New to "DJing" - would like some advice

[Scribbl3]

All of the advice on here has been great. I only have a few things I might add:

- Practice, practice and more practice. Practice as if you are playing for a room full of people, or if you are opening for a night at a particular club.
- Your gear looks good. One thing I've learned is that you should spend less on gear and more on promoting yourself.
- Start trying to get gigs. Nothing can beat actually playing in front of people. No matter how many hour you spend practicing, until you start gigging, you are still just a bedroom DJ.
- Learn phrasing. This is the thing that separates average DJs from good DJs. There might only be 2-3 people in the room that really notice it and can tell you what you did wrong, but the rest of the crowd knows it in the back of their mind.

Good luck. DJing is simple and easy to get into, but you will spend a lifetime mastering it.

[MalcolmDeXXX]

Thanks Scribbl3.

I have uploaded the same mix from last week again. I took it down because I made a few mistakes...but it doesn't matter.

I can't embed for some reason though, so here's the link:

https://www.mixcloud.com/MalcolmDeXXX/april-tech-house/

[Paul Margiotis]

Hi all,

I am new to Djing (3-4 months) and have taken to it fairly quickly as my flatmate has basically taught me the basics of beatmatching. I practise daily and of course find it incredibly fun.

My Gear
- Traktor S2 MK2
- Traktor for iPad
- Pioneer CDJs (Old ones but no mixer yet so unusable)

I have two questions:

1) Other than beatmatching, having obscure songs to hand (so you don't just sound like others), ability to play to mood of crowd...what other important skills will I need to develop to become a skilled DJ? I am primarily playing House (proper house, not Disclosure) and Grime.

2) What other kit should I buy and can I get by on what I have so far? (Money is tight)

These are both good questions, but I hope you don't mind if I only focus on (1).
One important skill would be to learn how to read your waveforms. After some practice, you should be able to identify where the breakdown is, when a bassline is introduced, what parts of the track contain melody, and so on. Your waveforms will be much easier to read and you'll be able to identify the various elements of a track if you change your waveform view to "Spectrum". To do this, go to Traktor ---> Preferences ---> Decks Layout ---> Miscellaneous ---> Color Mode ---> Spectrum.
Another important skill to develop is to be able to identify what tracks will mix well with any given (house) track that is playing. So, if you're in a club and someone is opening up for you and their last track is playing, you should be able to listen to it and think of a number of tracks that will blend well with it. This is important because you will sometimes be pressed for time in a live environment and you must be able to think and act quickly. A prerequisite to this, of course, is that you know your tunes. This will make mixing in front of audiences a lot easier, because you won't have to constantly pop tracks into a deck, sample and try to find what one works best with the one that is playing. Since you will have more free time, you can afford to do more advanced level mixing, like mixing with 3 decks, integrating effects, so on and so forth.
And yet another important skill is to learn how to count bars. This may seem redundant with waveforms in front of you, but you may not always have them available, so it's best to be able to do the math in your head. This may seem tedious at first, but once you learn how to do this, how house music is structured, it will make your job a lot easier when you play in front of others. DJing live is only fun if you have your ducks in a row. If you're not prepared, you're going to be stressed out and frustrated, and that's going to affect your performance.
My last piece of advice is this: network. Go out, meet people, play nice with others, be social in person and online, and make friends with the right people. This will hopefully get you booked some place, and it is here where the next level of your education will begin. The more gigs you play, the more you'll learn how to read the crowd and properly time what track to play when. You can be the best DJ in your city, but if you have no crowd pull or worse, if people don't like you, you'll be playing in your bedroom for good.
I hope you've found this helpful.

[MalcolmDeXXX]

Great advice Margioitis, thanks.

[Lanz the joiner]

I read an article not long ago, I think it was on Digital DJ Tips or a similar site. The author set out to answer the question of what 'makes' a real DJ, and he arrived at the conclusion that it is knowing what to play next. I think he might have a point.

