Advice/Suggestions needed

[Sully617]

Alright Guys and Girls,

I don't want to get into great detail here, but here's whats up.

I need some advice on how to do this...

I have Cerebral Palsy on my left side and have very limited hand movement, and can't figure out how DJing's going to work...Also I was born at 25 weeks, had a brain bleed and am deaf in my left ear.

Is it worth trying to get money together to try to DJ? If that happens does anyone have advice on HOW to do it given the situation? I don't have any SW yet, probably getting Traktor though if I do, and I've never done a controller mapping before.

Any ideas/tips/advice/comments are more than welcome. I'm not looking for a pity party, sorry in advance if that is how this comes across. I'm merely curious!



Kairo (Jon)

[SirReal]

While it certainly helps to have two fully working hands, there are pedal midi controllers that can be mapped to certain functions for your feet. If it's something that you really want to do, then I say go for it. You'll be at a disadvatange at first, until you find the right combination of gear that works for you but you certainly shouldn't let that stop you. I will say that because you might need to purchase more specialized gear eventually, it may make it more costly. Do you have a friend with gear that you can use to "try it out" before dropping a bunch of coin on gear and software? As for mapping, there's plenty of guys here who are really good at it and I'm sure would help you out with anything specialized.

[SlvrDragon50]

I think you could definitely pull it off thanks to sync!!

I think a Zomo MC-1000 would be a good controller since all the buttons and knobs are quite large. There are tons of software mappings already out there so don't worry about controller mapping. It's pretty easy to do yourself too if you want to make changes.

[ImNotDedYet]

I taught piano when I was in college and had a student with CP. Her doctor recommended she learn to play a musical instrument to help her with her CP. A piano is a much more difficult thing to "play" than a mixer/controller. So, should your CP stop you from being a good DJ? I would say no.

Are you completely deaf in your left ear, or just "legally" considered deaf? Beatmatching may be difficult in trying to cue up songs if you're completely deaf. But, with all the technology available today beat matching isn't really necessary with the use of sync, and harmonic mixing is easy by choosing songs within the same key "ranges."

I would say if you have a passion for music, and music that lends itself to DJing, you shouldn't let your disabilities stop you from pursuing DJing if it's something you really want to do. IMO, you can be a great DJ even with your CP and deafness.

I'd start out small to see if it's something that you're really into. If you can type OK on a keyboard, try just using the software and computer. If you find you can pull that off OK, then look into a controller.

[cyberninjitsu]

As a fellow deaf DJ (100% deaf in my left ear, severely hearing impaired in my right) beat matching and cueing are hard but far from impossible with most mixers master/cue knob which splits the audio going to your headphones between 50% cue and 50% master or 100% cue v. 100% master. You'll spend almost all your time on your headphones as that's the source closest to your ear and you'll get used to the headphones EQ. Hence why one of the most important things you can do is invest in a good pair of cans. If you're not using a mixer with split cue and get stuck needing to beatmatch the old fashion way (straight cue while listening to your master speakers) then you're going to have a hard time. Not to knock sync but learning to beatmatch really allowed me to "hear" the music better. Best of luck!

[Ozei]

Do you have limited hand movement on your left side only or does it affect both hands? Because in the first case, you could operate mixer/mixing controls with your right (or the healthy) hand and use controller with compact layout with your left hand. I mean that if you get something like Traktor Kontrol X1 (Mk2 probably), you can use cue points, play/pause and sync buttons on two decks without moving your hand, only fingers. You can also load tracks from library to decks with very small hand movements. You could also map your computer keyboard to give you most controls in very small area.

Traktor Kontrol Z1+X1 could provide very compact setup which should be possible to operate with minimal hand movements. Don't take my word for it though, try it out if possible.

Don't let any physical disadvantage stop you, remember that DJing is passion for music and art of knowing your tracks and selecting the right songs to mix

[IznremiX]

Hey, welcome to the forums. You can absolutely take part in DJing! But don't take my word for it, check out these inspirational guys first:

Black Coffee: A very well respected DJ who lost the use of one of his arms when he was young. I know a lot of people are recommending the use of sync, but this guy can rock vinyl sets better than 99% of other djs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_C...#Personal_life

Robbie Wilde: A completely deaf turntablist. I'm pretty sure Shiftee trained him. He tours all over now and is fairly successful.

I guess what I'm getting at is, don't feel discouraged. You can do this just as well, if not better than others. I volunteer with many individuals with similar disabilities and a handful of them are seriously talented musicians. Maybe if you tell us a little bit about what kind of DJing you want to get into, what kind of music you like and so on, we can all give you some more specific advice for how you should go about approaching this.

[Khatos]

You can do it man! Go for it I would say!
Never let anything stop you!
The biggest lessson I've learnt in my life is that if you want to do something, you can do it!


Good Luck!