Danny Tenaglia is a good example of a DJ who has a unique style. Today we look at ways you can leverage the work of other DJs and producers to start to develop your own.
Developing your own style as a DJ sets you apart from the rest. A unique style doesn’t have to be having a unique DJ sound or catchy rare tunes. It could be your mixing style or your use of effects just as much as your choice of material. I’ve witnessed Danny Tenaglia, for example, playing different tribal beats for one hour, followed by one vocal track that took the crowd into a frenzy, creating a contrast which was unique to him.
As digital DJs, we have plenty of tools, techniques and music to help us craft a style that differentiates us from the rest. The recipe of finding what works involves experimenting with creativity and techniques, and is what will ultimately make you stand out. We’ve already looked at how to create a unique DJ sound; in this post we’ll cover five simple action items you can take to develop and enhance your own style.
1. Improve your DJ skills
Before developing a style, it really helps to master the fundamentals of beatmatching and cueing early on. It should be second nature to you. It should be instinctive. This can be very difficult and undoubtedly turns off many would-be digital DJs, but there are real benefits. Upon improving your skills, you can then focus confidently on the creative aspects – things like mash-ups, creative looping, effects and using more than two decks.
Upon improving your skills, you can then focus confidently on the creative aspects…
I used to focus a lot on beatmatching and preset cue points while DJing. After mastering them, it allowed me to focus on other techniques (as described further below). I then started to run three or four decks in parallel with loops and sometimes vocals on a base track. This has influenced my style heavily. I haven’t seen an awful number of other DJs heavily using loops on Traktor, Serato or other platforms, and the results can be pretty cool. This style appeals to me because it’s improvisation, right there on the spot.
2. Listen to “live” mixes of your favourite DJs
SoundCloud and Mixcloud contain many mixes of popular DJs. Finding a DJ that fits your style shouldn’t be hard. Make sure the mixes are live sets from club events, and not bedroom/studio DJ sets. Some DJs are courteous enough to post tracklists. This is a great benefit to you because you can experiment with the list yourself and understand how and why it works.
Recordings of live mixes from clubs are solid gold for analysing how pro DJs mix create their own styles.
I find the best time to audition mixes is during working out or cleaning the house. I’m attentively listening, analysing and dancing (if it’s a good mix). If you aren’t dancing by track four, delete it and move on!
Listen and ponder why the DJ chose each track at that given time. Closely tune your ears and notice if they jump from different harmonic keys while transitioning tracks.
Most importantly, get a feel to the energy of the mix, which closely depicts the energy of the club at that time. Does the energy die down after a few tracks? When does it pick up again? Is it constantly going up in energy until you feel fatigued? Keep listening and analysing. It’s like exercising your sound muscles!
3. Hang around the booth and soak it all in
Most professional DJs are on CDJs or high-end controllers. Universally, they have developed personalised styles that combine active use of the mixer with intimate knowledge of the tracks.
For instance, if you visit venues where New York and Chicago house DJs are playing, you’ll see they emphasise in-and-out layering with the EQs and low-cut filters. That style creates a steady flow of energy for their dancers throughout the night, which is a distinctive flavour preferred by the underground deep house crowd.
If you visit venues where New York and Chicago house DJs are playing, you’ll see they emphasise in-and-out layering with the EQs and low-cut filters…
However, big room and Miami-style DJs are all about energy. Emphasis lies on the buildup and the drop by creating peak spikes and emotional bursts throughout the night. That mixing style depends heavily cueing your tracks in important places. Some tracks they use are edits they made just to fit their own style and room. Now that’s another level.
Maybe if this were you you’d choose to use a combination of both styles? Point is, by going out and hanging round near DJ booths, you’ll get to clarify your thinking on things like this. You don’t have to lurk next to the DJ to understand and adopt his style (they hate that). Give them space. You can stand from a decent distance and soak everything up.
4. Experiment more with effects
As a digital DJ, the creative use of effects also defines your own sound and style. Traktor software comes with 30+ combined effects compared to the 10 or so found on a high-end club mixer. Start experimenting with delays, flangers, and beatmashers. Develop a technique you haven’t done before that works for you. Practise the technique after say every four tracks and during transitions.
Dubfire has adopted the Allen & Heath Xone:DB4 and uses it to add distinct effects layers as part of his set structuring style.
Watching Dubfire DJ using an Allen & Heath DB4 mixer and two Traktor X1 controllers, he would play five minimal house tracks back-to-back, all dry without any effects. On the fifth track he would slowly add some delay to the track from the mixer. While transitioning to the sixth track, the delays are all over the place creating his own unique buildup, then he begins adding reverb to the delay effects taking the crowd to a huge elation followed by a drop. Wow!
Keeping the energy constant, then followed by an artificial build up created by the use of effects is a unique style the Dubfire took the time to develop for himself and his DJing. This is the kind of thing we’re talking about.
5. Penetrate your favourite producers’ promo pools
Playing unheard of tunes and rare remixes really sets you apart from the rest. These tracks aren’t yet available on any of the music retail stores. DJs who have these rare cuts and blow everyone’s head off are sometimes called “DJ’s DJs”. They have first-hand access to tracks that are only circulating within a small circle, sometimes referred to as a “promo pool”.
These tracks aren’t yet available on any of the music retail stores.
Getting access to the these tracks isn’t particularly hard: You can penetrate such circles is acheived by supporting the producer and his label. An easy way to do that is to email the label or producer directly and show support for their music. Ask nicely to be included in their promo pool and most of them will gladly accept, as long as you don’t share their music. Many producers release three or four tracks a month, and all producers need DJs to play their tracks in the clubs.
