Newbe Questions again

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Newbe Questions again

Hi,
This is my second time posting questions, Ean really did a good job in forming this such warn and nice community for us to improve and learn from others. Thx Ean.

Anywayz… Like I said before, I have been Djing for a while but I dont have any gears but a virtual Dj.. I researched a lot these days and found out that Virtual Dj is not in the main stream for a Djing software. I got great adivses from who answered my previous Questions (thank you so much )
the only thing that I am still sticking with it because my version is 5.04 with full plug-ins. I have all the effects I need to use. But I know if i wanna be a pro then i should move on to scratch serato for hip hop or traktor for techno..

Here, I would like to share abit of my opinion about the music nowadays. Thx for your patient reading my newbie post!
First of all, even though I am a bedroom Dj, but I really love music ( hip hop, techno, elctro, trance) and I really hope Dj can be my life time occupation. however, Hip hop is the main stream at clubs, as a techno Dj, I think if you are not as famous as tiesto, darude or benny benassi, then techno is not make me survive ( or at least not as rich as a club hip hop Dj). Therefore, I think I will jump between this 2 genres.

So, here is my questions:
I am a poor guy, so I think my budget for my first gears would only be around $600 usd and my dj skills is not making myself ready to earn money in clubs.
so,

I wanna know if the fx are came from the mixer? or the cdjs?or both? If i bought the most basic turntables + mixer connected to serato scrath live, is that means I wont get to use any fx? (i guess djing hip hop might be fine, but in techno mixing, those fx are needed!)

So, basically all i need is recomandation of softwares, hardwares which I could still use fx in mixing…
please recommand me the brands name and the model number, I will do researches myself for the prices. but if u know them then please attach to it.
THX u guys who really spend ur pleausure time to read my post with bad English, Cheers!~

DjSau

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If you buy the most basic turntable setup and mixer then no, you won’t be able to use many effects. SSL doesn’t come with any (I think) and basic DJ mixers don’t either.

FX can come from the mixer, the decks or an external source. Usually external sources come with more effects (Kaoss Pad, EFX 5000, as examples), then mixers, then decks. I don’t think there are many decks (or mixers, for that matter) that come with more than 10 effects, and they are usually all the same (Flanger, Phaser, HP/BP/LP Filter, Delay, Echo, Scratch (on decks), etc.).

You already have VDJ, so why don’t you just get a MIDI controller and keep going with that? It’ll give you the ability to keep everything you have and slowly build yourself a set up for a lot less money. And then, if you decide to spend the money, you can get Traktor or SSL and build from there.

I know this doesn’t answer your question, but it’s easier to give you help if you have a clearer plan than “Everything that has effects”

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Its what you do with your software that counts, it doesnt matter if your using vdj, serato, ableton live - you can suck equally bad with them all. Dont worry about what everyone else is doing, explore the options of what different software can and cannot do before making your own mind up.

Grab a midi controller (preferably not something too expensive) and start to learn some of the different tools of your trade before you go out spending anything substancial.

Pretty much all the software out there has demos that you can play with too, so you can play with some of the different software out there before spending money committing to certail style of mixing.

The most usable controls in any mixing situation would be a stanton SCS 3d or a device like a trigger finger - they will also get you started without putting a huge dent in your wallet.

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On a side note (a philosophical one?), regarding the music style, I recommend to always stick to whatever the style you truly feel you love and like. Don’t try to adopt a different style just because you think it’s more profitable or you think it appeals to a larger crowd because it seems to be the mainstream flavor of the moment, hence it will bring a faster/easier financial pay off. My belief is that those who play without feeling it, usually so totally suck at it (or sound simply conventional or at a mediocre level). As with all other things in life, when you try to become something you’re not; you usually end up screwing it all up.
You may truly like a broad and diverse range of styles. But If your thing is only techno, then stick to it. If you like hip-hop because you actually understand and feel where every beat is coming from (just like all best hip-hop performers do), then that’s your thing. If hip-hop doesn’t make your feet move by themselves like techno does, then techno’s is where you heart is at. Sometimes when I’m browsing new music to get on Beatport, even within one same techno sub-category that I know I do really like, let’s say House; even if the specific track I’m previewing it’s a total #1 within the genre or top download of the week; if when I listen to it, for any reason, it just doesn’t click right inside me or makes wanna move my body to it, if I don’t get the right feeling from it; then I simply pass on it. I always only pick that music that truly inspires me and naturally drives me to want to mix it, play it and “play WITH it”, for real.
There is always an audience for everyone out there; you just sometimes may have to search harder for it and work harder to build it (and my friend, that’s your duty in your life as a DJ). But it’s definitely out there always. From the moment that “vision” in the shape of a certain sound appears in your head and you feel the drive to put your hands on whatever DJ gear you may have near - event the most basic one - to just make it happen and make it come alive through a pair of speakers, there you have just created something new, something with inspiration, real and honest, and as such it deserves to be shared among those ears that are certainly awaiting somewhere out there to hear it, and that will definitely appreciate it and enjoy it.

Namastech. :wink:

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cravelloc… great words

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Yeah thats some good advice, thanks for the post :slight_smile:

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I would get a VCI-100, it’s really the perfect package for a beginning dj AND you can do all sorts of crazy stuff with it when you get more advanced.

And as you can see from this site, sky is the limit with that unit.

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My Friend, the advice form Cravelloc is very very wise. There are many Hip hop Djs and most of them love hip hop so that is hard to compete with, and if you really don´t feel it as much as techno you will never be better than those guys. Because in order to be good you only have to do 2 things every day, practice and listen. If you don´t feel the music you will have no motivation after a while to do this 2 things.
I was in a similar position as you are now… but I realised that when you really enjoy and love the music you are playing people notice it and get contagious with that…

Regarding your gear… virtual Dj was the first software I used, and it was great for learning, the thing is that this software is designed (from my point of view) to emulate turntable mixing style. So it keeps your mind in the analogue side. You can do almost everything that you will do with TTs if you have a controller like the VCI-100. So I would think that instead of spending $$$ on your gear you could just buy a controller as the VCI and a nice sound card. This will give you the option to really learn and try all the music styles. Plus later you can start adding more gear. When you get comfortable with this setup you can move on to Traktor which will open your mind to the real digital world (4 decks, hotcues bla bla bla). But I will say that the easiest way to learn is to start keeping it simple and when you master your setup move to something more complex. I have a couple of videos on youtube mixing with a vci + virtual Dj if you want to take a look.

Regards

Sebastian.