology is fine for recording and controlling purposes, but there is something about the warm sound of analogue synthesizers that digital technology just can’t reproduce. Analogue sound is not that polished, and that’s just what I like.”

It’s not only the synthesizers where he scoffs at digital technology. When it comes to DJing, he is strongly convinced of vinyl records being supreme to digital DJ tools. “DJ software just makes it too easy. You don’t need to know how to mix, and many DJs actually don’t really know how to mix any more. For me, this would take the whole fun out of DJing.”

If you would like to hear Sven Mergener live, there will be a chance next Saturday.
His Resolution party will be at Feb.27, 9 pm at the Kolbhalle in Cologne:

Lineup:

• Tandem
• Dirk Middeldorf
• Sven Mergener
• O’Jansen
• Thomas Lachmann
• Sersch&Sanei
• Solanace
• Plus an “Anarcho-Burlesque Show by the Pepperellas“

Sven also hosts regular Resolution Lounge events in the Stadt Venlo.

Fotos by Birgit Schiffer // www.pfirsichfarben.de

One of the downsides of being a music nerd is that there’s literally music everywhere. I am not talking about having my iPhone and headphones with me all the time: What I mean is that everyday noises often trigger my memory to think of a certain track.

I experience this effect quite often, and even though it somewhat amuses me, it can also be a little weird when rhythmic hammering turns into a Techno beat. Rhythmic noises that I interpret as beats is actually the most frequent manifestation of that effect, but there are other examples.

Sometimes I think of a certain track when I hear the sound of a train leaving, a dog barking or a glass clinking. It’s hard to explain what exactly triggers this, but I have an example that might make it understandable:

I have an old battery-powered electric shaver. I don’t use it very often, but I usually take it along when traveling since it is relatively light and robust. However, when I plug the shaver in after I haven’t used it for a while, it first charges its battery and then switches on the motor while the battery is charging.

The effect sounds like this:

When I hear that sound, it always reminds of Fatboy Slim’s “Rockafeller Skank”. Skip to 2:00 in the video below and you’ll hear what I mean.

Have you experienced that effect, too? Please feel free to share your own examples in the comments!

Inspired by a hilarious video (see above), I wanted to create a mix that showed some Techno cliché. Obviously, I disagree with the statements in the video, but I certainly know what he means. Don’t we all?

However, if you take this mix without any irony, you can still enjoy it as a solid Tech-House mix.

Tracklist:

Nerditional Information: The Techno Viking is an internet phenomenon that grew from a video of a long-haired guy who was filmed dancing on a techno parade. I don’t really know how the original video got popular, but you can find dozens of references and mashups on that – including the video shown above.

There are a couple of older tracks in this mix, including Yoshimotos 2006 hit “Do What U Do” and one of the gazillion remixes of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. I included it because I think Deadmau5 is a great producer and remixer and he always manages to put something special and non-obvious into a remix.

The track “Social Anxiety” is a release from Jetlag Digital, one of my 2009 favories . I hesitated for a minute if I should really include this here: To me, this track has a somewhat different atmosphere and less Techno cliché than the other tracks, but it still is a great, straight and deep dance track.

Oh, and check out Swen Weber! I only know a few of his productions, but all of those rock.

There seems to be something about electronic dance music that makes it work best late at night. Certainly, all sorts of music-related events take place in the evening or at night, but electronic music events often take it to the max.

Rock concerts typically start in the evening and end before midnight. Mainstream parties often fill up before midnight and often end in the early morning hours, with only a few hardcore party people sticking around until then. There are even so-called “After Work”-parties that begin at around 6pm and end before midnight.

However, I have rarely seen an electronic dance event where the party really started before 1am. There is also no other musical genre that has an equivalent to after hour parties that typically start around 6am.

What I have seen though is event organizers trying to start their events earlier – and fail.

I don’t mean to complain here. Yes, I would appreciate it if parties started a little earlier as that would make going out and having a day job more compatible. But that is not the point. I just got the feeling that there is a connection here that is worth looking at in more detail.

Drugs

The obvious explanation for this phenomenon is the pervasiveness of chemical stimulants (“Uppers”). While I personally have no experience with anything stronger than off-the-shelf energy drinks, it is no secret that many electronic music lovers like some pills or powder along with their music.

While uppers certainly give you the physical and mental ability to dance 24 hours non-stop, I feel that the drugs are not the only explanation for the night cult. After all, anyone willing to get these drugs will probably get them if they just try hard enough. So why isn’t it desirable for fans of other musical genres to dance longer than their bodies would normally allow them? And why is it desirable for many electronic music lovers?

Different styles, different vibes

There’s got to be something in the music itself that makes people want to dance as long as they possibly can. I am not sure if I fully understand this, but looking at a few different dance styles, I think we are on to something here.

Example: Look at these heavy metal dancers (“headbangers”):

They are certainly enjoying their music, but could you imagine doing this for more than a few hours? I guess you’d literally break your neck if you tried that, so it’s probably not desirable.

On the other hand, if you look at someone dancing to Minimal Techno, the difference is obvious:

Many popular styles of electronic music make people dance in a way that is physically sustainable for quite some time. If you don’t fall asleep, it’s not that hard to imagine doing that from midnight till morning.

I think this point is important: Many people describe the joy of electronic music parties as “becoming one with the music”. This takes time. You can’t just decide to become one with the music and expect it to happen instantaneously.

Nevertheless, there is not only one kind of electronic music. Some recent styles focus more on high-energy, distorted sounds and harder beats. If you see someone dancing to that kind of music, it might look something like this:

So is it just the type of music and dancing that determines if people go home at 3 am or at 11am? I don’t know, but this might play a role.

