Beat juggling is a deejaying and

turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...

technique in which two records are used to prolong an existing beat, or to create a new one. It is associated with the context of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, but not necessarily limited to this genre.

Definition

Beat juggling can be defined as the art of manipulating two or more samples (e.g.

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

beats, or vocal

phrase In grammar, a phrasecalled expression in some contextsis a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English language, English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adject ...

s), in order to create a unique

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

, using multiple

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

s and one or more mixers. This can involve pauses,

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and Turntablism, turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a phonograph, turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to ...

, backspins and delays. It could be seen as fingertip sampling, and the turntable and mixer combination could be seen as an instrument from which sounds are made, from the sounds of other instruments (samples). Despite being a classical technique in deejaying and turntablism, beat juggling isn't limited to analogue mixing with vinyl records. It can also be achieved by digital means using Compact Disc DJ players or

DJ controller DJ controllers are devices used to help DJs mix music with DJ software using knobs, encoders, jog wheels, faders, backlit buttons, touch strips, and other components. Overview DJ controllers are microprocessor-based control surfaces used t ...

History

Beat juggling has its roots in

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...

, in which a small section of a beat is looped using two copies of the same record. DJ Steve Dee as one of the earliest innovators in the mid-1980s. The technique gained widespread popularity beginning in 1990.

Techniques

* Looping * Strobing * Body Moves * Carousel

References

External links

DJ X2K's Beat Juggling TutorialBeatTheJuggle.com - The Ultimate Online Guide to DJ Equipment
DJing Turntables {{Hiphop-stub