Approaching a DJ effects unit such as the Pioneer RMX-1000 or even your DDJ-400 controller can, at first glance, be little more than trial and error. Many DJs often apply one effect after the next, twisting knobs without understanding what they are doing. In specific, all DJ effects units and mixers have a single parameter called DRY/WET or Level/Depth which is the central bus for processing effects. In this post, I will detail the DRY/WET parameter for DJ effects, what it does at a technical level, the typical parameter set available, and where and how it can be used in your DJ sets.
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Where is the DRY/WET parameter on a DJ mixer?
Common to every DJ effects or DJ mixer console is the DRY/WET parameter. The knob appears somewhere in the center of the console or top half of the controller as seen in the Traktor Kontrol S4. It is also typically called the Level/Depth parameter in the Pioneer world. Wherever you find a DJ effects unit you are bound to find some type of knob which is responsible for controlling the “balance” of effect application. To understand this, let’s dive into what a DJ effects unit is.
What are DJ effects (FX) units?
DJ effects or DJ FX units are electronic devices that change the sound of a given audio input. In a way, they are signal processing units that take input signal (e.g., audio) and apply signal processing techniques to manipulate that input and create altered output signal. Imagine if you had a toy painting factory; every toy that enters the painting machine is coloured with a new coast of paint – you can think of signal processing units like DJ effects like this.
Let’s look at an example of a Distortion audio effect in the example image below for “Distortion Unit 1”:
Inside of an effects unit there is a specialized circuit designed to apply the effect to that signal (recall that audio signals are just electrical currents). It is wired up to controls on the DJ effects unit interface.
What is the DRY and WET in the DRY/WET parameter?
The dry in the DRY/WET parameter refers to the amount of input signal you hear after applying the effect. If we think back to our painting factory analogy, if the initial colour of the toy is blue and the painting machine is painting things red, the DRY attribute would correspond to how much blue colour we see remaining in the toy after its been painted with red.
In contrast, the wet in DRY-WET refers to the output signal you hear after applying the effect. Back to our painting factory analogy, the WET attribute would correspond to how much red we chose to paint the toy with.
Let’s bring it back to the world of sound, here are some examples you can listen to of application of effects at different levels.
Example 1: Kick with 0 distortion
Example 2: Kick with 50% distortion
Example 3: Kick with 100% distortion
So what is the DRY/WET parameter in theory?
Understanding the above, we can say that the DRY/WET parameter controls the balance (or mix) between the DRY and WET (i.e., signal that has been manipulated by the FX unit) signals being output.
Example 1: 100% DRY
Suppose say you have a guitar sample, distortion effects unit and you choose to set the DRY-WET control to 100% dry.
The output you would hear in this case you would only hear the clean guitar (i.e., only the DRY, untouched, signal).
Listen below:
Example 2: 100% WET
Let’s reverse the situation and use the guitar sample but with the DRY-WET control set to 100% wet.
In this case, the output you would hear is only the distorted output that sounds grainy and fuzzy.
Listen below:
Example 3: 50% DRY and 50% WET
Next, let’s observe what happens with a 50-50 balance of dry and wet signal using the guitar sample.
In this case, the output you would hear a mix of both clean and distorted signals which adds flavour to the original guitar.
Listen below:
Tactics for applying DRY-WET in DJ sets
Now that we understand what DRY/WET actually does, we can think of ways to use it in our DJ sets. Here are two tactics to keep in mind with application of your effects during your performance
Tactic 1: Slowly Apply During Build Up Sequences
During build ups of tracks applying effects can be a way to add additional drama and dimensionality to the track. It creates tension and anticipation. In core dance music like House or Tech House music, this is the common way you will see the effect applied. However, you should be careful not to over-apply the effect as it may “wash out” and decrease the anticipation of the build up – especially for Reverb.
Tactic 2: Tease with Little Tastes
Instead of manually manipulating the Level/Depth you can set it to a static value such as 40-50% and then use the ON/OFF button to trigger the signal processing sequence. This type of tactic can be magical in mixing Dub Techno or other ambient spacial type of genres. The key to the “Dub” in “Dub Techno” lies in the elements of Dub music which inspired it, meaning getting surgical in the application of effect to claps, snares or other minor fragments of the mix can bring a nice ambience to the track and make it feel more full.
If you’re looking to get more out of your DJ effects and skills checkout the free preview lecture below on the topic of Reverb in DJing and if you enjoy this lecture you can enroll into L2DJ’s Beginner to Intermediate DJ course for Electronic/House/Techno Music.
