The Official Beginners DJing Thread

Oh and making money at DJing ...stepping out of the bedroom once you got your skills ... is throw a House Party. Yes, you heard it right. Becoz the next step is DJing in front of crowd, reading a crowd, playing what the crowd wants to get them moving, all that good stuff. You thought you could just spend 5 gs on the latest gear and people would just flock to you? No man, being a DJ, making money off it is harder/easier than you think.

For starters its self run business. So run it like one.
Second, if you suck at self-promotion being a DJ is going to be a pain. Because like any business/job its all about networking, meeting people, working your ass off to get known and get in people faces to pay attention to you. If you are heavily anti-social, you have some hurdles to get over.

Many of the tops DJs started working a bar. Busing, bartending, coat check. Whatever. This is a networking opportunity to maybe work your way on getting your promo to someone.

Promoting. The thankless job of getting those nights known. Handing out flyers from 3am to 6am in the cold. Another opportunity to get known.

Oh, and maybe selling out and doing the wedding circuit and/or Top 40 club spot.
You'd be surprised how much money you can make and how much you'll learn.

And don't be surprised if you start out at 9pm spinning to an empty club. Learning how to build that for the next DJ is a true art. If you can put some heads in the door by being an opener, you are on your way.

Radio is good place to start too. College radio. Get a spot at 12am on a Friday night and spin and self promote. I started in radio learning the love spinning jazz and downtempo during the day. Same gear, same principle. For free. Free music. The even gave me some gear, a Peavey mixer which I blew in a couple days. And college radio usually has a library of tunes and old vinyl kicking around. Some RARE finds.
 
jpgrdnr said:
Oh and making money at DJing ...stepping out of the bedroom once you got your skills ... is throw a House Party. Yes, you heard it right. Becoz the next step is DJing in front of crowd, reading a crowd, playing what the crowd wants to get them moving, all that good stuff. You thought you could just spend 5 gs on the latest gear and people would just flock to you? No man, being a DJ, making money off it is harder/easier than you think.

For starters its self run business. So run it like one.
Second, if you suck at self-promotion being a DJ is going to be a pain. Because like any business/job its all about networking, meeting people, working your ass off to get known and get in people faces to pay attention to you. If you are heavily anti-social, you have some hurdles to get over.

Many of the tops DJs started working a bar. Busing, bartending, coat check. Whatever. This is a networking opportunity to maybe work your way on getting your promo to someone.

Promoting. The thankless job of getting those nights known. Handing out flyers from 3am to 6am in the cold. Another opportunity to get known.

And don't be surprised if you start out at 9pm spinning to an empty club. Learning how to build that for the next DJ is a true art. If you can put some heads in the door by being an opener, you are on your way.
Click to expand...

nice post - some wise words there.

As a Dj, Organiser and Track maker who has been through years of this kind of stuff to be able to support myself and now a family on the music business alone, i guess i should add some thoughts.

start by having fun - don't get your heart set on "making it" just yet cause its a hard fucking game man believe me.

you sound like you've got the right attitude to start off.
it's wise of you to seek advice here on BL before making any bold moves.

also if you have been drumming for enough time to know your time signatures, be able to judge the bpm within 10 either way, know your 8 beats from your 16s, your breakbeats from your breakdowns, and generally have a firm grasp of rhythm then you are well on your way already.

I started Drum lessons when i was 4 years old, so 10 years later learning to beat match records came pretty easily to be honest.

it took me a further 10 years to be able to play for any crowd in any situation, to entertain and work a crowd whilst still keeping my mixing tight, and to build up a record collection, customer base, and broader knowledge of music and music history.

Its almost another ten years on now, and i finally have enough success to keep food on my back and clothes on my table.

strive for success, don't strive for fame.
you can be satisfied with success, but you'll come a cropper if your focus is ego masturbation.
to elaborate, i mean don't sell out, don't go for fame over fun.
never play a record that you don't like, just because you think everyone else will.

the trick is to build up such an eclectic selection of great music, a plethora of styles and sounds in which every track is hand selected because you fucking love it, so you will be able to drop bombs on any dance floor. your love of the music will shine, and people will feed off your energy.

djing is an extension of yourself, its portraying a part of yourself through your style, skill, and sweet selection. you are up there to let loose, to let rip, to fuel your passion for the music with the blaze of performance and unleash your weapons of mass dance action.
if you are loving it, then people will love you.

if you sell out, you lose.
djing will become tiresome work if you just play the average tracks for the average punter.
your boredom will show forth and you'll no longer shine.
don't matter how much money your making or how many people attend your night. if you aint lovin it, they aint lovin it.

anyway i could babble on all night.....

