An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry . Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into a power amplifier which drives a loudspeaker , creating the sound heard by the performer and listener.
123-568: The Dreem Teem are a British DJ , music production and remixing trio consisting of DJ Spoony , Mikee B, and Timmi Magic. They formed in 1996 through pirate radio , and were instrumental in developing the UK garage sound. They presented radio shows on Kiss 100 (1997–2000) and BBC Radio 1 (2000–2003). The Dreem Teem were formed in 1996 after meeting on the London pirate radio station, London Underground FM . Mikee B had previously been part of
246-721: A DJ controller device to mix audio files on a computer instead of a console mixer. DJs may also use a microphone to speak to the audience; effects units such as reverb to create sound effects and electronic musical instruments such as drum machines and synthesizers . Some of the most popular DJs are Skrillex , David Guetta , Porter Robinson , deadmau5 , Avicii , Calvin Harris , Martin Garrix , Marshmello , Zedd , Alan Walker , Eric Prydz , DJ Snake , R3HAB , Timmy Trumpet , Tiësto , Steve Aoki , Diplo , Nicky Romero , Lost Frequencies , Daft Punk . The term "disc jockey"
369-557: A DJ controller . Modern media players have the ability to stream music from online music providers such as Beatport, Beatsource, Tidal and SoundCloud GO. DJ mixers are small audio mixing consoles specialized for DJing. Most DJ mixers have far fewer channels than a mixer used by a record producer or audio engineer ; whereas standard live sound mixers in small venues have 12 to 24 channels, and standard recording studio mixers have even more (as many as 72 on large boards), basic DJ mixers may have only two channels. While DJ mixers have many of
492-571: A light pen . The Synclavier from New England Digital was a similar system. Jon Appleton (with Jones and Alonso) invented the Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer, later to become the New England Digital Corp's Synclavier. The Kurzweil K250 , first produced in 1983, was also a successful polyphonic digital music synthesizer, noted for its ability to reproduce several instruments synchronously and having
615-521: A microphone , effects units such as reverb , and electronic musical instruments such as drum machines and synthesizers. As music technology has progressed, DJs have adopted different types of equipment to play and mix music, all of which are still commonly used. Traditionally, DJs used two turntables plugged into a DJ mixer to mix music on vinyl records. As compact discs became popular media for publishing music, specialized high-quality CD players known as CDJs were developed for DJs. CDJs can take
738-470: A paper tape sequencer punched with holes to control pitch sources and filters, similar to a mechanical player piano but capable of generating a wide variety of sounds. The vacuum tube system had to be patched to create timbres. In the 1960s synthesizers were still usually confined to studios due to their size. They were usually modular in design, their stand-alone signal sources and processors connected with patch cords or by other means and controlled by
861-890: A pipe organ for church music, musicians soon discovered that the Hammond was an excellent instrument for blues and jazz ; indeed, an entire genre of music developed built around this instrument, known as the organ trio (typically Hammond organ, drums, and a third instrument, either saxophone or guitar). The first commercially manufactured synthesizer was the Novachord , built by the Hammond Organ Company from 1938 to 1942, which offered 72-note polyphony using 12 oscillators driving monostable -based divide-down circuits, basic envelope control and resonant low-pass filters . The instrument featured 163 vacuum tubes and weighed 500 pounds. The instrument's use of envelope control
984-476: A user interface for controlling its sound, often by adjusting the pitch , frequency , or duration of each note . A common user interface is the musical keyboard , which functions similarly to the keyboard on an acoustic piano where the keys are each linked mechanically to swinging string hammers - whereas with an electronic keyboard, the keyboard interface is linked to a synth module , computer or other electronic or digital sound generator, which then creates
1107-444: A New York-based collective and booking agency, describe themselves as "representing and showcasing cis women, trans women and genderqueer [ sic ] talent." In Japan, the newest Bushiroad franchise: D4DJ focuses on an all-women DJ unit. DJs use equipment that enables them to play multiple sources of recorded music and mix them to create seamless transitions and unique arrangements of songs. An important tool for DJs
1230-592: A United Kingdom electronic music band is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Disc jockey A disc jockey , more commonly abbreviated as DJ , is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals ), mobile DJs (who are hired to work at public and private events such as weddings, parties, or festivals), and turntablists (who use record players, usually turntables , to manipulate sounds on phonograph records ). Originally,
1353-573: A common controlling device. Harald Bode , Don Buchla , Hugh Le Caine , Raymond Scott and Paul Ketoff were among the first to build such instruments, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Buchla later produced a commercial modular synthesizer, the Buchla Music Easel . Robert Moog , who had been a student of Peter Mauzey and one of the RCA Mark II engineers, created a synthesizer that could reasonably be used by musicians, designing
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#17327661519581476-482: A computer to fully take advantage of its features. The consumer-grade, regular sound card integrated into most computer motherboards can only output two channels (one stereo pair). However, DJs need to be able to output at least four channels (two stereo pairs, thus Left and Right for input 1 and Left and Right for input 2), either unmixed signals to send to a DJ mixer or the main output plus a headphone output. Additionally, DJ sound cards output higher-quality signals than
1599-699: A decisive influence on the club or a series of events. Per agreement with the management or company, the DJ would have to perform under agreed times and dates. Typically, DJs perform as residents for two or three times in a week, for example, on Friday and Saturday. DJs who make a steady income from a venue are also considered resident DJs. Examples for resident DJs are: In Western popular music , even though there are relatively few women DJs and turntablists, women musicians have achieved great success in singing and songwriting roles, however, they are given much less representation than men DJs. Part of this may stem from
1722-412: A deejay (DJ) is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and " toasts " (recites poetry) to an instrumental riddim . Deejays are not to be confused with DJs from other music genres like hip hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors. Deejays whose style is nearer to singing are sometimes called singjays . The term deejay originated in
