What should a completely new DJ buy and/or do to get better?

[theory28]

and then there's that farmville addiction of yours. fucking corn isnt gonna plant itself

hush. my mom plays that and uses my acc to send her what she needs.

[V-Hoff]

You can buy a small midi controller with a lot of functions

Do like me, buy a Korg NanoKontrol for US$50 (or two )!

I do mix with 2 Decks and 2 FX controll with two Nanos and without using any shifted mode or soft take over function.
With them you will learn how to MIDI Map your controller to achieve the best result, you will try different approaches and you will really understand what pure Digital DJing is.

I learned with that setup, plus a M-Audio Oxygen 8 v2 for some fancy button triggering like the Ean's mapping

Later you can choose a better midi controller (with more budget) and incorporate your korg nano to the functions that your controller don't controll

[Nesquigs]

hush. my mom plays that and uses my acc to send her what she needs.

"honey!!!! can you send me some seeds on farmville???? please?"

"no mom, i will not stoop to your level. plus do you know what farmville on my newsfeed will do to my popularity? it will kill it! both online and off!"

"oh well, its ok, i just hacked your FB and did it anyways loooooooooveeeee youuuuu"


lol. thats exactly how i see that going down.

[djfck]

It's not doable for $200. Save more and read a lot.

If you really want to work before then, don't spend any money on stuff. Listen to a lot of music and make a lot of iTunes or MWP playlists…save up money while you learn to make those flow well.

I'm sorry but this is not good advice if you're just beginning and seeing if you're interested.

If you have a mac, I really would recommend the spin + djay. I also upgraded to traktor with a pretty good map, AND it has a built in sound card so you can cue and such. I still use it when I need to be portable.

[Nesquigs]

If you have a mac, I really would recommend the spin + djay.

bingo

[nukage]

one thing i might mention is that if you have any midi controllers at ALL, i.e. keyboards, knob controllers, etc, I would recommend checking that out first. I've had all I needed to DJ for like 5 years as far as gear goes, it took me until recently and buying a bunch of stuff to figure that out. They don't really focus on this mapping that much anymore, but Ean started out doing his controllerism thing on a little Oxygen 8 controller as he talks about here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMMFA3fqVYs . I've seen people do great dj sets using nothing but the trackpad on their macbook too. There's also the free DJ software Mixxx, which you can download right away and start using. You probably don't really need a special soundcard with multaple outputs either, because if you're just playing for yourself you can just monitor and cue tracks on your speakers (you'll need to learn how to cue tracks at some point, but not if you're just messing around). So yeah, check out that stuff and see what you think. djing with a midi keyboard might look goofy but if you've got one lying around or you can pick one up on craigslist for 50 bucks, whats the difference? get any controller, set up the mapping in some software, set up your cue points and jam away!

[theory28]

"honey!!!! can you send me some seeds on farmville???? please?"

actually, she logs onto my account to do it.

do you know what farmville on my newsfeed will do to my popularity? it will kill it! both online and off!

2 accounts baby. one that she takes advantage of where i have some of my really old friends on

and the other for my school friends and such

(i apologize to the djtt members that i have added, you were added on the account my mom takes advantage of. i apologize for the almost constant farmville and god knows what else that you will see on your news feed.

if its all text and or involves a youtube link or soundcloud etc. its me)

oh well, its ok, i just hacked your FB and did it anyways loooooooooveeeee youuuuu

thats not quite how it happened...

[Synec]

Check out a Numark Mixtrack/Hercules RMX/Hercules MP3 E2

I started out on the e2 and just recently got a set of tcv/tables Now to map my akai LPK...hmmmm

[V-Hoff]

And please... try to wait until mid february...
Soon it will be launched a lot of controllers from the NAMM, you must stay tunned to it to make your next step and purchase something.
I suggest keep following www.djtechtools.com and www.skratchworx.com for the reviews and rumors on the next releases of the big DJ companies.

[fullenglishpint]

I've seen people do great dj sets using nothing but the trackpad on their macbook too. There's also the free DJ software Mixxx, which you can download right away and start using. You probably don't really need a special soundcard with multaple outputs either, because if you're just playing for yourself you can just monitor and cue tracks on your speakers (you'll need to learn how to cue tracks at some point, but not if you're just messing around). So yeah, check out that stuff and see what you think. djing with a midi keyboard might look goofy but if you've got one lying around or you can pick one up on craigslist for 50 bucks, whats the difference? get any controller, set up the mapping in some software, set up your cue points and jam away!

Pretty much what I was going to say! Download Mixxx, play a few tracks, learn what the different functions do and see if you like it! Then if you decide it's not for you you're not left with a couple of hundred bucks tied up in something you never use and have to go to the hassle of selling.

On the other hand if you enjoy it, you can check the forums! We don't need another thread on good low cost controllers but just do a few searches and see what people have said. Just make sure you're not reading a post from january 2008 lol!