What's your inspiration?

[DJ Descendent]

thnx for sharing that is an awesome story and i feel the same about how when you get the people going it just gives you that thrill and i love that feeling

My inspiration was living in a party house at college. My housemates and I would throw parties (gatherings to ragers, but always booze, pong, and often dancing) Thursday through Saturday unless we were off to a party elsewhere. As you might imagine, it got a bit old after a while of this so I began thinking of ways to still be social and involved with the party while not just drinking myself into oblivion. So, I decided to give "that DJing thing a shot." I searched for somewhere to do my research on the topic (I research just about everything in my life) and stumbled onto DJTechTools. The VCI-100 seemed like the best choice and the DJTT community had enough support around it to make me want that hunk of metal on my desk immediately.

I got a VCI-100 for my birthday and picked up some headphones and a soundcard and went to it. I found myself wanting to practice during parties, so I gave it a shot. It sounded horrible, I'm sure, and my musical taste was a bit questionable at the time, but with drunk friends as an audience I managed to improve over time and enjoy myself while doing it. I was pretty mediocre for a while, but DJing was serving its purpose for me so I was happy. I was fascinated by DJing, but I didn't understand it at all yet.

There were a few other DJs on campus, and while I was improving... they were better. I've always been pretty competitive, so I wasn't about to let that slide. That said, I didn't know what to do about it. I'd practice some, but I couldn't seem to find good EDM no matter how hard I searched and I got frustrated and felt like I wasn't going anywhere with DJing.

I watched a bunch of DanceTrippin.tv to try to pick up some techniques from the pros. I learned a lot by watching Richie Hawtin, but most of the videos on there didn't have a good enough angle to see the equipment properly. At some point, I found Pioneer DJ Sounds showing Laidback Luke and Carl Cox mixing. My God was I impressed. These guys were pulling off mixes with CDJs and a mixer that I couldn't even dream of doing, even with the power of Traktor at my fingers. I studied the mixes meticulously, tried to imitate what techniques I could, and then started experimenting with some techniques of my own. I'd occasionally jam with some of the other DJs on campus, and I practiced more than I ever had before.

Still, syncing with my VCI (and later my APC40, then S4) didn't feel fulfilling. It was good to get the fundamentals of looping, phrasing, cueing, etc. down, but it didn't feel quite right. So, I started beatmatching manually with the S4. It felt good, but with pitch faders that small it was slightly cumbersome and still felt like I was just matching BPM. Eventually I picked up a Mackie d.4 Pro and a Technics 1200 and that's when my mixing became substantially better. The EQs on the mixer felt like they had much more effect than the s4 and the sound coming out of the mixer just felt much more lush and warm (placebo effect or not, I'm not here to debate that in this thread). Aside from that, manipulating actual vinyl and having a sizable pitch fader made me feel much more connected to the music. At this point I practiced daily and started recording my mixes and listening back to them - another huge step for my improvement.

There's no other way to describe the feeling of mixing with DVS and beatmatching vinyl for the first time other than just legit. I felt like a proper DJ and that was thrilling. Even playing to my bedroom wall, I felt more in touch with the music than ever before. That was inspiring - to feel like I actually had the music underneath my hands instead of just on my computer screen; midi control just didn't compare for me. I'm currently using an X1, a DJM900, and technics 1200s. While I don't practice quite as much as before, I really feel much more on top of my DJing and more in command. I feel free to be creative and take risks with my mixes. I don't feel bound to formulae and rules for mixing - I actually feel creative now.

The best inspiration all along though? That was back when I was DJing our house parties. I had no idea what I was doing and I probably had no business being behind the decks. But, seeing people get pumped when I mixed in a new track, or hearing people tell me afterward that they really liked my mix... That's what keeps me going.

[Emery]

Sierra Leone by Mt.Eden was also the first dubstep I have ever heard back in summer of '09. I loved it, and still do like that song even though I'm a big dubstep guy

[MelloState]

The love for trance music and how it flows from one song to the next
Though people be gettin lazy as to smooth flow, tends to be an ear sore when they dont try to even mix in key or even care what song is next and ends up throwing it off

[DJ Descendent]

Thats awesome it may be an older style of dubstep but it is still amazing.lol

Sierra Leone by Mt.Eden was also the first dubstep I have ever heard back in summer of '09. I loved it, and still do like that song even though I'm a big dubstep guy

[Emery]

Thats awesome it may be an older style of dubstep but it is still amazing.lol

Yep, I remember it like it was yesterday! A pro-skier from Europe mentioned the song in his bio, so I looked it up. It was the first time I ever heard anything like it. at first I actually thought "Dubstep" was part songs name

edit - just noticed,, but I originally meant to say I was NOT a big dubstep guy. I dont hate it, but a bit too intense for me

[Toastmaster]

I got into electronic music around 17. Didn't do much other than listen to the tunes for 2 years; played around with starting to DJ but never had the capital to do so and school was very stressful and time consuming.

After my first college semester, I had a ton of tuition reimbursements from my scholarship; I decided I had worked my ass off hard enough (full tuition/housing scholarship) and deserved a little reward since I never had fun in high school. Bought me 2 American Audio CDJs/MIDI and a mixer and took off from there.

Why I started was simple: I wanted to control the music more - I wanted to become more in tune with it and I wanted to understand it to the full extent I could. It had helped me through the last 2 years of stress and struggle and I thought it deserved to be respected and helped back. In addition, I really just want to spread the power of electronic music to people and make people understand and feel the same emotions I feel when I listen to the tracks. Whether it be a feeling of an epic, bass-pumping night or a deep, introspective moment upon which you reflect your place in the universe, I want the crowd to get connected with the music and the feeling it associates to them.

