DJ Effects: Echo, Reverb and Filter for Cleaner Transitions

Echo is one of the oldest tricks in the DJ booth: Jamaica's sound system DJs were already working with tape echo in the 1970s, and many mixers still list a “Dub Echo” in their effects menu today. Together with reverb and filter, it is the toolkit you use to smooth transitions, build tension and take a track cleanly out of the mix.

At a glance

• Echo repeats a sound audibly and lets it fade away, while reverb creates a sense of space without distinct repetitions.
• Pioneer DJ club mixers have two effect sections: Beat FX and Sound Color FX.
• On the DJM-A9, echo can be set from 1/16 to 16 beats, with a delay time of 1 to 4000 ms.
• The DJM-A9's Beat FX can be applied to individual frequency ranges: LOW, MID or HI.

Two effect racks: Beat FX and Color FX

Most Pioneer club mixers give you two effect sections, explains Andrew Duffield of Club Ready DJ School. The Color FX colour the overall sound, while the Beat FX focus more on manipulating the beat.

You control Color FX directly with the Color knob under the channel: turn it clockwise to focus on the higher frequencies, anticlockwise for the lower ones. With Beat FX you choose the effect, the channel and the intensity. Fewer beats sound more intense, more beats draw the effect out – and the level knob does the rest.

Echo: sending a track off with a repeat

Echo repeats a sound audibly and lets it fade away gradually. In the DJM-A9 manual, Pioneer DJ distinguishes it from delay: delay outputs the delayed sound once, echo several times while attenuating it.

Two settings shape the sound. The beat value sets how often the echo repeats per beat – a 1/4-beat echo repeats four times per beat. Level or depth controls the balance between the dry signal and the effect; turn it fully to “wet” and you hear only the echo.

Marc Santaromana of Digital DJ Tips uses echo or delay at 1/2 or 1 beat to finish a transition: he repeats the end of the section he is leaving and fades it out cleanly. He recommends setting the wet/dry mix to around 30 to 40 percent. If you want the change to work tonally too, try harmonic mixing with the Camelot Wheel.

Reverb and filter: creating space, building tension

Reverb sounds like shouting into a big empty hall. It makes snares and claps sound bigger, adds interest to breakdowns and build-ups and helps you change tempo: let the reverb tail off at the end of a section, then drop the next track.

The filter is usually a combined high-pass and low-pass. Turn left and you cut the highs, turn right and you cut the lows. Instead of cutting the bass with the low EQ, you can use the high-pass filter – a similar effect with a different sound. For the classic EQ approach, read DJ tip: perfect transitions with the EQ.

Effect parameters on the DJM-A9

These values come from the Pioneer DJ DJM-A9 manual:

Less is more: dosing your effects

Duffield says he uses effects in roughly one in three transitions – and if more often, then subtly and low in the mix. On bass-heavy tracks, echo can quickly sound muddy. Newer Pioneer and Xone mixers with frequency-isolated effects solve this: Duffield typically applies effects only to the mids and highs and leaves the bass out.

“Having a couple “go-to” effects that you understand how to use tastefully is much better than throwing on a bunch of effects that you aren’t completely familiar with just because they are in your DJ software.”

— Marc Santaromana, Digital DJ Tips

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between echo and reverb?

With echo you hear distinct repetitions that fade away. Reverb gives you more of an overall sense of space.

Which beat value should I use for an echo at the end of a transition?

Marc Santaromana of Digital DJ Tips uses 1/2 or 1 beat, with the wet/dry mix at around 30 to 40 percent.

Source: Digital DJ Tips (Echo), Digital DJ Tips (3 Effects), Club Ready DJ School, Pioneer DJ DJM-A9 manual