(energetic rock music)
- Yeah, we back!
What's up beautiful people?
My name is Sinclair Wheeler, AKA Black A.M.
And I'm here with a second installment
of Technique of the Week with the people at Fender guitar.
Let's get into it.
So on this video,
I wanted to go into a little bit more depth
about what I talked about on the first one.
And there were a few points I wanted
to touch on and elaborate on,
but the first one is the Camelot Wheel.
Just to catch you up if you didn't see the first video,
I would suggest it.
But the Camelot Wheel is a way to use your DJ program
and analyze files to figure out what key that you're in.
Generally, when you analyze keys,
it'll give it to you in Camelot language.
It'll give you like 1A, 4B,
and those codes translate to a key signature
on the Camelot Wheel.
So to dive into that a little bit deeper,
I wanted to talk to you about how to DJ
with the Camelot Wheel,
because if you're using instrumentation along with DJing,
it's very important to sonically stay in key.
It's the most important thing.
It's the first thing that someone would hear
if you were out of key.
So when DJing with Camelot Wheel,
and if you need to pull this up later,
it'll make way more sense.
But I'm going to try to explain it to you now
since I got your attention.
Camelot Wheel, DJing within the Camelot Wheel,
you're allowed to move one space on the wheel
to stay relative, to stay within a sonic good-sounding space
that won't create too much friction sonically.
So if you're in a certain Camelot Wheel space,
you're allowed to move one to the left or one to the right,
or one up and down.
And it's a wheel, and when you guys go look
at the Camelot Wheel it'll make so much more sense.
But if you're playing in 2A,
you can go to 1A, 3A, or 2B.
And if you go up or down left or right one,
sonically you're going to sound great.
All the gigantic DJs that are playing main stages
of festivals are mixing in key.
There's absolutely no question.
It's very important and what that also allows you to do
is to keep your ax or whatever instrument you're playing,
kind of in this wheelhouse that allows you to move keys,
but sonically, you're not doing too much.
You're not changing dramatically to another key signature.
You're staying kind of in this wheelhouse
that lets you keep playing and stay in this pocket of sound
that that can feel good.
So you have to get familiar with the Camelot Wheel.
Practice at home as much as you can DJing
with your instrument, mine's the guitar,
and try to get comfortable with DJing.
And it's called DJing mixed in key.
You want to stay in key.
You're mixing in key.
So Camelot Wheel, one space to the left or right,
one space up or down.
And please check that out after you watch this video
to see what I'm talking about.
And please get familiar with that.
Second point I wanted to make was understanding the tracks.
Now my artist's project, Black A.M.,
is based around house music.
House music is a genre that's been around
since the late '70s.
And it has certain elements to each house song
that is in every single record.
There are terms when you get into production,
like breakdowns, buildups, drops.
These are all just words to explain
what's going on in the song.
So in house music, a lot of the times
you'll have breakdowns, meaning all the elements
of the record will just go away and they'll drop it down
to just a kick drum and a pad, or just a synth, something.
I like to really shine in those moments,
because like I talked about on the first video,
these songs are finished.
There's really no space for guitar solos,
but you're trying to figure out times and places
where you can do it respectfully and sonically good.
So breakdowns are usually a place
where all the elements go away and space is created.
So whether if you're jamming, just improving along,
or you're doing music production,
and you're thinking, "where do I put these guitar chords?
And where do I solo?"
Breakdowns and builds are the best for that.
When it comes to the drop or the one
where all the elements come back,
you really have a lot less space,
so you can't do as much there.
So this ties into my third point,
which is respecting the genre.
This is not only fundamental in house music,
but every single genre as a DJ,
whether if it's dubstep, future bass,
house music, techno, anything,
each one of those genres have elements that are shown
in all the songs in that genre.
For example, breakdowns and buildups are
in dubstep songs made by Skrillex,
and also house music songs made by David Guetta,
there's breakdowns and builds in all of this.
It's very important to respect the genre
and understand what the genre is about
that you want to play in
so you know innately when you can jam.
No one really has time to learn note-for-note 150 songs
that you play in a DJ set at an open format club.
But if you're playing house music and dance music,
and you know, "oh, here comes a buildup."
That's when you can go and really shine
and sound as good as you can
because there's so much space there.
So I wanted to play one of my last records
that I released and talk it through as I'm playing it
and kind of explain the things
I've been talking about in a sonic way.
So here we go, let's get into it.
(energetic house-rock music)
So with most dance records you're gonna have an intro.
This is usually where you're DJing.
This is where you're blending songs.
This is when you're getting out of the last song
and bringing in the new one.
And most dance records will have this in there,
especially DJ edits, et cetera.
So here's where all your elements will start coming in
and I still haven't played guitar yet.
(energetic house-rock music)
So at this point you got the meat and potatoes of the track.
You can hear what the bass is doing,
any sort of background synth,
and you can start getting a taste
of what the song is gonna do for the rest of the record.
Because nine times out of 10,
when they get five minutes into the song,
it's going to be the same elements and same basslines.
Maybe some things will change percussion, et cetera,
but here we start a breakdown and here's where guitar comes.
(energetic house-rock music)
So, I've cut in the bass here and a lot of the elements,
I don't even have a bass going.
This is when I let the guitar come in
and start finding areas to really get off.
(energetic house-rock music)
I'll try to jam along like we're live right now
so you can see about the space and stuff.
So let's go!
(energetic house-rock music)
So here comes another breakdown.
When, you know, for live purposes,
let's say my guitar wasn't playing,
other house music songs without guitar in it
will have these elements right here.
And this is in a nightclub when you have a breakdown,
you can get everyone's full attention
because there's not that much going on.
So you've got to respect the genre.
And whether if it's 75 beat-per-minute or 128,
you got to start understanding the genre
and knowing when the builds and breakdowns are coming.
So you can be ready for them and then jam.
So let's get to the second drop here.
(energetic house-rock music)
So for the production guys too,
that are maybe thinking about getting into music production
and not just live sets,
on my extended mixes of my records,
I will wait till the third breakdown,
and then I will bring in a lot of guitar
and try to make it as rock and roll as possible, like this.
(energetic house-rock music)
I'm bringing the guitar chords here, extra pianos,
a guitar solo on top, and not many electronic elements.
So this is where you can really be like,
this is what I'm finding that jelling genres together,
house music and rock and roll.
(energetic house-rock music)
(energetic house-rock music) (vocalizing)
(energetic house-rock music)
And that is DJing and playing guitar in a nutshell.
Thank you guys so much
for tuning into Technique of the Week with Fender.
My name is Sinclair Wheeler, AKA Black A.M.,
and I'm here with love and I appreciate you guys.
I'll see you guys around, all right?
Peace!