DJ lesson 5: What is 'cueing' and how do you do it?
DJ technology has developed (a lot) since I started DJing. Before the world went digital, DJs cued up records manually, which meant doing this:
1. While the speakers play the current song, listen to the next song you want to play on your headphones.
2. Put the needle at the right place on the new record—and hit play at the perfect moment.
With digital DJing, cueing is faster and easier. DJ software allows you to see waveforms and create cue points (markers in the song that you can jump between) with almost no effort.
But being a good DJ means more than depending on tech to do the job for you. Being a good DJ means using your ears, not just a screen.
Even with the best software in the world, you need to listen. Most DJs cue by having one cup of the headphone over their ear, with the other free to listen to what’s coming out of the speakers.
Here’s how to do it.
- Have one record playing and the crossfader set to that channel of your mixer, so you can hear it through the speakers
- Select another tune on the other deck/channel and press the cue button to bring it to the first beat or start of the intro
- Make sure the PFL button is selected for the channel you want to listen to through your headphones (ie, the new track)
- Start the new record and cover only one ear with your headphones. Now you should hear the new song through the headphone and the tune in the room through your free ear
- Adjust the headphone volume on your decks/controller so both tunes are balanced and you can pick each one out
- Panic at the crazy mash-up you’ve created, which doesn’t sound in time or key
- Now try to separate each song out – you’ll get better as you practice
- Well done, you’ve cued your first record
We’ll get on to beatmatching and mixing tricks soon, but it’s important to get the basics right first.
Of course, you don’t have to ‘cue’ a record at the start – although lots of CDJ DJs still do. You can start a song at a familiar moment (if you’re a mobile DJ) or on a ‘drop’ if you’re an American EDM DJ who stands on his/her decks.
Setting cue points
I love DJ technology as much as the next person and setting multiple cue points in your songs (or using software like Mixed in Key to do it automatically) can make the job of DJing way simpler, and gigs less stressful.
But be careful about making life too easy.
Don’t forget that DJing should be a human experience, where you look at the people in front of you and respond to the tunes they’re loving (while adding your own spice to ‘educate’ them when you think they need it).
That means ‘knowing’ your songs, understanding their energy levels and what they do to a crowd of people. If you do that first, then adding cues points to your track is fine.
Many digital DJs have certain spots in tunes where they add cue points, that are proven to work well.
1. The song’s first beat
2. The drop (the point where some big bassline or event worthy of dancefloor frenzy happens)
3. End of the drop
4. Mix out point (a moment where the tune steps into its outro and is ideal for cueing in your next tune)
5. Start of a verse/familiar vocal/or feature in the song. These can be used to add samples on the spot and let the dancefloor know what’s coming next.
Every DJs different. So try all these out for yourselves and decide what works and what doesn’t for your style of DJing.
Personally, I think DJs who rely on pre-planned sets and cue points, become robots, not DJs. I’d much rather hear a DJ kicking songs off at the start, creating smooth blends, and conjuring magical moments based on ‘feel’ and instinct, rather than a DJ smashing me over the head with drum rolls, loops and FX, followed by pre-cued drops.
But who cares what I think. Do it your way. But do it because it works – not because it’s easy.
Using the split-cue
Most mixers and controllers have a split-cue button. This plays one tune in each ear of your headphones.
Why’s that useful?
It can be really handy in loud nightclubs, where hearing your headphones above the booth or main speakers can destroy your ears. With a pair of good headphones, you can do all your cueing through the headphones, at a lower volume level that you’d otherwise need.
It’s also good if you find yourself playing at a party where there’s no monitor and the speakers are far enough away from you that they create a delay.
The first time this happened to me I was terrified. I was dropping tunes in that were perfectly beat-matched, but it sounded like a car crash. When I realized it was caused by a delay from the speakers, I stopped cueing on the speakers and did it all through my headphones. Crisis and ‘hang the DJ’ chants averted.