Something as simple as a drum loop can be brought to life using effects. Stuff like reverb, delay, chorus, flanging and phasing. They’re all send effects which duplicate your dry (unaffected) signal and then play it back into itself, altering the sound in some way. Let’s check out a few practical uses of these built-in effects. 

Effect the background

Veteran DJs don’t use a lot of effects on their main mix. Too much reverb or chorus can kinda steal the energy from the floor and make it seem like you can’t wait for the next track to play. And it can sound a little tacky. You do want to be enthusiastic, but you don’t really want to be this guy. So if you’re dying to use effects, use them on backing drum loops and samples instead of your main mix. Using Traktor’s Remix Decks or Ableton Live’s session view, you can run multiple clips at once. If you’re playing something that sounds good on its own, limit the effects work to the backing loop instead. 

Keep it simple

Some of the effects bundled in to DJ software can be pretty sophisticated. Parameters on a standard reverb effect might include Dry/Wet, Size, Highpass, Lowpass and Freeze. A good rule of thumb? Stick to two parameters per effect. Don’t try to cram too much creativity into your playback. It’s cool to play around with them while you create a signature style, but over time you’ll want your ‘effect moments’ to resemble one-trick ponies. The further away you take the people from the original sound of the track, the more attention you’ll lose. Keep it simple. 

Sparse works better

Effects generally work better when applied to sparse moments in your set. Experiment with extending your mix out and allow a moment for only the beat drum loops to run. Then, apply different effects and compare the results with applying them during the main part of the song. Sounds better when there’s less going on, doesn’t it? Generally, effects should be thought of as auxiliary moments, and don’t often work well during the main hook or drop of a song. Especially if it’s a really well known number. 

To sum up, you’ll want to use your DJ effects sparingly and at the right moments in your set. If you’re only doing 64 bars of total flanging an hour, that’s OK. Reverb is a great one for building tension, and delay often works well when timed to ¾ time. Find your inner effects guru by signing up for the Advanced DJ Techniques and Tips DJ course with DJ Courses Online.

John Bartmann is a music producer and DJ.