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introduction : functions : manufacturers : buying a mixer : Mixer - Basic Functions
There are now so many functions available on modern mixers to allow you to personalise the sound you produce. Here are just a few including all the basics, what they do and how they can be used to help you get the most from your mixer (or maybe help you decide what's important when buying one). This list is not in any way exhaustive but covers enough to get you started. So how have mixers changed you may be asking. Or not. If that's the case you can skip this bit! Technology and the ability of what the mixer can do for you automatically. Marketing has always played a key with novelty ideas being pushed forward. You'll notice this is found mostly on mixers and in all honesty a lot on the cheaper mixers are poor and not really worth it. Here's a case in question. On some older mixers, for example the Intimidation Apex (which served me well for eight years), the selling point and claim here was that rotary knobs were less likely to leak sound and lasted longer than faders. At the time that may have been true. It looked like this:
Whether or not it was a selling feature is besides the point. The practicality of the mixer was good but had several drawbacks with this. The gains mainly but we'll come to that. Now I have the only mixer (at the time of writing) that every function is a vertical (or in the case of the Xfader, horizontal) slider. The selling feature is now "longer lasting faders" compared to knobs and easy to use - designed as a favoured tool to the turntablist. The Apex is more of a Mixer's mixer whereas the Stanton SA5 is aimed at achieving Scratcher's Paradise. Shown below is the Stanton SA5.
This clearly shows the same argument to sell the mixer but its now reversed. How the world changes! Next they'll be saying CO2 is damaging the Ozone layer. Just thought I'd raise it as something you may wish to consider especially if you are buying a mixer and are being told a Behringer is the best out there. By a salesman trying to sell a mixer on its gimmicks/supposed features and pro's. they never tell you the cons do they?! As time changes with the functionality and technology progressing, it is only common sense that says that the theories and selling points will do the same.
It allows the volume of each inputted channel of sound to be easily altered by the DJ at any given time and usually used when the mixing two inputs live to chop or fade in or out one channel as required. These are your main volume controls mostly found in the form of a vertical volume slider (unless you own an Apex where they are the bottom larger bottom rotarys on either side of the mixer). It was never going to be practical twiddling a volume knob rather than sliding a fader. It was only ever going to equal a fader when doing very simple tasks of fading - and slowly.
Any quick movement to fade out and bring back in is much better left to the faithful XFader. Either that or dislocate your wrist, whichever you prefer. Pre-Fade Gains These are similar to normal Gains but allow an extra form of volume control for fine tweaking the input levels before the mix goes live. This is especially useful if one record you have is a poorer quality recording (or you are mixing vinyl from an album) than the other source or mixing vinyl to CD. The DJ can monitor each channel and simply adjust as necessary to boost or lower one channel to ensure the outputted signal to the speakers remains constant. Without these the DJ would need to have the upfaders/gains at differing levels every mix to ensure this remained the same. When then using the upfaders to chop out ends of bars etc, when it is brought back into the mix it may be returned to a higher/lower level than required. the pre-fade gain adjustments allow for both gains to be running at the same volume (and are initially adjusted during monitoring) to prevent this from occurring which could spoil what otherwise would be a very good mix. Master Output Volume Surprisingly enough this is the amount of sound you are sending from the mixer to the amp, whether at home on a tiny Alba stereo or a 5k rig at a rave. Either way it's no different. Panning Dial This allows the DJ to pan the sound of the external sound from left to right. I believe modern mixers can also now pan front to back up if the set up is correct and rear speakers are available. Panning of any description doesn't usually work in a club as they have central speakers hanging from the ceiling firing onto the dancefloor, so are neither left nor right. A club setup is not usually set up with left and right that simply, so panning the sound wouldn't have an effect. Instead some speakers would fade while others wouldn't. An odd experience for your average clubber, so probably best left alone!
The Xfader is the horizontal slider which when pushed to the left (channel 1) will play the left deck only and all the way to the right (Channel 2) will play the right deck. In the middle it plays both at their allotted volumes (decided by the level of the gains) simultaneously. This is true for all mixers. Assignable Faders Modern mixers (mostly designated scratch or battle mixers) have what's called an assignable fader curve which can be set by the user. Instead of a gradual smooth fade it is possible to increase this so that the fader curve is much steeper so it it isn't a gradual blend. Simply it is how soon the record becomes full volume, when you move the fader. The outcome is the same as if the fader were in middle at mid-mix position.
