Francis Grasso passed in 2001 at the mere age of just 51. But not before he left his mark on electronic music. He is best known for inverting the technique of beat matching. This technique is still widely used today in techno and most dance electrics music. As a DJ our of New York, Grasso became the first DJ outside of radio that required headphones for his shows. This was so he could utilize slip-cueing and it allowed him to preview the next song.
With computers and technology so ever changing now it's easy for someone to get their hands on an electronic drum kit inside a program on their computer. This is why we see so many remixes of songs now where beats are slipped into songs you never expected them to be in. A huge influence on that had to be Grasso's work as a DJ. He completely changed how we can actually listen to music almost on a never ending reel.
Through his innovations and ability to program music he gave musicians ideas of sequencing better and thinking more for the future of what someone will hear instead of what they are just listening to.
Grasso's innovations are big for our industry. Especially now where programming is such an integral part of so much music. Although he was DJ he was still able to impact how we both create and listen to music. He changed nightclubs forever. It inspires me to find new ways to hear things. To not just listen to things straight forward, but maybe sometimes we have to turn them on their sides before they sound how we want them to. It also teaches me to think about each section of a song as the listener and what would you want to hear next from it.
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