Getting inside the business - help/tips

Hello,

For a while I've been considering the DJ way of life, i have made some bad decisions, university wise, but finally got track of my life again, so I'm going back to studying during the day and I would like to give DJing a try during the night, try to get gigs on small bars/clubs.

So, to the point, i have no experience what so ever, except listening to music all the time =).

I was wondering if you could give me a hand, some tips perhaps, some place where i can study "djing for dummies" per se, what kind of software i should get considering I'm new to the art and what kind of hardware is really a 100% must have, keep in mind I'm a student and my budget is close to none.

Now, i do understand that this is not really a "help beginners" kind of forum but it looks very professional so i just thought "why not", therefor if you wish to help me feel free to just point out some stuff, don't waste much time on me, what ever effort you put into it i will appreciate.

Maybe there's some movie/video/documentary i should watch to better understand the concept of djing?


Thanks in advance,
-Lopes.

"It's All Gone Pete Tong"

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Originally Posted by tlopes

Now, i do understand that this is not really a "help beginners" kind of forum but it looks very professional so i just thought "why not", therefor if you wish to help me feel free to just point out some stuff, don't waste much time on me, what ever effort you put into it i will appreciate.

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On the contrary I think it is. Download a demo of Traktor and play with it. You can do entire mixes with just your keyboard so you don't need to worry about controllers just yet.

Take the ever awesome Pandaboard as an example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tn9E...layer_embedded

And my own 10 min, four deck mix using mouse only, which incidentally was done for a thread on here that I'm surprised got so little support. :confused:



Next go to the home page and just keep clicking on the random post link. Read everything you find, when your done with that come back and see what's next.

Thanks, I will be checking the movie later tonight.
I'm downloading "Sonic Academy How To DJ With Traktor", hopefully it will help me get over the basics, also, listening to purple radio, thanks, great sound.

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Originally Posted by tlopes

also, listening to purple radio, thanks, great sound.

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ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY PURPLE.

(oh and fwiw - there's a lot of bullshit and mystique around DJing - at the end of the day, play one track you truly believe in after another and you can't go too far wrong - all of the scratching,. beat juggling and effect is just extra ...)

Two books I'd highly recommend:

"Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey" by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton

"How To DJ Right: The Art and Science of Playing Records" by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton

You forgot the Traktor Bible :p

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Originally Posted by Wickedsight

You forgot the Traktor Bible :p

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I use Ableton ;)

That's acceptable ;)