DnB and Rewinds: Yay or Nay?

[Roddimus]

It seems lately a lot of people have been expressing their dislike of rewinds during jungle sets.
Personally I enjoy rewinds.
I first experienced rewinds thru a live Renegade Hardware mix tape comp. When I first heard them on the tapes, I was a little confused and annoyed. They broke up the flow and made it hard to listen to.
But then I experienced rewinds first hand at a party. My view suddenly changed completely. I understood their power and what they symbolized.
In no other genre of electronic music have I EVER seen such an amazing rapport between the audience and the DJ. Rewinds are the DJ's way of aknowledging the crowd and giving them some much needed recognition.
The barriers between the fan and the superstar are broken down just a little more through rewinds.
They give the DJ the ability to say to the crowd "HEY, I don't give a fuck if this breaks the 'flow,' if you wanna hear it again, you GOT IT!"
If I want to hear a never ending flow of tracks, I'll listen to a mix CD. But when I go to a jungle show, I'm not only going for the music, but for the experience of me letting the DJ know I like what he's doing and the DJ letting me know he appreciates it. For me, (short of meeting the DJ) I can only achieve that through rewinds.
But that's just me.
Let me know what you all think.

[kitty wu]

funny, i didn't like them before you explained it that way. hmm. hmm. you got me thinking.

[unitedlight]

But when I go to a jungle show, I'm not only going for the music, but for the experience of me letting the DJ know I like what he's doing and the DJ letting me know he appreciates it.
implied?
For me, (short of meeting the DJ) I can only achieve that through rewinds.

achieve what through rewinds? discontinuity in flow? brain damage? huh?

Rewinds are the DJ's way of aknowledging the crowd and giving them some much needed recognition.

The barriers between the fan and the superstar

They're also entertaining and release energy!

...the audience member and entertainer are united beforehand, during and after the show - mutual respect, yo. ;)

soo.. thats a yay and a nay.

[evilarchangel68]

personally, one or two rewinds arent so bad. they dont necessarily piss me off unless theyre done in like, every other mix.

ive kinda always thought that rewinds were a dj's sneaky little way of switching over to another record if he couldnt match the beats right, hee hee heeee... ;)

[asslicking homophobe]

From a dancer's point of view, rewinds suck cause they break the flow just when I'm getting into my groove. Then I have to wait for the music and find a new one. Here and there it's kewl, even gives me time to rest for a few seconds, but when it's just about every song in a set, it's frustrating.

[unitedlight]

when i'm dancing sometimes i really love a good rewind.. they can pick you up and fling you through the sky a little! ;)

build...build..ooobuild..ooOOBUILD..REEWINND!!OOCL IMAX!!!BANG!!!HIGHER!HIGHER HIGHER!!
Woooooo yeah!

[danielTHEtiger]

If theres a hella tight DJ and they are throwing down some sick beats and your fellin' the music. Rewinds can be tight. When your just dancein' your ass off then you get to hear the build up again and you just let go. But only when you dont expect it. I think it adds to the performance and helps pump everyone up. And its cool to hear every one scream! I like the way you discribed it Roddimus. Its not really a felling you can put down on paper. Its more of an experience. Id have to say Yay. But I think it something to be left more in live performences.

[ 07-02-2001: Message edited by: danielTHEtiger ]

[Roddimus]

Exactly danielTHEtiger.
I don't buy many live jungle mixes. Often their are too many rewinds on a lot of the UK mixtapes out there. When I'm listening to a mix in my car or at home, rewinds are very annoying.
But when I'm packed in a sweaty crowd feeling the vibe, rewinds mean the world.

[Skyline253]

ah...the infamous "rewind"... :p

I personally feel that there are times when a rewind can make a person sit back and just think "DAMN!" about a certain part of a track. In light of that though, I think it should definitely only be done 2, maybe 3 times in a set, so as not to overuse the effect of it, and dull it's impact.
I think the vast majority of kids have a problem with rewinds because of how often they're used. In all honesty, most UK DnB dj's are using them entirely too much lately (in my opinion), and really ruining the flow of their sets. Since they're doing them in damn near every song, a lot of their sets lack a strong sense of cohesion and flow...just my 2 cents though...

[JungleGuerilla]

Like all things its about moderation. The 1st time i saw Kenny Ken up here he did a rewind on what seemed like every song. I was overjoyed when he dropped a wicked track, and mostly dissapointed when he did it to just filler tunes. All I have to say is if you are rewinding make sure the song is worthy of it, full of funk from high hats, ominous drum patterns, discombobulating basslines, lush female vocals, and ruffneck lyrics. Thats all I ask.

[ 06-29-2001: Message edited by: JungleGuerilla ]

[Underdog]

I enjoy a dj who knows how to rewind not just backspin a record. There have been tales of djs who ended up only playing like three tracks in two hours because of all the rewinds. The rewind to me shows immmense concentration and talent. Flash your lighters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pun007]

Could someone please explain a "rewind"?

Is this like record juggling?

Anyways, yeah...........

Pun :D

[bsweet]

Nay on rewinds. I hate them because I am a dancer and they totally interrupt my groove. They are very frustrating. The actual sound of the record backspinning drives me insane too. Ugh!! (Not really related to rewinds but too many bad dj's backspin too many times in their sets.)

[Nukegrrrl]

Yeah, I just expect rewinds everywhere because they're so awesome!
Like I was at the NKOTB concert the other night and Donnie was gonna sing "Cover Girl", which is the song where he pulls a girl out of the audience and I was all like, "Whoo, Donnie, choose me!" But he chose some other girl instead. So then I put my lighter in the air for a rewind so he would sing it over again and choose me this time. But as soon as I put my lighter in the air a security guard told me to put it away because there was too much hairspray fumes in the room and I'd set us all on fire!

[ 06-30-2001: Message edited by: Nukegrrrl ]

[sentriK]

Nay. Why do we have to hear the same track over again? Doesn't make sense to me.

peace -
K

[OpheliaDream]

Rewinds CAN be good...emphasis on the CAN. The only problem is when they're overused. Like justin says, they can be good if used skillfully, and knowing where to place them helps. But when you start using them TOO much...oh heeeeelll no. *cough cough usc 5 cough cough*

[antiplur superstar]

Far too many times I've seen a dj stare frustradedly at the decks, shake his head, then rewind. They don't don't sound nice.

. But as soon as I put my lighter in the air a security guard told me to put it away because there was too much hairspray fumes in the room and I'd set us all on fire!

LOL

[Gidgetgirl]

The first time i heard a rewind i was amazed with the effect! i dont remember who it was but they were laying down impossibly phat beats and i was just in HEAVEN dancing like never before then the MC started talking about how a DJ is allowed one rewind per set and the BAM! there it was! everyone went nuts and was lovin it while i stood there in shock till i realized i was wasting good dancing time!...BUT i dont NOT think that a DJ should use them over and over and over again because then its just tired.Like others have mention USC5 KILLED the rewind and all of its glorious effects. Therefore i say Rewinds=YAY if it is rare and far between but definate NAY if its done repeatedly thats just my opinion though...;D Peace and Love Gidgetgirl

[Elroy]

Hmm... I am going to go against the grain of the junglist community (a lil habit of mine), and say generally nay.

People basically said the main reason... it disrupts the flow.

Also, one of the things I find essential to being a good dnb dj, is being able to quickly change their records. In my opinion, a dnb dj should play most songs for about 3 minutes or shorter. If you have ever caught any of my set's, you probably noticed that I drop a good 22 records or so per hour. That is important to me, because even great jungle songs get boring quickly for some reason methinks...

So, obviously rewinds inhibit this. And also, I always question a djs skills if they do too many rewinds... because it makes me wonder if they can actually mix.

I think that one or two rewinds during a set can be great though. A rewind can be really great, especially if there is only one or two, because then it is less expected. Often, when I am watching a dj that does a rewind every three songs or so, I can basically always predict when one will come... and that sucks. Predictability is always a bad thing.