Your connections to producers and labels will definitely help you build an arsenal of tracks and remixes to enhance your unique style.
• Mohamed Kamal aka Kimozaki is a DJ/producer turned entrepreneur from Washington DC. He founded audyolab.com in 2011 to help DJs become better producers.
What do you think defines a unique style? Do edits, mixing, and software really help in creating a sound? Or is it mostly some undefinable aspect of creativity? Please let us know what you think in the comments.
Now go to:
How To Create A Unique DJ Sound
Why Smart DJs Play More Than One Style Of Music
5 Mistakes New DJ / Producers Always Make
Want to escape the bedroom and play in public - fast?
Our 1000s-selling How To Digital DJ Fast video course shows you how.
Learn to DJ Free - email course plus bonus PDF book
Sign up for our weekly email course for beginners now...
Trouble choosing a controller? Visit the web's #1 guide!
DJ Controllers: The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide 2013.
Tags: dj style
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
I love this article. If there is something i would add it’s that I think it’s an ever-evolving/ever changing process. You become exposed to new sounds/material as you explore yourself and your favorite artists. I have grown to love Dirtybird’s label and currently am a member of the “Birdhouse” (they’re promo pool) at drip.fm. Claude and the guys run such a great program with the birdhouse, they release swag bags, promos, exclusive mixes, back catalogs, you name it! Being a part of the label community and gaining access to these promos has been such a huge thing for me. I highly recommend it.
[ link ]I agree with you that it’s something that’s constantly evolving, and also I’d add it’s OK to make “style mistakes” – t’s the things you do wrong that often teach you more than the things you do right.
[ link ]I think the best piece of advice I ever got was to never try to emulate someone else’s style. Don’t follow the rules – make your own. YouTube tutorials and such are great if you’re looking to dj as a job; however, if you want to truly take it to an art form, buy the equipment, get some tracks, and just start pressing buttons and spinning knobs ’til you make something you’re satisfied with. Sure, you won’t be djing “correctly,” but if you get the crowd moving, who cares if you’re following the rules?
[ link ]I agree. I think there’s a real benefit in also asking yourself “what would this sound like on a dancefloor?” That’s why having a regular gig is so important; only there can you actually test some of this stuff out.
[ link ]I agree on listening to live sets.
I remember back when electro-house first picked up steam (the Benny Benassi/Eric Prydz explosion), I liked some of it, but had no clue how to be unique with it.
The answer came when I heard Fatboy Slim’s Bondi Beach NYE mix. From there, I started mixing vocal stuff with instrumental stuff, and tossing in breaks to change it up. Loved it.
[ link ]This taps into our recommendation to always look beyond genres (which are labels to help people to categorise stuff, they’re artificial really), and make sure your style uses musical raw materials as building blocks rather than gets defined by this genre or that.
[ link ]Great tips. WHat I have also found that helps is understanding who you are going to playing for or trying to appeal to.
Some DJ’s and producers only care about self expression and thats ok, but as a result may have a small following which may be financially difficult. Others either duplicate a mainstream style or try find a balance between the two.
For me, I suggest mix it up. Make some money that gives you the freedom to explore you own style preferences – then unleash that on the unsuspecting world!
RD
[ link ]We always say consider what your audience likes, consider what you like, and look for the sweet spot in the middle. That crossover point is where you can be creative and they’ll more than likely go with you. Too much one way, you’re emptying floors. Too much the other, you’re not being “you”.
[ link ]Sounds like Dubfire could be my hero as I’m a big fan of effects transitioning, with delay being my base to throw other effect layers on top.
I agree with Asher, learn the rule then see howe you can break and re-define them. Start by asking yourself, ‘…what does this do to the sound?’ or ‘…what happens if I press here, turn this knob and slide that at the same time?’ Experimenting is how I found my style, and the best thing is that as you grow, your style also evolves along with you.
[ link ]I agree with you, which is why I think it’s a mistake to always be looking for the biggest and supposedly best new kit or software – it’s far more fruitful to work within the constraints of what you’ve got and really learn it inside out, than to be changing things all the time and never moving past the obvious suff with any of your gear.
[ link ]Just the other day, i was told “you mix like a DJ I used to know”. That to me is a huge compliment cos it means my style is identifiable and unique to an extent at least.
[ link ]As the writer advised, nail the basics of DJaying first and then develop a style. It so much easier this way and much more fun.You will also have a better understanding of what works.
There is always a tendency to have a style in mind before you have hit the decks for the first time.
The big test will always be the dance floor
I totally agree. The biggest validation is always your dance floor.
[ link ]Personally, I don’t see how the sound of ur set make much impacts when other pple’s set will probably sound like dat if they want it to. Personality and physical branding is wot I feel dJs shud focus on more nowadays.
[ link ]Great post again, but i would to know how to use 4 decks knowing i have i only a 2 way mixer and 2 turntables technics mk2 with traktor pro scratch, if it could be in a new post.
[ link ]Good article.
[ link ]A little strange to hear that pro dj’s use cdj’s or controllers!?!
Yes, the 1200 is out of production but it’s more than a stretch to act like the turntable is not relevant in a pro dj booth.
Gripe over.
“Playing unheard of tunes and rare remixes really sets you apart from the rest”
Ha! When? Where? They only want Top 40, man.
[ link ]