For new DJ mixing or producing?

[Superninja]

Hello everyone, just want to open up discussion maybe some of you will share stories, what you think new DJ should do, at start just find his taste of music and do mixes or start producing his own songs?

[Dark Passenger]

Step 1: Do what you enjoy.
Step 2: Continue doing what you enjoy
Step 3: challenge yourself.
By this I mean play with every genre, mix new stuff, old stuff, add accapellas from the 60's to modern EDM, go crazy, just find what you enjoy doing and run with it.
Get into producing if that's what you want to do, personally, doing both has changed my life and has given me real musical insight that I wouldn't have otherwise gotten.
Don't focus on what you "should" be doing, do what you enjoy and learn from, things will fall into place if you give it enough effort, and you can see if this is really for you or not.
Djing- start with a controller that you can get to grips with and learn your chosen software, or Turntables if you're a vinyl dude.
Production: start with software, a great place to start is FL studio, once you'v gotten that down maybe move onto Ableton, eventually you'l be mixing and using ableton at the same time, creating all sorts of whacky stuff. I started with a drum pad, made production hella fun, and I now use it in my DJ sets to do allsorts of stuff too. Granted I'm not out of bedroom practice til new years eve, but that's my DJ career potentially starting!
but yeah, do what you enjoy, don't force yourself into anything or think there's something that you "should" be doing, you should hear what comes out of my studio sometimes...like seriously bro...
Did I mention HAVE FUN?

[Patch]

DJ'ing will give you a huge advantage when you start/if you start to produce. You will have (almost subliminally) learned about the structure of music. It will be ingrained into your brain, and you'll use that every time you sit down to produce...

[Superninja]

Great answers,will be helpful, anyway my journey is just starting, just wanted to notice this is not personal topic for me to get advice, just want people to share opinion on this topic,stories

[Dark Passenger]

I agree with patch, but sometimes not knowing the typical structure of music can create more unpredictable, often better music. Just my opinion though.

[foozpatrol84]

New to this forum myself...this is not a play for my own promotion, but maybe a story you could learn from.

I have only recently started DJing, but have about 15 years of playing music and learning theory. I amped up my digital production about 2 years ago, and have some pretty solid tracks. All in all maybe 10 tracks...

About 2 months ago, I felt that my production was "ready" and that I needed to start DJing to help promote my stuff and what not. I must humbly admit - learning to DJ is a lot harder than I thought. I've got an ear for mixing, understand the theory and what not...but there is no substitute for hands on experience.

I would echo what others suggest - start with DJing. Unless you have heavy chops in music theory, I think it will take you at least 3-5 years to compose anything meaningful (no offense). And you will learn to network, promote, and understand live energies of crowds.

Best of luck!

[overcast]

Although this site talks about all the joys of effects and fun exciting setups, start with just the basics. Two tracks, tooling around with three band EQ (as standard on mixers) and don't use loops. You're going to suck. It's not going to sound right. But then once you get the core concept start working in other elements as well.

I also suggest keeping your ear to the ground and listening to tons of styles of music, whether they're going to fill a huge room or are more adventurous and experimental. You need to have a complete palette to paint a wonderful picture. Painting with one color can only go so far.

[the_bastet]

Hello everyone, just want to open up discussion maybe some of you will share stories, what you think new DJ should do, at start just find his taste of music and do mixes or start producing his own songs?

TheBastet.gq second blog article.

[deathy]

DJ'ing will give you a huge advantage when you start/if you start to produce. You will have (almost subliminally) learned about the structure of music. It will be ingrained into your brain, and you'll use that every time you sit down to produce...

I composed for a few decades before I got into DJing, and I agree with Patch... starting out with DJing, especially if you don't have a formal music education, is going to make your life a lot easier.

One thing that wasn't mentioned - it is really good to know what makes a track fun/awesome/adjectivium for a DJ to play. My earlier songs, while being pretty good from a technical perspective, I now know are a screaming *bleep* to play in a set... pretty much all of 'em.

Now, as Dark Passenger mentions, you should also pay attention to getting good at breaking the rules in the right time and place, but that you will pick up a lot easier with DJing experience.