Logistically speaking i recommend the following.

- buy a cheap audio interface (m-audio connectiv is a great start) and connect to your pc and mixer.
- use "virtual dj" to start mixing your existing "banging tunes"
- get to know your traxx inside out, and learn which ones sound wicked together
- get the basics of when to build, to drop, to cut, to fade etc down well enough to put together a decent enough set. (record every mix and play back helps - give cds to friends etc)
- get a set at mates party/get your mates round and go wild
- make sure a) you got enough skills and b) you love performing for others as much as you thought you would.
- THEN upgrade to vinyl control/traktor skratch/ live sets/ ableton etc
- keep searching for new traxx everyday and ONLY keep the ones you LOVE (fuck the average ones - these must be your weapons!)
- practice, play, perform, and promote.

the rest will follow.

most importantly

- Have a fucking good time -

if your lucky, you'll find yourself in the music business 20 years later wondering how your life could possibly be any better =D

DJ
 
DJ 303 said:
- buy a cheap audio interface (m-audio connectiv is a great start) and connect to your pc and mixer.
- use "virtual dj" to start mixing your existing "banging tunes"
- get to know your traxx inside out, and learn which ones sound wicked together
- get the basics of when to build, to drop, to cut, to fade etc down well enough to put together a decent enough set. (record every mix and play back helps - give cds to friends etc)
- get a set at mates party/get your mates round and go wild
- make sure a) you got enough skills and b) you love performing for others as much as you thought you would.
- THEN upgrade to vinyl control/traktor skratch/ live sets/ ableton etc
- keep searching for new traxx everyday and ONLY keep the ones you LOVE (fuck the average ones - these must be your weapons!)
- practice, play, perform, and promote.
Click to expand...

So I have nothing. Just songs I love. Your recommending getting M-Audio as a starter or vitual DJ? I have too start off slow and cheap!
 
toa$t said:
so someone who knows how to beatmatch but has never gotten a gig is a dj, and someone who plays out on traktor every weekend is not a dj?

hmm...
Click to expand...
I guess, theoretically, anyone that plays recorded music for people is a dj, and I do believe track selection is the most important dj skill, however, I don't think I could respect a dance music dj that couldn't beat match.
 
Yeah, you're not going to be able to do much with just a PC and music. I guess you could use the computer to automatically beatmatch the tunes, and then use the crossfader to switch them. But that sounds like shit, the music won't sound mixed at all, and the tracks will clash together. Besides, no DJ with any self respect at all would use auto-sync. You also need to be able to use the EQ knobs, and you need to be able to do all this quickly and accurately, and I guarantee you won't be able to with only a mouse.

At the bare minimum, you need a midi controller/mixer, software for it and a decent pair of headphones, and maybe two soundcards (not sure about that one, I'm not a DJ, somebody here probably knows the answer).

If I were you I'd get these:
M-Audio Digital DJ Mixlab System
Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones (These are really good for the price, and have a very long cord)

Play around with those for a while, and if you like it, you can upgrade to better equipment, but if not, you're only down about $100, and you could probably sell the equipment on craigslist or something.

BTW read everything on this site. It will probably be helpful to you:
http://djmandrick.com/html/djtutorials/djtutorials.htm
 
Oxycontin160mg said:
^^ which do u recommend, logic or cubase?
Click to expand...

i'd recommend logic if you're on a mac, but only purely because that's what i use. i don't really know cubase or live (from what i've seen on cubase it seems to be less intuitive than logic for me). it doesn't really matter which program you use; you will most likely be using the same plugins anyway. just try out a few. if you find one that more or less suits your workflow stick with it and learn it inside out. getting to know any of these programs is going to be a lot of work as they are packed with functionality. but once you really get the hang of it, you can do amazing things :)
 
marsmellow said:
Yeah, you're not going to be able to do much with just a PC and music. I guess you could use the computer to automatically beatmatch the tunes, and then use the crossfader to switch them. But that sounds like shit, the music won't sound mixed at all, and the tracks will clash together. Besides, no DJ with any self respect at all would use auto-sync. You also need to be able to use the EQ knobs, and you need to be able to do all this quickly and accurately, and I guarantee you won't be able to with only a mouse.

