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Timecode in a DJ set: seconds vs. beats

The problem

Some moments in a set are too complex to play live and too good to leave to chance. A build-up where the beams fan out, the speed doubles every four bars, an intensity effect fades in underneath and everything snaps to white on the drop. That involves five or six executors, fader moves and button presses in exact order. You can play it by hand once, maybe. Doing it the same way every time, while also watching the crowd, is hard.

A timecode show records exactly that kind of routine and plays it back. Recording a whole set that way isn't the goal at a rave: the DJ picks the next track live, and the tempo moves from 124 to 132 BPM over the night. What's useful is a handful of short routines, a few bars long, that you fire on the musical ups and downs: the last bars of a build-up, the moment a breakdown opens, the drop. Even those have a catch. A routine that only knows seconds drifts away from music that only knows beats.

Practice

The timecode, cue-list, macro and chaser features on this page are documented in the manual; which one to use in a DJ set is working practice.

The idea: decide which clock the routine follows

A timecode show runs in seconds

A timecode show runs in time, not in tempo. There's no speed or BPM setting. A 16-bar build-up recorded at 128 BPM is 30 seconds long, and at 132 BPM it's 29 seconds. Over a long routine the lights drift away from the music. And you have to start the show exactly on the right beat.

Recorded Track at 128 BPM 16 bars = 30.0 s drop Timecode show events every 4 bars Played tonight Track at 132 BPM 16 bars = 29.1 s drop Same timecode show fires at the same seconds 0.9 s late ≈ 2 beats Chaser, speed master steps on the beat on the drop 0 s 10 s 20 s 30 s
A build-up recorded at 128 BPM and played to a track at 132 BPM. The timecode show fires at the recorded seconds and drifts late; a chaser on the speed master stays on the bars.

The drift grows with the length of the routine, so the shorter it is, the less the tempo matters. Over two bars at 128 vs. 132 BPM the difference is about a tenth of a second, which nobody sees; over 16 bars it's a second. That makes internal-time timecode shows a good fit for short, one-shot routines that you start on the beat:

  • the last bars of a build-up: beams closing to one point, a fast sweep, a fade to dark on the final beat
  • the drop: a blackout-and-reveal, a two-bar flash pattern, then the drop look
  • into a breakdown: everything except one fixture type fades out in a recorded curve, the beams slow down and open up
  • a signature moment: an intro hit or a move you play every night

Keep them to a few bars and start them yourself on the one. For anything longer, or anything that must stay on the beat throughout, use the beat clock below.

Practice

Whole sets on timecode belong to live acts that play a fixed set or send timecode from their backing tracks (see Timecode shows). In a DJ set, tempo and track order change live, so the useful timecode shows are small.

A chaser with commands runs in beats

For routines that must follow the beat, a chaser can act as a step sequencer. A chaser plays its cues at its speed (in BPM, from a speed master that can follow tap tempo or the sound input), ignores cue timing, but does execute the commands in each cue's CMD column (see Effects and chasers). Give each step a command (Go Executor 1.5, Off Executor 1.7, a macro …) and the chaser triggers your other executors in time with the music. Use Shoot-Off to run the steps once and stop.

To verify in onPC: check 6

Who decides when each part starts

Practice

For DJ sets, where the tempo isn't known in advance, the useful question is who decides when each part starts:

  • You, on every phrase: a routine cue list. One cue per phrase, triggered with Go on the first beat of the phrase. Inside a cue everything happens at once or within a few seconds (CMD delays, fades), so tempo changes only affect the details, never the overall timing. The most reliable option for live sets.
  • The beat: a chaser with CMD steps on the speed master. Steps land on the beat, but it only knows the tempo, not where the phrase starts, so you start it on the one.
  • The clock: a timecode show. Perfect when the tempo is fixed (a known track, a live act's set, external timecode); for a DJ set only for short moments of a few bars.
  • Nobody, it's a utility: a macro. "Reset all speeds, switch to page 2, start the atmosphere", called from wherever you need it.

They combine well: a routine cue list whose cues call macros, a timecode show for the last two bars before the drop started by a cue's CMD (Go Timecode 3), a chaser for the beat-locked part.

The build-up from the top of this page, three ways

The routine: beams fan out, the speed doubles every 4 bars, an intensity effect fades in underneath, everything snaps to white on the drop. 16 bars at 128 BPM is 30 seconds.

As a timecode show: you play it once (fader moves included), clean it up in the editor and start it on the first beat of the build-up. It reproduces your fade exactly. At 132 BPM it ends about a second before the drop, so either the tempo is known or you keep the show short and fire the snap to white by hand.

As a routine cue list (one cue per 4 bars, each triggered with Go by you):

Cue Trig CMD Own content
1 Go Go Executor 1.11 (beam fan) –
2 Go DoubleSpeed Executor 1.11 strobe effect intensity to 30%, fade 7 s
3 Go DoubleSpeed Executor 1.11 strobe intensity to 70%, fade 7 s
4 Go DoubleSpeed Executor 1.11 blackout on the last beat via a CMD delay
5 Go Macro 12 ("drop": white look, speeds 1:1, effects synced) white

The strobe fade is the cue's own fade time, not a fader move, so it's in seconds; use the executor's rate (or type the times for the tempo you expect) if it's off. Everything else lands when you press Go.

As a chaser with CMD steps on the speed master: the same commands, one step per bar, with steps that do nothing in between. It follows the tempo, but each step has to be a whole beat, bar or a fixed multiple of one.

To verify in onPC: check 15

When you need it, and when not

  • Busked DJ sets: most of the night is busked. A few short timecode shows (a few bars each) for the ups and downs you like to mark, a routine cue list for the long build-ups, chasers with commands for beat-locked patterns.
  • A live act with a fixed set or backing tracks: the tempo is known, so a timecode show (ideally on external timecode) is the precise tool; see Timecode shows.
  • Small hobby rig, one operator: a well-laid-out busking page and a drop button usually beat any programmed routine. Build one only for a moment you play every night.

Sources