DJing - Finding the Cue

The first thing you need to do is set up your mixer. PutCD's are just as simple. Pop in the CD and press play.
the channel faders for both inputs (CD or Vinyl) to full,It's going back to the very beginning of the bass beat
and the cross fader to the middle. Set the gain controlsthat's harder. If you have something like the CDJ1000's,
and EQ controls on both channels to the same settingyou can just wind the platter back in exactly the same
too.way as you would with a turntable. When you hear
Whether you use vinyl, CD or MP3 - the mostthe bass beat, and you know you're at the beginning,
important thing you can do is find an exact cue point. Inpress CUE to store it. (Most other models of CD deck
most instance, this cue point will be a bass drum - andwill probably need you to press PLAY to set the cue).
it'll probably be either the very first bass beat of theIf however, you're using a CD deck that doesn't have
entire tune, or it'll be the first beat of a phrase in thevinyl emulation (like the CDJ1000's) and when you
intro. (Check out the Better Mixing page for informationpause the tune, it just repeats that same frame of
on Phrases etc).music over and over, use the controls on your CD
With vinyl, assuming it's the very first beat of the tune,deck which let you skip back frame by frame (you'll
this is simple enough. Just put the needle on the recordeither have dedicated controls, or just press the
at the very beginning, press play, and when you hearsearch buttons quickly in succession to do this) and
the first bass beat, stop the record, and wind it back -wait for the juddering, broken CD sound to stop. Skip
until you hear silence. Then wind it forward a tinyforward one more frame to make sure you're right at
amount, until you can hear the bass beat begin to play.the beginning of the bass beat - and then store the
Press stop, and leave the needle there. You now haveCue point (either by pressing CUE, or PLAY - check
the needle cued at the very first bass beatyour manual).