At the bare minimum, you need a midi controller/mixer, software for it and a decent pair of headphones, and maybe two soundcards (not sure about that one, I'm not a DJ, somebody here probably knows the answer).

If I were you I'd get these:
M-Audio Digital DJ Mixlab System
Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones (These are really good for the price, and have a very long cord)

Play around with those for a while, and if you like it, you can upgrade to better equipment, but if not, you're only down about $100, and you could probably sell the equipment on craigslist or something.

BTW read everything on this site. It will probably be helpful to you:
http://djmandrick.com/html/djtutorials/djtutorials.htm
Click to expand...


Thank you very much, if there was a book for dummys on djing Id get it, oh there is! :)


thank you again:D
 
if you only have a pc and want to try djing, i suggest you invest in a cheap audio interface like m-audio connectiv, and use virtual dj to start mixing your tunes.
get a feel for it, record your own sets, when youve got one that comes up to a basic standard, hand it out to your mates.
ideally you need a cheap dj mixer too so you can listen to one track in your headphones.
if this all works for you and you enjoy it, then continue.
throw a house party!
 
I recommend that you buy reel-to-reel audio players, because DJs who use turntables don't have any self-respect because they don't know how to beatmatch the actual source of the music, and the point of DJing is being able to beatmatch and look cool rather than play kickass music
 
^^ Reel to Reel is awesome. DJs suck because they can't have samples that run across a big room. And aren't we just repeating ourselves Toast?

The below are just my views, man:

The Difference Between DJing and Live PA is Small These Days

I'd just like to point out what I tried to say in my starter equipment suggestions is that DJing at its roots starts with a love for vinyl. So I'd just like to toss in my two cents that it begins with vinyl and not with a PC or Mac. There's nothing digital about it and has nothing to do with production whatsoever. And this is the important point, is that at its core, what DJing is really about is 2 turntables and a mixer, and the technology is just Djing in a different evolutionary form. Its still very much grounded in that core idea of taking 2 tracks and making them working together.
That's the magic of it. The technology just makes it easier to achieve that. The process is no different.

You can still do everything on tables as you can do on a digital box. Loops, effects, having 4 tracks or loops going at the same time, whatever. Look at Jeff Mills or Kid Koala.

All I'm saying is there is a history there that you have to respect. Crate digging, looking up producers, finding really weird stuff and making it work in your set, and the fact that people (depending on the setup) still want to see DJs do something other than "check their email" and want to see DJs play around with vinyl for whatever reason.

.

Ok, now I sound like a really old angry man talking about a soon to be dead art, beyond turntablism, hip-hop, and maybe new jazz/downtempo.

Where I think people get confused is that the line between a "Live Production Act" and DJing is getting so blurred who knows what people are spinning these days. You're probably getting some live effected mashup of Britney with an old skool hardcore beat with a new breaks track, with some midi cued samples and twitted live on some big screen with beatmatched video. Seriously. Its gone that far.

The sky's the limit, kid. You probably can go get Ableton and Logic and use them both and make them work together on the same laptop, or two. Make your own tracks. Play live synth thru a vocoder. Get your drummer friend and his kit and make him play to a click track. Hire your older hippie metal brother to play live guitar and shows. Who knows. I think the trick, and I haven't done much of with Traktor is PRACTICE. For however you want to approach making dance music just remember to make people DANCE. And if YOU can't dance to
it, it probably sucks.

.

