Pro Tips: Cue Point Placement for Serato Flip

Serato Flip is a great tool for making your own DJ edits and extended versions of your tracks, but also for making interesting loops you can use in your sets and sketching out quick beat ideas with samples. The way this feature works is by recording and replaying cue point automation - in non-music geek terms, that means Serato DJ will remember how you played your cue points and replay this pattern which can be looped.

Here's how you can create space in your Flips by clever cue point placement to change the vibe of the original sample.

1. Inserting silence.

Set a cue point in a section where there is silence either at the end or the start of your track. You can hit this cue whenever you need a bit more space in your loop between drum hits or samples.

2. Using drums.

Set your cue points on open drum sounds in your track and build out interesting loops that you can either use as part of your production or live as sections to mix into other tracks with a similar pattern. One thing to note is that you'll have to be either staying at the same tempo or increasing the tempo of the original track with your Flip, otherwise you'll end up hearing the next drum hit in the pattern. Watch a quick example from Instagram below.

Kicking off Flip Comp 2. Little reworked loop from a classic #SeratoFlipSX2

A video posted by @serato onDec 3, 2014 at 3:26pm PST

3. An instrumental section or breakdown.

The best example I can think of is the sample chop for Simon Says by Pharoahe Monch. Watch the video below to see how Kutcorners has re-created this sample as a way of mixing from the original sample into the track. 

Serato Flip is available as a Serato DJ Expansion Pack you can purchase in-app for USD $29 in the latest version of Serato DJ.

Let us know how you're using it. If you have any questions, reach out below!

Sam S.