1845-484: A demographic distinct from teenagers in the Bronx, Herc's parties had a ready-made audience. DJ Kool Herc developed the style that was the blueprint for hip hop music . Herc used the record to focus on a short, heavily percussive part in it: the " break ". Since this part of the record was the one the dancers liked best, Herc isolated the break and prolonged it by changing between two record players. As one record reached
1968-411: A feature commonly labelled "sync". Most DJ mixers now include a beat counter which analyzes the tempo of an incoming sound source and displays its tempo in beats per minute (BPM), which may assist with beatmatching analog sound sources. In the past, being a DJ has largely been a self-taught craft but with the complexities of new technologies and the convergence with music production methods, there are
2091-423: A feature known as "keylock". Some software analyzes the loudness of the music for automatic normalization with ReplayGain and detects the musical key. Additionally, DJ software can store cue points, set loops, and apply effects . As tablet computers and smartphones became widespread, DJ software was written to run on these devices in addition to laptops. DJ software requires specialized hardware in addition to
2214-489: A generally low percentage of women in audio technology-related jobs. A 2013 Sound on Sound article by Rosina Ncube stated that there are "... few women in record production and sound engineering ." Ncube states that "[n]inety-five percent of music producers are male, and although there are women producers achieving great things in music, they are less well-known than their counterparts." The vast majority of students in music technology programs are male. In hip hop music ,
2337-565: A group in his own classification system, which is closer to Mahillon than Sachs-Hornbostel. For example, in Galpin's 1937 book A Textbook of European Musical Instruments , he lists electrophones with three second-level divisions for sound generation ("by oscillation", "electro-magnetic", and "electro-static"), as well as third-level and fourth-level categories based on the control method. Present-day ethnomusicologists , such as Margaret Kartomi and Terry Ellingson, suggest that, in keeping with
2460-536: A group of musicians and music merchants met to standardize an interface by which new instruments could communicate control instructions with other instruments and the prevalent microcomputer. This standard was dubbed MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface ). A paper was authored by Dave Smith of Sequential Circuits and proposed to the Audio Engineering Society in 1981. Then, in August 1983,
2583-414: A growing number of schools and organizations that offer instruction on the techniques. In DJ culture, miming refers to the practice of DJ's pantomiming the actions of live-mixing a set on stage while a pre-recorded mix plays over the sound system. Miming mixing in a live performance is considered to be controversial within DJ culture. Some within the DJ community say that miming is increasingly used as
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#17327661519582706-461: A hardware mixer. Turntables allow DJs to play vinyl records. By adjusting the playback speed of the turntable, either by adjusting the speed knob or by manipulating the platter (e.g., by slowing down the platter by putting a finger gently along the side), DJs can match the tempos of different records so their rhythms can be played together at the same time without clashing or make a smooth, seamless transition from one song to another. This technique
2829-459: A keyboard instrument of over 700 strings, electrified temporarily to enhance sonic qualities. The clavecin électrique was a keyboard instrument with plectra (picks) activated electrically. However, neither instrument used electricity as a sound source. The first electric synthesizer was invented in 1876 by Elisha Gray . The "Musical Telegraph" was a chance by-product of his telephone technology when Gray discovered that he could control sound from
2952-417: A laptop as a source of music instead of transporting CDs or vinyl records to gigs. Unlike most music player software designed for regular consumers , DJ software can play at least two audio files simultaneously, display the waveforms of the files on screen and enable the DJ to listen to either source. The waveforms allow the DJ to see what is coming next in the music and how the playback of different files
3075-423: A live audience in a nightclub or dance club or a TV, radio broadcast audience, or an online radio audience. DJs also create mixes, remixes and tracks that are recorded for later sale and distribution. In hip hop music , DJs may create beats, using percussion breaks , basslines and other musical content sampled from pre-existing records. In hip hop, rappers and MCs use these beats to rap over. Some DJs adopt
3198-405: A means to better mix and blend recorded music. These techniques primarily include the cueing , equalization and audio mixing of two or more sound sources. The complexity and frequency of special techniques depend largely on the setting in which a DJ is working. Radio DJs are less likely to focus on advanced music-mixing procedures than club DJs, who rely on a smooth transition between songs using
3321-510: A microprocessor as a controller, was the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 introduced in late 1977. For the first time, musicians had a practical polyphonic synthesizer that could save all knob settings in computer memory and recall them at the touch of a button. The Prophet-5's design paradigm became a new standard, slowly pushing out more complex and recondite modular designs. In 1935, another significant development
3444-658: A more creative manner (although turntablism is often considered a use of the turntable as a musical instrument rather than a tool for blending recorded music). Professional DJs may use harmonic mixing to choose songs that are in compatible musical keys. Other techniques include chopping , screwing and looping . Recent advances in technology in both DJ hardware and software can provide assisted or automatic completion of some traditional DJ techniques and skills. Examples include phrasing and beatmatching , which can be partially or completely automated by using DJ software that performs automatic synchronization of sound recordings,
3567-478: A motor to directly drive a platter on which a vinyl record rests. In 1969, Matsushita released it as the SP-10 , the first direct-drive turntable on the market, and the first in their influential Technics series of turntables. In 1972, Technics started making their SL-1200 turntable , featuring high torque direct drive design. The SL-1200 had a rapid start and its durable direct drive enabled DJs to manipulate
3690-466: A mouthpiece. The sound processing is done on a separate computer. The AlphaSphere is a spherical instrument that consists of 48 tactile pads that respond to pressure as well as touch. Custom software allows the pads to be indefinitely programmed individually or by groups in terms of function, note, and pressure parameter among many other settings. The primary concept of the AlphaSphere is to increase
