About different DJ setups at bars/clubs

[Jester]

if i had an s4, i would still just take my x1's and soundcard to a bar. the s4 is a sweet controller, but way to big to take out unless it is the centre piece in the setup.

[johney]

might be a case of me playing a pretty niche genre of music, i don't know about the mainstream/top40 venues, but the clubs i've played at usually had a bit older gear. I'm pretty positive the top40 clubs in my town make the DJ bring all their stuff.


edit: @kwal

[Kwal]

might be a case of me playing a pretty niche genre of music, i don't know about the mainstream/top40 venues, but the clubs i've played at usually had a bit older gear. I'm pretty positive the top40 clubs in my town make the DJ bring all their stuff.


edit: @kwal

Oh wow, hopefully they pay them well for that lol.

[JohnnyBarbs]

If I know the bar was a CDJ/Mixer setup already, I usually leave the controller at home and just run with my laptop, an A6 and maybe an X1, just to minimize the clutter in the booth...

[easd]

Do the software depend on the CJD or the mixer?

(Sorry for the dumb question, I'm very new to this)

[mdcdesign]

Do the software depend on the CJD or the mixer?

(Sorry for the dumb question, I'm very new to this)

*CDJ; CJD is Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, aka human mad cow disesase.

But no; you can use any software with CDJs, but you may - depending on the CDJ model; most venues have 1000s or rackmount Denons - have to use a timecode DVS box like a Traktor Audio 6 or Audio 10 in order to use them. You're much better off just taking your controller.

[sobi]

Just to suggest something no one else has mentioned yet... take some time to really think if you are ready to start playing out. I know when I started, I never used the internet let alone own a computer. With that lack of information available to me, I still had a somewhat firm grasp on the equipment being used. Granted, there wasn't that much available either. The standard setup was a couple of 1200's and a rane/urei mixer. I'm not saying you aren't ready or aren't doing your part to find out about what's out there, but if you ask if you need to know this other stuff to play out without having a general understanding of the top tools which are considered standards, you may be putting the carriage in front of the horse.
Take some more time to find out about exactly what type of equipment venues generally are using, and what types of venues are using which setups. Research some of it and find out about how it works/what it does. Then, once you have an understanding of the more popular DJ setups found at most clubs, you might be in a more suitable position to start playing out for people.

[sobi]

PS - not trying to come off harsh. Just pointing out that if you are new enough to not really have that knowledge down firmly, you might no have been DJing long enough to have a solid skill base down firm.

[makar1]

+1 for X1 and sound card. Beats bringing any sort of all-in-one.

[Bassline Brine]

Honestly you're going to see a lot of different setups when you go out. It also tends to reflect on the club and the style of music being played, and if it's equipment installed and owned by the club, or if it's the equipment being provided by the promoters.

If the equipment is owned and maintained by the club, it's always a 50/50 shot if everything is working correctly. Promoters (at least in my experience) tend to have better kept up gear (because either it's a business they rent from, or it's their personal equipment).

You're going to probably run into CDJ's and a 4 channel mixer. Using your S4, you can just plug into one of the open channels of the mixer and start going. It's a pretty simple thing, and it's one of the nice things about using controllers.

That being said, it's awfully silly to use a controller when you are using CDJ-850's, CDJ-900's, CDJ-2000's because of HID mode with Traktor (esp. with a DJM-900 nexus). You just take the USB cables, plug them into your computer, and adjust a couple settings, and BAM full control of Traktor (or Serato with a bit more tweaking) using the clubs equipment. It's something you're probably going to need a tutorial the first time to mess around with and get working correctly, but it's one of the simplest setups out there.

Serato vs Traktor is beaten to death. That being said, you're going to see people using both. Honestly you tend to see younger DJ's using Traktor more often than older DJ's, and that's just a personal observation. Outside of the EDM community Serato is also vastly more popular (at least here in the states) from what I've personally observed in the northeast.

But really, you should be prepared to play a set on anything. Using the equipment provided to you also sets a level of professionalism with gigs that is nice. I say that because honestly you'll get to a spot where you really don't want to be playing the "bring your own equipment" parties anymore if you can be using solid equipment. Those gigs that provide equipment? They are also going to pay you better (more likely) as well.

Everyone starts somewhere. Start playing out. Rent some CDJ's from a local friend / promoter for a week (usually they will do it for cheaper mid-week when they wouldn't be renting them out anyhow).