Phrasing can make or break a DJ Set: DJ Fundamentals

Ean dives into the basics and advanced thinking behind phrasing inside of a DJ mix in this third video in his series of DJ Fundamentals.

[lvhomesales]

To all you wanna be DJs, this is a great education here. I was a night club dj out of NY and MIami from back the days of vinyl. Back in the 80s club djs in New York were extremely creative but we didn't have anything that you have access to today. It was all analog. Megamixes with samples and looping were all done by using recording tape. You take a "Reel to Reel" machine and you would have to cut recording tape from certain parts of the track and splice them together. It was intensive work for just a few seconds of a machine gun effect. TODAY, you guys have it so easy to be as creative as your imagination allows. Any monkey can say they are a DJ by mixing one song to the next(boring), but a true DJ is a creative artist and it can be done by the touch of a button. So don't be a lame dj, learn (like DJ Tech tools), experiment, and be creative. DJs were once the driving force in music, now its been lost to producers who act like DJ. Big difference, time to take back your culture!!

[micahgrauel]

I pay attention to this even when I am walking horses. I walk people's horses a lot, and whenever I hear their hoof beats, I am always paying attention to the timing and phrasing. feeling the 4/4 hoof beats of a thousand pound animal really helps to get this concept locked into my head.

[Mark-ftyx]

Good to see you teaching this.
I've been to way too many clubs where the DJ is not aware of these simple rules. 👍

[Djmcode]

This is something I’m pushing on myself as I’m primarily a bedroom dj who recently started enjoying mixing again, I released a set on Mixcloud and I was complimented on how well it flowed together instead of just mashed up at the words they used. So thank you for the knowledge sharing

[neosean]

Ean rules. Whole reason I even decided to give it a shot 12 years ago. That VCI 100 BABY! ❤️

[FarebrothaChronicle]

This is good stuff, I like to see a video on counting bars and phrases of an acapella track. Now that to me is advanced phrasing.

[JM-mptf]

Love Ean's expression at 7:30 when he's digging his transition. Loving the music even whilst teaching.

[plantfan]

i teach a dj class and i struggled a bit explaining how phrasing works, thanks for this ean!

[djbobcat]

Understanding the 32 count is as important as understanding how to beat match. It was one of the first things I was taught when I started and is still key today.

[viktormerkel]

Hey ean. Thank you very much for all of your videos. 4 years i follow your YouTube videos and it’s helping me. Thank you very much and thanks Dj techtools.

[guidox]

This is the fundamentals for any musician, to know when to step in, do a breack and/or add a new instrument!When we mix, we want it to sound like a new instrument is beeing added to make the transition in the flow!

[petersison]

Super good tut.. I really like the D&B example you used... I lost myself for a second there

[toastedroast]

Its something that's been embedded in my mind for a long time now,
Every song that comes on the radio I'm counting the phrases,
Every style of music has the 4x4.
I'm not listening to music in the same way people usually listen to.

[danecustance]

Thanks Ean. I'd like to learn about managing flow and maintaning energy through choosing the right places/times to to mix in out. Also 'why' those places times would work and how to be creative with it. Finally exlpaining how you might approach it differently for different genres would be the icing on the cake. ;)

[danielahrens]

Your videos are really everything I needed and more. Your voice is calm, easy to follow and keeps me interested. Blending in what you are doing in the software helps even more. Thank you for that great content!

[youtubesoria]

This is incredibly helpful for me as I'm working on mixing across genres. I would like to see your take on open format transitions.

[Nono-mmzs]

Great video. Should have maybe just explained that releasing that loop needed to be 8 before the drop to ensure they both dropped at the same time. Other then that some good insight into structure.

[catherinearnett]

Thank you! I’ve always been cognizant of words and drops and buildups and elements of a song that are useful points in transitioning, but I never knew what to call it, and I’ve been learning the craft for a year now! I appreciate your straightforward way of explaining, and it’s nice to see someone who likes doing SEAMLESS blends as opposed to wild effects and fancy tricks. Props to people who do that, that’s fine and all, but sometimes I get flak from my manager for blending too much but I defend it as a seamless music experience... and now I have more tools to keep doing as I like and my DJ style leans towards:)

[MarcelMonoMixes]

Great to have you back Ean! Although I'm not new to Djinng, I really enjoy watching these new videos from you, they're really well made and on point! Cheers :)

[ndjwbarstarsounds]

This is something I didn’t even know I was struggling with. I always had a hard time understanding why certain transitions sounded much better than others. I’ll need to play around with this a bit more to see how well it works with top 40 and more open format type of music. Thanks!