3813-443: A musical instrument. Perhaps the best-known turntablist technique is scratching . Turntablists often participate in DJ contests like DMC World DJ Championships and Red Bull 3Style. A resident DJ performs at a venue on a regular basis or permanently. They would perform regularly (typically under an agreement) in a particular discotheque, a particular club, a particular event, or a particular broadcasting station. Residents have
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3936-590: A non-standard scale, Bertrand's Dynaphone could produce octaves and perfect fifths, while the Emicon was an American, keyboard-controlled instrument constructed in 1930 and the German Hellertion combined four instruments to produce chords. Three Russian instruments also appeared, Oubouhof's Croix Sonore (1934), Ivor Darreg 's microtonal 'Electronic Keyboard Oboe' (1937) and the ANS synthesizer , constructed by
4059-403: A non-stopping flow of music. Mixing began with hip hop in the 1970s and would subsequently expand to other genres in especially (but not exclusively) dance music. One key technique used for seamlessly transitioning from one song to another is beatmatching . A DJ who mostly plays and mixes one specific music genre is often given the title of that genre; for example, a DJ who plays hip hop music
4182-524: A novel experience in playing relative to operating a mechanically linked piano keyboard. All electronic musical instruments can be viewed as a subset of audio signal processing applications. Simple electronic musical instruments are sometimes called sound effects ; the border between sound effects and actual musical instruments is often unclear. In the 21st century, electronic musical instruments are now widely used in most styles of music. In popular music styles such as electronic dance music , almost all of
4305-426: A number of prominent women DJs: Hannah Wants , Ellen Allien , Miss Kittin , Monika Kruse , Nicole Moudaber , B.Traits , Magda , Nina Kraviz , Nervo , and Annie Mac . Two years later, another article brings out a list with world-famous women DJs including Nastia, tINY, Nora En Pure , Anja Schneider, Peggy Gou , Maya Jane Coles , and Eli & Fur . American DJ The Blessed Madonna has been called "one of
4428-436: A range of techniques. However, some radio DJs are experienced club DJs, so they use the same sophisticated mixing techniques. Club DJ turntable techniques include beatmatching , phrasing and slip-cueing to preserve energy on a dance floor. Turntablism embodies the art of cutting, beat juggling , scratching , needle drops , phase shifting , back spinning and more to perform the transitions and overdubs of samples in
4551-403: A repeating loop of adjustable length, set to any tempo, and new loops of sound can be layered on top of existing ones. This lends itself to electronic dance-music but is more limited for controlled sequences of notes, as the pad on a regular Kaossilator is featureless. The Eigenharp is a large instrument resembling a bassoon , which can be interacted with through big buttons, a drum sequencer and
4674-423: A self-vibrating electromagnetic circuit and so invented a basic oscillator . The Musical Telegraph used steel reeds oscillated by electromagnets and transmitted over a telephone line. Gray also built a simple loudspeaker device into later models, which consisted of a diaphragm vibrating in a magnetic field. A significant invention, which later had a profound effect on electronic music, was the audion in 1906. This
4797-543: A separate triggering signal. This standardization allowed synthesizers from different manufacturers to operate simultaneously. Pitch control was usually performed either with an organ-style keyboard or a music sequencer producing a timed series of control voltages. During the late 1960s hundreds of popular recordings used Moog synthesizers. Other early commercial synthesizer manufacturers included ARP , who also started with modular synthesizers before producing all-in-one instruments, and British firm EMS . In 1970, Moog designed
4920-443: A set of parameters. Xenakis used graph paper and a ruler to aid in calculating the velocity trajectories of glissando for his orchestral composition Metastasis (1953–54), but later turned to the use of computers to compose pieces like ST/4 for string quartet and ST/48 for orchestra (both 1962). The impact of computers continued in 1956. Lejaren Hiller and Leonard Issacson composed Illiac Suite for string quartet ,
5043-620: A showcase for artists who perform or create music with new electronic music instruments, controllers, and synthesizers. In musicology, electronic musical instruments are known as electrophones. Electrophones are the fifth category of musical instrument under the Hornbostel-Sachs system. Musicologists typically only classify music as electrophones if the sound is initially produced by electricity, excluding electronically controlled acoustic instruments such as pipe organs and amplified instruments such as electric guitars . The category
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5166-636: A significant impact on the American hip hop culture. DJ turntablism has origins in the invention of direct-drive turntables . Early belt-drive turntables were unsuitable for turntablism and mixing, since they had a slow start-up time, and they were prone to wear-and-tear and breakage, as the belt would break from backspinning or scratching. The first direct-drive turntable was invented by engineer Shuichi Obata at Matsushita (now Panasonic ), based in Osaka , Japan. It eliminated belts, and instead employed
5289-412: A sound. However, it is increasingly common to separate user interface and sound-generating functions into a music controller ( input device ) and a music synthesizer , respectively, with the two devices communicating through a musical performance description language such as MIDI or Open Sound Control . The solid state nature of electronic keyboards also offers differing "feel" and "response", offering
5412-417: A special signal, referred to as "timecode", to control DJ software. The DJ software interprets changes in the playback speed, direction, and position of the timecode signal and manipulates the digital files it is playing in the same way that the turntable manipulates the timecode record. This requires a specialized DJ sound card with at least 4 channels (2 stereo pairs) of inputs and outputs. With this setup,
5535-475: A strong technological tendency such as DJing, sound engineering and producing" are "not necessarily about their dislike of these instruments but relates to the interrupting effect of their dominantly masculine delineations". Despite this, women and girls do increasingly engage in turntable and DJ practices, individually and collectively, and "carve out spaces for themselves in EDM and DJ Culture". A 2015 article cited
5658-574: A technique by celebrity model DJs who may lack mixing skills, but can draw big crowds to a venue. During a DJ tour for the release of the French group Justice 's A Cross the Universe in November 2008, controversy arose when a photograph of Augé DJing with an unplugged Akai MPD24 surfaced. The photograph sparked accusations that Justice's live sets were faked. Augé has since said that the equipment
