DJ drops are commonly used by radio DJs, mobile DJs, livestreamers and some live performers. Whether you’ve already heard of them, you are not yet exactly sure about what they are, or you already know all about them but you don’t have your own DJ drop this article is perfect for you.
What is a DJ drop?
A DJ drop is a short audio sample that features your DJ name as a spoken word and can be used during your mixes. Its purpose is to make the audience realize who is currently behind the decks and to make the people associate your DJ name with your DJ set and the music you’re playing. DJ drops can be made interesting and engaging with the creative use of audio samples and audio FX.
You might have heard drops already: either at a club or while listening to your favorite radio station – those use station specific drops with a station name which are inserted in between aired songs.
A DJ drop plays an important role in your mix – it makes it easy for the audience to remember your DJ name and this is a huge deal for your stage name/brand promotion!
How can you make your own DJ drop?
To make a basic DJ drop you will have to record yourself or someone speaking your DJ name and then use specific audio samples to make the drop more engaging. For that you will need any basic sound editor or DAW software.
The types of samples you are going to want to use are: risers and uplifters (either tonal or white-noise based), drum samples and various hits and impacts.
There is no magic formula for making a DJ drop but one of the valuable tips is to listen to professional DJ drops of your favorite DJs and try to imitate their structure and timing (but don’t copy!).
For the voice part you could also use a speech synthesizer, a synth or a vocoder for a creative DJ drop, it all depends on the tools you have on hand.
A good way to make your DJ drop is to experiment with the recorded voice, audio FX and additional samples until you find a short combination that works. Mix up the recorded vocals by adding audio effects to the vocal track, chopping it up or scratching and modifying and rearranging the audio samples that you’ve prepared in a way that will form a rise-and-hit kind of structure followed by the voice recording – this is one of the most common DJ drop forms.
Remember that in terms of the phrases that are to be said during the DJ drop less is more. A perfect DJ drop should be short and ear-catching so that it’s easy to remember and does not disturb the live act flow.
The good news is you don’t have to own expensive audio editing software to make a DJ drop. Even the free Audacity software has all the tools that are necessary for making one so you can try it right away!
What are the best most popular DJ drop phrases?
There are many phrases that are used when presenting a DJ name but the most common and hence the most popular we’ve listed below.
Popular short DJ drop script ideas:
- “DJ [name] – in the mix.”
- “You are now listening to – DJ [name].”
- “You’re in the mix with DJ [name].”
- “Rockin’ on with the best – DJ [name].”
- “Straight from [your city] – DJ [name].”
- “DJ [name] – in the house.”
- Today – live from [your city] – DJ [name].” – for radio/streaming DJs.
Feel free to use those ideas as a basis for your DJ drop script.
Valuable tips for making professional DJ drops
Here are a few valuable tips for making a professional DJ drop. Check those out to spice-up and polish your perfect DJ drop idea:
- In the DJ drop script less is always more!
- Your DJ drop script should be short and concise so it is easy to remember, associate with your name and fit naturally into the set.
- Make one longer version of your DJ drop.
- At the end of your live performance or just before a scheduled break you can cue in a longer version of your DJ drop containing for example your social media handles with a call to action – still, don’t go too long – around 20 words in this case is often more than enough!
- Scratch over it!
- If you are able to scratch it can be a good idea to try and manipulate the recorded voice sample using your turntables or your controller. This is a unique and creative way to remix audio that is hard to reproduce using just VST plugins and it may be an interesting addition to your DJ drop.
- Experiment with the voice tones.
- You can make use of contrast (one part of the drop can be slow and deep, the second energetic and fast), use different voice tones, or after recording the vocals use sound effects to emphasize the message. Most of the time the best and most reliable idea here is to hire a professional freelance voice actor for recording your DJ drop phrases.
- Be aware of your DJ drop’s key.
- For an additional effect with a bit of musical knowledge you can prepare and mix your DJ drop along with its vocal samples in such a way that it will be playing clearly in a certain key (you can achieve that by individually pitching the drum samples, uplifters and the voice samples). This way you will be able to connect your DJ drop with a song in a corresponding key just as you do while doing harmonic mixing for a better effect.
How and when to use a DJ drop properly?
Generally the best moments for using a DJ drop are as follows:
- When a track ends and it’s not an extended mix.
- When a breakdown or any significant space with no drums, vocals or instruments appears.
- After a track goes up to a breakdown and you mix out of it using long reverb fx or an impact/hit sample.
- Before or after you make an announcement through the microphone.
- Before and after a break (if any breaks are scheduled).
- Before and after the whole DJ set.
You should space your DJ drops properly so you won’t disturb audience with often playback interrupts. Avoid playing the same drop so often that it becomes distracting or predictable. A few well-placed uses usually work better than repeatedly inserting it throughout the set. Once every 15-20 minutes is a good rule of thumb to start with.
Where can you buy custom made DJ drops cheap?
If you don’t want to record the voice yourself, you can hire a voice actor through a freelance marketplace or use a service specializing in custom DJ drops. Always check voice samples, usage rights, file formats and revision terms before ordering.
The quality of the products presented on freelance platforms can be often checked before the order both in short videos that are made by each service supplier, on their individual product pages or by reading the product reviews.
There are also sites that strictly specialize in making professional custom DJ drops. Usually all you have to do is to provide a script (what words you wish to be spoken by the voice actor) or just your DJ name, and sometimes some notes and comments if you have additional remarks regarding your order.
Most of the time you will be presented with a choice of different voice actors with different accents and you are able to listen to a few examples of their work before ordering.
There are lots of services providing custom DJ drops and all of those offer a different level of order customization.
Why is a DJ drop important for mixing?
Having one or a few DJ drops and using them throughout your live DJ performance makes it easy for the people in the audience to remember your stage name and associate it with the good time they were having during your DJ set.
Apart from this even when you’re streaming your mixes online dropping your DJ name from time to time is beneficial for your brand name promotion.
The good thing is that most of the time you don’t have to worry about disturbing your audience with your DJ drops during your performance. A short, well-placed drop can fit naturally into a set, but overusing one can very quickly become distracting.
Go on, try and figure out your own DJ drop and benefit from this powerful brand promotion tool. Good luck!