Heres my idea, I am pretty set on it also. So i will get an S4 and TMA-1 beatport editions and then I was wondering if a pair of monitor speakers (rokkit 5’s) is a good setup to start on…
So I am 13 and trying to start DJing. I put out a bunch of ideas and everyone said i am spoiled because i like to make money by buying and selling stocks. So my parents said because DJing could be a job in college and after or even before OR EVEN A CAREER…they would chip in for half of the FIRST bill. So is this a good place for me to start if i already know traktor inside and out and have the WILL to be the best DJ i can and support what i need.?
If you want a career or if you want get anywhere in dance music then you have to produce… also buy it all off craigslist or eBay it will be much cheaper and you’re parents will prefer not having to pay full price. and you won’t get a gig ANYWHERE before you’re 18 or 21 unless you want to play dubstep and top 40 to douchy teens.
And there’s nothing that says you WONT play anywhere, you may not be supposed to .. but thats a rule IMHO made to be broken, however age does make it more difficult.
Yes, if you really want good gigs learn to produce, release good tracks and that will give you good DJ gigs. You have plenty of time to honor your skills and build up your release catalogue before you are 18/21. With that time frame you also by then have a unique style so you bubble up from all the me-too-same-sounding productions.
Let’s say purchase Ableton Live and learn it inside out first.
Production and DJing go hand in hand, but you don’t need to produce to get good gigs. It’s just a bonus that will ultimately take you to the next level faster, and higher.
Honestly? Do your research into what is going to be the best setup for you. And practice your ass off, and you’ll want to because it’s fun. Spend your free time digging for tracks that you can work into your sets that people may not have heard before, but are bangin’. Make YOUR sound stand out, by learning how to tell a story with your mix.
Being a good DJ doesn’t mean you’re a producer. Many producers aren’t even good DJ’s, and get a good DJ to “front” the spinning aspect of it. Not all, but it happens.
Really though, what you’re looking at is one of the best controller setups out there, with great headphones, and good monitors. You’ll be fine gear wise, it’s just going to take time to practice. And then there is the aspect of networking and going to shows, which you can’t do yet. But what you can do? Spin at friend’s places for parties and the like.
Honestly there are a lot of options you can look into gear wise, and it’s too difficult to sum them all up.
You could always get bar DJ gigs but to get the really fun gigs where you play music you like and control the destiny, production is the way to go. Look at Wolfgang Gartner, DeadMau$, Laidback Luke, Kaskade et rest et rest. Well paid gigs, reason: production releases.
PS: It also of course depends on the personality. Personally I would not like doing gigs where I have to play top-20 Beatport Electro all night long…
You’re looking at such a small percentage of people actually playing out though. Those are the “superstars” if you will. Just by merit alone, not everyone will/should/can achieve that level.
But playing out? Totally realistic. You don’t need to be making tons of money if it’s what you love doing. Playing bars, mobile DJing, smaller events? That’s honestly realistic to start working toward.
You can’t legit be telling someone that if they start DJing, they aren’t ever going to amount to anything because they aren’t Deadmau5 and producing tracks?
There are plenty of great DJ’s who don’t produce. And the backbone of the industry is local guys DJing and keeping the scene alive, and even the folks DJing top 40 stuff.
Shoot for the stars for sure, aim for perfection. But small steps. If you can get into production? Awesome. If you don’t and still love the music? Don’t sweat it.
Yes, I’m just trying to convince a newcomer to jut jump into production work as that’s how they really progress fast in this business. Just look at Porter Robinson as a good example.
Nothing wrong with bar DJ gigs but if someone wants to really fly around the country and the world… As for normal DJ:ing as a career, I would never recommend my kids for that, but if they become good with production work (and get good degree at something at the same time as a fallback), then it’s quite doable.
But if you take porter robinson and all those like him (which is somewhat few), and then take all the people who have started out just mixing and now dj bars wherever for a decent amount of pay, porter is very outnumbered.
It’s also a lot easier to make some money DJing then producing. And the large majority of those producing are not flying around the world, even ones with decent tracks. Not to mention that for every producer flying around the world, there is a gig for a DJ flying around the world with some stupid top 40 rap or pop artist spinning instrumentals or whatever.
Yes I think if you even get a foot hold on a less mainstream music style, let’s say nu-disco or indie dance, make good releases for a while that have some airplay and visibility, the arrangers will actually contact you instead of the other way around. Locally and later across the country or countries. Just need to be persistent and learn production, the DJ:ing is then easy, any producer could quickly pick up DJ:ing, the other way is harder me thinks.