No this has nothing to do with the a revolutionary Kung Fu technique. It's a technique favoured by some turntablists and relatively unused by anyone else. It allows the Xfade (and the Xfade only) to work in such a way that it simulates the right deck playing on the left channel and vice versa without changing the physical wiring set up of your decks. Why on earth would you want to do this? The advantages of Hamster-ing your Xfade (also favoured by QBert I've noticed) is that when performing more complex scratch techniques where multiple clicks are involved (see scratching guide) instead of knocking the Xfade against your thumb, you can knock it against the edge of the Xfade. Because the edge of the Xfade is static it is easier to make the made knob return on its own accord (you still need the thumb though). As long as your fingers strike evenly in terms of speed and applied pressure and just past the cut in point, it should become easier to keep a scratch going for longer without losing your timing. You have halved the amount of work you are having to do (there is only so far that the crossfade can travel before it runs out of places to go!) so the risk of it all going fruit-shaped is (ever so slightly) decreased. In theory. You want to try it but your mixer doesn't have it or you can't decide if this is a feature you'll use. Very sensible. OK there two ways to save you spending £200+ quid on a new mixer to find its whack. Solution 1 Solution 2
Very much like having an adjustable Xfade curve a Punch In button does the same. Instead of moving the fader over the cut in point so you can hear it, you just press the Punch button. It will bring the deck in as if the fader was in the middle. The minute you let go it cuts the sounds. This makes any scratches or cut ins you do come in at exactly the same volume every time, something that is more difficult to do with the fader. There are times when you might not quite push it far enough or you push it too far and then miss closing it. Punch in buttons eliminate this and are how I started scratching before learning to use the fader. Some mixers (my first soundlab!) had punch out buttons. WHat the point of these are I'll never know. They are the exact opposite of punch in. You press it, it kills the sound from the channel you select. Make sure you get Punch In and not Punch out. Check if any description just says "Punch buttons" as a selling feature! Headphones Mixers come with a headphone socket to DJs to connect their ears to the sound being produced by the decks or CDJs. This is to allow them to prepare the next tune before the crowd hears it. Every mixer will have at least one headphone socket, either the standard large 1/4" (7mm) headphone socket, a 1/8" (3.5mm) socket or if you are lucky (as on the SA5) you'll get both so you don't need a connector to convert the headphones you may already own. There will be a volume setting to allow the DJ to adjust the level of the new record (in pre-mix status which is yet to be heard by the crowd) compared to that sound which the crowd can hear already through the sound system. Depending on the surroundings and volume of the external sound, this may be a deciding factor on how loud the DJ will set this. Some people prefer ridiculously loud earphones blaring in their ear, whereas some prefer to not have their ear bleeding 10 minutes into the set. Getting this right or wrong can seriously affect your judgment when beatmixing so clarity and balance to the already playing sound are equally as important as one another. Get it wrong and you're beats start drifting it may be difficult to find on which deck the problem lies. Poke the wrong one and you could have a horrendously sloppy mix on your hands. There are several functions with some mixers when it comes to monitoring. How the sound is sent through to the DJs ears can also be adjusted. . Other mixers allow a "normal" setting of the chosen channel only being played through both cans simultaneously. This is why you may see many DJs only listen to can and its usually clamped between the ear and shoulder on one ear and nothing on the other. That's right - NOT like your Dad. Just like all those cool and trendy DJs you've seen. The ear apparently doing nothing and left flapping in the wind is used to monitor the tune already playing. The DJ can then pick which ear is more comfortable to mix with in the can and which ear monitors the sound system. It makes no difference. If you rely on split cue the play out mixer may not have it, then you're forked. However if the monitor is broken should you be playing out and it happens to be on the wrong side that you are used to this may cause some discomfort. Its not that the job won't get done the same - the output shouldn't change but it will feel weird when doing it. Like brushing your teeth with the wrong hand.
It allows certain bands of sound to be decreased (or equally increased) or as I prefer to say muffled in the most case of most mixers - its very similar principal to a standard hifi equaliser. Bass mid range and treble (sometimes only Bass and tops on some mixers). They allow a record or CD track to be adjusted but there is a whole section on how to use them in the DJ Tutorial section, so I won't go into too much detail here. All you need to know is you can pick a band of sound, and turn it up or down (usually) for each channel.