5781-549: A time. Popular monophonic synthesizers include the Moog Minimoog . A few, such as the Moog Sonic Six, ARP Odyssey and EML 101, could produce two different pitches at a time when two keys were pressed. Polyphony (multiple simultaneous tones, which enables chords ) was only obtainable with electronic organ designs at first. Popular electronic keyboards combining organ circuits with synthesizer processing included
5904-515: A trio would eventually end in November 2003; however, DJ Spoony would stay on the station to present the weekend show solo until 2006, as well as on BBC Radio 5 Live , and Magic and Mikee B would continue to DJ and produce. They occasionally still DJ as a trio. In 2013, the Dreem Teem appeared alongside many other garage pioneers in a documentary exploring the legacy of UK garage, Rewind 4Ever: The History of UK Garage . This article on
6027-574: A variety of automated electronic-music controllers during the late 1940s and 1950s. In 1959 Daphne Oram produced a novel method of synthesis, her " Oramics " technique, driven by drawings on a 35 mm film strip; it was used for a number of years at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop . This workshop was also responsible for the theme to the TV series Doctor Who a piece, largely created by Delia Derbyshire , that more than any other ensured
6150-405: A velocity-sensitive keyboard. An important new development was the advent of computers for the purpose of composing music, as opposed to manipulating or creating sounds. Iannis Xenakis began what is called musique stochastique, or stochastic music , which is a method of composing that employs mathematical probability systems. Different probability algorithms were used to create a piece under
6273-399: Is aligned. The software analyzes music files to identify their tempo and where the beats are. The analyzed information can be used by the DJ to help manually beatmatch like with vinyl records or the software can automatically synchronize the beats. Digital signal processing algorithms in software allow DJs to adjust the tempo of recordings independently of their pitch (and musical key ,
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#17327661519586396-406: Is an electromechanical instrument, as it used both mechanical elements and electronic parts. A Hammond organ used spinning metal tonewheels to produce different sounds. A magnetic pickup similar in design to the pickups in an electric guitar is used to transmit the pitches in the tonewheels to an amplifier and speaker enclosure. While the Hammond organ was designed to be a lower-cost alternative to
6519-400: Is called a hip hop DJ, a DJ who plays house music is a house DJ, a DJ who plays techno is called a techno DJ, and so on. The quality of a DJ performance (often called a DJ mix or DJ set) consists of two main features: technical skills, or how well the DJ can operate the equipment and produce smooth transitions between two or more recordings and a playlist; and the ability of a DJ to select
6642-403: Is impacted upon by what he defines as "male technophilia ". Historian Ruth Oldenziel concurs in her writing on engineering with this idea of socialization as a central factor in the lack of engagement with technology. She says: an exclusive focus on women's supposed failure to enter the field – is insufficient for understanding how our stereotypical notions have come into being; it tends to put
6765-473: Is known as beatmatching . DJs typically replace the rubber mat on turntables that keep the record moving in sync with the turntable with a slipmat that facilitates manipulating the playback of the record by hand. With the slipmat, the DJ can stop or slow down the record while the turntable is still spinning. Direct-drive turntables are the type preferred by DJs. Belt-drive turntables are less expensive, but they are not suitable for turntablism and DJing, because
6888-467: Is significant, since this is perhaps the most significant distinction between the modern synthesizer and other electronic instruments. The most commonly used electronic instruments are synthesizers , so-called because they artificially generate sound using a variety of techniques. All early circuit-based synthesis involved the use of analogue circuitry, particularly voltage controlled amplifiers, oscillators and filters. An important technological development
7011-423: Is the specialized DJ mixer , a small audio mixer with a crossfader and cue functions. The crossfader enables the DJ to blend or transition from one song to another. The cue knobs or switches allow the DJ to "listen" to a source of recorded music in headphones before playing it for the live club or broadcast audience. Previewing the music in headphones helps the DJ pick the next track they want to play, cue up
7134-619: The GS-1 and GS-2 , which were costly and heavy. There followed a pair of smaller, preset versions, the CE20 and CE25 Combo Ensembles, targeted primarily at the home organ market and featuring four-octave keyboards. Yamaha's third generation of digital synthesizers was a commercial success; it consisted of the DX7 and DX9 (1983). Both models were compact, reasonably priced, and dependent on custom digital integrated circuits to produce FM tonalities. The DX7
7257-901: The Minimoog , a non-modular synthesizer with a built-in keyboard. The analogue circuits were interconnected with switches in a simplified arrangement called "normalization." Though less flexible than a modular design, normalization made the instrument more portable and easier to use. The Minimoog sold 12,000 units. Further standardized the design of subsequent synthesizers with its integrated keyboard, pitch and modulation wheels and VCO->VCF->VCA signal flow. It has become celebrated for its "fat" sound—and its tuning problems. Miniaturized solid-state components allowed synthesizers to become self-contained, portable instruments that soon appeared in live performance and quickly became widely used in popular music and electronic art music. Many early analog synthesizers were monophonic, producing only one tone at
7380-536: The Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood . The Trautonium was invented in 1928. It was based on the subharmonic scale, and the resulting sounds were often used to emulate bell or gong sounds, as in the 1950s Bayreuth productions of Parsifal . In 1942, Richard Strauss used it for the bell- and gong-part in the Dresden première of his Japanese Festival Music . This new class of instruments, microtonal by nature,
7503-714: The Scotch Club , opened in Aachen and visiting journalist Klaus Quirini (later DJ Heinrich) made comments, conducted audience games, and announced songs while playing records. The first song he played was the hit Ein Schiff wird kommen by Lale Andersen . In the 1960s, Rudy Bozak began making the first DJ mixers , mixing consoles specialized for DJing. In the late 1960s to early 1970s Jamaican sound system culture, producer and sound system operator (DJ), (Jamaican) King Tubby and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry were pioneers of
