What should a completely new DJ buy and/or do to get better?
I haven’t really explored being a DJ at all yet, but I think it’s something I would really love to do. I’ve played a lot of different instruments and I absolutely adore music. I love listening to the beats behind music and I love listening to DJs do their thing.
What I want to know is what I should buy to mess around with becoming a DJ. I do not think I’m going to become the greatest DJ of all time or anything (I can hope though!) and my price range is around 200$…unless that is wishful thinking of course. I don’t really know what to expect so I’m putting that price out there. Thanks a million for any input you guys can give me, and I have already looked around the site and found lots of neat things I could buy. I’m thinking about buying a midifighter, but they seem fairly advanced? Or maybe not, I have no idea really. I’m a fairly computer-savvy person too, if that matters at all.
Search around to see if DJing really is something that you wanna get into. this website and forum is a fantastic resource to use (tons of people – can give tech help, HONEST gear reviews, tips/tricks, and is generally just a fucking awesome place!) go to guitar center and play with different shit (i personally love buttons/lights/dials - im a bit of a gear whore ), ask questions. go to the bar/club and talk to some of the DJ’s, try and be responsible for the music all night at a friends party. download some free trial software (serato’s is free – i didnt like it much but thats just my 2cents) and play with that. look into what kinda music you would want to play, and how people play that genre, digital/analog (vinyl vs cds vs all digital – traktor vs vdj vs serato vs ableton → if you wanna produce or dj – I<3 ableton and im still learning shit about it every day)
YOUTUBE and GOOGLE and most importantly PRACTICE!!!
and idk what kind of computer you are using, but i started just playing music for frat parties in college (two ipods and a speaker system) and loved watching a crowd groove to what you put on and what built energy and kept a party going and what didnt.
i was in the same boat as you about actually starting to DJ (the money, the time, the effort) but already had a bit of experience playing music for a party, and i went out and bought the vestax spin and Djay for Mac (the typhoon is the same thing but for windows-- more expensive too i believe). it was like $250 and really got my foot in the door with actual mixing and “real djing”. once i kinda figured out the basics (its mad easy to get started with anything in Djay… but the software leaves you lacking) i upgraded to traktor because i found a good map for the spin and the rest is history.
Fell in love with it and never looked back.
P.S. Do your research. (and then) ask people questions (in that order ) itll pay off in the long run.
It’s not doable for $200. Save more and read a lot.
If you really want to work before then, don’t spend any money on stuff. Listen to a lot of music and make a lot of iTunes or MWP playlists…save up money while you learn to make those flow well.
You can buy a small midi controller with a lot of functions
Do like me, buy a Korg NanoKontrol for US$50 (or two )!
I do mix with 2 Decks and 2 FX controll with two Nanos and without using any shifted mode or soft take over function.
With them you will learn how to MIDI Map your controller to achieve the best result, you will try different approaches and you will really understand what pure Digital DJing is.
I learned with that setup, plus a M-Audio Oxygen 8 v2 for some fancy button triggering like the Ean’s mapping
Later you can choose a better midi controller (with more budget) and incorporate your korg nano to the functions that your controller don’t controll
“honey!!! can you send me some seeds on farmville??? please?”
“no mom, i will not stoop to your level. plus do you know what farmville on my newsfeed will do to my popularity? it will kill it! both online and off!”
“oh well, its ok, i just hacked your FB and did it anyways loooooooooveeeee youuuuu”
I’m sorry but this is not good advice if you’re just beginning and seeing if you’re interested.
If you have a mac, I really would recommend the spin + djay. I also upgraded to traktor with a pretty good map, AND it has a built in sound card so you can cue and such. I still use it when I need to be portable.
one thing i might mention is that if you have any midi controllers at ALL, i.e. keyboards, knob controllers, etc, I would recommend checking that out first. I’ve had all I needed to DJ for like 5 years as far as gear goes, it took me until recently and buying a bunch of stuff to figure that out. They don’t really focus on this mapping that much anymore, but Ean started out doing his controllerism thing on a little Oxygen 8 controller as he talks about here
. I’ve seen people do great dj sets using nothing but the trackpad on their macbook too. There’s also the free DJ software Mixxx, which you can download right away and start using. You probably don’t really need a special soundcard with multaple outputs either, because if you’re just playing for yourself you can just monitor and cue tracks on your speakers (you’ll need to learn how to cue tracks at some point, but not if you’re just messing around). So yeah, check out that stuff and see what you think. djing with a midi keyboard might look goofy but if you’ve got one lying around or you can pick one up on craigslist for 50 bucks, whats the difference? get any controller, set up the mapping in some software, set up your cue points and jam away!
2 accounts baby. one that she takes advantage of where i have some of my really old friends on
and the other for my school friends and such
(i apologize to the djtt members that i have added, you were added on the account my mom takes advantage of. i apologize for the almost constant farmville and god knows what else that you will see on your news feed.
if its all text and or involves a youtube link or soundcloud etc. its me)
And please… try to wait until mid february…
Soon it will be launched a lot of controllers from the NAMM, you must stay tunned to it to make your next step and purchase something.
I suggest keep following www.djtechtools.com and www.skratchworx.com for the reviews and rumors on the next releases of the big DJ companies.
Pretty much what I was going to say! Download Mixxx, play a few tracks, learn what the different functions do and see if you like it! Then if you decide it’s not for you you’re not left with a couple of hundred bucks tied up in something you never use and have to go to the hassle of selling.
On the other hand if you enjoy it, you can check the forums! We don’t need another thread on good low cost controllers but just do a few searches and see what people have said. Just make sure you’re not reading a post from january 2008 lol!
), ask questions. go to the bar/club and talk to some of the DJ’s, try and be responsible for the music all night at a friends party. download some free trial software (serato’s is free – i didnt like it much but thats just my 2cents) and play with that. look into what kinda music you would want to play, and how people play that genre, digital/analog (vinyl vs cds vs all digital – traktor vs vdj vs serato vs ableton → if you wanna produce or dj – I<3 ableton and im still learning shit about it every day)
) itll pay off in the long run.
i just inherited africa!
Now to map my akai LPK…hmmmm