Piano Pilot

DJs or disc jockeys are music professionals who remix popular songs for playing in discotheques, nightclubs, dance parties and other musical programs. Remixing songs involves modifying their beats, mixing the sound, altering the bass/treble effects, etc. DJs also juxtapose two or more songs together to create a new music piece. Naturally, all this creativity requires a lot of equipment.

The basic equipment needed by a DJ is a deck or CD player, sound mixers, speakers and headphones. Most DJs use LP records, which are played on turntables. The sound encoded on the record is read by a stylus. DJs use LPs as they can input scratching effects in the music. Turntables are of four popular styles belt drive, direct

drive, mixer hybrid and portable. The style of the turntable essentially depends on the manner in which the record is rotated and read. Direct drive turntables are considered to be superior to others.

MP3 players, CD players, DVD players, etc. are alternatives to turntables. However, these players can only play back the sound and do not facilitate any modifications to be done, such as incorporating scratch sounds. Such players are used generally by DJs who simply play the music without remixing it.

The most important part of the equipment for a creative DJ is the sound mixer. Sound mixers are of various types and complexities. At a bare minimum, they contain adjustments for sound balance like bass and treble adjustment, noise reduction,

etc. Mixers have input lines for phono or line selection. Recent sound mixers are two-channel, i.e. they have provisions for both phono and line selections. Sound mixers are also provided with jacks to connect the microphone devices.

Headphones or headsets are prime requisites for a DJ. Good quality headphones can provide Dolby or stereo surround sound to the listener. The basic purpose of a headset should be to shunt out the external unwarranted noise and facilitate the DJ to listen to the subtler nuances of the tones. Headsets are equipped with microphones which the DJ can use to make announcements. For the audience, speakers are provided which are connected to the DJ s sound mixer via cables. The wattages of speakers,

i.e. their sound outputs, are selected according to the size of the dance floor and the number of persons. For small audiences, there are compact sized woofers which can very well serve the purpose.

Nowadays, DJ equipment is bundled together and available as packages. Decks, mixers, speakers, headsets and cables are the fundamental parts of any DJ equipment package. While opting for a package, DJs usually select the ones with better qualities of decks and speakers. For amateur DJs, a low quality mixer is enough to get started with. Elaborate DJ packages can contain several other pieces of equipment such as carts, styluses, slip mats, cross faders, etc. which are used for the turntable.

Among the companies that have gained a reputation

for manufacturing DJ equipment are Numark, Pioneer, Gemini, Stanton, Ministry of Sound, Behringer, and Citronin.

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