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#17327661519587626-469: The breakbeat hardcore trio Top Buzz . Through London Underground, they became key movers in the then developing UK garage genre, while also running their own record label, DJs for Life. In December 1997, they joined London's Kiss 100 , and in January 2000 made the move to the national broadcaster BBC Radio 1 . They would win a Music Broadcaster award at the 2001 Sony Radio Awards . Their Sunday show as
7749-569: The electric guitar remain in the chordophones category, and so on. In the 18th-century, musicians and composers adapted a number of acoustic instruments to exploit the novelty of electricity. Thus, in the broadest sense, the first electrified musical instrument was the Denis d'or keyboard, dating from 1753, followed shortly by the clavecin électrique by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste de Laborde in 1761. The Denis d'or consisted of
7872-640: The "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to shellac and later vinyl records , but nowadays DJ is used as an all-encompassing term to also describe persons who mix music from other recording media such as cassettes , CDs or digital audio files on a CDJ , controller, or even a laptop. DJs may adopt the title "DJ" in front of their real names, adopted pseudonyms, or stage names. DJs commonly use audio equipment that can play at least two sources of recorded music simultaneously. This enables them to blend tracks together to create transitions between recordings and develop unique mixes of songs. This can involve aligning
7995-406: The 1950s in the context of computer music , including computer- played music (software sequencer), computer- composed music ( music synthesis ), and computer sound generation ( sound synthesis ). The first digital synthesizers were academic experiments in sound synthesis using digital computers. FM synthesis was developed for this purpose; as a way of generating complex sounds digitally with
8118-592: The 1950s. The Mark II Music Synthesizer , housed at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York City . Designed by Herbert Belar and Harry Olson at RCA, with contributions from Vladimir Ussachevsky and Peter Mauzey , it was installed at Columbia University in 1957. Consisting of a room-sized array of interconnected sound synthesis components, it was only capable of producing music by programming, using
8241-569: The 1960s and 1970s when performers such as U-Roy and King Stitt toasted over the instrumental ( dub music ) versions of popular records. These versions were often released on the flip side to the song's 45 record . This gave the deejays the chance to create on-the-fly lyrics to the music. Big Youth , and I-Roy were famous deejays in Jamaica. Turntablists, also called battle DJs, use turntables and DJ mixer to manipulate recorded sounds to produce new music. In essence, they use DJ equipment as
8364-419: The 1970s, DJs would have to lug heavy direct-drive turntables and crates of records to clubs and shows. In the 1980s, many DJs transitioned to compact cassettes . In the 1990s and 2000s, many DJs switched to using digital audio such as CDs and MP3 files. As technological advances made it practical to store large collections of digital music files on a laptop computer, DJ software was developed so DJs could use
8487-682: The ARP Omni and Moog's Polymoog and Opus 3. By 1976 affordable polyphonic synthesizers began to appear, such as the Yamaha CS-50, CS-60 and CS-80 , the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 and the Oberheim Four-Voice. These remained complex, heavy and relatively costly. The recording of settings in digital memory allowed storage and recall of sounds. The first practical polyphonic synth, and the first to use
8610-431: The DJ software typically outputs unmixed signals from the music files to an external hardware DJ mixer . Some DJ mixers have integrated USB sound cards that allow DJ software to connect directly to the mixer without requiring a separate sound card. A DJ software can be used to mix audio files on the computer instead of a separate hardware mixer. When mixing on a computer, DJs often use a DJ controller device that mimics
8733-715: The MIDI Specification 1.0 was finalized. The advent of MIDI technology allows a single keystroke, control wheel motion, pedal movement, or command from a microcomputer to activate every device in the studio remotely and in synchrony, with each device responding according to conditions predetermined by the composer. MIDI instruments and software made powerful control of sophisticated instruments easily affordable by many studios and individuals. Acoustic sounds became reintegrated into studios via sampling and sampled-ROM-based instruments. The increasing power and decreasing cost of sound-generating electronics (and especially of
8856-579: The Russian scientist Evgeny Murzin from 1937 to 1958. Only two models of this latter were built and the only surviving example is currently stored at the Lomonosov University in Moscow . It has been used in many Russian movies—like Solaris —to produce unusual, "cosmic" sounds. Hugh Le Caine , John Hanert, Raymond Scott , composer Percy Grainger (with Burnett Cross), and others built
8979-460: The TR-808 would be widely adopted by hip hop DJs, with 808 sounds remaining central to hip-hop music ever since. The Roland TB-303 , a bass synthesizer released in 1981, had a similar impact on electronic dance music genres such as techno and house music , along with Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. Electronic musical instrument An electronic instrument might include
9102-470: The beats of the music sources so their rhythms and tempos do not clash when played together and enable a smooth transition from one song to another. DJs often use specialized DJ mixers , small audio mixers with crossfader and cue functions to blend or transition from one song to another. Mixers are also used to pre-listen to sources of recorded music in headphones and adjust upcoming tracks to mix with currently playing music. DJ software can be used with
9225-429: The belt-drive motor can be damaged by this type of manipulation. Some DJs, most commonly those who play hip hop music, go beyond merely mixing records and use turntables as musical instruments for scratching , beat juggling , and other turntablism techniques. CDJs / media players are high-quality digital media players made for DJing. They often have large jog wheels and pitch controls to allow DJs to manipulate
9348-537: The burden of proof entirely on women and to [unreasonably] blame them for their supposedly inadequate socialization, their lack of aspiration, and their want of masculine values. An equally challenging question is why and how boys have come to love things technical, how boys have historically been socialized as technophiles. Lucy Green has focused on gender in relation to musical performers and creators, and specifically on educational frameworks as they relate to both. She suggests that women's alienation from "areas that have
