DJ

My brother bought a new gizmo: it’s a small wooden box with a metallic silver plate on top. The cover has some sliders, a couple of buttons, and a small red light. The back has some connectors and a power cable. It looks modern, a design proper for this space age. It’s 1976!

I stare at the device and can’t figure out what’s for, “Cool! What are these sliders for?”

Bert plays with them, up and down they go, “Sound level, that’s what they are for.”

Sound level? “Ah…  and this button?”

Bert pushes the button, nothing happens—it’s unplugged, “Power.”

What does it do? “Is it a radio?”

Bert laughs, “Not a radio, it’s a mixer.”

“Mix-what?”

He grabs the box with both hands and rotates it until the back is in front of him. He points two set of connectors labeled “Input”. Each one has two plugs, one red the other white. They are marked “L” and “R” respectively. “Here’s where you plug the turntables.”

He rotates the box slightly and touches another set of red and white plugs,  “The amplifier cable goes here.”

Turntables? Amplifier? Mixer? “What do you mix?”

He gives me “the look.” The one he uses when he sees a puppy—I hate it. I’m no puppy, “It’s a sound mixer. DJs use them at the discos.”

He stares at me waiting for an answer. What’s a DJ? A disco? I heard of them but never been to one as they only allow 18 an older and I’m only 16. Should I grow a mustache?

He nods his head, “Let’s go upstairs.”

I follow him to his room. He puts the device on top of his sound system and moves some cables. He first plugs the turntable, then the amplifier. He scratches his head and sighs, “We need another turntable.” He then looks around. Did he loose something? Finally his eyes stop at the cassette player, he tilts it and checks the back, “Aha! Let’s use this instead.”

He turns on the amplifier, turntable, and cassette player. The speakers hum, it’s kinda’ loud. Bert tightens the plugs and the hum goes away. He gets an LP, it has a girl with curly hair, she’s cute, skinny but sorta’ old, she must be 25 or so. I look at the cover. Donna Summer. I’ve never heard of her. Is she good? He takes the record out and puts it on the turntable. I wait a bit but there’s no sound. Bert plays with the amplifier, he turns a giant knob but nothing happens. He crosses his arms and looks at the ceiling. I look. There’s nothing there. What’s he staring at? He snaps his fingers, walks to the mixer and moves one slider up. I cover my hears as loud music comes out the speakers. He then turns the amplifier giant knob and music plays at listenable levels.

The beat is catchy. She sings super good. Cool!

Bert pops a cassette in the player and presses the play button down, “Look and listen carefully.”

He slowly pushes one slider down while the other hand moves the other one up. For a moment I can listen to two songs, but they sound like one, until there’s only one song, a new song. He says, “Voila!”

I stayed looking at him, then the mixer, and my jaw drops. How did he do that? Magic?

I want to learn. I want to mix. I like the music. I want to know how this works.

Disco rules!