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Jimm
Registered User

Joined: 17 Dec 2005
Location: Inwood, Manitoba, Canada

Posted: Mon Jan 23 2006 09:08 Live DJing
This is something I've been dying to know, for what seems like an eternity. I've tried Googling every possible keyword you can think of, and NOTHING. Basically, I want to become a live DJ. Not the kind that just plays requests, but that uses turntables, and mixing decks, and all that fancy hardware. But I can't find ANYTHING on how to go about it! I've looked and looked. I'd just really like to know, -what kind of training I need, or what kind of training there IS -What sort of equipment do I need, and what kind of costs am I looking at -What sort of skills should I have, and how can I go about getting a job as a DJ? Any sort of help I can get here would be awesome. Thanks, Jimm

Sunbuster
Registered User

Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland

Posted: Mon Jan 23 2006 09:45
The guys around here that actually do DJ will probably be able to give you a better answer, but my understanding is that it all boils down to one thing in the end, and that is practice (a lot!). So, start by getting a set of decks and a mixer, hook that up at home, get a collection of vinyls and start to practice beatmatching. Trance and techno and that kind of music is probably the easiest to start from. Once you think you have talent enough you can try to get a spot at some local bars (using the demotape you have made of course) and see how it goes from there. If you're good people will notice and eventually you might end up playing the large parties and being able to actually live of DJ:ing Just don't expect this to happen over the course of a couple of months or even years.

Inge
Man-At-Arms

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Nieuw Lekkerland @ Holland

Posted: Mon Jan 23 2006 12:11
1: Read High Fidelty and learn how to get chicks by dj'ing. Even if you don't become a dj, you'll have a splendid time reading this book (I atleast did, and many millions of others too). 2: Try first to dj with software to see if you actually like it (such as NI Traktor) 3: consider how expensive it will be to dj. Buying new releases each week ain't cheap. 4: check out Juno for prices. Yes, it's really that expensive.
Care for a game of Monopoly?

bigandymac
Registered User

Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Location: Leeds UK

Posted: Mon Jan 23 2006 16:51
i used to do a little bedroom djing a few years ago, but stopped as my hands got shaky. so first thing, have you got steady hands? if yes then youre onto a winner. check out: http://www.decks.co.uk/ for decent equipment (youre based in ireland i think?) so you should be able to get whatever you want from here. there are some decent starter packs as well which wouldnt be a bad idea. for the decks, pros use direct drive which are more expensive, cheaper are belt drive, but they have a longer start up time (shoudlnt be a prob if youre just starting out). for a mixer, you just need 2 channels a cross fader and a few knobs to twiddle (so you look cool). as for vinyl, if you hunt around you can usually find packs of older vinyls to practice with (try ebay), it depends what music you want really. speakers and amp are necessary as well, although if you make music i would assume youve already got those. as for djing itself, as inge says, practice is what its all about. it does take patience but when you get it right its great. if you wanna ask me any questions pm me or catch me on mt chat. cheers andy edit: youll also need some decent headphones as well. these are worth spending money on but if you write music you should have decent headphones anyway? when i started out i spent about �600 on decks, mixer, headphones and about 40 vinyls, if you bought stuff 2nd hand you could prob spend 1/2 that.

Inge
Man-At-Arms

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Nieuw Lekkerland @ Holland

Posted: Mon Jan 23 2006 17:53

Quote:

for a mixer, you just need 2 channels a cross fader and a few knobs to twiddle (so you look cool).

But, unless you want to purchase a new one after a month, make sure that it has knobs per channel for low, mid and high. More is unnecessary, less is cumbersome. They'll be cheap anyway, with everyone wants to be a dj nowadays.

(now that was different when we were young, isn't it Andy?)

*granddad walks away*

Care for a game of Monopoly?

