Just a n00b looking for guidance!

Hey guys, I'm Mike. Just registered today. New to the forum, but not to forums in general. So I do know how to search, and use proper grammar for the nazis here that may be lurking.

I'm just a bedroom DJ. Actually an automotive engineer by trade, enjoy using Logic to make some beats and play on my keyboard every day to stay fresh.

So I've been listening to EDM long before it was cool (back when Kazaa was around and I was 10 years old, I didn't know what genres were, so I'd type techno in the search bar and listen to anything that popped up, including some viruses that spread all over my parents computers).

So have I ever fantasized about headlining a festival and picking up any woman I wanted? Yes. Do I really think that is going to happen? No.

But a couple weeks ago a guy on craigslist was moving and he sold (gave me) his mint condition Traktor S4 for 40$.

I plugged it in, downloaded the software, and did a few hours of tutorials, and it works great! OK so I can transition from "techno 1" to "techno 2" flawlessly, big deal.

When I tried to mix songs I actually liked, it sounded like ran a cat over with a lawn mower, clearly I have a lot of work and reading to do.

So my question after all this is how do you guys make those amazing drops from songs that have no similar BPM, or anything in common for that matter. The reason I wanna learn how to DJ is so I can take some of my fav songs and make them even better (in my own mind).

Yeah I could edit 50 songs in Apple Logic and just hit the play button, but I wanna feel it, even if I will only ever perform for myself in my home.

Do you guys pre mix your sets? Do everything on the fly?

I'm a pretty busy guy with house, career etc. So I was considering these (200$ doesn't seem that bad for all the knowledge I may gain):

https://www.digitaldjtips.com/dj-cou...gital-dj-fast/

https://www.digitaldjtips.com/dj-cou...tor-made-easy/

So let me know what you guys think, any feedback is appreciated!

-Mike :)

Hey,

From one bedroom dj to another ;)

I would start with every free available tutorial you can find on youtube or other places on internet.
There are plenty of people teaching you how to dj for free.
Play around with those and once your more comfortable with your Traktor S4 and still have the need you can subscribe
to some paid tutorials.


Going for paid tutorials straight from the beginning is ok but you will miss out on a lot off information just because you are struggling with the basics.
Thsoe basics can be thought for free online ;)


Kind Regards,

Sound Brother

I would advise against spending money. There is a wealth of free information out there (and here). No amount of money you spend will help you learn faster or learn anything new that you couldn't get for free.

as a word of advice from a long time mediocre DJ, there are songs that just don't go together...

Hello and welcome aboard m8

Learn a thing 2 or 4 or 16 about beats, bars and phrases m8.
Most tunes have structure based on that^ so even if the bpms are too far apart for beatmatching you can start the next track at the begining of a movement, timed to begin at the end of a movement in the playing track for example to get started.

Watch some live recorded videos on YouTube of DJs playing music you like.That would give you an idea of what to do.

lining up drops is the easy part. learn your counts of 8. multi genre mixing is certainly difficult. my favorite multi genre DJs are Zeds Dead and Seven Lions. but its all about using all the features on your controller to your advantage. if the music you mix with has a lot of white noise play outs, those are basically freebees to play whatever song you wanted to next

If I could start again, now, I'd consider those courses to get me up and running.

Also, books.

I'm a pro-bedroom DJ going on 17 years and sometimes I pick up new mixing techniques, specifically different ways to take advantage of breaks (drops) utilizing cue points and loops like you inquired just by watching amateur and pro DJ(s) perform sets on YouTube. Especially if they happen to have the camera exclusively pointed on their mixer and players (turntables, controllers, etc.). Give the Pioneer DJ Sounds show (link below) a try for this you want good footage. I'm not a "Pioneer" guy myself (I use Traktor), but I've stolen a lot of ideas just by watching how other DJ(s) utilize the mixer, cue points, and loops.
http://www.djsounds.com/en/seriestag/djsounds-show