how do you "practice" your skills
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  1. #1
    Tech Student
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    Default how do you "practice" your skills

    I've been Djing for a little less than a year now and aside from a weekend workshop at Dubspot in NYC on the S4, I haven't had much instruction on mixing. I've been reading many of the articles here and watching Ean's videos oh things like harmonic mixing or transitioning but do you guys have any other things that you do when you are mixing at home or techniques you like to practice?

  2. #2
    Tech Mentor dual citizen's Avatar
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    Mix it up. Try practicing a transition between the same two songs over and over till you get it right. But also practice continuous mixing and try not to stop even if you screw up. Practice creating loops and throwing acapellas on top. Practice manual beat matching. It will all seem tedious at first but pays off after awhile.

  3. #3
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    Get together with other friends who like to play records, grab a case of beer and tag it out!

  4. #4
    Tech Mentor No Left Turn's Avatar
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    practice?
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Core i7 :: Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.10.5
    Traktor Pro 2.9 :: Launchpad :: MIDI Fighter Pro Beatmasher/3D

  5. #5
    Tech Wizard darichard's Avatar
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    Other than reading everything you can find online I've found that the best way to improve or learn new things is to hook up with other dj's (vinyl, cdj or midi) and share ideas or techniques, all styles hold the same principals, and i know that i personally am very eager to teach newer dj's everything i have learned. Make sure you record everything you practice, then listen to it after and remember what you liked or didn't like, and fix it next time. Also YOUTUBE is king of tut's.

    MacBook Pro 13" Unibody || TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 || Traktor Kontrol X1 || Pioneer SE-DJ5000 || Behringer B1800D || Behringer Eurolive B212D's

  6. #6
    Tech Mentor ST.PE`'s Avatar
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    I'll take 2 songs and try to come up with 3 totally different ways to transition them into each other.
    it sharpens your ear to count and to make sure your mix is interesting and surprising.
    it takes me about 30mins to a hour to do this if they are new songs to me.

    set cue point through all your songs so you can mash up songs quickly without risking a mistake during your mix/set.

    have speakers facing you so you can hear what it sounds to your audience as well in your headphones.

    make sure you keep the volume level through your set along with eq's.

    I also have many friends who aren't djs that come over and will give me suggestions and feedback.
    Beatslicing for the bitches

  7. #7
    Tech Guru geminimech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by herlsy View Post
    Get together with other friends who like to play records, grab a case of beer and tag it out!
    +1
    Cheers!
    | 13" rMBP | KORG ZERO4 | NOVATION TWITCH | 2 X CDJ-200 | KONTROL X1 |

  8. #8
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    1. Listen to podcasts, watch vids online
    2. Go watch people live
    3. Practice and record yourself and listen to your mixes*
    4. The BEST practice ever is real life gigs.

    Who cares what transition you can do in your spare bedroom. Go play in front of a crowd or just some friends and practice your song selection, when to let a song ride or when to cut a song short, etc. and see first hand what works. I think you get the most out of that.
    SSL - DJM 800 - Technic 1200's - X1 - ITCH - NS6 - VCI-300

  9. #9
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    The best way to sharpen your skills in my opinion; know your music! Listen to your tracks over and over till you know every part of the song. Once you know what and when a track is going to do something, you will be able to mix in different parts of your track flawlessly. Know your music is the most important part of djing, if you ask me.

  10. #10
    Tech Mentor JazZmutant's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by haze324 View Post
    1. Listen to podcasts, watch vids online
    2. Go watch people live
    3. Practice and record yourself and listen to your mixes*
    4. The BEST practice ever is real life gigs.

    Who cares what transition you can do in your spare bedroom. Go play in front of a crowd or just some friends and practice your song selection, when to let a song ride or when to cut a song short, etc. and see first hand what works. I think you get the most out of that.
    ^^This hits the nail on the head imo.

    Only other thing to do is practice what you pick/see up and play anything you want for an hour+ a day a few times a week and you will be amazed at how your skills hone up.
    DJ'n since 02', Performing since 06', CD's - Timecode - Full Digital - Digital and External Hardware Experience

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