Another important skill to develop is to be able to identify what tracks will mix well with any given (house) track that is playing. So, if you're in a club and someone is opening up for you and their last track is playing, you should be able to listen to it and think of a number of tracks that will blend well with it.

Could you expand on that, going into a little more detail on how you identify what will mix in well and what will not?

I used to simply listen to the song that was playing, and wait for a 'next song' to come to mind, or flick through my tracks to see which one jumped out at me. I think picking tunes to go well together, and creating a structure of moods and feelings for a set, was probably my biggest weakness.

Recently I've been trying to think more methodically and consciously about which song to play next. I look through my tracks and actually visualize (audialize?) them playing, instead of letting my subconscious choose which one will 'jump out' at me. Apart from the overall mood and energy of a track, which are obvious considerations, I've tried to think about them in two ways: frequency content and phrasing.

So most tracks use most audible frequencies. But, they all have a bunch that stand out more than others. Subzero by Ben Klock is quiet and detailed in the midrange punchy areas, and the high frequencies are comparatively loud. Makam's New York Hustler Reconstructed by Losoul, has a smoothness in the high frequencies and midrange, with a bassline in the 100Hz region that really sticks out. So the very different frequency content of these two tracks (as well as other things) would make for a very noticeable blend.

By 'phrasing' I mean the rhythmic qualities of the main riff used in the track. Most tracks have stuff going on all the time, some noise occurring on almost every 16th note or even more frequently than that. But the main meaty riff of the track has a specific emphasis, and a certain length and number of notes. So Staring Into One Eye by Avus has a main riff that is super 16th-y, and it takes four bars to repeat. Free Floating by Daniel Avery has a less 16th-y, more syncopated riff, that only takes two bars to loop. So going from something that loops in two bars, to something that loops in four bars, will create a kind of noticeable effect.

[Paul Margiotis]

Great advice Margioitis, thanks.

You're welcome.

[Paul Margiotis]

Could you expand on that, going into a little more detail on how you identify what will mix in well and what will not?

Sure, I will try. Take any given house track. Some tracks will blend in or out of it better than others; that is, you're going to get a more fluid transition with some tracks while with others you may experience clashing. The best way to develop a reliable mental rolodex of what tracks will mix well with one you have never heard before is to expose yourself to as many different tracks within the genre as possible. You're essentially rewiring your brain to make faster connections to respond to a given stimulus, and that takes experience. There is no substitute.
Another method is to take a track and load it in your deck and experiment with other tracks by mixing them together. So let's say you have a track in deck A and you mix it into a track in deck B and it doesn't sound all that great. So, you make an adjustment as to when you bring the track in, maybe sooner, maybe later, and things still sound off. After more adjusting with the bars, you have something, but now the melodies are clashing, even in the outro. It doesn't work, so you try another track in deck B, and the process continues.
What you don't want to do is force a mix; i.e., if two tracks don't mix well even after you've tried many different ways of mixing them, abandon it and try another track. This process of trial and error does a number of things. First, it teaches you to create the best possible mix. Second, you learn to think outside of the box; to get creative to make tracks blend well together. So doing a mix in the intro and outro may not work, but it does work if you perform the transition during a breakdown. Third, you'll be very familiar with your library, since you'll be forced to experiment with different tunes.
As to what sounds good, well, I was taught to never have overlapping vocals, meaning that you shouldn't hear two lyrics over each other at the same time. The same goes with melodies and bass lines: don't have complex, elaborate melodies and bass lines playing at the same time, because the former sounds too busy while the latter sounds muddy. A good rule to follow is this: in a transition, introduce elements that compliment each other well or, if they don't, wait until one ends and then introduce another. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Listen to the first mix I perform starting at 3:40 --



I begin introducing the next track, which is just hi hats and some percussion. The bass line from the first track is still playing. At 4:42, I swap the bass lines. I introduce the next bass line immediately to continue the energy. At this point, the bass line from the first track has ended; it is just a standard kick now, so I know that there will be no clashing. This is, of course, a very basic example, but you just have to familiarize yourself with which elements compete and which work well together, and to do that you have to experiment in the ways I specified above.

