DJ Music

Pitch control is on of the elements of beatmatching that is crucial for a DJ to master in order to DJ music. Pitch control can be found in different forms but usually a vertical slide fader, there is one pitch control per deck allowing a DJ to speed up or slow down the speed of each deck, the speed of the music affects not only the tempo, but also the pitch and you’ll find that this can warp the sound of the music you’re Djing.

Pitch control, is the only real commonly used variable to help a DJ beatmatch their music, aside from pitch control, some decks and digital DJing software will have tempo control, which allows a DJ to beatmatch without affecting the pitch of the music.

Mechanically speaking the pitch control is a speed platter for the speed the platter of the deck rotates slowing the moter down or speeding it up as the DJ manipulates the pitch control. most DJing decks regardless of vinyl DJ decks, CD DJ decks or digital DJ software will usually have a pitch control with the ability to increase or decrease pitch by 8% shown next to the pitch control as a ruler bar.

By shifting the pitch slider on the pitch control up or down a DJ can match the beat of the music on the deck to match the playing deck, and in so doing, they are beatmatching, allowing a DJ to create a seamless blend between two tracks of music, effectively merging them into one.

It takes alot of skill and patience as well as understanding for a DJ to learn how to accurately use pitch control, and even then the tempo of the music may change thus affecting the pitch control. as such whilst there are mathematical ways of calculating pitch, its often better to play it by ear and learn as you practice.

Because of the importance of pitch control in beatmatching, its very important for a DJ to find DJ equipment that has the pitch control feature, and you’ll often see cheaper knock-off amateur DJ equipment will lack pitch control.

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