I remember back when I started as a DJ. I had no help and figured this out by "accident". Life got soooo much easier! This is probably the most important thing to learn early on.

This guys voice is so calm I could just listen to him read the back of a fuckin cereal box 😎

This obviously doesn't work with vinyl, but I have a tip for digital DJs. In every track of my library I set a marker/cue point exactly 16 bars after my load marker. That way when I look at the overall waveform I can see how big 16 bars is. This is super helpful for dropping thing on exactly the right phrase. For example, I can use it to make sure the intro of the incoming song finishes at the exact same time the outro on the outgoing song starts, so I keep a steady flow of energy instead of having these slumps where the intro and outro overlap. For vinyl though you just have to know your tracks well and do it by intuition.

This is without any doubt the most important thing while djing!!!!

Honestly, being from high school band and choir had me catch onto phrasing and melodic concepts so well. I will forever be thankful for that

This was the second thing I learned when i started to dj...definitely put your mix to another level.

for me, this DJ made the best explanation so far about this so called 'phrase' mixing 👏

I knew I was missing something!! You solved my problem. Great lesson!!!

Essential advice! Thank you!

Fantastically explained, thank you!

Vinyl or die!!! :) I played only vinyl, I think I would get confused on CDJ with all those lights. But vinyl feel is just too damn good to be replaced.

Another way of counting which I learned over 30 years ago when I first became a DJ is with your foot.. Tapping one foot to the beat while counting in your head is a great way to keep time. Believe it or not I learned this in band class. Funny but it works & works well. If you ever watch a marching band or school band. Look at there feet. All will be tapping one foot to keep time/tempo. :))

Good ole basics. Gotta start somewhere. Hey, some DJ's just feel it out. Sometimes it's good to know the terminology.

Very informative wish I was told this yonks ago, thanks

PERFECT TEACHER !!!

Amazing how many so called DJ's don't understand this.

Very well explained.

This guy has a good vibe

Awesome tip! Already new that, but if I had this tutorial at the beginning, it would be a lot easier to learn ;P Now I do this without really thinking about.. :) ( no specify.) Greetz from Germany :)

I always consider a phrase to be 8 bars. If I threw in a new track after only 4, then the combination of the tracks would keep switching up every 4 bars (4 bars in, track A changes, then another 4 bars in, track B changes, then 4 bars in track A). If I think of a phrase as 8 bars, then they'll always both switch up at the exact same time. That's just me though.

Great info

I wish I had a video like this when I started DJ'ing, I had to learn this by my self without even realising.

That doesn't mean that the phrases line up though. Some songs have a 3 phrase outro while the other song has a 4 phrase intro.

that pitch control tho

Cool but, it's not a "throwback" technique !!! It's a fondamental DJ requirement

i tap my foot and bob my head when i count. i guess i occasionally tap my finger on random things too. But, just like a game of blackjack, your body is definitely keeping count!

this works for music that has slowly building changes along musical phrases that remain constant. try this with disco and you'll be hanging your head in shame.

this I using always

Just Use a neon green marker on the vinyl and mark the points. Neon green shows perfectly in the dark. It just takes time to mark your entire library but if you make a mistake your more than screwed. First tried in the winter of 76 . Marked thousands of vinyl especially the Bee Gees. Remember disco inferno?👍

Pls advise about phrase eq mixing and reading waveforms Thank you

please make a video on how to build studio monitors/dj monitors

Now I understand. I watched the "pitch riding" video first and I didn't get how you start the new track. Should've watched this one first :)

heyy. great video, I learnt a lot thanks. what is the name of the mixer you have?

PHRASing is easy, but KNOW YOUR RECORDS if you're a LONG mixer... watch for the middle 8's or 4 beat bridges... you have to either manually stop your mixing in record during those bridges, and let it go on the phrase when it comes back in at a 1... (or where ever you want, just match the #'s, to match at 16 or 32 phrases (unless techno, then say EFF it and drop like an a-hole on an odd count becausee TECHNO) ' AND MOST *OLD* HOUSE YOU CAN PLAY A BEAT MATCHED RECORD THROUGH THE BREAKDOWN but always count the breakdown BEFORE trying it.. doesn't always work. Almost never works on old jungle, oh well.

which is the track played at the back at the start of the video?

Daaayum ma man DJ Techtools using turntables AND Rane products instead of NI, that's quite surprising !

Big tune on the left deck, what's it called? It can't be Sandstrm.

