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-- learning to use CDJ's

Posted by DJ Thanatos on Oct-19-2003 17:28:

learning to use CDJ's

Im finally getting a job spinning at one of the more popular nightclubs in my college town, but i have to incorporate some hip hop to keep the masses happy.

They have denon cdj's in the booth and so i'd like to use them for hip hop because i don't really wanna buy it on vinyl, only trance goes on vinyl hehe

What im getting at is, how easy are cdj's to learn how to use? is it something that can be done relatively quickly???

thanks
Thanatos

Posted by Tiger777 on Oct-19-2003 18:09:

ya, it's pretty easy. I adjust from vinyl to cdj in 20 minits...
(using the jog wheel, it feels just a little bit like vinyl)

Posted by m0sh on Oct-19-2003 18:44:

using cdj is very easy , but I don't know how to teach u tho /:

its just so easy for me... heh I mean I djed for the frist time of my life few weeks ago w/o touching cdj in my entire life

Posted by Freak on Oct-19-2003 18:45:

100% of my hip hop stuff is on vinyl- and i take a full box worth to work every nite.... Its the stuff that is most suited to vinyl in my personal opinion- scratching, cutting etc....things that can be emulated okish on cdjs but not the real thing.
Doesnt bother me- everything i play is on vinyl anyway- regardless of genre.

If you can mix ok on turntables you should find Cd players very easy.

bear in mind that beatmatching, transitions and a whiole load of other skills you may have learned for trancey/dancey stuff are totally different when playing hip hop/soul etc

Posted by xCxStylex on Oct-19-2003 20:20:

I started learning on cdjs, and have recently learned vinyl.

Spinning on cd decks is not difficult at all. The only thing that may take "time" is learning EXACTLY how sensitve the jog wheel is, and I suspect that may differ on different models. Even now, when I've been practicing for several months, I still don't always "pitch bend" forward fast enuff or too fast... and even though you can slow the cd down, you can't "spin it backwards" like vinyl.

All in all, don't trip, you'll get it. Just go there a bit earlier before your first gig and play around for 30 mins.

Posted by brian on Oct-19-2003 20:40:

quote:
Originally posted by xCxStylex
and even though you can slow the cd down, you can't "spin it backwards" like vinyl.

This will depend on which model/make you have. I recently bought a CDJ-1000MK2 and you can do backspins and such -- sounds just like vinyl. You can also adjust how fast it starts up and slows down, so if you turn those to the max and hit the Play/Pause button, it sounds like a vinyl turntable is powering up or down. Pretty neat too...I've done a few backspins on it during a mix and it's very hard if not impossible to discern whether or not its a CD or a vinyl.

Anyway, it really doesn't take long to adjust to a CDJ so long as its a good model. My Pioneer has been wonderful...I'm not totally used to it yet, but it doesn't take me much longer to beatmatch with it. I only wish the pitch slider were more weighted because its too sensitive.

Posted by Arsalan on Oct-19-2003 23:01:

just play with it for like 15 min and youll be fine.

Posted by mikefasssy on Oct-20-2003 04:42:

yea after about two minutes of panic before I mastered teh jog wheel its no problemo