DJ Skills Tip on Reverse Mode to Add Life to a Track

0:01 We are going to do what I class as the backflip

Alright guys, well it's a bloody good job you're not in this room because I have just done the most magnificent fart known to man. Oh my god! Right, okay. Right, what are we going to do in this tutorial? We are going to do what I class as the backflip. We're going to use the reverse function and we're going to cut up a track. But only the beginning of it. I'm going to explain... yeah, you can see me. I'm going to explain... I've got the fisheye on so... I'm going to explain in great detail how to do this. If done correctly, it sounds absolutely fantastic. The track we're using a little bit of is Chocolate Sensation by Mr Lenny Fontana. Let me tell you what I can do, baby, baby! Right, first of all I'll give you a demo and then I'll explain exactly how to do it.

And I will explain exactly because if it's done incorrectly, it will just sound terrible. If it's done correctly, it sounds good. Right, there we go. We're completely cutting up a beat. And if anyone thumbs this down, you're an idiot because that was good. It sounds good. Okay, so it's about your timing. Now in a bar, we have the count of 1, 2, 3, 4. But if we were able to chop that bar up, we would have 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, but if we cut it even more, we'd have 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and so on. But if you're into that kind of timing, I suggest study hip-hop a little bit more. Now, we are going to concentrate on the and after the count of four. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 1. So first thing is you need to set Hot Cue on whatever kit you've got.

Now, this can be done on anything with Reverse Mode. That's what we're pressing. The direction of the track will be reversed. So press play, just let it play for a bit. If I press reverse from the beginning, you'll hear nothing.

2:55 They don't get it click straight in

Okay, first of all, a lot of people as well do not like to use reverse because it somehow seems to go out of time. They don't get it click straight in. But a good tip for using reverse is to use a Hot Cue. So set a Hot Cue and then when you hit reverse, hit the Hot Cue at the same time so you snap it in time. It's a little bit rough, but it's real. All right? Because you're doing it, not a computer. So let's have a listen. Just listen. All right. Now that isn't on the and. That was actually on the one. So there is a subtle difference in the sound. But that subtle difference makes the whole sound... The whole track really sounds so much more alive. Okay, so this is where the and is very important. What I'm going to do, I'm going to repress.

We're going to repress. I'm going to...

4:02 I'm going to stop smiling

Everybody, how are you? Okay. I'm going to stop smiling. I'm not going to carry on until he stops. Ah! Okay. And no, I'm not on drugs. No, I'm not. Actually, a couple of JDs, maybe a bit of rum, but no drugs. Okay, so what I'm going to do, I'm going to hit the reverse on the and after four. So one and two and three and and then hit the Hot Cue on the count of one. So listen. Two, three, four. One and two and three and four and one and two, three and four and one and two and three and four, three and four. I tried to do something good. Completely different then, but I wasn't concentrating. Do you apologise? Let's start it again. Three, four, two, three, four.

No. All right. You've got a definite defined. What's happening is in between the and and one, the track is reversing what you're doing. You're compensating for the reverse of the track itself by then hitting the cue, which is on the one. So if you didn't hit the cue, the track would go back, continue going in reverse. But because you hit it on the and it would be out of time. So you need to hit the Hot Cue to get it back into time. You should be able to follow that. There you go. Now, you'll notice that what I did, I hit the reverse and I hit the hot cue. I did that because by hitting the hot cue at the same time as you hit reverse, you are making sure that when you hit the reverse, it is exactly on the count of one.

7:10 For example, overtaking a vehicle

Have a listen again, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. No, it is about practice. Right. Give you an analogy and I've done this analogy before. You take your test. There's a lot of things to do whilst taking your test. Just even a simple manoeuvre. There are many things you have to concentrate on or you don't actually, but you do to do a manoeuvre. For example, overtaking a vehicle. If you actually sat in your vehicle doing 60, 70 miles an hour and had to think about every single factor of the manoeuvre, you wouldn't be able to do it. In other words, right, go look in the mirror, put foot down, change gear. Of course, unless you're in America, use sticky things. No, no, no. Actually, the stick is that you just use throttle.

Boring. I like to like that. Anyway, you wouldn't be able to... Don't worry about it, it's me. You won't be able to do it. So you don't think about it because you internally, you know what to do. It just happens. It comes out as though you're being sick. So here what happens is over time, the more you do it, eventually it'll just happen. So it's about... It's about just going over and over and over and over again until eventually you just... You do it. It's just there. It's sort of... Is it there? It's over there. So here we go.

I've got the camera there, but in another video, what I'll do is I'll show you then how to use the reverse, bring the volume down and then bring it back in. So it's like silence. Boom, straight in little moves. And again, small tips like this is about giving a show. A DJ should not only be good at putting tracks together, putting a set together, a DJ should be able to be good... at giving a show. You should be an entertainer. So the more you move, the more it looks as though you're doing the job. So for example... So again, on the count of and we're hitting the reverse on the count of one, we are hitting the hot cue and we're hitting reverse at the same time to get it back into forward motion or into, you know, the way it should be going.

OK, I hope that's been a help. Practice and enjoy. And if you do watch these videos, you're an absolute fool. Thank you.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.