I was browsing around the internet and found this forum, it seems to be a very promising place. I’m about to head into college and I figured that if I’m going to have a fresh start I might as well get serious about my musical interests. I’ve been playing around with software like FL Studios. Finally(!) I have received a job and I usually work 12+ hour shifts. I put in many hours for multiple reasons, mainly to get money to purchase things that I want, and to escape my problems.
So like I said I’m going to go to College soon and I’d love to be able to be able to DJ at some parties. Either way, I’ve got myself a keyboard, it has 5 octaves so it’s not exactly small.. At all.
I’m not sure where to start out on getting the ball rolling. I got a lot I need to learn about, and I’d love any help I could get. Also I have to buy a laptop for college and I was wondering if it’s possible to DJ off of a laptop (Or is it actually normal.. I’ve seen people like Deadmau5 use a mac) and if so what type of laptop you would recommend.
Thanks in advance for any help!
P.S. Imagine me like a brand new whiteboard. No software, no equipment, no accounts, no books, no nothing.
But yeah on topic, basically, you want a DJ software, sync buttons and something to go nuts with. Try getting the Demo of traktor or VDJ and play about with it a bit, like it? go buy yourself a cheap controller to control everything you see on screen instead of having to click a mouse
When youve done all above said, come back to the thread
This is what everyone will tell you… Waste all your money on a top of the range mac (which in theory you can run software on a much cheaper machine… I use a netbook and play live at least once a week and its fine… Hasnt crashed in over a year since i upgraded from traktor 1.2.4 i think) you’ll also be told to get the biggest and best controllers on the market… (dont listen to people… You dont need a controller yet), for software everyone will say get traktor or serato… I recommend trying a few demo versions, virtual dj is a good start, never tried the demo version of traktor but using traktor pro for a few years…
In theory you can dj with just a laptop and software… Check out www.digitaldjtips.net and before people say spam… I dont actually work for them they just have a load of articles that id recommend about laptop setups…
Hope this stuff helps… If i was you id download a demo of software on whatever computer you have now and just “mess about” experiment and try stuff, you can turn on sync and just play with blending songs and see if it is for you…
Hehe, he was the only one who came to mind when I was thinking about peeps with laptops who DJ. I specifically remember four chicks who were wasted flipping the camera off during the picture.
I’ll get the demo of Traktor and try it out, do you have a recommended brand of controller?
Thanks! It really is a lot of help. I’m going to grab the demo of Traktor like I stated above. And I will check out that website right now! What’s probably going to happen is I’m going to dive into my work (By the way could $6,000 cover essentials without buying top of the line equipment as starter gear? <I get that number from the calculations of 12 hours of work, money/hour, days working>) and whenever I’m not working or sleeping, I’m practicing DJ’ing. By the end of this year I hope to be DJ’ing at parties. :3
Not sure about american prices but yeah that would be plenty… Dont buy stuff because people tell you too though… Buy stuff as you feel you’ll need it as otherwise ull just be wasting money, plus you’ll need lots of money for music my music is worth more then my setup
One of these days I do hope to be a real DJ, but baby steps. As for the program, something just occurred to me. Someone recommended thesoundtutor’s tutorials on YouTube. He uses Ableton Live 8, are his tutorials still worth looking even if you don’t use Ableton Live?
Also I’m hoping to produce some of my own Dubstep so, I’m guessing DJing and Music Production are two different things (Just going to state it at the risk of sounding stupid). So what about software for Music Production? Sorry if I’m starting to get off topic.
For production i think the easiest is flstudio its what i use but not that mad into production… Ableton seems pretty good but big learning curve, just look at what you fi d easiest to use… Like the layout of etc… (you will be stuck looking at this for hours on end)
Yea I’ve worked with FL Studios before but the interface is a little intimidating for me. I think I might go with Ableton because many have recommended it. While we are on the topic, are there any other resources you recommend for not only DJing but Music Production? I want to learn in detail what goes on in music.
If your going to have this as a budget mate, then really do your research. as you could have a setup as modest as a 2nd hand Laptop you bought off ebay for $200 and a downloaded software demo. The possiblilitys and options are endless.
Spend the next month or two, downloading all ya fav tunes and reading all the forums here + all the tips & tricks on the home page and you will find your way with the help of the DJ Tech Tools family.
Then once you have a beteer idea of what ya want to do. Start spending all that hard earned cash on Gear
Erm for fl studio go to youtube and type in Kev willow and he has a shit load of tutorials on producing dubstep and goes into lots of detail.. Ive watched many just to get an insider on music
my music is worth more then my setup