In the past weeks i’ve been trying to use the tone play technique in my dj sets. I’ve seen some good videos and dj sets that use it (red bull thre3style sets are a great source).
unfortunately, i have no music background, and i don’t know how to choose tracks with same notes.. how do other djs do this? do they search for songs that have the same musical notes, or do they do this by trial and error? (this is how i’m doing it right know)
some tips and tricks on this one by some dj that is confortable with this technique would be awesome!
One of these days I need to post a video of my toneplays. I have about 15 tone plays I use when I play out. But I usually find intros people know, and look for the same beginning sounds. They are not limited to intros. I then set cue points on the left deck’s tones, I try to get the same key on the right hand deck and slowly build the process. The tone plays take quite a bit of time to set up but they feel so rewarding while playing out.
I find knowing the key is great start and using songs that have defined parts (like in the video) so a nice solo piano or sax. Once you set your cues you can play parts like an instrument and then it’s just practicing and trial and error until you learn particular parts. Another fun way to do this is using a traktor remix deck and setting it up like an instrument. Also slightly off topic but it’s also worth nothing you could play through notes on a fav synth and setting them up across cues then you just learn the notes to any given melody.
