been lurking for a while now so i just wanted to introduce myself. professionally i go by DJ elixeR and my original production’s are under the name elixeR. I got into DJing after producing and at the moment have a mixtrack pro with Virtual DJ 7 PRO (i would ues traktor but for some reason it absolutely will not work on my laptop even though i have all the proper specs and drivers and serato just seems disgusting to me so until i can upgrade my laptop im on VDJ) and its a fairly decent setup in my opinion for someone just starting. after playing solely for myself and a few friends, i finally decided i was ready to start actually DJ’ing. Im currently booked to headline an overnight beach bonfire in april and its my first real show with other DJ’s. Do any of you have any tips or tricks to have a great first show? im not worried about any of my gear failing im just worried about me being overly nervous and messing something up. Also between now and then i have roughly $200 that i could spend on gear and full access to a design and fabrication lab (woodshop but with plasma cutters welders and grinders for metal stuff) is there anything that i should have other than a laptop and my mixtrack pro that anyone could think of me getting or making? if it helps im going to be playing an electro/dubstep set at first then im going up again and playing neurofunk/liquid funk for my 2nd set. Glad to finally be on the forum and im hoping for some great feedback!
Not sure what type of things you were thinking of fabricating. If you are just starting out, and you’re testing out what it is like to DJ, then I would suggest to just make sure your songs/playlists are organized and you know your songs well. Basically practice and prep work. But if you are sure you want to be a DJ, and at future gigs you want people to take you seriously, then I would suggest you invest in proffesional gear.
i have been semi professionally DJ’ing for around 7 months so everything of mine is well organized and i have everything cue pointed and i know all of my songs well (trying to keep it under 300 atm) as for “professional” gear im currently looking for a reasonably priced novation twitch as i am interested in controllerism and have no need for jogs. i was also looking into finding a reasonably priced s2 once people start selling them as when and if i do upgrade to traktor, the built in intigration would be great.
Well since you have full access to a fabrication workshop, maybe save yourself 20 bucks and make yourself a laptop stand? Other than that yeah, just know your music well and be ready for the unexpected.
Dude you should just get an S2 by any means if you plan on actually DJ’ing it comes with Traktor and its only $399 atm. Give plasma, dress up like a hobo and beg for change, etc. whatever it takes haha. But seriously if you’re tight on cash Zzounds.com offers the S2 and the S4 for the same prices as DJtechtools.com and offers a payment plan called pay as you play on the S2. It would be payments of $99 for 4 months. They ship it the day you pay the first payment.