Alternatives

In theory, you could just go to an electronic music party and leave when you are tired. This just doesn’t feel right though. It always feels like you are missing something – and in many cases, you actually are missing something because the DJ you want to hear does not even start before 4 am.

I know quite a few people who like electronic music, but don’t go to parties any more because they don’t want two days recovery time afterwards. So does it really have to be the way it is now?

A few people have tried to find answers to that question. The obvious solution (starting earlier) does not really seem to work. If there are enough people who can dance as long as they want, they don’t care when your party starts. They will come when they feel like it. Event organizers who tried to start earlier often spend several long hours in an empty room before the true party animals show up.

Open air festivals are an exception to that rule: Dancing in the sun is just too appealing for many people to insist on their habit of only dancing at night.

There is also a larger number of bars that have DJs playing electronic music. This basically works: People show up earlier and the place fills up, but you usually don’t see a lot of dancing there.

The only party format I know of that works differently is the “120 minutes party”: The party starts early in the evening and ends precisely 2 hours later. Everyone knows this, so no one shows up late or wastes time with “warming up” first. In Cologne, this concept is successfully implemented by the Blitzbangers party crew. It is probably not a coincidence that they usually don’t play Minimal Techno, but rather rougher, more playful styles that encourage a faster and more demanding dance style.

Images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phunk/2912736373/ / CC-by-nc-nd
http://www.flickr.com/photos/childan/2557785245/ / CC-by-nc-sa

Did you know that a track doesn’t have to be fast to kick ass? For quite a while, I thought that you needed a certain BPM count to make a good dance track. Then Dubstep came along, a fresh and different style from the UK. Dubstep is slow. Really slow. But with its intense basslines and fat beats, it somehow kept me interested – not enthusiastic, but it was enough to have me keep an eye on it.

However, what I didn’t like about many Dubstep productions is their exaggerated focus on wobbly basslines. I don’t mind a good, strong low frequency part in a track, but this alone isn’t enough to keep my interested.

Nevertheless, Dubstep matured over the last few years, and I have heard enough great productions that I decided to put ‘em all together in a mix and share the result with you.

This is not your typical Dubstep mix as it comes with a lot of melodies, vocals and different moods. If you are like me and you find Dubstep only interesting (in the same sense as you would call exotic, yucky food “interesting”), then this might be something for you.

1. Little Boots – Remedy (Rusko’s Big Trainers Remix)
2. Joker – Do It (The Rap Pack Remix)
3. Indijinouz – Ayo Technology (bolly.Hood In.STRUMENTAL)
4. Justin Timberlake – My Love (Ruf Remix)
5. Rob Sparx – Independent Life
6. Dubblestandart feat. Lee Scratch Perry  – Chase The Devil
7. José James – Blackmagic (Joy Orbison’s Remix)
8. Pinch feat. Ruday Lee – Step 2 It
9. Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions (Joker Remix)
10. Dub & Run – Young Folks
11. Don Goliath – Mrs. U (Remixed by Surje)
12. Boy Crisis – Dressed To Digress (Nero Remix)

“Ayo Technology” is also not really a Dubstep track, but rather a HipHop instrumental that just fit so nicely in here so that I decided to use it.

I also included a remix by Joy Orbison for José James. I somehow got a feeling that Joy Orbison have a lot of potential and we might hear a lot more from them and their newly-founded Doldrums label in the near future.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattohara/ / CC-by-nc

Here’s a little warm-up for the weekend: A pumpin’, pushin’ and ass-kickin’ mix full of House music. I included both remixes of classics as well as a few fresh tracks. Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. Strip Steve – Breakin’
2. Olaf Basoski – NGOM
3. 45th Street – Adrenalin
4. Gimbal&Sinan – Take Off
5. Roger Prinz – Freak Like (Ron Paul Mix)
6. Urban Shakedown & Micky Finn – Some Justice (Super Mal Remix)
7. Soul Of Man – Dirty Waltzer (Trouble Soup!! Remix)
8. Slyde – We Love It
9. The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name (Soul Seekerz Dirty Dub Vox Mix)
10. Mihell – Don’t Mean Shit
11. Powers That Be – Planet Rock

Then there’s “Some Justice” by Urban Shakedown & Mickey Finn. If you listen to the original, it might be a little hard to understand what’s so great about this track. However, this particular style (Breakbeat House / early UK Hardcore / Oldschool Breaks) was pretty popular in the early 90s and also got me hooked to electronic music. I am still glad that there is a more recent remix though – I guess it’s a “you had to be there”-thing.

There are also a few fresh tracks in here, such as the awesome “Dancin’” by Strip Steve or “Take Off” by a fabulous newcomer duo called Gimbal&Sinan . I really like their productions for being very playful and well-produced, and I think they have a lot of potential.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paxsimius/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I buy a lot of music online, mostly through iTunes, but also through specialized electronic music download shops such as Juno Download, Beatport or Trackitdown.

However, I recently discovered Whatpeopleplay, and I really like some of the ideas behind that particular shop. Apart from the usual goodies such as genre lists or a flash player, they also offer quite a few social features that make it even more fun to shop for music. For example, you can create your own charts, publish them and share them in your blog.

While this is certainly not revolutionary, I think this demonstrates a little twist in online shopping: While real-world shopping is often a social experience, its online equivalent is quite the contrary. As humans are social animals, it is certainly a good idea to work on that particular aspect of the online shopping experience.

Whatpeopleplay is certainly not yet the holy grail of download shops, but I like their direction.

Oh, and by the way, here’s whatIplay: