Effects & processing
Tremolo
Tremolo modulates volume up and down at a set rate. It is one of the oldest effects there is, and on a DJ mixer it is usually offered tempo-synced so the pulse lands on a division of the beat.
In practice
Tremolo moves volume, vibrato moves pitch. Synced to the beat it adds rhythm to something that has none.
Use it on sustained material — a pad, a held vocal, a breakdown — where the pulse it adds is doing real work. On a track that is already rhythmic it mostly fights the drums. A quarter or eighth note is the useful range; anything faster stops reading as rhythm and starts reading as texture, which is a different and much less controllable effect on a big system.
Volume
What it modulates
1/4–1/8
The useful rate
Sustained
What to use it on
Where these come from: Effect behaviour and club practice, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the pitch version.
Why it matters
Synced to the tempo it is a rhythmic tool rather than a wobble: at a quarter note it emphasises the pulse, at a sixteenth it turns a sustained pad into a stuttering one. That makes it a way to add rhythm to a track that has none, which is exactly what a breakdown often needs.
It is also frequently mistaken for vibrato, and the distinction is worth having straight — tremolo moves volume, vibrato moves pitch. Reaching for one when you meant the other produces a completely different result.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between tremolo and vibrato?+
Tremolo modulates volume; vibrato modulates pitch. They are constantly confused and produce entirely different results.
What rate should I use?+
A quarter or an eighth note if the mixer syncs it. Faster than that it stops sounding rhythmic and becomes a texture.
Where does tremolo work best?+
On sustained material — pads, held vocals, breakdowns — where the pulse it adds is supplying rhythm rather than competing with drums that already have it.
Related terms
Vibrato
Vibrato modulates pitch up and down at a set rate — the wavering a singer or a string player adds to a held note. As an effect it is subtle at low depths and seasick at high ones.
Auto pan
Auto pan moves a sound between the left and right channels automatically, usually in time with the tempo. It creates motion without changing level, tone or pitch.
Gate
A gate mutes a signal whenever it falls below a set threshold, so only the loud parts get through. It is the mirror of a compressor: one works on what is loud, the other on what is quiet.
Beat FX
Beat FX are the effects section on a DJ mixer that locks its timing to the detected tempo. Every delay, echo, roll and gate is set in beat divisions rather than in milliseconds, so one setting stays musical across records.
Explore: Audio fade · Beat FX · Gate · All DJ terms