To cue audio is to determine the desired initial playback point in a piece of recorded music. It is a technique often used in

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

and

DJing 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 a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

. One dictionary definition is to "Set a piece of audio or video equipment in readiness to play (a particular part of the recorded material)."

Process

DJs typically find the desired start place on a record, tape, CD, or other media by listening to the recording with headphones and manipulating the turntable or other playback controls. Some DJs mark parts of a record with stickers to make it easier to find parts of record tracks. DJs use headphones to cue up the start point; this means that the audience cannot hear the playback until the DJ wants them to. Once the recording is cued up to the desired start point, the DJ can then commence the playback of the recording at the desired moment. The goal of cueing is to avoid "dead air", that is, silence.

Slip cue

A subtype of cueing is slip cueing. To slip cue a record, there has to be a felt mat under the record. The DJ finds the desired start point then leaves the stylus at the start point while holding the side of the record, with the turntable spinning. The DJ can then release the record and the music will start immediately.

Process

Slip cue

References

Further reading