Terminology
~~~~~~~~~~~

Before we can even get to the interesting stuff, we all have to be
speaking the same language. Here are a few terms you should know to
communicate with other DJs effectively...

Pitch control -
The ability of a device to change the tempo of a song. This is very
important if you are beatmixing.

Pitch lock -
The ability of a device to change the tempo of a song, without
changing the pitch. This lets you drastically speed up songs with
vocals without a "chipmunk" effect.

Pitch bend -
The temporary changing of pitch to get beats in phase. Vinyl DJs
typically use their fingers to speed up or slow down the record
by pushing/pulling the record by the label. Some twist the spindle
in the center to change the pitch momentarily. CD players offer this
as buttons. Once the DJ stops bending the pitch, the decks will
automatically snap back to the current pitch control settings. This
is necessary since its possible for two songs to be playing at the
exact same tempo yet have their beats out of phase. By bending
the pitch momentarily, the beats come into phase and the DJ doesn't
have to worry about readjusting the pitch control.

Tempo -
The speed of a song. Usually measured in Beats Per Minute (BPM).

Mixers -
The essence of a mixer is that it can combine two or more audio
signals into one output signal. It should be noted though that most
mixers can do much more than just combine signals.

Turntables (alias: TT's) -
The proper term for a "record player." Now -- if you ever hear anyone
say the "rec.. player" term again, you must take the time to either
severely hurt them or educate them. Whichever you deem appropriate.

Beats Per Minute (BPM) -
The number of beats during one minute of a song. An identifier of a
song's tempo.

Cueing -
Using your headphones to find the spot you want to start the next
song.

Throwing -
Giving a record a little push when it starts up so you don't have any
lag time while it gets up to speed. CD players do this by featuring
instant start. (normal CD players may take a few tenths of a second
before a song starts) Throwing a record nulls the lag time while it
accelerates from zero to 33ish RPM. It sounds silly at first but it
is actually very critical for beatmixing. (see below)

Cross fader (alias: x-fader, fader) -
A slider control which moves from one input channel to another in a
very smooth fashion. The volume on each channel is inversely
proportional to each other, so if the x-fader is completely on the
left side, you will only hear the input for that channel. Once you
start moving it to the right, you will gradually hear the right
channel becoming louder. When the x-fader is in the middle, each
channel will be of equal volume. As the x-fader continues to the
right, the right channel will approach full volume, and the left
channel will diminish.

Beatmixing (alias: beat matching, beat synching, hot mixing, mixing)
The art of bringing the beats of two different songs into phase
with one another and fading across. For example, if the song the
crowd is hearing is 130 BPM, and the next song you want to play is 132
-- you slow the second song down to 130 bpm using pitch control, and
cue it up to the beat. When you are ready to bring the second song
into play, throw the record so the beats stay aligned and listen to it
on your headphones. MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN SYNC!!! Once you are sure
things are in order, use your cross fader to let the new song blend
into the old one, and eventually go completely across so only the new
song is playing. This will give the illusion that the song never
ended.

Once you get the hang of getting beats into sync, you will quickly
find many more interesting ways to fade in and out of songs.

Decks -
A very generalized description of gear used by a DJ to play music.
Most often referred to turntables and CD players.

Vinyl (alias: records, wax, 12" (reference to LP), 7" (reference to single)) -
If you aren't clear on what a record is, then this probably isn't the
sort of thing you should be doing...