- The essence of DJ mixing is to create a continuous flow of music by combining multiple songs. Traditionally, this is done using variable speed turntables and vinyl records. While one song plays aloud, the DJ listens to a second song in a set of headphones and adjusts the speed of the second turntable to get the two songs to play at the same tempo. Then, by carefully holding the record in a fixed place and "dropping" it at the appropriate time, the two songs will actually play together in time if they are of a similar style or meter. Using a mixer, which controls the relative volume of the two songs and allows them to be blended together, the DJ can then "bring in" the second song. At this point, the mixer can be used to control the EQ of each song, emphasizing certain aspects of each track, and various effects can be produced by swelling the volume fader of one track or switching between tracks. The occasional "nudging" of one table while it is playing aloud might be required to keep two songs synced, but should not be discernible by the audience.
- While not everyone would equate DJ mixing with playing a musical instrument, there are those who go far beyond basic mixing and raise the turntable to the level of a true instrument. These turntabilists scratch the record back and forth against the needle while tweaking the fader, producing a unique sound effect. Grandmaster Flash pioneered another form of turntabilist mixing, in which he played two copies of the same record, one at a time, switching between them to produce a cut-up effect that is widely associated with DJ mixing. Other DJs have experimented with running their turntables through analog effects like a wah-wah pedal, choreographed dance-like performances, and using more than two tables at a time. DJ "battles" involve two DJs trading off alternate mixes.
- Though DJ culture was born from turntables and wax records, the evolution of digital technology has liberated DJs from a lot of their old bulky equipment and heavy crates of records. Using midi (musical instrument digital interface) technology, some controls can digitally detect the tempo of a song and instantly adjust the pitch and speed of other songs for quick mixes. Others allow compact discs to be nudged and even scratched like records. Another, less common, method that preserves more of the feel of traditional mixing, allows a DJ to manipulate a blank wax record on a turntable that is connected to a database of digital tracks, effectively putting a virtually limitless number of songs onto a single record.
