Let's be honest, how many of you would be completely screwed without a laptop?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Let’s be honest, how many of you would be completely screwed without a laptop?

I was talking to a good friend of mine who learned on ableton and traktor and it came up that he had never mixed real vinyl (non timecode) records and never put his hands on a pair of CDJs. This kind of made me realize that there must be a lot of people out there who just bought controllers from the start and have no experience on physical decks who would be totally helpless without a laptop.

I’ll admit, mixing vinyl isn’t easy especially when you don’t do it often and are spoiled with Traktor but I feel like you should at least be competent on CDJs with a booklet of CDs. I would feel kind of helpless if I was 100% reliant on a laptop and couldn’t finish a set without one. So, who would be screwed without a laptop and does it bother you at all?

2

I’d be fairly dire without a laptop, but can manually beatmatch - if that wallet of CDs you give me has the bpms marked on the tracks I’d be able to cope I reckon …

3

I learned on a bcd3000 and VDJ. I just picked up tables and a mixer last friday, and I’ve already got 8,4 and 2 beat loops down, and I can beatmatch before the track runs out (JUST before). Put me in anything but my livingroom, and it may not go so well though lol. I do miss the visual cues like BPM, and waveforms.
I wouldn’t be screwed, but there would most definitely be some fader mashing instead of smooth transitions lol

4

I’d be fecked without a laptop as the gigs i play require too broad a mix of music to fit in a cd wallet, when i was using cd’s i carried 3 wallets, leaving 7 at home, and constantly had to say, sorry thats a great track but i’ve left it at home, i stil get caught out on laptop, punters expect you to own a copy of everything these day.

Beat matching i can do, i started on vinyl, and to be honest, most cd decks have bpm counters so i doubt many people would be lost on them. Djing is more about the music you play rather than how you play it.

5

Haha when all else fail, drop cut or filter…

I learned on a Xone 92 and when I could hardly mix I abused those filters for things filters should never be used for.

6

You would be surprised how screwed some people would be without waveforms and a phase meter, let alone how many people just wouldn’t know how to operate them.

7

I do this, I have 4 cds for electro and 4 for dubstep each with 5 songs on all with bpm and key marked and usually popular to the genre, then have 2 mix cd’s with pre mixed stuff.

Im not the best on cdj’s but I survive when worst comes to worse :slight_smile:

8

I’m from a vinyl background and learned by reading the vinyl but got to a point where i knew my tracks in my sets that well that i didn’t rely on reading the vinyl or any other aid..

Still don’t use a laptop in my set i’m just 100% CDJ and i still don’t use nothing on the screen apart from the track ID.

I’m all for DJ’n moving forward and creativity but i really do think people should learn basic CDJ/TT DJ’n with no laptops involved before anything but that’s my opinion.

9

doesnt everybody know how to count to 16, and cdj’s are just controllers with a cd player and some buffered ram. TT’s are a little fiddlier at first, 33/45 no cue point etc but given 5 mins i’d expect most people to suss it out if they’ve been using traktor, serato, virtual dj etc. they might miss the sync button, but it shouldnt be a show stopper.

10

just changed from fully digital to only vinyl, because i felt it was the better idea from a hobby point of view and it is a completely different world of experiencing the music.

So far i don’t regret spending the money for it at all, it is just so much more satisfying and fun. I can now understand the point of vinylists as well.

11

one day i will invest in tt’s and a mixer for studio purposes :slight_smile:

12

I play about 95 percent of my gigs without my laptop. I am trying to integrate it more into my sets but time and time again my timecode fails me, maybe can someone can tell me why this happens, but the timecode sound bleeds into my other channel and can be heard on the track im playing, happened to me this thursday when I tried to use my timecode. I obviously can’t have that so had to use CDs and just use the cdjs. Mixing manually on cdjs isn’t bad, I always enjoy it and have a good time, my timing is fine and i mix fine. I just like a laptop for the additional effects and stuff.

Now if it were straight vinyl I might be a little screwed at first because its been a while. Provided I have my own crate, I would be ok if it had my cue point marks and bpm.

13

Part of the problem, as I see it, is becoming familiar with all of the different mediums of music manipulation now is bloody well expensive. Turntables, CDJ’s, and the whole range of MIDI controllers.

It’s honestly the reason I ended up getting turntables, so I could learn the basics with vinyl (and eventually Serato/Traktor for easy of track buying/switching). I’m still working on it, but I think it’s a spot people really should start at. It’s just as affordable as a MIDI controller, though not as simple to get together nor as mobile off the bat.

But if I want to learn on CDJ’s? I don’t know anyone with them. I know clubs have them installed, but if I were to play there, on the CDJ’s, I’d hope I’d have a better understanding of them first. (Case and point, I went to a little weekly event last night, and the second DJ couldn’t mix worth a shit on the CDJ-2000’s. He just let songs play the whole way through, and then just slightly faded in and out, like a wedding DJ. It was a Dubstep night… I don’t want to be that guy.)

MIDI controllers are also tough, because there are SO MANY of them now, and they are all different. One of the beauties of CDJ’s or TT’s is that the equipment is /basically/ the same no matter what setup you are using. If you have a MIDI controller and that’s your thing, it’s going to be fairly unique to you (or others whom own the same controller in the case of some of the popular ones).

It’s a tough game to get into, this DJing thing. To know everything takes time and effort, and those are two things people don’t want to do. Immediate gratification seems to be the road of choice lately, and it shows when people take that choice.

I suck at mixing now (I’m fair game to admit it) but I’m trying to learn the basics. I’m 110% my song selection is out of this world compared to other people I’ve heard. But I see people taking the easy route all the time. And while I can be okay with it if their selection is spot on for the sound they are going for, if they have technical problems it gives me a laugh with my friends, or can call for an early night if it’s that bad.

edit And far as a laptop goes, if it’s just a matter that you don’t want to lug around a ton of records or even CD cases, I consider it fine. But if you can’t DJ without it (and not just because of not owning cd’s or vinyl) for shame. You don’t have to know how without a laptop, but you should.

14

I’m fine on CDJs and can manage on vinyl albeit much slower with resetting a record instead of having a cue button.

15

Yea no doubt I think people should learn with CDJ’s/ Vinyl but the reason why I haven’t tried yet is I don’t know anyone who has actual decks

16

Up the creek without a paddle.

17

I learned to beatmatch disco in the 80’s on belt drive turntables. I’d still be screwed without a laptop since I have no more vinyl, had to get rid of it all when I moved overseas. :disappointed:

18

Respect for managing to use belt drives - I’ve played on them in bars and it’s been damn hard work!

19

I bought Traktor as an add on to my vinyl setup, in a bid to stop buying vinyl.
Sometimes I’ll go for a week or 2 without switching the Traktor computer on.

20

No problems for me,
I would be fine using decks or cdjs,
when I first started out there wasnt such a thing as cdjs or laptops for djs.