'Ramping up song intros'

[Charlie Brown]

Charlies website "I prefer to let the music do the talking".

Forgot about that. What page is it on? It needs to be deleted....

[Starlight]

Agree that it is a great technique when it works but does take practice and a knowledge of the tracks to see when you can talk etc

I used to present on an internet radio station not too long ago and we used Sam Broadcaster, a very basic playout system. If I didn't know the song inside out, I would clock what the time was on the player to see when the lyrics did cut in. Ramps can be really tricky okay. If you have for example A-ha > Take On Me, this intro is around a minute long, an excessively long intro and what I tend to do is write some prompting notes to jog my memory. For example, if I was in a bar, I would basically write down all the special drinks promosions, take the bar staffs names and anything they want me to see for example "Got to make a mention to our dedicated bar staff tonight - Steve, Lucy, Mike....supporting your alcoholic needs" and so on. If you watch webcams of radio station studios', you'll notice they have written guides/prompts to jog their memory stuff to say to their audience.

As a Radio Presenter, I sometimes end up doing it without realising as it's just natural
On the radio we use a program called Jazler

Doing it naturally is the best way You won't sound forced and it will sound cool. Give this man a round of applause! Jazler is a fantastic programme isn't it I've not personally used it yet just seen a radio presenter using it. Could you utilise Jazler into a disco roadshow rig?

I thought all pro DJs did this?
You need to know the structure of songs

Not all pro DJ's do I don't think because in my honest opinion, some are lazy and won't give a bleep bleep. It takes a lot of time listening to songs over and over and over again, a lot of patience and real determination that you can nail it. I listen to music on my ipod virtually all the time and I hear the same songs quite often so when I'm listening to my music, I will often switch to 'ramping mode' if you like and I'll talk in my head (not out loud before anyone buts in LOL! ) and ramp up the song and nail it.

Great responses from everyone, I'm really happy and pleased about this folks, lets keep 'em rolling!

Neil.

[Starlight]

I've always done it. Maybe because I wanted to be a radio presenter when I was younger.

Nice 1. How do you normally pull it off? Do you clock the time on your screen or do you just know the song inside out and you know exactly when the lyrics cut in?

I think to really spice things up, if you are doing a karaoke show okay, I personally believe the ramping system would be really cool, I'd explain to the singer what was going to happen and I would also add that when I said the last word, they staright away sang the song. I'd tell them what the keyword was when I finish talking kinnda thing. They would hear me saying the keyword at the end of my patter and that would give them the cue to start singing

YEEEEEEHAAAAAA! GET IN THERE! Come on CRAZY K!!!!!

Neil M......

[DeckstarDeluxe]

sorry for karaoke I cant imagine that being great. I'd of thought the singer would need a few seconds to catch breath and ready themselves. If you throw them off cue straight away they'll have an uphill task to recover.

[Starlight]

sorry for karaoke I cant imagine that being great. I'd of thought the singer would need a few seconds to catch breath and ready themselves. If you throw them off cue straight away they'll have an uphill task to recover.

Ah, fair enough! Not everyones cuppa

Neil M......

[DiscoPromotions]

Yep I do it as second nature as I started off in Radio.

From my own personal view point I have noticed that younger crowds perfer this to the older ones.

[DJ Jules]

Forgot about that. What page is it on? It needs to be deleted....

Either you've already removed it, or you were quick off the mark last night - I can't find it again now (I notice your website has changed a bit anyway since I last looked!)

Julian

[Alchemy]

I use Traktor Pro and will often create a 4 or 8 bar loop just before the vocals start. A good example is Get the party started by Pink. I can then talk over this loop as long as I want and click out of it whenever I want. Alternatively I will add a vocal cue point and work to this.
I am trying to perfect this technique as I also think it adds a sense of professionalism

[StarZSoundS]

Like INTROS are not important???

Don't often play this at Discos.....But have you heard the intro to Just the Way it is.....By Bruce Hornsby and the Range.....

Its better than the main tune??


Any other great intros??

[JAMdisco]

(I've had) The Time of My life is a good one which has a lull about a minute from the end- I use this to say my goodbyes.....

I do exactly the same - 80% of the time it's the last song I play and use the 'lull' to thank everyone for a great night (yes I sometimes lie ) and to have a safe journey home, yada yada yada...

As for ramping intros, I occasionally do it and find that I generally know when the vocals come in on the majority of songs I play - also as said before, as I use Virtual DJ you can see it. You can also set vocal cue points if you want but I never have.