[jasonandmason]

I own a DDJ -SX controller, running newest version of serato Dj with latest firmware with OS X Yosemite

I have a pair of JBL EON 615 using XLR connection.

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris 1536 MB



I a fairly new to D’Jing. I want to make sure I a getting into good habits. I have Gains and trims on the ddj-sx controller and Gain and limiter, and 2 channels on the speakers.

What is the best method to take get the volumes the loudest with out damaging the speakers.

What normally do is set the trim to 11 o’clock on the controler , just before the 3rd orange bar blinks. Then set the master level gain to 4 (before it hits red). I then open the gain on the speaker all the way up. Then the limiter i just tweak it a bit and I get loud sound. Could be really off on this.

I also have a presounus audio 44vsl for my sure wireless mic. Which I plug the mic into. Do I run 1/4 stereo out the back of the presonus to the mic channel on the ddjsx controller or straight to the speakers in the second channel? I do need to do recording sometimes which is just a talking speaker no music.

so xlr into the preSonus usb to the mac. open garageband or studio one and record. If I turn on monitoring I can hear it out of the JBLs. When I am not recording I can plug 1/4 stereo to back of DDJ sx controller or straight to the JBL’s from the presonus.
I have also tossed around connect the sure wireless mic, wired mic and ddj-sx using xlr to preSonus and running 1/4 to the JBL speakers. But that posses other questions.

I understand this is a large question and I can reach out to JBL, Presonus, and Pioneer as well if you cannot answer all of the questions.

Again very new to this and most of it is volunteering so I don't have the best equipment. As I learn more I will probably upgrade.
Thanks for you help


Jason Cox
jasonandmason@me.com

[ImNoDJ]

I own a DDJ -SX controller, running newest version of serato Dj with latest firmware with OS X Yosemite

I have a pair of JBL EON 615 using XLR connection.

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris 1536 MB



I a fairly new to D’Jing. I want to make sure I a getting into good habits. I have Gains and trims on the ddj-sx controller and Gain and limiter, and 2 channels on the speakers.

What is the best method to take get the volumes the loudest with out damaging the speakers.

What normally do is set the trim to 11 o’clock on the controler , just before the 3rd orange bar blinks. Then set the master level gain to 4 (before it hits red). I then open the gain on the speaker all the way up. Then the limiter i just tweak it a bit and I get loud sound. Could be really off on this.

I also have a presounus audio 44vsl for my sure wireless mic. Which I plug the mic into. Do I run 1/4 stereo out the back of the presonus to the mic channel on the ddjsx controller or straight to the speakers in the second channel? I do need to do recording sometimes which is just a talking speaker no music.

so xlr into the preSonus usb to the mac. open garageband or studio one and record. If I turn on monitoring I can hear it out of the JBLs. When I am not recording I can plug 1/4 stereo to back of DDJ sx controller or straight to the JBL’s from the presonus.
I have also tossed around connect the sure wireless mic, wired mic and ddj-sx using xlr to preSonus and running 1/4 to the JBL speakers. But that posses other questions.

I understand this is a large question and I can reach out to JBL, Presonus, and Pioneer as well if you cannot answer all of the questions.

Again very new to this and most of it is volunteering so I don't have the best equipment. As I learn more I will probably upgrade.
Thanks for you help


Jason Cox
jasonandmason@me.com

You should not be using a limiter at all. Limiters are there for people who dont understand gain structure, or should be used by the house sound guy on the main output side, not by the DJ.

Limiting will always have a negative effect on sound quality.

You want to aim for the hottest possible unclipped signal.

[CB75]

Enjoyed your Mixcloud link/mix. Keep at it!!!