What do people mean when they call a track a "DJ tool"?

#1

I often hear tracks described as DJ tools. Hardwax does it pretty often, and I’ve even had someone compliment me on one of my tracks as being a good dj tool. I can’t find any useful information about this usage on the interenet. Here’s what I’m not talking about:

  • Tracks of just samples you can overlay on other tracks or scratch with. This is how Beatport uses the term.
  • A piece of audio equipment or software used by DJs.

I’m talking about a stand-alone piece of music. Here’s what I suspect people mean when they use it:

  1. A track that isn’t super special on it’s own but can be used by djs to link between more “featured” tracks in a set. A track that stands on it’s energy alone and doesn’t have any overwhelming themes. I sort of think of drum tracks this way. This doesn’t line up with some things described as DJ tools though.
  2. A track long enough to put on and go take a shit in the middle of a set? :poop:

I’m interested if anyone actually knows why this term is used.

#2

My understanding of a DJ tool is something close to what you put here:

A track that isn’t super special on it’s own but can be used by djs to link between more “featured” tracks in a set. A track that stands on it’s energy alone and doesn’t have any overwhelming themes. I sort of think of drum tracks this way. This doesn’t line up with some things described as DJ tools though.

I think a DJ tool would typically not have much of an arrangement or structure or many “big moments”, and is more likely to be e.g. primarily drum or loop based.

They’re the sort of tracks you can use to link two more special tracks together, as you say, or also use for layering under another track, e.g. to add more robust drums under a lighter track. To me that’s why they’re called DJ tools - on their own, they don’t do much, but they’re useful “tools” for combining with other tracks. I guess the label implies you maybe wouldn’t listen to a “DJ tool” on it’s own at home usually.

Obviously in some genres e.g. techno a lot of the tracks fit this description, so it can become somewhat meaningless :wink:

#3

i think of it as a track/loop/edit that serves as a useful tool for the purpose of a mix or dance floor experience, be that serving as a way to transition from A to C by using DJ Tool B, or adding something extra when placed into the mix on a channel so that it makes a song fuller, more trippy, etc, i believe the name comes from the fact that back when they were only found on vinyl they needed to be marketed to DJs as they really only served a purpose in mixes or in clubs. so they called em tools for putting in that work :muscle::hammer_and_wrench::speaker:

#4

Yeah this is it for me. I just take it as something that’s a little more loopy and textural, rather than being melodic, having drops, dramatic sections, etc.

In my experience, also something that you wouldn’t queue up in your spotify on Thursday afternoon, but that you know is engineered to keep the energy on a dancefloor.

#5

It’s pretty much exactly what Nickecks said. The term has been around for years going back to hip hop (from what I’ve seen, possibly disco but I could be wrong on that) and then House and Techno and Jungle/drum n bass. It was just records that were full of just beats n breaks, musical loops and even fx for use in DJ sets.

#6

A DJ tool is pretty much what it sounds like, a tool for DJs. These tracks tend to fall out of a typical song structure and are purely loop based. Some DJ tools can be to elongate a blend, add some rhythm to a track, or to fill in a breakdown. Up to you!