Anyhow, I have only ever done one rewind... and it was great. I felt I picked a very oppertune time, and the crowd was going off more than I had ever made them before.

Since then, I have never again been compelled to do one... even when kids have been bowing to the speakers :).... they just aren't my style.

A well mixed bassdrop beats any song played alone... and anybody who disagrees should go back to dj school.

[ 07-01-2001: Message edited by: Elroy K. ]

[XtaticPimp]

But only when you dont expect it

Exactly a rewind should come up and punch you in the back of the head like, wtf damn that was tight. and then back to the phat beats. At USC 5 I think the rewinds were a way for the ram dj's to stretch the hour long sets they had made up for their tour into longer time slots set up by the promoter.

[LordWoon]

If the rewind is done right, it's badass. Someone was saying "do we have to hear the song again"? No, no, no NO!!! That's not what the rewind is about! It's all about that BASSDROP BABY! When that bassdrop explodes and the dancefloor goes off then a good dnb DJ knows it's time for a rewind. That's right, pull it back! Pull it back! Let's hear that shit again!

But I do agree, I HATE it when they rewind the lame drops. Of course, that's all subjective, isn't it?

Or how about when they rewind way after the drop, say, in the middle of the body. That's a shitty rewind. And that reinforces Elroy's theory that maybe the dude can't beatmatch and needs more time... It also disrupts the flow, like others were saying.

And I agree and disagree about Elroy's theory on a jungle track only playing for a couple minutes to be good. On some tracks yes, on some, no. I can think of dozens that I'd like to hear the whole thing play out and I can think of other tracks that do need to be mixed out of in a short time. Or, my personal favorite, having a new track mixed in and having both play together for a few minutes.

But some tracks are really fucking good and need to be left alone, because I'd like to hear the whole thing.

But yeah, keep the rewinds. Just get rid of the bad DJs who don't know how to do it well.

Laters.

[Elroy]

Hank:

Well OF COURSE there are tracks that you have to play all the way through... but I think you shuld only play a good 5 or so in a set. Even if the track is amazing, isn't it exciting whenI dj plays 20 something amazing tracks in an hour, as opposed to just 15 amazing tacks?

[sothis]

all i care about is if im dancing, i get pissed off if i have to stop because they decided to stop the music and bring it back. i dont care how good of a track it is.. dont fucking interrupt my dancing!!!! argh..

usc made me more angry than anything, because that was some great jungle, but i could only dance for a good 3 minutes at a time before EVERY SONG HAD A DAMN REWIND!!! ARGH!!!!
<froths at the mouth>

[Sparklecheek]

Yeah, I just expect rewinds everywhere because they're so awesome!
Like I was at the NKOTB concert the other night and Donnie was gonna sing "Cover Girl", which is the song where he pulls a girl out of the audience and I was all like, "Whoo, Donnie, choose me!" But he chose some other girl instead. So then I put my lighter in the air for a rewind so he would sing it over again and choose me this time. But as soon as I put my lighter in the air a security guard told me to put it away because there was too much hairspray fumes in the room and I'd set us all on fire!

BWWWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAA!!!! :D

[LordWoon]

I hear ya, Elroy, I hear ya. Nothing worse than a set composed entirely of intro/outro mixes.

*snore*

Laters.

[Muad'dib]

rewinds are ok depending on the situation, I guess..
for example..

not ALL the dj's at USC5 did an excessive amount of rewinds.. I remember some earlier in the night, like Red One, doin them just right, while later I think it was Andy C and Ed Rush, it was non stop and that gets damn annoying
another example of crappy rewinds was when Tech Itch was here last month.. he was doin rewinds like 5-10 seconds after the drop! its like, dude, let it go a little longer before you rewind it!
I guess it takes a good amount of judgement on the DJ's part to know when the right time for a rewind is

and they do suck on mix cd's!!! :p

[revelry]

rewinds?...they can be pretty cool?!...you have to look at it in a turntablism sort of view...most of the dnb dj's i know also listen to a lot of hip-hop...so yeah it's definitely breaking up the song, but that's just what it's suppose to do...you wait till your record is going to climax...you rewind it...and then drop some funky ass rolling bassline or melody in?...most dnb and jungle is already choppy...and i think if you're into the whole turntablism thing...your gonna want to rip shit up...you know? :p :rolleyes: :D