9471-417: The circuits while he was at Columbia-Princeton. The Moog synthesizer was first displayed at the Audio Engineering Society convention in 1964. It required experience to set up sounds but was smaller and more intuitive than what had come before, less like a machine and more like a musical instrument. Moog established standards for control interfacing, using a logarithmic 1-volt-per-octave for pitch control and
9594-593: The crossfader provides only the channel A sound source. The far right side provides only the channel B sound source (e.g., record player number 2). Positions in between the two extremes provide different mixes of the two channels. Some DJs use a computer with DJ software and a DJ controller instead of an analog DJ mixer to mix music, although DJ software can be used in conjunction with a hardware DJ mixer. DJs generally use higher-quality headphones than those designed for music consumers. DJ headphones have other properties useful for DJs, such as designs that acoustically isolate
9717-528: The cubes, a variety of music and sound software can be operated. AudioCubes have applications in sound design, music production, DJing and live performance. The Kaossilator and Kaossilator Pro are compact instruments where the position of a finger on the touch pad controls two note-characteristics; usually the pitch is changed with a left-right motion and the tonal property, filter or other parameter changes with an up-down motion. The touch pad can be set to different musical scales and keys. The instrument can record
9840-445: The early 1960s. During the 1940s–1960s, Raymond Scott , an American composer of electronic music, invented various kind of music sequencers for his electric compositions. Step sequencers played rigid patterns of notes using a grid of (usually) 16 buttons, or steps, each step being 1/16 of a measure . These patterns of notes were then chained together to form longer compositions. Software sequencers were continuously utilized since
9963-621: The end of the break, he cued a second record back to the beginning of the break, which allowed him to extend a relatively short section of music into a "five-minute loop of fury". This innovation had its roots in what Herc called "The Merry-Go-Round", a technique by which the DJ switched from break to break at the height of the party. This technique is specifically called "The Merry-Go-Round" because according to Herc, it takes one "back and forth with no slack." Radio DJs or radio personalities introduce and play music broadcasts on AM , FM , digital or Internet radio stations. In Jamaican music ,
10086-474: The environment of DJ usually tends to be very noisy. Standard headphones have a 3.5mm jack but DJ equipment usually requires ¼ inch jack. Most specialized DJ Headphones have an adapter to switch between a 3.5mm jack and ¼ inch jack. Detachable coiled cables are perfect for DJ Headphones. DJs have changed their equipment as new technologies are introduced. The earliest DJs in pop music, in 1970s discos, used record turntables , vinyl records and audio consoles . In
10209-414: The expressiveness of the cello . The French composer Olivier Messiaen used the ondes Martenot in pieces such as his 1949 symphony Turangalîla-Symphonie , and his sister-in-law Jeanne Loriod was a celebrated player. It appears in numerous film and television soundtracks, particularly science fiction and horror films . Contemporary users of the ondes Martenot include Tom Waits , Daft Punk and
10332-781: The first complete work of computer-assisted composition using algorithmic composition. In 1957, Max Mathews at Bell Lab wrote MUSIC-N series, a first computer program family for generating digital audio waveforms through direct synthesis. Then Barry Vercoe wrote MUSIC 11 based on MUSIC IV-BF , a next-generation music synthesis program (later evolving into csound , which is still widely used). In mid 80s, Miller Puckette at IRCAM developed graphic signal-processing software for 4X called Max (after Max Mathews), and later ported it to Macintosh (with Dave Zicarelli extending it for Opcode ) for real-time MIDI control, bringing algorithmic composition availability to most composers with modest computer programming background. In 1980,
10455-492: The first compositions for electronic instruments, as opposed to noisemakers and re-purposed machines. The Theremin was notable for being the first musical instrument played without touching it. In 1929, Joseph Schillinger composed First Airphonic Suite for Theremin and Orchestra , premièred with the Cleveland Orchestra with Leon Theremin as soloist. The next year Henry Cowell commissioned Theremin to create
10578-531: The first electronic rhythm machine, called the Rhythmicon . Cowell wrote some compositions for it, which he and Schillinger premiered in 1932. The ondes Martenot is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin . It was invented in 1928 by the French cellist Maurice Martenot , who was inspired by the accidental overlaps of tones between military radio oscillators, and wanted to create an instrument with
10701-528: The first polyphonic digital sampler , was the harbinger of sample-based synthesizers. Designed in 1978 by Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie and based on a dual microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia, the Fairlight CMI gave musicians the ability to modify volume, attack, decay, and use special effects like vibrato. Sample waveforms could be displayed on-screen and modified using
10824-479: The first weighing seven tons, the last in excess of 200 tons. Portability was managed only by rail and with the use of thirty boxcars. By 1912, public interest had waned, and Cahill's enterprise was bankrupt. Another development, which aroused the interest of many composers, occurred in 1919–1920. In Leningrad, Leon Theremin built and demonstrated his Etherophone, which was later renamed the Theremin . This led to
10947-476: The genre known as dub music . They experimented with tape-based composition ; emphasized repetitive rhythmic structures (often stripped of their harmonic elements); electronically manipulated spatiality; sonically manipulated pre-recorded musical materials from mass media; and remixed music among other innovative techniques. It is widely known that the Jamaican dancehall culture has had and continues to have
11070-710: The guitar-like SynthAxe , the BodySynth, the Buchla Thunder , the Continuum Fingerboard , the Roland Octapad , various isomorphic keyboards including the Thummer, and Kaossilator Pro , and kits like I-CubeX . The Reactable is a round translucent table with a backlit interactive display. By placing and manipulating blocks called tangibles on the table surface, while interacting with
11193-523: The instrument sounds used in recordings are electronic instruments (e.g., bass synth , synthesizer , drum machine ). Development of new electronic musical instruments, controllers, and synthesizers continues to be a highly active and interdisciplinary field of research. Specialized conferences, such as the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression , have organized to report cutting-edge work, as well as to provide