Silas Rye
Registered User

Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Location: South Carolina, USA

Posted: Tue Jan 24 2006 16:20
behringer is a good brand to buy a cheap mixer from, i spent $150 on one and its pretty nice, and hasn't failed me. The hobby is expensive, im kind of quitting actually. I write more and i want to use mp3s (which, depending on peoples stances on djing mp3s, can save you a bundle. mine is that people want their records in the hands of djs, but cant afford to give vinyl to every dj that asks, so its ok if you dont buy the record if your actually promoting it. Ef your selling mixtapes thats another story.) Also this makes it easy to throw in your own tracks and remixes. On this note, i just bought a mixman dm2 controller for $50, with some conversion programs you can use this with traktor(or other midi programs) The controller is cheap, and feels quite crappy compared to turntables, but it would definitly be a good way to see if you like it, plus it will match beats for you, so you can really se how much time you put into it, and then decide if its worth a bigger investment. As far as getting gigs, thats tough, depending on what type of dj you want to be and where you live. Ive always lived in cities with less than 50,000 people, and its pretty difficult to be an actually good dj and spin the music you want and like and get paid a respectfull amount for it. Usually new djs get very excited, maybe even gain some skills, and then get pissed off at the shitty music taste of the crowd. Mostly they'll want to hear whats on MTV and BET (good if your using mp3s, you can have this shitty paying gig to practice your mixing and presence, and make a little cash, but you dont want to waste your money on that music.) You should try and get to know DJs where you live, you can maybe go to their place and they'll let you practice on their tables a little, and give you a heads up as to what the scene is like. You might even get a deal on equipment they've grown out of(make sure its a deal though, and check prices online.)

QBical
Registered User

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Utrecht , The Netherlands

Posted: Tue Jan 24 2006 18:27
stanton's final scratch...
PC: P4 HT 3ghz, 1gb ram, 500GB+ Storage, plextor DVD-rw, M-audo Audiophile 2496 Laptop: Apple Powerbook G4 15inch Other Stuff: Phonic MU802 mixer, Alesis M1 Active Mk2 Monitors, Ipod 2nd gen. 20GB, maxtor firewire HD 80GB

Silas Rye
Registered User

Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Location: South Carolina, USA

Posted: Tue Jan 24 2006 18:40 final scratch
final scratch 1.5 sucks, 2 is suposed to be much better but its like $599, I had D-Vinyl 2020, which actually has a hardware controller for selecting songs, so you dont have to use mouse or monitor, but it didnt allow me to add songs to my playlist on the fly, and i never really used it. If your trying to save money, final scratch won't help cause you'll be buying tables a mixer and the $599 system.

QBical
Registered User

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Utrecht , The Netherlands

Posted: Wed Jan 25 2006 09:40
yeah but it's nice.... and you can use mp3 and vinyl and look cool doing it, wich is the main problem of laptop dj's ( like i am ). Grtz Raymond
PC: P4 HT 3ghz, 1gb ram, 500GB+ Storage, plextor DVD-rw, M-audo Audiophile 2496 Laptop: Apple Powerbook G4 15inch Other Stuff: Phonic MU802 mixer, Alesis M1 Active Mk2 Monitors, Ipod 2nd gen. 20GB, maxtor firewire HD 80GB

Silas Rye
Registered User

Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Location: South Carolina, USA

Posted: Thu Jan 26 2006 16:41
qbical, what program(s) do you use, im just starting and id appreciate any timps on programs, right now im using traktor 2.6, 3 seems sweet with beat synced effects, but i cant affirnd it.

QBical
Registered User

Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Utrecht , The Netherlands

Posted: Fri Jan 27 2006 00:53
well I used traktor, just on my laptop without FS... But a friend of mine has Final Scratch and tried it out when he was playing... Traktor 2.6 just rules, haven't tried 3 though, 4 players seems a bit overkill for me. Grtz Raymond
PC: P4 HT 3ghz, 1gb ram, 500GB+ Storage, plextor DVD-rw, M-audo Audiophile 2496 Laptop: Apple Powerbook G4 15inch Other Stuff: Phonic MU802 mixer, Alesis M1 Active Mk2 Monitors, Ipod 2nd gen. 20GB, maxtor firewire HD 80GB

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