[Respect Recordings]

in favor of, the rude boi original
rough neck, mc with a machette
dance floor ready to rock steady
rhythm of the junglist stylee
complete with the wicked rewind...catch 'em in a grind, one time- my selecta

[XtaticPimp]

in favor of, the rude boi original
rough neck, mc with a machette
dance floor ready to rock steady
rhythm of the junglist stylee
complete with the wicked rewind...catch 'em in a grind, one time- my selecta

is that mc navigator?

[Abe in Exile]

In my opinion, the coolest set of anyone's at USC5 was Randall and all those other Ram Rekkids guys (Red One, Shimon, Andy C) who spin in the DnB area...and they kept rewinding this one track, like 3 or 4 times (it was like a minute and a half long) and it was TIGHT! Oh man what I wouldn't give to be back there again...on Groovetech's streaming recording of everyone's set, it's the second mix, from about :55 to 1:15.

[evilarchangel68]

generally, i see that there are 3 kinds of rewinds:

1. to replay a good part of the song/extend a buildup, which may throw people on the dance floor off
2. an added sound effect that you can drop over the record that is playing
3. a big phat cheat for a dj to not have to mix two records (rewind record a and switch to record b amidst the commotion)

are there more kinds of rewinds that im mising out on? jsut curious.

[Elroy]

Well angelstar_68,

I think that you do not correctly understand the difference between a rewind and a back-spin... here is the difference:

A Backspin is a dj trick utilized by djs of any genre, that is technically closer to scratching than anything else. It is merely when a dj spins one record backwords at any point during their set in which they are playing another record. The idea is to do it timed well, so that it adds a good sound to the other record.

Example:

(Build-up),,,,....::::*BACKSPIN*(beatdrop)!!!!!!

And so on.

A rewind is a dj technique (not a trick mind you, because it takes no skill what-so-ever), used only by jungle/dnb djs. It happens when the crowd reacts strongly to a specific track(cheering, lighters in the air and stuff), and the dj feels the need to start the song again, from the beginning.

This concludes this lecture. Remember to study for the quiz on friday.

[MUD_E_GRRL]

its all about the timing, i think. one or two is cool but sometimes they do over-do it a bit..
eh

[LordWoon]

Hey, it's that mud e grrl girl! Old school kids in da HOUSE! :)

[Bots]

You know I think rewinds are cool most of the time.. Drum n' bass is the only genre that a rewind occurs in from what I've seen. I think that makes it all the more unique. If a track has a lot of energy, well fuck... I say if the crowd flashes up enough lighters and screams their heads off they deserve a fuckin' rewind. Screw all you people who think their "groove" get's fucked up.. who's saying you can't find your stupid groove in that track again when it comes around again. I mean christ, the mc asks if they want th rewind first.. if the majority of the crowd wants it then tough shit.

[Elroy]

Yes, however, how many MCs do you think actually COUNT the number
of people cheering? Besides... people usually cheer whenever other
people are cheering, because its fun, and they are enjoying the set...
not necessarily because they want a rewind.

And also:

Who else thinks that the DJ should be deciding when there should
be a rewind... NOT the MC? I mean seriously... some MCs seem to piss
djs off by asking for too many rewinds, because I think it would be hard
to NOT rewind a track when the MC yells

"Can we get a rewind?"...

It would be weird if the dj was like

"No... sorry."

[Bots]

yeah that's true.. I'll give you that one for free. If there is an mc then it would be kinda a weird to deny the rewind. However it doesn't always happen like that. I've heard an MC say "who wants the rewind" and then I guess people didn't want it so he said "hmm I guess not". So it's not totally impossible for a rewind to not happen even if the mc asks for it. I think rewinds are fine. I happen to like it when the mc just screams "ohhhhhh my gosh!!! Selekta bring it back up to the tippity top for all the ravah's who like to pump it up for real!"

