First real gig; have some questions....
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19
  1. #1
    Tech Wizard DJ Altercation's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Delabole Heights, PA
    Posts
    44

    Default First real gig; have some questions....

    Hey guys, it's my first post here and I'm already asking for some advice.

    I've been DJing parties for about 2 years now; just your basic on and off campus college parties, a New Years Eve party, little things like that. I have produced a couple of my own tracks which got some decent responses. I've been honing my skills, experimenting with different stuff, and I feel like i'm ready for my first real bar/club gig.

    I emailed some places in my area asking if they had any openings or needed an opening or emergency guy. I have an interview with a place on Wednesday night at 8, asking me to bring a CD of a mix of mine.

    Now this place is a pretty hot spot; State university up the street, big college scene. I frequent there every so often, I know the music they expect, I know the crowd. But I do have some questions about the setup they are going to be expecting from me.

    I have an HP Pavilion with Traktor Pro 2 mapped to my Numark Mixtrack. When I play parties, I usually just hook up their speakers directly to my laptop, and go from there. I don't have an amp. I don't have my own speakers. I'm assuming this will be alright? I can hopefully just plug into their system. I'm not sure how this really works.


    Thanks for your help in advance.

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Los Angeles, Ca
    Posts
    52

    Default

    Usually from what I've heard you just plug in your laptop with a serato box or what ever software your using.

  3. #3
    Tech Wizard DJ Altercation's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Delabole Heights, PA
    Posts
    44

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by elgi95 View Post
    Usually from what I've heard you just plug in your laptop with a serato box or what ever software your using.
    That's what I was thinking. My mixer doesn't have an audio output though. I plug into my laptop headphone jack and play through there, using a splitter for my headphones and the hookup. My mixer is a Numark Mixtrack which is a USB insert.

  4. #4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Altercation View Post
    Hey guys, it's my first post here and I'm already asking for some advice.

    I've been DJing parties for about 2 years now; just your basic on and off campus college parties, a New Years Eve party, little things like that. I have produced a couple of my own tracks which got some decent responses. I've been honing my skills, experimenting with different stuff, and I feel like i'm ready for my first real bar/club gig.

    I emailed some places in my area asking if they had any openings or needed an opening or emergency guy. I have an interview with a place on Wednesday night at 8, asking me to bring a CD of a mix of mine.

    Now this place is a pretty hot spot; State university up the street, big college scene. I frequent there every so often, I know the music they expect, I know the crowd. But I do have some questions about the setup they are going to be expecting from me.

    I have an HP Pavilion with Traktor Pro 2 mapped to my Numark Mixtrack. When I play parties, I usually just hook up their speakers directly to my laptop, and go from there. I don't have an amp. I don't have my own speakers. I'm assuming this will be alright? I can hopefully just plug into their system. I'm not sure how this really works.


    Thanks for your help in advance.
    It all depends on the venue.

    The bar I'm playing at this Friday has a house sound system, but no monitor, so I have to bring one speaker. On top of that I tried asking the owner what kind of connection I need to plug into house system, he said "Yeah you just plug into the house system"...So you have to know a little bit about pro audio, because you can't expect the owner to know.

    Basically, I have to go before Friday, so find out what they have, and how much space I have, because the only thing I have to act as a monitor is a powered 12 inch speaker.

    You always need to ask if you have to provide your own sound system, because that'll factor into your fee.

  5. #5
    Tech Wizard
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Los Angeles, Ca
    Posts
    52

    Default

    Ask what kind of setup they have most clubs will have their own setup and you just plug in your laptop and your set to go

  6. #6
    Tech Guru Bassline Brine's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    1,827

    Default

    Most places will have a sound guy. Be it someone just working the specific night, or someone who is there on a regular basis. But it's not a bad idea to go down there ahead of time (a night or two early) and talk with them, and check out their system.

    Most of the time you'll just be plugging your setup into an open channel on a club's mixer. Which, if you are using the headphone out, is probably going to be using a 1/8" to RCA cable. (RCA end going into the mixer, the headphone jack into your setup).

    Honestly if you are going to be playing out, it's probably not a bad idea to invest into an external soundcard like the Audio 2 DJ. It's worth every penny to get the best sound, and it's going to be leagues above the sound quality of your internal audio interface. The same kind of setup procedure works though, though you'd probably just need a 1/4 to RCA cable I believe.
    BREAKBEATS AND OTHER MUSICAL ADVENTURES
    Facebook - Soundcloud - Mixcloud - Mixlr - Twitter

  7. #7
    Tech Guru
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Cincinnati, USA
    Posts
    779

    Default

    First of all, I completely agree with Bassline Brine--you should go grab an Audio 2 DJ. Aside from quality it will improve your latency AND allow you to monitor in your headphones. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

    Now then, without knowing their setup it's going to be hard for us to give good advice, right? So you need to tell us a little more

    Do they have a DJ booth with a house setup? If so it will probably be as easy as plugging into channel A of their mixer and playing your set through that. You can use the cable below, it's an 8th inch to RCA Y Cable, they sell them at Radio Shack for under $10.

    If there's no house setup you'll need to find out how they do things and report back to us.

    First thing's first...make your best 60-minute mix of good bar music. And at the interview, take tons of notes. But, don't commit to anything you're not prepared to do.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #8
    Tech Guru calgarc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Montreal
    Posts
    1,438

    Default

    Bring plenty of cables and label them so you do not loose them. Make sure you show up early as well

  9. #9
    Tech Guru Eliot Han's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA
    Posts
    827

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by calgarc View Post
    Bring plenty of cables and label them so you do not loose them. Make sure you show up early as well
    THIS IS SOLID ADVICE ... i carry different types of sound cables for different types of situations.

    ↯↯ OFFICIAL SITE // MY SETUP ↯↯

  10. #10
    Tech Guru calgarc's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Montreal
    Posts
    1,438

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Eliot Han View Post
    THIS IS SOLID ADVICE ... i carry different types of sound cables for different types of situations.
    i live 2 blocks away from my residency so i kind of have it easy lol. i can always run home and grab a cable

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •