Complete Newbie
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Thread: Complete Newbie

  1. #1
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    3

    Default Complete Newbie

    Hi everyone!

    As the title suggests I am complete newbie in the DJ field! Always had a very keen interest in music and also the mixing of music together. I've always been interested in how the tracks are made, and with the use of sound cloud love listening to other people's mixes they've created.

    Anyway, so much so I have picked up a second hand CD Mixer. I have no prior experience with DJ'ing but would really love to have a go at mixing songs, playing about with songs and even recording some of my own mixes.

    I have picked the mixer up today, it is a Numark ICDMIX3 http://www.numark.com/product/icdmix3 The only fault with it is that it has on of the sliders missing off the CH1 display- photo attached:


    Otherwise its in really good condition and it only cost me £115, have seen on ebay they don't go for less than £200!
    I have a few questions if someone could help me?

    - Is there a "best" way to learning about mixing songs into each other or is it just trial and error?
    -What components will I need, at the moment I realise I only need headphones to listen to the music I am mixing, but can I link this up to my Bose Sound dock (understand this isn't the best speaker for this) for louder sound via aux?
    -What components will I need to link this to my laptop eventually, as I have heard that you can use software such as Virtual DJ on my laptop. Otherwise I will use the laptop link to mix music off my laptop if that's possible?
    - Does the slider missing on this device mean that I am going to miss out on huge features, also can it be repaired?

    As I said I'm completely new to this and want to have a real go at it! So I apologise if the questions are very vague or sound simple!

    Thanks in advance and look forward to getting started!

  2. #2
    Tech Wizard
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    89

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by targett View Post
    I have a few questions if someone could help me?

    - Is there a "best" way to learning about mixing songs into each other or is it just trial and error?
    -What components will I need, at the moment I realise I only need headphones to listen to the music I am mixing, but can I link this up to my Bose Sound dock (understand this isn't the best speaker for this) for louder sound via aux?
    -What components will I need to link this to my laptop eventually, as I have heard that you can use software such as Virtual DJ on my laptop. Otherwise I will use the laptop link to mix music off my laptop if that's possible?
    - Does the slider missing on this device mean that I am going to miss out on huge features, also can it be repaired?
    I'm an advanced newbie, so nothing I will say is an absolute truth, but probably at least to the right direction

    1. After learning some theory and the basics (beatmatching, harmonic mixing, phrasing and song structure) best way to learn is trial and error. Know your songs and how to blend them; e.g. start by finding out how to blend intros into outros, dropping songs in breakdowns, how to take advantage of build-ups in songs... Learn basics about song structures and phrasing, then practice beatmatching and then combine these two Youtube has loads of nice tutorials, also does DJTT blog.

    2. You will need headphones to cueing, i.e. to listen the songs before mixing them together, and you can indeed link this to some soundsystem to get master out. Master out channel is what crowd/dancefloor/your mates hear, cue channel is what you use for beatmatching and song preview. (Check out some basic tutorials to get the idea.) In brief, you play song A through master out for people to hear and simultaneously listen to song B through cue channel to get it beatmatched before you blend it into song A (and into master channel).

    3. You can't really connect this to laptop. It has no midi capabilities (AFAIK) and no channel-specific ins/outs so no DVS either.

    4. You cannot use line fader to mix. However, you can use crossfader (horizontal slider) to mix channels 1 and 2, which is viable technique, but line faders are one of the most important features on a DJ mixer... You may be able to repair it, but I can't say for sure. If it's really broken, it will probably need some soldering work to replace the fader. If it has only snapped, it may be possible to hack it together...

    Hope this helps at all.
    Last edited by Ozei; 12-20-2013 at 01:37 AM. Reason: I won't not use no double negatives...
    CMD MM-1 - CMD PL-1 - Traktor Kontrol X1 Mk2 - Traktor Kontrol F1 - NI Komplete Audio 6/Traktor Audio 2 Mk2
    My setup history
    Mixcloud page

  3. #3
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    3

    Default

    Thanks for your response, some good in stuff there to get me started.

    So you're saying the part on this that has broken is called the line fader? Is it the be all and end all if it's broken? Should I make it a priority to get it fixed?

    I have seen someone on a youtube video hook this up to a laptop, how would they have done this? As it dos have a USB port if that makes any difference?

    Cheers guys

  4. #4
    Newbie
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Sorry for some reason my response on here didn't appear

    Thanks for the advice, will be checking youtube for tutorials, unless there are any other websites that you could recommend?

    Also I have seen on youtube that someone had connected the deck up to a laptop. How would this be done? What would the USB port be used for, just a usb stick with music on?

    So are you saying its quite important for me to get the slider fixed?

    Thanks in advance

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