I like being recognized by the mc, and the dj... Especially at Massives because the dj is so far away from the crowd.. It really breaks down the seperation.

so for all you dancers out there who think rewinds mess up your groove, I'm truly sorry, but rewinds are ingrained in dnb culture. especially uk dnb culture. They're here to stay whether you say yay or nay. :p

[GREW-SUM]

who wants it
i just left the uk evrybody does rewinds but htis is only sparked by an mc something seattle lacks in having any dsent dnb mcees other than that thier great.

[stinabelle]

dislike them immensely. they make all that is sweet in jungle cheesy and horrific. fuck 'em and the dj's that do it!

~stina

[BlueberryJoe]

In general I'm definitely against rewinds. There is an exception... if the dancefloor is moving, and the DJ has a hot new plate that no one has heard yet, and the crowd really wants it, that's the time for a rewind. Rewinds should not be done because the DJ thinks it'll make him/her cool, or because the MC loves to call them to feel important, and there should DEFINITELY not be more than one or maybe two in a set. If the DJ can't build crowd energy without using shit like that he/she should look for a new hobby.

Somone mentioned rewinds on a mixtape... unless it was a tape of a live performance, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The whole point is the dancefloor.

[groovinkim]

Originally posted by Nukegrrrl
Yeah, I just expect rewinds everywhere because they're so awesome!
Like I was at the NKOTB concert the other night and Donnie was gonna sing "Cover Girl", which is the song where he pulls a girl out of the audience and I was all like, "Whoo, Donnie, choose me!" But he chose some other girl instead. So then I put my lighter in the air for a rewind so he would sing it over again and choose me this time. But as soon as I put my lighter in the air a security guard told me to put it away because there was too much hairspray fumes in the room and I'd set us all on fire!

[ 06-30-2001: Message edited by: Nukegrrrl ]


i realllly want this in my sig file

[groovinkim]

in general i say down with rewinds.

if the crowd was into it, if they wanted it, if it was obvious that they loved the track.. that'd be one thing.

but most dj's and mc's seem to encourage them just for the hell of it on boring tracks that no one is really dancing to.... blecch.

[Roddimus]

Who else thinks that the DJ should be deciding when there should
be a rewind... NOT the MC? I mean seriously... some MCs seem to piss
djs off by asking for too many rewinds, because I think it would be hard
to NOT rewind a track when the MC yells
Then there are the MCs who don't even ask!
I've seen a few jerk ass MCs actually peform a rewind on their own without even asking the DJ!!! They just step up to the turntable and backspin the record like they were in control.
I'm all for a good rewind, but only when it's the DJ who wants it!
Some MCs need to check their egos at the door.

[Bots]

okay.. that's just totally against good conduct there... I'd punch an MC in the face if he did that personally. I aggree with what Blueberry Joe said.. if it's a new track and nobody's heard it and it totally tears the crowd in a frenzy, I would say "rewind that shit!!!" I will say that after looking throw the USC 5 sets on groovetech, there were a few rewinds too many. I wasn't there the whole time and only heard a few rewinds so I wasn't totally aware.

Rewinds are a dnb trademark if anything, but I think they should only be used when called for. If I was a dj I'd just have a big white sign with "GOOD?" on one side, and if the people cheered loud enough I'd flip the sign over and it would say "REWIND??" if I got more cheers I'd give it to em :)

[Nukegrrrl]

I'd be flattered if you put my silly quote in your sig file, Kim!

[OLLIE BOBBA]

I play Jungle and Jamalski MC'd over me @ NAF and I was glad he only called for a rewind once because it not only messes up the flow for the dancers but for the DJ as well. Now I did not get to go to USC5 cause I was in prison but I was at a party down in Portland and there was a rewind like every third record and it got hella annoying. But sometimes when it's hella hot and you have been dancing for like 5 years it seems a rewind can be cool. I think it all depends. But me, I can do without them.

OLLIE BOBBA