Don’t forget the $2K you’ll need for a decent laptop (that’s going to last a couple of years) if you don’t already own one. It doesn’t have to be MacPro2012 retina, a good dual/quad core “i” series windows machine will do.
13 is a bit unrealistic to think you will get gigs, but use that time to practice and create an individual style, I’m 45 now, and have been DJ’ing since I was 15. At 15, I played in youth clubs, school discos, private parties etc. As soon as I was old enough to get into a club I got my first residency. However there’s a million to one more DJ’s then there was back then …so for success you’ll need you own style that people want to hear.
good luck and practice (forget about producing unless you want to)
18 months ago I bought my 17" XPS i7 for £729 / $1000 (brilliant deal at the the time), but then added 2 x512Gb SSD’s and that soon put the price up to almost £1500 ($2K).
Don’t forget to extend the warranty for at least two more years - add a few 100 on top of the sale price. If you are using it professionally then you need a 24 hour fix on hardware at least.
Mine will last me a few years and I’ll get decent resale. I’d never go near a HP machine again, in the last 5 years I’ve more dead HP and Toshibas than anything else. You get what you pay for I suppose. In fact I have a HP envy 15 (the one with beats audio) sat here in bits, blown GFX chip, which unfortunately for the owner means a new MB, and he has no money to pay for one. He’s using my old 6 year old Dell 1501 now …
If you go down the Mac route it’s even more than $2K for something with a life expectancy of three years.
MacBookPro 15" not upgraded $2300 - $2900 plus upgrades …
and when the get around to making another good 17" it’s probably going to be close to $3500.
I can’t see how anyone can actually use a 13" in a live environment, especially at 1080, you can’t see anything. Screen size is paramount.
MacPro 13" at Apple store: 1,199, 15" 1,7999. I would actually go with a 13" as it’s easier to transport and with controllers the only need for screen is browsing where 13" is plenty to select songs. And if you produce, hook a 23" additional monitor from Frys for $150. Heck, I would even look at at MacBook Air for pure DJ:ing just because it’s so easy to take around.
Just wanted to stop the misinformation posted with some facts… What do I know, I’m just now DJ:ing with an MacBookPro from 2007 that works just fine with Traktor 2.5.1 so that also about a life expectancy of max three years…
You must not treat computers very well.. I have only owned HP laptops. My first one lasted me 5 years of solid use and I now have an i5 that can run everything I throw at it and more.
I treat my kit very well, it’s all the unit’s that come here for repair that are broken. In the last 5 years, I’ve had more HP’s in for repair than anything else. Toshiba’s come in close second. They die from heat exhaustion, the vents clog and the chip’s fry.
Nothing I did …more to do with shoddy design and cheaper components.
Computers are being made with cheaper and cheaper components everyday, fact ..it’s business. now compare the business line of the same company computers (rather than the consumer grade) their components are far superior and they last longer ..but they cost almost double. - again fact.
BTW Ksandvic the prices I quoted were direct from the apple store 30 seconds before posting. I am an F1 user and it’s bloody impossible to use a 13" with remix slots, I just can’t see the damn slots when the screen is so small. If you say you should know what you are playing, try remembering every slot (64) for just one remix pack … let alone an night’s worth. Thats why I say a 13" isn’t suitable for live work.
OK, I didn’t you know you used the screen for the slot info. The extended slot info with F1 is a new thing I have not tested out (as I don’t own an F1). I don’t have my 20/20 vision any longer but as for Ableton Live I don’t have a problem seeing slots with this 13" I’m typing on just now. I do have a a 17" MBP/SSD for work use but I would never take that one out for gigs due to the bulky size. For my work with a controller even a MacBook Air would be fine as I only look at the screen for waveforms and file browsing.
yeah, it looks like they actually lowered their prices a bit. i bough a regular macbook, dual core, around 2005/6 and it was pushing $1500 at the time. that’s just the way pc/laptop tech and pricing goes though. the hard drive died after a bit, then it just completely died about 6 months after that. i think i got about 6 years out of it (though there was a long period of time i didn’t use it at all since i built a top end pc for gaming…so i probably did get about 3-4 years of actual usage time on it but ymmv).
this time around i went with a new quad core i5, 15" hp for $650. the comparable price for similar specs in a macbook pro would be about $2000. the posts really weren’t misinformation so to speak, they were referencing the higher specced versions and not just the bare bones entry macbook pro which is $1200. i’m sure you could dj just fine with the lowest of the macbook line, though i wouldn’t want a 13" screen. that’s just my preference…to me 15" is perfectly viewable and portable.