I am practicing my DJ skills a lot at home. I play various genres of House music and some Pop music for the wedding. So as I said - I am practicing at home a lot. I am using a mobile DJ gear (yes I know I should consider upgrading) with Serato DJ Intro. Now I know beat matching, phrasing, effects (at least some of them, depends on gear obviously), mixing in key, some of the transition techniques etc. Recently I began learning to use acapellas in mixing house music. Now I need some help from more advanced DJs.
Guys please tell me, what is “advanced DJ”? What do you guys practice? What is beyond mixing intro/outro or chorus/verse? Guys I’m desperate, need some advice!
Okay, I do respect DJs that scratch and with this much of skill. But I was looking more into House music side. I know some are scratching with house music as well. Maybe someday… But for now it’s not for me.
“Advanced DJing” is a completely subjective notion because what one person deems advanced, another will see as merely superfluous and/or annoying to listen to.
That’s exactly like saying there is no ‘Advanced Guitar’ skills.
There are technical skills that are advanced; just because someone doesn’t like metal guitar shreds (“Superfluous/annoying”) doesn’t deny the skill that guitarist has.
Do you “know” the skill, or do you “own” the skill? Can you beatmix to a song on the radio? Can you do a long mix with one (or both) tracks having a live drummer? Can you beatmix between two covers of the same song (maybe at different tempos), blending back and forth between them?
“They” (who exactly are “they”???) say…
Beginners practice until the CAN get it RIGHT.
Experts practice until the CAN NOT get it WRONG.
That’s a reasonable place to start a discussion about skill improvement, but a bad place to end one. I find the Dreyfus model of still acquisition to be the best overall representation of how my own skills (across a WIDE range of activities) have grown.
How is your improvisation? Ean is putting out some “freestyle” or “improv” One Take songs. This is an example of a “more advanced” technique, but may not be applicable to your workflow or style of DJing that you are envisioning.
How are you at developing a “story” in the music arc as you mix?
These are both “more advanced” skills as they require that the “mechanical skills” be REALLY solid so that the focus can be on guiding the composition.
I think you can clearly see that there are two types of DJ success, being respected by other DJs and being loved by a great number of fans. Sometimes these two things walk together, sometimes they just doesn’t. Just be happy about what you do !
Best thing to get better is to play hours and hours long every week, if not every day… just mix a lot. If you are not into practicing you will be a terrible DJ, period.
Then we agree to disagree. IMVHO, about the only really advanced skills, ones where you are actually using the deck as an instrument, are cutting and scratching (+ other DMC related tomfoolery). I would also probably lump correct EQ’ing and programming of the set as being in the advanced area of things, but stuff like loops, FX and cue point mashing is fairly simple to both learn and get good at.
Don’t get me wrong, loops are great fun and if done correctly sound pretty fab, but pressing a button at the right time (usually indicated by markers your carefully prepared tunes) is hardly the DJ equivalent of neuroscience.
Also, a DJ skill I would term as being “advanced” would be the “letting the damn record play and stop destroying the best part with FX” skill :-/
But as I say, we agree to disagree. The meat and veg of it these days is just pushing buttons, whichever way you look at it.
What Roger Sanchez does with 4 cds is hardly “simple and easy to learn”
I hate when people reduce DJing aaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllll the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down to “you’re just pushing a button at the bottom of it all”…give it a friggin rest already…
I didn’t say using 4 decks was simple and easy, I said using loops and cues was. And it is, it’s just a case of knowing when to use them. If I can do it, anyone can.
shrug
I’ve been doing this over 20 years and I totally agree that there is far more to DJing than just pushing buttons, but that’s all anyone seems to see these days. And the more well known “DJs” don’t even push buttons anymore. My issue is that the DJ set can often be a sanitized, heavily prepared and rehearsed playlist of what the DJ likes and don’t get me started on premixed sets. I’ve seen DJs in bars and clubs refusing to play music simply because they haven’t beat gridded it yet or “I can’t mix [genre] music”, and these same guys are quite happily using what seems to pass for advanced DJ skills to destroy any melody that was left in their sets.
I honestly don’t think advanced DJing, such as it is, lies in technical ability with the exception of the DMC guys who do stuff with their kit that I would need 3 hands and 2 brains for.
And no it wasn’t better “in my day”, but I do feel that we’ve managed to get certain things the wrong way round with regard to what good DJing is. Just my opinion.
And Mr Sanchez with his 4 decks does count as advanced
I definitely still do not own beatmatching etc., stills, there are a lot to practice but.. The idea of beginning to do something advanced is to go beyond that. I know about practice, yes, I do it daily, if not then at least each two days, I try to improve all of the skills but I feel that I can do more at the same time and this is why I started this threat. I think this question crosses more than my mind, I feel that there are other DJs who, like me, feel that they don’t know where to go next and how to become something more than a regular DJ. So hopefully this discussion will help more people. Now at this crossroad of “what is advanced and where should I go” I know that there are basic skills that must be owned and every DJ must practice them even if one feels that he owns the skill. But as I said, there must be something more. I was in a lookout for that “something more” and you, and other guys gave me some thoughts to consider.
Thank you all for that! Still, I want more
Guys, no fighting please. We all agree on one thing - we love what we do. Every different skill and use of every piece of music is respectful as long as it is done well. Loops, CUE’s, scratching. Carefully preparing your set in order it to sound as good as Roger Sanchez sounds takes a lot of skill as well. It’s creativity. You can take two pencils - a red one and a blue one and give them to two professional artists - they will both make a masterpiece. Same goes here - take some bits of music - a DJ, who uses CUE’s, loops etc. will make a masterpiece as well, as a DJ, who likes to scratch etc. I do respect all of them as long as it gives you fun and makes you happy doing it.
!
. Shout out to my boy Ritchie 