And like all the other essential basics of DJ-ing, this will also become an automatic, unconscious skill like beatmatching and breathing ;) When You practiced long enough, so You dont need to think about that, then You can start to ba a real DJ

i dont know. i just instantly know where the begining of a phrase is for most types of music instantaneously do people actually need to count

yo man can u tell me the names of the tracks you sued in this video lesson? all of them were dope beats like for real though... thanks man,,,

Good Explaining... Question: Wenn I am about to bring an new Track in to the currently playing, it must be after 16 Bars, or can i bring the new Track also after 8 Bars in? Does that depend on the Structure of the track or should i listen to when a new Thing start to begin in a Track?

you call these throwback techniques, but for a new dj, or a DJ transitioning into more dance/club style gigs, these are still current!

For techno mixing what would you class as a phrase? I know tech house is normally 8 bars which is what I do and it works but techno seems a bit harder, specially some of the weirder shit lol

There's another way to count it and it its way easier ! Just count from 1 to 8 4 times. So its like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 four times and you release the disc .

Isn't it bad this is considered a "Throwback" lesson, this should be common mixing knowledge.

What is the song on the left deck?

What track is that very first one you played. I've got to find it!

Skills

The term is 4x4 for most house, trance, and other music that isn't made of broken beats (dnb, breakbeat, nu skool )... Congrats tho on proper equipment to teach phrases beat matching and the like, and not using the tools that killed the previously mentioned things along with most creativity of this music... I'm talking about serato, cdjs, beatport throw away mentality, and the like. You need to be in the groove in order to properly beat match, and you only find that true Zen with technics and a good mixer....

I heard trainwreck at the end

Is that the old 57sl or the MK II that replaced it?

The absolute necessity/importance of this as a DJ skill becomes so obvious when you hear it ignored by a DJ. So many modern DJs who play totally quantised, basic music that pretty much always has a 4 bar phrase who don't get this is just depressing.

I never count when mixing, its so easy to just listen to when you need to drop the track.

even though it's roots can be traced to seventies disco, i think this is more of an essential technique than a throwback one. maybe golden thinks it's throwback because none of the edm superstar dj's or the million asian whores playing dj never use it. they just play 50 soundalike tracks and do drops and segs. way, way back in the day when people were spinning 45's this was not possible. tom moulton invented the extended dance mix, percussive intros, extended instrumental passages and an extended percussion break. he also by accident invented the twelve inch single. forward thinking disco dj's such as tom savarese and walter gibbons utilized these new mixes and began using this technique for smoother, more exciting transitions when spinning in their clubs. this is a thing that can mostly be used in all genres and can be used no matter what type of gear you use, so the gear war comments are silly and unnecessary. also, whenever possible, you know some dumbbell gotta mention sync, no different on this topic. the whole point is to land at a piviotal point in the incoming record without the throwaway beats. sync is not gonna help you with that. sync only aligns beats, and many times not that well, it can't help you place something in the proper spot, so that's just a superfulous comment. give the noobs a break, you can't expect someone just starting out to know these things, but after practicing for a while they should know it, and after a while you don't even have to count, you can just tell when a new phrase begins.

What tracks was he using?

Hey man, why do you count 2,2,3,4 - 3,2,3,4 and so on, like why isn't it 1234. sorry if my question is stupid.. would appreciate your help

This isn't a dj technique. It's simply the most basic and elemental knowledge about music in general.

Track id??

do all you house djs still wait till the last 32 to put a mix in. Don't you get bord waiting?

2020?

Too many DJs do not understand this..

I just count to 32, which is eight bars or two phrases

Stop turning off the kelley polar quartet ;)

Check out this concept in practice in all of the mixes available in my channel.

one of the most basic things. it's sad how many "DJ's" don't know this

Unless of course the song doesn’t have a 4:4 time stamp

I thougt 1 phrase is 32 beats ,

*Don't listen to the music.. Feeeel the music* It really should be a natural fluid reaction like dancing to a groove. If the new track begins without a beat and starts with a hat and not a kick.. good luck counting that in!

dj tips for the not too bright

How can you even call yourself a dj without knowing this? I don't even need to count anything to know when the new 16-beat phrase comes in...

i feel like if you can't figure this out as a beginner by yourself then you shouldn't be a DJ.

Uhh, hello...phrase mixing isn't an old vintage throwback technique, it is a basic of mixing...but to the djs who use quantize, sync and don't blink, I guess you may be striking a point. So sad.

pretty sure a phrase is 8 bars not 4

Always makes me laugh when I see DJ's giving tutorials and telling people to count 1,2,3,4. 2,2,3,4. Virtually all EDM is meant to be counted in groups of 8.....not 4. You want to do twice the work? Count in 4's.

Cool

I learned this with approximately 8 years just after starting to play trombone. You cant get much more basic

please make a video on how to build studio monitors/dj monitors