DJ Effects

A wealth of fresh faces and amazing talent is stepping into DJ booths around the globe on a daily basis. This influx of record-spinning rock stars has catapulted the art of the DJ to new heights. Now more than ever, if you really want to stand out from the crowd, you need more than just great beat-matching skills and solid selection chops. The other qualities that you need to be able to dazzle crowds and impress critics are a knack for exciting live performances and breaking new music, especially your own. An ideal way to bring such elements to your set is by adding choice pieces of studio gear — such as an effects unit, a sampler or a groove box — to your DJ rig. Fortunately, the market has plenty of cool new gear featuring innovative performance controls that are perfect for the job. When deciding which type of gear will work best for you, there are several things to consider, including ease of use, connections and portability. Each piece of gear has its own unique learning curve and set of pros and cons, and not every unit will be a good match for your personality and performance style. Effects units are usually the easiest devices to hook up and learn, samplers present several additional challenges, and groove boxes are generally the trickiest units to smoothly integrate into your set. Connecting an effects unit can be a simple procedure or may require some elaborate cabling, depending on the model of house mixer. In the ideal scenario, a house mixer will have a built-in effects send and return loop. In this case, connecting your effects unit is a no-brainer, as all the connections will likely be ¼-inch or phono, and the mixer's effects send (out from the mixer) and return (input back to the mixer) jacks should all be clearly labeled. But not all mixers feature a send and return loop; some only have an effects send whereas others make no accommodations for external effects. If there is an effects send but no return, you will need to bring the effects unit's output back through either a channel on the house mixer or your submixer.