Think I'm going Jekyll 'n Hyde on this DJ'ing business!

[Djtom420]

to a certain extent i suppose it depends on your community and what scene you are trying to get gigs in.

more importantly it depends on what you can do with the tool, not about what tool you use.

look at someone like Girl Talk for instance, he doesn't even use a controller - he uses a mouse and a laptop yet is one of the most well known dance music performers in the world.

GOd I luv girl Talk. that dood is sooooefffin awsome at what he does. Did u guys know he preforms using an open source software called audio mulch. yep thats right its free. It was the first piece of DAW i ever used. its quit basic. just a really nice sampler and a 404 for bass. Sick setup. + He just rocks the f*cking room so hard. with only a mouse and a laptop.

[Phil Morse]

I DJed for many years with just an old Sony Vaio laptop and an Echo Indigo DJ sound card, plus Virtual DJ which I'd keyboard mapped to suit my DJing style (ie to duplicate two turntables and a mixer with kills etc.).

I got bookings, but I had already established myself with decks... however, I had a following, and they followed me for my music, not my kit! They really couldn't have cared less what I played on, and I only used the laptop because I saw pretty early on that it was going to be the future, but there were no decent controllers around at the time.

Ean's right, it really doesn't matter what you DJ with... any DJ who hides behind his kit is going to get found out sooner or later anyway. It's about whether you've got the passion and time to dedicate to it, and whether you've actually got something musically driving you along that you want to say... the kit just helps you to get there.