Two decks and two CDJs are attached to the same (two channel) mixer. As they describe themselves, these allow the DJ to choose and/or monitor between a deck or CDJ each time a mix is required. These switches can also be used when transform scratching. You flick the switch to deck 1 to bring the sound in. You make sure you haven't got a cd running on the same channel. When you flick the switch from deck to phono, the sound will cut and play the non-playing CD. All you get is silence. Effects Units Some mixers have the ability to send and receive signal to and from a standalone effects unit. This essentially allows echo's, delays panning and whatever other strangeness the manufacturers dream up which is then applied to the live sound. Top end mixers sometimes have these effect units built in to the mixer itself so you don't need a separate effects box. You select the time length you wish the effect to last for by a push button selection on the Pioneer mixers for example and select which effect by terms of a twisty knob you wish to apply. It really is that simple to work but as with all things DJ related takes skill and knowledge of your records and initiative of when and probably more importantly when NOT to use them. I feel there is some much potential for DJ to create a good dose of overkill here. Effects should enhance a tune in my opinion not cripple any enjoyment for the listener. It allows for personalisation of the tune to be done by the DJ. One effect I was impressed with was a delay function that allowed (during a house record that was demo'd to me) the beats to be doubled up. Imagine one bar of music with four thumps to it. All this did was copied and electronically pasted it on the half beat as well so you got 8 kick drums in the same time span of four beats. You could create your own rolling fill-ins at the ends of bars. That would only be possible on a normal mixer using two copies of the same record, manually lining them up so one is running half a beat behind, turntablist stylee, and going merry hell on that fader. Much easier using the technology. Its accurate works every time, uses only one input source but although the result is the same, the purpose of this function is different to that being completed by a turntablist. It is a mid tune technique to enhance what is already playing and add impromptu variation, not a standalone manually manipulated trick to show DJing dexterity. Be warned - cheap mixers, cheap effects. Chances are you won't use them. On my APex it had a "Slaughter Chamber". They are the four dials just above the Xfade on the pic. I have to admit it lived up to its name. It slaughtered any chance of being used successfully - you couldn't even monitor the two effects before doing them live. One square button activated the punching in and out and the dial adjusted how quickly it did it. So you could in theory break up a very long bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep noise so it sounded like: blee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eep Its basically really quick transforming/crabbing if you know anything about scratching.
So you want to cheat at Beatmixing and cut corners by using one of these. Haaaaaaaaaahahaahhahhhaaaaaaaaa! Oh deary me. Basically you will fail if you use this technique alone. They are totally inaccurate its that simple. They get it very wrong more often than not and cannot be relied upon apart from shedding some nice illumination on an area so you can find that cigarette lighter you dropped . If you cut corners in DJing one day you'll come a cropper. What if the mixer you use that isn't in your bedroom doesn't have them. You have no hope of convincing anyone of your talents. BPM counters are only accurate (and that's within five or so BPM) depending on the make/manufacturer and how much you paid for it. BPM counters don't count out a whole minute and then tell you how many beats there were. They monitor the tune as they are playing over as little as four seconds and mathematically calculate what that would be if it continued at that rate for a minute. Say you have 12 beats over that 5 second period. It will take that number and multiply it by 12 to give you the amount of beats over 60 seconds which totals 144. However it may be that there were slightly above twelve beats in the bar which by using your ear alone over this period you probably wouldn't be able to tell. For example 12.2 beats over that five second period. By the time its multiplied the difference 12 times that's an extra 0.2 x 12 which is 2.4 beats. You aren't gonna be mixing them together in real time that's for sure. OK i exaggerate but you get the point. Some DJs I know have even covered their BPM counters and digital displays with masking tape as they are nothing but distracting especially in the dark with their constantly flickering. They are toilet........at best. So that's what I think about them. I'm trying not to think about people considering buying a separate BPM unit for a mixer that doesn't have BPM counters built in, purely to speed the learning of the beat matching process. In fact burning your money would be a more personally rewarding option. Alternatively you could buy loads of lottery scratch cards instead of a mixer with BPM counters (or dare i say it a standalone counter) as the output is the same. You'll use them both once and as soon as you do very quickly realise that they have both turned into useless pieces of rubbish with not a hint of any success on the initial aim right before our very eyes. Session Mixing Some new mixers (especially scratch/hip hop/battle mixers) now have a function that operates almost like a third channel with its own volume control etc. The output from one mixer with decks can be directly fed into this input on the second mixer to allow two DJs to serially link their sound and have up to 8 musical inputs, four on each mixer - you can take this further if you wish as continue chain as many mixers together as you like using the same theory repeated. Output of one to input of another. A handy trick for sure. I have been fortunate enough to have freestyled a DnB live on six decks with two other DJs all connected without using this specific "Session" or "Daisy Chaining" facility. We each had our setup of two decks and a mixer as normal. We channeled each mixer's outputted signal as an input on each of the channels on a fourth 3 channel master mixer. Its exactly the same as you connecting three CDJ's to a normal three channel mixer. We took it one step further and added two decks and a mixer on the end of the wire rather than a single CDJ. The fourth mixer's output is then connected to the club sound system which feeds the dance floor. One DJ then runs the main mixes and has access to his own mixer and that of the master mixer as well so can fade in or out the two other DJs as required at when he wants to. the other two DJs then scratch and layer over hip hop accapellas, vocals from other records etc. over the main selection of tunes. Fun? Oh yes. And totally spontaneous. Others The list goes on (including microphone inputs and volumes etc.). However they are self explanatory and that I think is enough for today's lesson! In conclusion, with technology evolving at the rate it does, newer and better gadgets will most certainly come out to aid the DJ in their search for the perfect individualism creator.
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