Hello I'm Brandon I'm new to the DJ world and I need advice on how I can get better at Djing. What should I practice first? I already have a whole setup Using Traktor S4.
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Hello I'm Brandon I'm new to the DJ world and I need advice on how I can get better at Djing. What should I practice first? I already have a whole setup Using Traktor S4.
1. buy a bunch of music you like
2. do what all the pros do :) hire someone else to do it for you...
lol If you want some good tips on DJing check out this guys videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr3...eA71X2quaKvziw
Maybe you could tell us a bit more about what you already know about DJing.Quote:
Originally Posted by brandoncapela
What do you want to improve?
The S4 is more then enough to get you on your way.
But keep in mind that you need to put effort into it and practice alot
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vurrnn
I started off Djing using Sync which was obviously a bad way to start. For about a month I practice for about 30 minutes a day if not close to an hour and its just usually 128bpm house using vinyl mode not sync anymore. If a set consists of 128bpm for every song, do I still need to use the pitch fader if traktor already tells you the bpm for the song? Do you recommend me practicing beatmatching only 128bpm songs to start off?
X2Quote:
Originally Posted by calgarc
Yes, Ellaskins.. check out his vids.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
Live it and breathe it, when you are not mixing be listening to your collection as much as possible and get to know your tracks inside out. Practice mixing in and out of a bunch of tracks you love and do it in every way you can think of, then do it some more. If you can do - record everytime you hit play. Listen back to it and see what works, what didn't and how you can make it better, be honest and critical of yourself, challenge yourself constantly and you won't do far wrong
Learn and practice phrasing.
There are many tutorials on YouTube. Check out Ellaskins though :)
-Ellaskins tutorials are very good, Eans old tutorials for Traktor are still relevant too!
-Beat matching is not as important as you may think it is right now, and you'll get better at it naturally. Yeah it's a fundamental skill, but you'll be a pro at beat matching long before you've mastered the skills to be a truly good dj. Don't obsess over your beat matching.
-Set goals, as well as time limits for your practice sesions! Setting new goals as you complete them will help to keep you progressing forward, and setting time limits for those goals will help you focus on the tasks that need to be completed. "Today I only have a half hour, I'm going to practice mixing songs from the bridge to the outro only. My goal is to find two three songs that all sound good mixed in from the bridge, with minimal use of fx."
-Practice in the morning whenever you can! I've recently started doing this, and it's increased my productivity ten fold. You may not feel in the vibe to mix first thing when you wake up, but once you get warmed up it'll be some of the best mixing you'll ever do.
-Practice all the time. When you mess up, keep going, and try to fix it on the fly. Record everything you do and listen to it later. Find out what worked and what didn't.
-Get some songs that aren't 128 BPM as well. Learn how to gradually bring the energy up. Unless you're the headliner and going on immediately after someone else, you won't be able to get away with playing only peak time cuts. Build up a nice collection of things from 110 to 120.
-*WARNING: Super cheesy spiritual life advice henceforth* Consume other media. Watch movies. Read books. Go to the art gallery. Find the emotions and feelings you want to convey. Get in touch with yourself.
The first thing to do is to find music that speaks to YOU, that makes YOU want to get up and move around. Then work on assembling an "album" of those songs in a specific order. Work to convey a message with the songs you pick, and the order you arrange them. Do not worry about "beatmixing" those songs - just get the songs into an order. Work on getting a flow to the music across three or five songs.Quote:
Originally Posted by brandoncapela
This. Everything in this post is excellent advice - but setting goals and limits on your practice sessions is key. Given a blank slate, very few people know where to start. Given a constraint, ANY constraint, you can start to work out an approach to the material. Even the most arbitrary constraints will give you a place to start and something to work around as you practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kulture
Time limits, bpm windows, only one genre, NOT one genre, etc. Even something as dumb as "play songs, in alphabetical order from A-Z by artist (if you are missing a letter, just skip it)" is a way to force you to look for the next song in a way that you might not otherwise think to do "naturally."
Yes. Practice and critique yourself. Train wrecks happen - and learning how to recover, fix the mistake, and keep going is an essential skill you will need when you start playing live.Quote:
Originally Posted by overcast
Can't stress the importance of recording yourself enough.
My friend was in my car and was wondering why I was listening to my own mix thinking I was being egotistical. Really though, it's to hear the mistakes you aren't really hearing during the transition because you may be focused on one thing.
THIS!!! I record most of my practice sessions and it really helps to listen back to what you mixed as you hear things just listening that you don't hear while mixing. It'll help tighten up your mixes and help make the transitions smoother.Quote:
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
buy Technics 1210 and learn using Vinyl
My girlfriend accused me of the same a couple of weeks ago, she understood the practising element but it made complete sense to her when I told her the thing thing that makes my recorded mixes unique is that there aren't any tracks that I don't like in them.Quote:
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
I jumped right in and started with two cdjs and a mixer, but for the first few weeks of learning covered all of the screen with any kind of tempo info. Learning to beat match by ear is really valuable, and while I dont have extensive turntable experience, its a skill that transfers to every genre of djing . Spend a few weeks honing your ears