11316-681: The late 1970s and early 1980s, do-it-yourself designs were published in hobby electronics magazines (such the Formant modular synth, a DIY clone of the Moog system, published by Elektor ) and kits were supplied by companies such as Paia in the US, and Maplin Electronics in the UK. In 1966, Reed Ghazala discovered and began to teach math " circuit bending "—the application of the creative short circuit,
11439-419: The layout of two turntables plus a DJ mixer to control the software rather than the computer keyboard & touchpad on a laptop, or the touchscreen on a tablet computer or smartphone . Many DJ controllers have an integrated sound card with 4 output channels (2 stereo pairs) that allow the DJ to use headphones to preview music before playing it on the main output. Several techniques are used by DJs as
11562-487: The level of expression available to electronic musicians, by allowing for the playing style of a musical instrument. Chiptune , chipmusic, or chip music is music written in sound formats where many of the sound textures are synthesized or sequenced in real time by a computer or video game console sound chip , sometimes including sample-based synthesis and low bit sample playback. Many chip music devices featured synthesizers in tandem with low rate sample playback. During
11685-480: The low percentage of women DJs and turntablists may stem from the overall men's domination of the entire hip hop music industry. Most of the top rappers, MCs, DJs, record producers and music executives are men. There are a small number of high-profile women, but they are rare. In 2007, Mark Katz's article "Men, Women, and Turntables: Gender and the DJ Battle", stated that "very few women [do turntablism] battle[s];
11808-582: The mass marketing of home phonographs in the late 19th century. British radio disc jockey Jimmy Savile hosted his first live dance party in 1943 using a single turntable and a makeshift sound system. Four years later, Savile began using two turntables welded together to form a single DJ console. In 1947, the Whisky à Gogo opened in Paris as the first discotheque . In 1959, one of the first discos in Germany,
11931-402: The matter has been a topic of conversation among hip-hop DJs for years." In 2010, Rebekah Farrugia said "the male-centricity of electronic dance music (EDM) culture" contributes to "a marginalisation of women in these [EDM] spaces." While turntablism and broader DJ practices should not be conflated, Katz suggests use or lack of use of the turntable broadly by women across genres and disciplines
12054-614: The most suitable recordings, also known as "reading the crowd". DJ Kool Herc , Grandmaster Flash , and Afrika Bambaataa were members of a block party at South Bronx from 1973 onwards. Kool Herc played records such as James Brown's " Give It Up or Turnit a Loose ", Jimmy Castor's " It's Just Begun ", Booker T. & the M.G.'s' " Melting Pot ", Incredible Bongo Band's " Bongo Rock " and " Apache ", and UK rock band Babe Ruth's " The Mexican ". With Bronx clubs struggling with street gangs, uptown DJs catering to an older disco crowd with different aspirations, and commercial radio also catering to
12177-494: The motor would continue to spin at the correct RPM even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter. In 1980, Japanese company Roland released the TR-808 , an analog rhythm/drum machine , which has unique artificial sounds, such as its booming bass and sharp snare , and a metronome -like rhythm . Yellow Magic Orchestra 's use of the instrument in 1980 influenced hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, after which
12300-453: The personal computer), combined with the standardization of the MIDI and Open Sound Control musical performance description languages, has facilitated the separation of musical instruments into music controllers and music synthesizers. By far the most common musical controller is the musical keyboard . Other controllers include the radiodrum , Akai's EWI and Yamaha's WX wind controllers,
12423-418: The place of turntables or be used together with turntables. Many CDJs can now play digital music files from USB flash drives or SD cards in addition to CDs. With the spread of portable laptops, tablets , and smartphone computers, DJs began using software together with specialized sound cards and DJ controller hardware. DJ software can be used in conjunction with a hardware DJ mixer or be used instead of
12546-491: The platter, as with scratching techniques. Hip hop DJs began using the Technics SL-1200s as musical instruments to manipulate records with turntablism techniques such as scratching and beat juggling rather than merely mixing records. These techniques were developed in the 1970s by DJ Kool Herc , Grand Wizard Theodore , and Afrika Bambaataa , as they experimented with Technics direct-drive decks, finding that
12669-400: The playback of digital files for beatmatching similar to how DJs manipulate vinyl records on turntables. CDJs often have features such as loops and waveform displays similar to DJ software. Originally designed to play music from compact discs, they now can play digital music files stored on USB flash drives and SD cards . Some CDJs can also connect to a computer running DJ software to act as
12792-683: The popularity of electronic music in the UK. In 1897 Thaddeus Cahill patented an instrument called the Telharmonium (or Teleharmonium, also known as the Dynamaphone). Using tonewheels to generate musical sounds as electrical signals by additive synthesis , it was capable of producing any combination of notes and overtones, at any dynamic level. This technology was later used to design the Hammond organ . Between 1901 and 1910 Cahill had three progressively larger and more complex versions made,
12915-433: The same features found on larger mixers (faders, equalization knobs, gain knobs, effects units , etc.), DJ mixers have a feature that is usually only found on DJ mixers: the crossfader . The crossfader is a type of fader that is mounted horizontally. DJs used the crossfader to mix two or more sound sources. The midpoint of the crossfader's travel is a 50/50 mix of the two channels (on a two-channel mixer). The far left side of
13038-473: The smallest number of computational operations per sound sample. In 1983 Yamaha introduced the first stand-alone digital synthesizer, the DX-7 . It used frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis), first developed by John Chowning at Stanford University during the late sixties. Chowning exclusively licensed his FM synthesis patent to Yamaha in 1975. Yamaha subsequently released their first FM synthesizers,
13161-404: The sound cards built into consumer-grade computer motherboards. Special vinyl records (or CDs/digital files played with CDJs ) can be used with DJ software to play digital music files with DJ software as if they were pressed onto vinyl, allowing turntablism techniques to be used with digital files. These vinyl records do not have music recordings pressed onto them. Instead, they are pressed with
13284-487: The sounds of the headphones from the outside environment (hard shell headphones), flexible headbands and pivot joints to allow DJs to listen to one side of the headphones while turning the other headphone away (so they can monitor the mix in the club), and replaceable cables. Replaceable cables enable DJs to buy new cables if a cable becomes frayed, worn, or damaged, or if a cable is accidentally cut. Closed-back headphones are highly recommended for DJs to block outside noise as
