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-- For the 100% newbie!

For the 100% newbie!

Hello everyone, im myles from vancouver and i have officially been bitten by the trance/house/rave/techno bug! what i wanted to ask you guys for is some guidance... on the subject of DJing... at this point i would like to start messing around at home and just see what kind of mixes and productions i can come up with.

that being said... my basic intuition tells me that those are two completely different things (mixing and producing electronic music)...no?

so what i am asking is how do i even begin to pursue and learn the art of mixing and producing electronic music... from the equipment to learning the skills...and how to use the hardware.... for me... a mixer with all those knobs looks very intimidating and complicated...
i am COMPLETELY clueless... so please feel free to be as basic and elaborate as much as you feel necessary

thanks guys

i am very excited about getting involved in this undeniably addicting music

myles

Hello Myles from Vancouver.

Here is 2 useful websites for beginners (I read them all the time).

http://www.recess.co.uk/beginning.html
http://www.the-dj-equipment-guide.com/index.html

There is also a lot of information for beginners in the Sticky's at the top of this forum. It will be easier for you to read the basics in these places, you can then understand better what to ask, and possibly understand the replies too.

Re: For the 100% newbie!

quote:

Originally posted by fr3sh that being said... my basic intuition tells me that those are two completely different things (mixing and producing electronic music)...no? so what i am asking is how do i even begin to pursue and learn the art of mixing and producing electronic music... from the equipment to learning the skills...and how to use the hardware.... for me... a mixer with all those knobs looks very intimidating and complicated... i am COMPLETELY clueless... so please feel free to be as basic and elaborate as much as you feel necessary

your intuition is correct, if you have any questions regarding production and composition of music, you will get the best answers from the production studio forum.

as far as persuing djing is concerned, there are many ways to get started. a popular one is to go and get some kind of djing software, that way you can grasp the basic concepts of djing before having to spend money on equipment. the problem with djing is that even the cheapest equipment is expensive so its probably best to find out if you like it with software first. but when you discover you like it (which you undoubtedly will if you are enthusiastic about it) you will want to get kit.

there are two routes from here, depending on your budget and your needs. first option is cheap gear, you can generally pick up a half decent setup to learn on for around �400. this will by no means be amazing stuff, but if you choose your gear well it will serve you well. learning on cheaper decks is often very useful as it teaches you to take more care of each deck and to stay concentrated on what each deck is doing. your second option is to shell out on expensive gear straight away, meaning you probably won't have to upgrade later. obviously this has its benefits, but it has it's flaws too. if you shell out on expensive gear then decide you don't want to do it any more, you will have lost money, which will not be replaced by selling the gear (even with technics which hold their value well). plus the expensive stuff makes djing easier. the problem with this is you don't learn how to deal with situations that may arise, like complete fuck-ups. regardless of how good you end up being, it is always vital you know how to deal with complete fuck-ups, not to mention that if you intend on playing clubs, you never know what equipment you might end up on.

the knobs on the mixer look more complicated than they are. they are all basically duplicates of one set of controls. for example, you have a 3 channel mixer. each channel will have a channel fader, eq's (usually 3 knobs), gain control and sometimes a balance control. so on a mixer which has 15 knobs, there is only really 5 things you need to know, apart from the master settings and headphone settings which are all self-explanitory.

but yeah, definitely read through the sticky threads at the top of this forum (and the same applies in the production studio forum), if you have a question to ask please try and search for your answer before posting

well i am pretty much ready to buy a set of high quality turntables and mixer right off the bat... i'm not going to give up on it... and if i did... well thats life... i have the money to spend so i might as well get good stuff...maybe not THE BEST... but good nonetheless... i have been reading through the threads... i have concluded on turntables... i don't think i will be excluding turntables ever as they appeal to me as being very authentic... but i would eventually add cd's to the mix but likely not replace them

so here is the next question:

mixing from what i gather is the blending of one song to the next to the next etc etc

what about remixing?

when pvd or tiesto perform live... i notice their tracks are different from the album version... are these guys remixing live?... what is it exactly that these guys are doing?

thanks

remixing is a form of production where an artists makes his or her own version of a track. the versions they play will be either remixes already on vinyl or CD, or their own remixes made beforehand specially, usually on a CD-R.

quote:

...and how to use the hardware.... for me... a mixer with all those knobs looks very intimidating and complicated...

The hardware is the least complicated aspect of DJing

Long and mcquade has a store in Granville that has a REALLY good dj section. Go there if you can, you can try stuff out, and get a feel for what youre getting into.

quote:

Originally posted by tu_face remixing is a form of production where an artists makes his or her own version of a track. the versions they play will be either remixes already on vinyl or CD, or their own remixes made beforehand specially, usually on a CD-R.

Yes, thats how it is 99.99% of the time, but now with the technology coming out, and things like Ableton Live, DJs can do live remixes now, but lets not get into that yet, as you need to get the basics down.

thanks guys this is really getting me going in the right direction
i have been looking through those websites posted above... what i am thinking is that i would also benefit from actually visually watching someone mix while they are explaining it to me... are there any instructional videos/websites etc etc to just get me familiar with how to use the equipment .... i am not looking for any easy way out here. i am an advocate for hardwork with the benefits of success. i just am looking for guidance.

thanks

not sure on the video front, never bothered with them personally (but i am sure someone here will link you), i find it very helpful going to watch dj's first hand, watch what they do and how they do it. seeing james zabiela live and being a complete geek standing there and watching him for an hour has opened my eyes to a couple of things i was doing differently that can be done a bit better now..

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