Live visuals are one of the things that make it unique to experience music during a performance. When this is done well, this can really make the event much more special and enjoyable.

Today, I saw a video that made me think about how good live visuals actually could be:

What I love about this video is that music and visuals seem to become one. What you see perfectly fits to what you hear and vice versa.

For comparison: What you usually get to see at electronic music events is something like this.

Don’t get me wrong, these are certainly nice-looking visuals that fit well to the DJ performance.

I just feel that there is an extra mile worth going here: VJs often simply add an extra layer to the music. They use pre-cut video loops that they put together during their performance to match the DJ’s performance. If the VJ is good, he/she actually manages to sync the video to the beats.

But why do you never see video performances that actually match to the melodies or whatever is going on in the track? I assume that current VJ tools just aren’t made for this kind of interaction between music and visuals – but this is definitely something that could take live visuals one step further.

There is a video going around the blogosphere that shows a 69 year old lady being an active electronic music DJ in paris. In case you haven’t seen it:

Even though this might seem a little odd, it actually makes a lot of sense to me. If you love music when you are young, why shouldn’t you still love music when you are old?

However, there could also be a rational side behind this: “Use it or lose it.” is more or less the motto that was derived by recent brain research. It basically means that if you are active and curious in old age, you are more likely to stay so for a longer time.

Many of us have probably observed this with older people they know: Those who still ride their bike, have an active social life or do something that they care about do not only seem happier, but also appear younger. A nice example from the music business is Les Paul, a legendary guitar player who still performed on stage when he was over 90 years old.

Of course your body will limit your possibilities, but there is no reason why you should not try to push those limits. It’s probably even a good thing to do – even if that means DJing in noisy clubs when you are 69.

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

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!

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