quote:

Originally posted by Spin Doctor One tip that you can’t go far wrong with, practice. It’s the only DJ tip you’ll ever really need!

for real!

one other tip though - when your green, try not to touch the record. beatmatch on the pitch, it's easier to understand what is going on that way, and not as easy to screw up. plus if you can beatmatch using just the pitch, you can 'spin' on CD decks later without much relearning

-mer

another tip, once u feel you've started to get the hang of the basics... start recording your mixes then play them back to yourself... you'll find that your making mistakes that you wont normally hear when your in the mix.. untill you have your ears trained anyway..

i started out (and still do) making tapes for my girlfriends car, and over the weeks/months you quickly notice how much better your getting, this is a real confidence booster as when you first start you get really down and frustrated and feel like you just wanna give it in... i know i went through a few stages where i thought 'why the hell did i spend so much money on this shit!' but now my mixing is better i love it!! i cant wait to get home and get on my decks to practise.

I also try to record every set i spin. Its good to critique yourself. Also u can keep track of how ur getting better. Plus u need to listen to all ur records over and over till u know every beat and synth. Know ur music is just as important as beatmatching IMHO. I see kids spinnin nowadays that dont even listen to elec music. But they spin it..

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Heres a link to my slow car that i spend my record money on.My ProjecTT

quote:

Originally posted by b0bb0 I see kids spinnin nowadays that dont even listen to elec music. But they spin it..

yea.. because it's coooooooooooooool to spin records... and they dont like electronic music.. but the dumb f*x cant figure out how to beatmatch rock or whatever crap they like. guitars are for punks anyways




so yea, back to the topic. don't let recording yourself get you down. sometimes i listen to my recordings and just sit there and go 'wtf??'

don't forget to not only listen to your records over and over so you can flow with them, but listen to other live sets. see my topic 'listening to live sets' - you'll feel better about yourself and pick up some ideas!

-mer

quote:

Originally posted by b0bb0 Know ur music is just as important as beatmatching IMHO.

If not more important! Any DJ with enough experience can beatmatch, but what separates a world class DJ from your local is how the pieces flow on from one to the next.

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"To that guy, who asked me to sign this piece of paper saying that I’m number one… thumbs up to you man!!!" - Ferry Corsten

I'd like to add just one more thing...

When you're recording your mixes and listening afterwards;don't be disappointed if your previous record sounds better than the last one. All the time know that you're learning something tho you can't realise it.

That's what happened(and still) happens to me. The reason (I guess) is while mixing everything(mistakes ect..)happens in moments. So sometimes you'll make it,sometimes you won't ....ALWAYS BUT ALWAYS know that you AIM is to INCREASE the number of GOOD TIMES....

Be happy
Like you music...

Greetz,
Dj Ahter

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Check out DBS: www.dbs.fm

heck man... i was cleaning up my place yesterday, and found a tape.. i was like 'hmmm whats this' - dropped it in the deck and found a mixset i did over a year ago just on my PC. it was just as good as anything i've done on the turntables, and i though "whoa! i was pretty good even back then!"

alot of the stuff i do today sounds WORSE.

why? because that mixset from a year ago was very simple - I didnt try to pull any tricks, there were no EQ's available to me, etc etc.. it was BASIC. as you learn, you find more and more ways to spice up your mix... so thus, you make more and more errors.

basically, as you learn more, you leave more room for error... if I redid that mix in it's simplicity, it would be better than it was before.

what I find, is a progressive learning curve. you get good at some ways of doing things.. then learn more ways and add that to your style.. and perfect those ways.. and back to adding more to your style, which you are have you to become comfortable with. you get good at one way, go a level deeper, and then it takes time to integrate those ideas into your sets.

I guess that's what learning is all about, and why it makes it all worth it

-mer