13407-417: The spirit of the original Hornbostel Sachs classification scheme, if one categorizes instruments by what first produces the initial sound in the instrument, that only subcategory 53 should remain in the electrophones category. Thus, it has been more recently proposed, for example, that the pipe organ (even if it uses electric key action to control solenoid valves ) remain in the aerophones category, and that
13530-439: The success of FM synthesis Yamaha signed a contract with Stanford University in 1989 to develop digital waveguide synthesis , leading to the first commercial physical modeling synthesizer , Yamaha's VL-1, in 1994. The DX-7 was affordable enough for amateurs and young bands to buy, unlike the costly synthesizers of previous generations, which were mainly used by top professionals. The Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument),
13653-612: The tape recorder as an essential element: "electronically produced sounds recorded on tape and arranged by the composer to form a musical composition". It was also indispensable to Musique concrète . Tape also gave rise to the first, analogue, sample-playback keyboards, the Chamberlin and its more famous successor the Mellotron , an electro-mechanical, polyphonic keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in
13776-659: The title "DJ" as part of their names (e.g., DJ Jazzy Jeff , DJ Qbert , DJ Shadow and DJ Yoda ). Professional DJs often specialize in a specific genre of music, such as techno , house or hip hop music. DJs typically have extensive knowledge about the music they specialize in. Many DJs are avid music collectors of vintage, rare or obscure tracks and records. Club DJs, commonly referred to as DJs in general, play music at musical events, such as parties at music venues or bars, clubs, music festivals, corporate and private events. Typically, club DJs mix music recordings from two or more sources using different mixing techniques to produce
13899-435: The track to the desired starting location, and align the two tracks' beats in traditional situations where auto-sync technology is not being used. This process ensures that the selected song will mix well with the currently playing music. DJs may align the beats of the music sources so their rhythms do not clash when they are played together to help create a smooth transition from one song to another. Other equipment may include
14022-432: The visual display via finger gestures, a virtual modular synthesizer is operated, creating music or sound effects. AudioCubes are autonomous wireless cubes powered by an internal computer system and rechargeable battery. They have internal RGB lighting, and are capable of detecting each other's location, orientation and distance. The cubes can also detect distances to the user's hands and fingers. Through interaction with
14145-569: The world's most exciting turntablists". Her stage name is a tribute to her mother's favorite Catholic saint, Black Madonna . In 2018, The Blessed Madonna played herself as an in-residence DJ for the video game Grand Theft Auto Online , as part of the After Hours DLC . There are various projects dedicated to the promotion and support of these practices such as Female DJs London. Some artists and collectives go beyond these practices to be more gender inclusive. For example, Discwoman ,
14268-432: Was added to the Hornbostel-Sachs musical instrument classification system by Sachs in 1940, in his 1940 book The History of Musical Instruments ; the original 1914 version of the system did not include it. Sachs divided electrophones into three subcategories: The last category included instruments such as theremins or synthesizers , which he called radioelectric instruments. Francis William Galpin provided such
14391-462: Was made in Germany. Allgemeine Elektricitäts Gesellschaft (AEG) demonstrated the first commercially produced magnetic tape recorder , called the Magnetophon . Audio tape , which had the advantage of being fairly light as well as having good audio fidelity, ultimately replaced the bulkier wire recorders. The term " electronic music " (which first came into use during the 1930s) came to include
14514-499: Was only adopted slowly by composers at first, but by the early 1930s there was a burst of new works incorporating these and other electronic instruments. In 1929 Laurens Hammond established his company for the manufacture of electronic instruments. He went on to produce the Hammond organ , which was based on the principles of the Telharmonium , along with other developments including early reverberation units. The Hammond organ
14637-645: Was ostensibly coined by radio gossip commentator Walter Winchell in 1935 to describe the radio work of Martin Block . The phrase first appeared in print in a 1941 Variety magazine. Originally, the word "disc" in "disc jockey" referred to phonograph or gramophone records and was used to describe radio personalities who introduced them on the air. "DJ" is used as an all-encompassing term to describe someone who mixes recorded music from any source, including vinyl records , cassettes , CDs, or digital audio files stored on USB stick or laptop. DJs typically perform for
14760-400: Was the first mass market all-digital synthesizer. It became indispensable to many music artists of the 1980s, and demand soon exceeded supply. The DX7 sold over 200,000 units within three years. The DX series was not easy to program but offered a detailed, percussive sound that led to the demise of the electro-mechanical Rhodes piano , which was heavier and larger than a DX synth. Following
14883-490: Was the first thermionic valve, or vacuum tube and which led to the generation and amplification of electrical signals, radio broadcasting, and electronic computation, among other things. Other early synthesizers included the Telharmonium (1897), the Theremin (1919), Jörg Mager's Spharophon (1924) and Partiturophone, Taubmann's similar Electronde (1933), Maurice Martenot 's ondes Martenot ("Martenot waves", 1928), Trautwein's Trautonium (1930). The Mellertion (1933) used
15006-598: Was the invention of the Clavivox synthesizer in 1956 by Raymond Scott with subassembly by Robert Moog . French composer and engineer Edgard Varèse created a variety of compositions using electronic horns , whistles, and tape. Most notably, he wrote Poème électronique for the Philips pavilion at the Brussels World Fair in 1958. RCA produced experimental devices to synthesize voice and music in
15129-455: Was unplugged very briefly before being reattached and the band put a three-photo set of the incident on their MySpace page. After a 2013 Disclosure concert, the duo was criticized for pretending to live mix to a playback of a pre-recorded track. Disclosure's Guy Lawrence said they did not deliberately intend to mislead their audience, and cited miming by other DJs such as David Guetta . Playing recorded music for dancing and parties rose with
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