I was also going to toss in some mad cred to Disco and that era for mixing on belt drives and wack gear that probably died mid set. But the people dancing were probably too fueled on cocaine to notice any different. Ahhh, roots!
 
toa$t said:
so someone who knows how to beatmatch but has never gotten a gig is a dj, and someone who plays out on traktor every weekend is not a dj?

hmm...
Click to expand...

what?

if you can beatmatch but never had a gig, then yeah you are a dj. just because u havnt done a gig doesnt mean you can't dj..

if you play out using traktor and beatmatch with its software features then no you're not a dj, since you aren't actually doing the beatmatching. u might as well be playing DJ Hero.

Not that beatmatching is the sole mark of a DJ, but if you cant use turntables/mixer then you are not a DJ. I mean, I guess you are a "DJ", in the sense of a weeding-DJ or a FM radio-DJ, someone who just puts tracks together.

Lets think about this for a minute. If you don't beat match, then you arent mixing tracks together, and if you arent mixing tracks together then your not DJing.

Unless your a turntablist. But I've never met a turntablist that couldnt beatmatch.
 
jpgrdnr said:
^^ Reel to Reel is awesome. DJs suck because they can't have samples that run across a big room. And aren't we just repeating ourselves Toast?

The below are just my views, man:

The Difference Between DJing and Live PA is Small These Days

I'd just like to point out what I tried to say in my starter equipment suggestions is that DJing at its roots starts with a love for vinyl. So I'd just like to toss in my two cents that it begins with vinyl and not with a PC or Mac. There's nothing digital about it and has nothing to do with production whatsoever. And this is the important point, is that at its core, what DJing is really about is 2 turntables and a mixer, and the technology is just Djing in a different evolutionary form. Its still very much grounded in that core idea of taking 2 tracks and making them working together.
That's the magic of it. The technology just makes it easier to achieve that. The process is no different.

You can still do everything on tables as you can do on a digital box. Loops, effects, having 4 tracks or loops going at the same time, whatever. Look at Jeff Mills or Kid Koala.

All I'm saying is there is a history there that you have to respect. Crate digging, looking up producers, finding really weird stuff and making it work in your set, and the fact that people (depending on the setup) still want to see DJs do something other than "check their email" and want to see DJs play around with vinyl for whatever reason.

.

Ok, now I sound like a really old angry man talking about a soon to be dead art, beyond turntablism, hip-hop, and maybe new jazz/downtempo.

Where I think people get confused is that the line between a "Live Production Act" and DJing is getting so blurred who knows what people are spinning these days. You're probably getting some live effected mashup of Britney with an old skool hardcore beat with a new breaks track, with some midi cued samples and twitted live on some big screen with beatmatched video. Seriously. Its gone that far.

The sky's the limit, kid. You probably can go get Ableton and Logic and use them both and make them work together on the same laptop, or two. Make your own tracks. Play live synth thru a vocoder. Get your drummer friend and his kit and make him play to a click track. Hire your older hippie metal brother to play live guitar and shows. Who knows. I think the trick, and I haven't done much of with Traktor is PRACTICE. For however you want to approach making dance music just remember to make people DANCE. And if YOU can't dance to
it, it probably sucks.

.

I was also going to toss in some mad cred to Disco and that era for mixing on belt drives and wack gear that probably died mid set. But the people dancing were probably too fueled on cocaine to notice any different. Ahhh, roots!
Click to expand...

Traktor does suck, Serato is better.
 
jpgrdnr said:
^^ Reel to Reel is awesome. DJs suck because they can't have samples that run across a big room. And aren't we just repeating ourselves Toast?

The below are just my views, man:

The Difference Between DJing and Live PA is Small These Days

I'd just like to point out what I tried to say in my starter equipment suggestions is that DJing at its roots starts with a love for vinyl. So I'd just like to toss in my two cents that it begins with vinyl and not with a PC or Mac. There's nothing digital about it and has nothing to do with production whatsoever. And this is the important point, is that at its core, what DJing is really about is 2 turntables and a mixer, and the technology is just Djing in a different evolutionary form. Its still very much grounded in that core idea of taking 2 tracks and making them working together.
That's the magic of it. The technology just makes it easier to achieve that. The process is no different.

You can still do everything on tables as you can do on a digital box. Loops, effects, having 4 tracks or loops going at the same time, whatever. Look at Jeff Mills or Kid Koala.