[DJ Descendent]

ive been reading all of these and hey are awesome stories

[backtothefront]

When I was very young I used to hear a lot on the local news about acid hose parties in Blackburn (near Manchester in the UK, it's where it all started round here!!!). At the time I was trying to learn guitar but I'm way too impatient for that and then I saw a DMC world mixing championships video at a friends house and I was hooked.

About 1993 I met someone who had some decks and that was me, I started buying records from a local record shop every Saturday then I went down to my mates house and spent the night playing them... those were the days!!!

Since then, I went on to play my 1st gig at an under 18's event, in 1994 and I went from there. In the early days I used to think that it was my fave DJ's used to inspire me, Slipmatt, Carl Cox, Ellis Dee and numerous others, but now when I look back it's always been the music that they were playing that served as the real inspiration, new styles and sounds, different production techniques, these days producers like Neighbour and Pete Herbert are really doing the business but if I had to think about it from the past 18 years I could probably name a top 10 of producers or DJ's that made and played their own sound that have inspired me to play their music and pushed my sound in a different direction.

But just before you think it was all a waste, I was at one point a pretty successful happy hardcore DJ, and then when I moved into playing house music I was DJ'ing professionally for about a year, that would have been about 2004 when I've warmed up for Groove Armada, Felix da Housecat, Shapeshifters and K-Klass, I've also been on the same bill as Danny Rampling, Harry Choo Choo Romero, Erick Morillo and others. It's been a while since I've done a proper gig, in fact my 1st for 3 years is at Venus in Manchester in 2 weeks, so all is not lost.

Still looking for inspiration though, because after all none of us would be doing this if there was nobody to inspire us!!!

This I like, a alot! That must've been a huge buzz playing alongside Rampling, a legend in my eyes and ears, also HCCR/Erick too (but I've not been a fan of Subliminal for a good number of years now, they've gone all poppy electro house shite to suit the US commerical 'EDM' market IMHO - all started to go down hill when Pissy Dribbly or whatever Sean Combs called himself then did a track with Morillo).

I'm also a big fan of old school hardcore from my days of going to Dreamscape in the early-mid 90s, just out of interest what was your DJ name then?

My inspiration started in the very early 90s - Mix tapes, particularly Sasha @ G-Spot and Universe, Essential Selection/Mix, Renaissance Mix Collection 1, first turntables were a pair of Soundlab DLP1 (belt drive) and a KAM Made II Fade mixer which was very basic - which only had 3 band EQ on the overall mixer output which looking back was good as you really had to learn how to balance a transition without all the features we have now. First record bought for mixing purposes was a Rising High promo of Union Jack - Two Full Moons & A Trout.

[bigdanhack]

This I like, a alot! That must've been a huge buzz playing alongside Rampling, a legend in my eyes and ears, also HCCR/Erick too (but I've not been a fan of Subliminal for a good number of years now, they've gone all poppy electro house shite to suit the US commerical 'EDM' market IMHO - all started to go down hill when Pissy Dribbly or whatever Sean Combs called himself then did a track with Morillo).

I'm also a big fan of old school hardcore from my days of going to Dreamscape in the early-mid 90s, just out of interest what was your DJ name then?

My inspiration started in the very early 90s - Mix tapes, particularly Sasha @ G-Spot and Universe, Essential Selection/Mix, Renaissance Mix Collection 1, first turntable were a pair of Soundlab DLP1 (belt drive) and a KAM Made II Fade mixer, first record bought for mixing purposes was a Rising High promo of Union Jack - Two Full Moons & A Trout.

Exactly what I had, tell you what, for belt drives they held pitch superbly, although they felt a bit flimsy there wasn't a better belt drive deck!!!

Back in the day I was known as DJ Stormtrooper, (Keep that to yourself like!!!)... I played at quite a few nights in the southwest, Goldiggers in Chippenham, Fruit Club in Swindon, I played at Bowlers in Manchester once too, that was pretty good!!!

Long time ago all that like, I've been working under the "hi-jaq" since about 2002, playing at Bed in Sheffield and my monthly at Sankeys in Manchester were probably the highlights, did some other good events like Dexterity in Blackburn and love2be in Leeds but I was probably a bit deep for the more commercial nights, I was pushing a more West Coast house type sound then, sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't.

It's nice to see a flyer and your name is on it underneath the megastar guest DJ, I regret not making more of it but I'm going to have another go if I can!!!

[backtothefront]

Exactly what I had, tell you what, for belt drives they held pitch superbly, although they felt a bit flimsy there wasn't a better belt drive deck!!!

Back in the day I was known as DJ Stormtrooper, (Keep that to yourself like!!!)... I played at quite a few nights in the southwest, Goldiggers in Chippenham, Fruit Club in Swindon, I played at Bowlers in Manchester once too, that was pretty good!!!

Long time ago all that like, I've been working under the "hi-jaq" since about 2002, playing at Bed in Sheffield and my monthly at Sankeys in Manchester were probably the highlights, did some other good events like Dexterity in Blackburn and love2be in Leeds but I was probably a bit deep for the more commercial nights, I was pushing a more West Coast house type sound then, sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't.

It's nice to see a flyer and your name is on it underneath the megastar guest DJ, I regret not making more of it but I'm going to have another go if I can!!!

Yeah, you're spot on, the DLP1's were surprisingly good, in fact it took me a little while to adjust to Technics. Fruit Club in Swindon, that's a blast from the past! And Bowlers of course is legendary. I live in the South West, used to frequent Lakota and Club Loco in Bristol a fair amount as well as Enzo's near Salisbury. Bristol was and still is a great city for underground music, the D&B coming out of there in the mid 90s was really exciting to be around.

Sankeys and Love2Be - big props too on those gigs, nice little CV that!