rupespad : DJ Guide
: DJ Guide: Record Control

Before you can really start to learn to beatmatch you need to be able to do a few things with your records; so that you can start them when and where you want, and do things like temporarily speed them up and slow them down.  It's all fairly straightforward stuff, but might well feel a bit weird at first – do not dispair!

Most of the time when you put a new record on, the first thing you've got to do is find the first beat ready to start it off in time with the other record.  You can either do this by putting the stylus on the lead in (or somewhere before the first beat if it has a beatless intro at the start) and waiting for it to get there (then stopping the record), or by winding the record forwards (or backwards) till you find it.  Being able to do both these is handy....

Note:  It's best to learn this record control stuff using two copies of the same record.  Make sure it has a nice long clean bang bangy sort of start to it (the longer and cleaner the better – as this makes it really easy to hear the beats).  Make sure the pitch control on both your decks is in the zero position, so that the lock light is on.  They will then be beatmatched for you - magic, one less thing to worry about.  Set one of the records off with the cross fader to that side so it's playing over the speakers.  You will be practicing controlling the other record and you want to set your mixer up so you can hear it (and only it!) on the headphones.

Waiting and stopping
Ignoring what's happening on the other record that's playing over the speakers, put the stylus on the lead-in of copy you can hear over the headphones and have your hand over the record at about the 12o'clock position, hovering over the outside edge of the record, waiting to pounce.  As soon as you hear the first beat on the headphones, stop the record with this hand (gently, don't send the stylus flying).  You'll find if you wind the record backwards with this hand to around the 8 or 9 o'clock position - you should be able to push and pull the record backwards and forwards over the first beat.  This is a good thing to try and get the hang of first.

Winding
Being able to do this comes in handy; specially if the beat you want to find isn't in an obvious place.  You put the stylus just before or just after where you think the beat is, stop the record with a finger on the label or lead out, and then simply wind the record backwards or forwards with your finger till you find the beat you want – then, if your hand's in an awkward place move it somewhere better without letting go of the record....

Health Warning:  there are some things to watch out for when winding records, namely that some records are easier to wind than others.  This is mostly dependant on how flat the record is.  If it's sitting on your slipmat in a fruitbowl style (like with the outside higher than the middle), then the main point of contact between record and slipmat is the bit right next to the spindle (which'll only be a widdly bit if it's well fruitbowled).  This means there's not much in the way of friction, so you can whizz the record round really fast - wheeee.  The downside is that because it's so easy to whizz the record round fast, it's hard to make small adjustments to it as you might want to do when you're trying to get it beatmatched (every silver lining has it's cloud).  Also, fruit-bowl shaped records are inherently wobbly, so it can be really easy to jump the stylus when you touch the record cause you'll tilt it slightly, so be very gentle and touch it as close to the spindle as possible and you'll be less likely to jog the stylus.  Another thing to watch out for is if the hole in the centre of the record is bigger then your deck's spindle, you might find you jump the stylus if you inadvertently jog the record sideways when you touch it (this can happen with flat records too)– quantities of gentleness and smoothnessness should be summoned upon.  Also, winding records fast can have it's problems – namely the stylus's more likely to jump out of the groove the faster you go - bigger whizzy forces at work.  How likely skipping (or even flying right off the record) is depends on; the record itself, how clean it is, how clean your stylus is, how your decks are set up, and how smooth you are at winding.....

Now, if you turn a fruit-bowl shaped record over it'll be sticking to your slipmat like grim death and your slipmat will stick to the platter with a similar determination.  This makes it a real pig to wind, as the amount of pressure you need to push down with to hold the record with your finger is enough to slow the platter down as well (cause all of this pressure is concentrated round the edge of the record instead of spread evenly over it).  This makes it hard work, as you've got to work against the motor.  You've either got to be really careful how much pressure you apply to try and minimise it, or put up with it and work against the motor, or switch the deck off while you're winding it.

Flat records are best! – use these while learning, to save on a lot of unnecessary hassle.


Holding the record on a beat
Once you've found the first beat, you should be thinking of matching this to the first beat of a bar on the record that's playing out the speakers – and preferably the first beat of an 8 bar chunk (although this doesn't matter so much at first).  To do this you've got to let go of it at the right time.  The best way to do this is to start off rocking the record backwards and forwards over the first beat in time with the record that's playing (usually with your hand at the 8 or 9 o'clock position) – so that when (say) the first and third beats of the bar are playing on the current record, you are winding the new record forwards over the first beat (and backwards over it on the second and fourth beats).  This should be done with a nice smooth motion so the stylus doesn't jump.  Practice.

Setting the record off
You can now stop the new record on the first beat, and hold it there – rocking it back and forth in time with the current record.  All you have to do is let it go in sync with the first beat of a bar on the current record – and hey presto!  Well, probably not quite.  It's really hard to set the record off at exactly the right time you'll either push it too hard and it'll be slightly(?!?) ahead or you'll have been hesitant in which case it'll be behind.  But because you've got them beatmatched already (being two copies of the same record), the good news is that if you do nothing, they'll not drift any further out.  You may have been able to tell when you did it whether you were early or late in which case, you can try to do something about it....(if not, just guess!)

Pushing and Pulling
You push or pull your record to temporarily speed it up or slow it down.  This does not involve touching the pitch control.  You use this, combined with deft movements of the pitch control to beatmatch two records, so this bit is your first step in learning to beatmatch (take a deep breath).  However for now, seeing as the records are already beatmatched, you're going to use it to get the beats in line with each other.

So, you've set the record off and you were hesitant so it's running behind where it should be – the beats don't line up.  All you have to do is push it gently round a bit faster.  I normally do this with a finger on the label, pressing down and just pushing it round a little harder.  You'll have to play around with this to get a feel for how hard you need to push it to catch it up the right amount.  If you push it too much, it'll be running ahead of where it should be, so you need to slow it down a bit.  I normally do this by gently touching the outside of the platter, either so that my finger(s) rub lightly on the strobe lumpy bits or on the smooth bit underneath them.  You also slow the record down by pressing down on the label with a finger and holding it back as it turns, or by gripping the spindle quite hard (unless you're using a belt-drive deck in which case it's not very hard) to slow it down.  You can also tweak the spindle round faster with your fingers to get a small speed boost.  On a direct drive deck, using the spindle to push and pull is good for fine-tuning when you're trying to line the beats up.  Play around with all these, and you hopefully should be able to get the beats lined up (and if you've been counting your bars, you should have them lined up too).
© rupert, 1998-2003.  All rights reserved
This page last modified:22/5/03