All I'm saying is there is a history there that you have to respect. Crate digging, looking up producers, finding really weird stuff and making it work in your set, and the fact that people (depending on the setup) still want to see DJs do something other than "check their email" and want to see DJs play around with vinyl for whatever reason.

.

Ok, now I sound like a really old angry man talking about a soon to be dead art, beyond turntablism, hip-hop, and maybe new jazz/downtempo.

Where I think people get confused is that the line between a "Live Production Act" and DJing is getting so blurred who knows what people are spinning these days. You're probably getting some live effected mashup of Britney with an old skool hardcore beat with a new breaks track, with some midi cued samples and twitted live on some big screen with beatmatched video. Seriously. Its gone that far.

The sky's the limit, kid. You probably can go get Ableton and Logic and use them both and make them work together on the same laptop, or two. Make your own tracks. Play live synth thru a vocoder. Get your drummer friend and his kit and make him play to a click track. Hire your older hippie metal brother to play live guitar and shows. Who knows. I think the trick, and I haven't done much of with Traktor is PRACTICE. For however you want to approach making dance music just remember to make people DANCE. And if YOU can't dance to
it, it probably sucks.

.

I was also going to toss in some mad cred to Disco and that era for mixing on belt drives and wack gear that probably died mid set. But the people dancing were probably too fueled on cocaine to notice any different. Ahhh, roots!
Click to expand...
i can say from experience,if you havent bought equipment yet..get something like serono,torq..2 turntables and a laptop..i started with vinal,realized alot of the music i wanted they dont make on vinal,bought cd decks..then shortly after they came out with serano..and i could have done the same thing with that..for anyone that has an eclectic taste in music..you can beatmatch it the same way for the most part..and givin theres some vinal you cant find on mp3..but you can use both anyway,..not to mention,it makes organization of your music alot easier..when you have 200 cds.using this kind of layout,and digging for the rest you cant find on digital..in the long run its alot better for a poor dj. and i definatly gotta agree..you get a good mixer it can do the same things..then you have beat machines,chaos pads to add effects or extra improvised flair..being a good dj is doing something impressive,beatmatching tracks,crossfader tricks,scratching,live stuff..
 
How can I get started?

I hope this doesn't receive to many flames. I noticed this section and thought I'd see if any of you can provide some insight. There doesn't seem to be many beginner threads that I could understand.

I'm technically inclined, not much I can't figure out on a computer but I don't know anything about music. My wife is musically inclined and understands music theory. She says she can teach it to me.

What I want to do is produce sounds like psytrance & goa-trance. I like the speeding up and slowing down, shift sounds. I would want my songs to feel like a ride. Right now I just want to get a feel for producing a loop or track because I have no experience. I've played around with FL studio 9, & Reason 4 but I don't know how to use them properly. I also have a keyboard and that is all.

I'm not interested in buying any equipment right now, I just want to learn how to produce trance on the computer and if I can get the keyboard to connect to the computer I could use it to, but that's not important to me right now.

So, I guess software wise, what are some things I should be looking at learning to use. What terms do I need to know, what do I need to make myself familiar with or am I on the wrong path entirely?

Thanks for you help :)
 
Depends how serious you are. If you invest money now, it will save you trouble in the future. Albeton live www.ableton.com/, is a staple choice in my opinon (a lot of professionals use this). It costs a fair bit, but a lot of people out there use it for EDM, regardless of genre. It takes a life time to learn, but really, something as powerfull as ableton, you wouldn't expect much else. Sort of like the photoshop of music, takes about a 20hrs to be able to do some cool things, but a life time to master.

The other option is to just buy a good synth, and start making cool sounds, but even then you need a midi interface (like albeton) to work/save your sounds. There are cheaper options out there, but getting a good interface to work with is a good start.

If you think your interest may way quickly, you might try getting something free/cheaper fruity loops comes to mind, to get a taste for it.

Also if you have a mac, it comes with garage band, which is enough to get your teeth wet.

Goodluck man, but when it comes to making goa/psy I have no f'n idea, you could buy a 808 acid machine :)

Goodluck!! post some sounds if this gets off the ground. :)
 
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