Beat juggling is the act of manipulating two or more samples (e.g.
drumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of music instruments, technically classified as a membranophone.. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of...
beats, or vocal phrases), in order to create a unique
compositionMusical composition is:* an original piece of music* the structure of a musical piece* the process of creating a new piece of music- Musical compositions :...
, using multiple
turntableThe record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the late 1870s until the late 1980s.- Terminology :...
s and one or more
mixerIn professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board or soundboard, is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
s. This can involve
pausePause may refer to a rest, hesitation, or temporary stop.Pause may also refer to:* Rest or fermata; also specifically the whole rest in French usage* Pause key, the Pause/Break key on computer keyboards* Pause , a 2001 album by Four Tet...
s,
scratchingScratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the 1990s, it has been used in some styles of...
, backspins and
delayIn its general sense, delay refers to a lapse of time. In other contexts, it may refer to one of many topics:- Law :*To delay payment of a debt, a crime in the United Kingdom- Telecommunications and broadcasting:...
s. It could be seen as fingertip
samplingIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
, and the turntable and mixer combination could be seen as an
instrumentA musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making the sounds of music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of human culture...
from which sounds are made, from the sounds of other instruments (
samplesIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
).
Beat Juggling has its roots in cutting, in which a small section of a beat is
loopedLooping may refer to:*in computer programming, control loops including the main event loop*in film production, automated dialogue replacement*in music, music loop.*in aviation, performing a loop as an aerobatic maneuver...
using two copies of the same
recordA gramophone record, commonly known as phonograph record, vinyl record, or simply record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc...
.
Beat juggling is the act of manipulating two or more samples (e.g.
drumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of music instruments, technically classified as a membranophone.. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of...
beats, or vocal phrases), in order to create a unique
compositionMusical composition is:* an original piece of music* the structure of a musical piece* the process of creating a new piece of music- Musical compositions :...
, using multiple
turntableThe record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the late 1870s until the late 1980s.- Terminology :...
s and one or more
mixerIn professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board or soundboard, is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
s. This can involve
pausePause may refer to a rest, hesitation, or temporary stop.Pause may also refer to:* Rest or fermata; also specifically the whole rest in French usage* Pause key, the Pause/Break key on computer keyboards* Pause , a 2001 album by Four Tet...
s,
scratchingScratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the 1990s, it has been used in some styles of...
, backspins and
delayIn its general sense, delay refers to a lapse of time. In other contexts, it may refer to one of many topics:- Law :*To delay payment of a debt, a crime in the United Kingdom- Telecommunications and broadcasting:...
s. It could be seen as fingertip
samplingIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
, and the turntable and mixer combination could be seen as an
instrumentA musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making the sounds of music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the beginnings of human culture...
from which sounds are made, from the sounds of other instruments (
samplesIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song. This is typically done with a sampler, which can be a piece of hardware or a computer program on a digital computer. Sampling is also...
).
History
Beat Juggling has its roots in cutting, in which a small section of a beat is
loopedLooping may refer to:*in computer programming, control loops including the main event loop*in film production, automated dialogue replacement*in music, music loop.*in aviation, performing a loop as an aerobatic maneuver...
using two copies of the same
recordA gramophone record, commonly known as phonograph record, vinyl record, or simply record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc...
. This was first done by Kool DJ Herc, and later refined by DJs such as
Grandmaster FlashJoseph Saddler better known as Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop musician and DJ; one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing. He is also a nephew to the great Former Feather Weight Champion of the World, the late Sandy Saddler...
in the early 80s. Two other fundamentals of modern beat juggling technique include "tapping" or "walking," where the DJ taps the record in between percussion sounds, stopping it momentarily to slow down the beat, or pushing it faster to speed it up, and "shuffling" or "strobing," where the DJ loops the two records at different points in the beat, literally
remixA remix is an alternative version of a song, different from the original version. This name is also used for any alterations of medias other than a song ....
ing the record live by playing new combinations of the sounds on the records.
The term is an invention of the media, and not the actual title given by the creators. Juggling the beat merely describes what is being done. The inventor of the technique,
DJ Steve DeeDJ Steve Dee is one of the most influential DJs of our time and the creator of the "The Funk" known to the world as beat juggling. Steve Dee was the founding member of the original DJ group "The X-Men" and help father the movement called "Turntablism." Dj Steve Dee has worked with artist such...
from Harlem, NYC, referred to it simply as bringing "The Funk" out of a record. He effectively made his own beats from reconstructing different parts of songs. The technique was refined by the DJ group The X-Men, whom DJ Steve Dee founded, they later were to become
The X-EcutionersThe X-Ecutioners is a group of hip hop DJs / turntablists from New York.-History:Formed as a DJ crew in the early nineties and originally including 11 members, under the name X-Men, which was chosen partly because of their rivalry between Super DJ Clark Kent's crew of DJs, known as the Supermen,...
.
External links
BeatTheJuggle.com - The Ultimate Online Guide to DJ Equipment