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thinking about djing (pg. 2)
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| Omega_Blue |
| sorry, didn't mean to come off as cocky. |
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| vhx1 |
| Once you get the hang of it, beatmatching is easy. It is a basic skill that all dj's must learn. The hard part is putting together a set that flows well and has tracks that won't put the audience to sleep. That is indeed the hardest part. THeres also other techiniques like mixing in key and learning how to properly use effects. I learned beatmatching in about 4 weeks but i was no near close to putting together a decent set |
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| Dervish |
Beatmatching properly isn't that easy. But yeah it just a basic skill. And as other people have said doing it on TT's is a differnt thing to doing it on a comp.
By the way if you are on a serious budget just try to make sure you get a direct drive deck and a mixer with eq's. Thats all you need. Even belt drives if it's all you can afford. I think you people in america can get that stuff cheaper cos £200(roughly what your talking in $) wouldn't really buy you much here. But like I say 2 decks a mixer with eq's thats it. One guy on here had this ace setup he made with 2 personal cd players (altered to allow pitch control) and some weird mixer. Now if you can dj on that what you gonna be able to do on some dream setup(which you can buy later if you find you want to stick with it)? |
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| FC`Noir |
I would NOT get belt drive decks, no matter what. As for mixing on the PC and thinking its the same thing as using a real mixer..HEHEEH. Its the same basic idea, but you'll never know unless you try it out.
If you like playing music and creating new tracks and sounds then go for it. DJ'ing isnt just beat matching and crossfading, otherwise all the people here on the boards would be famous DJ's. Best of luck to you! |
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| Dervish |
Yeah but if it's belts or nothing.
Edit: I'd like to know if all the people on here who always slate belt drives have ever actually used one. I've never had one but I used a mates wasn't that much of an issue. Obviously not perfect and gonna let you down in some mixes but for practicing while your starting out whats the problem? Some people don't have loads of money to commit to something the don't even know they are sure they'll want to be doing in 4 years.
There is of course a flip side your vinyl is gonna cost a load before you have any kind of collection so why play it on decks. And there is no point buying e if you could get say direct drives for that little bit more.
Upto the man himself. I spent about $900(i think was in £) on my first setup. But if I hadn't tried it out in my mates belt drives first I'd have spent less. Often the people who start out the the test setups end up lasting, cos they will just get what they can to get started whatever it takes. While the ones who get some dream setup as some massive gift, drop it cos it doesn't mean so much to them.
Don't get fixated on technolgy it's got absolutly all to do with djing. The people who started dj'ing(as we mean it) started with decks without pitch faders!!! You've obviously put alot of time and effort into looking into what you should do and if it's right for you( looking on here and even doing mixing on your comp and so). So if belt drives is all you can afford don't let someone who's probebly got a Xone or something tell you what you need. Decks, Mixer and MOST importantly records! Do try to get direct drives (even second hand) but if you can't don't not start because of it just get emm. |
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| dartman |
learning to beatmatch is definitely the first step but to think that its the only thing that you need to be able to do in order to be a good dj is wrong. making your sets interesting, playing your records in some kind of order that flows and sounds nice is really important. just because you can get two songs to go together BPM wise doesnt mean that they go together harmonicly or emotionaly. i've heard djs before that could beatmatch fine but didnt create any kind of energy or excitement with their sets. i've also heard djs play that mixed kinda bass heavy and rough around the edges that were totally awesome. the first real club that i ever went to had a couple guys that played like that and they rocked. i used to love hearing that another song was coming in because you just knew that it was going to kick ass and be that much better than the song before.
about the decks..... i wouldnt get belt drive. the least you could do for yourself is get some decent direct drive decks. the cheaper decks dont have as much torque, which means they will take longer to start up and when you go to make adjustments while you mix the platter will stop easier. you dont want to be holding your record waiting to drop it in and have the platter stopped dead. not cool. cheap decks also dont hold the pitch as well. its gonna be tough to mix if your record doesnt stay at speed you set it. but then again if you really are a natural maybe it wont bother you.
another thing you might want to learn how to do is quote people properly, there is a little box labeled "quote" under every post, just click that and it will quote the whole post, and you can delete the stuff you dont need. |
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| Omega_Blue |
| quote: | | By the way if you are on a serious budget just try to make sure you get a direct drive deck and a mixer with eq's. Thats all you need. |
| quote: | | the cheaper decks dont have as much torque, which means they will take longer to start up and when you go to make adjustments while you mix the platter will stop easier. you dont want to be holding your record waiting to drop it in and have the platter stopped dead. not cool. cheap decks also dont hold the pitch as well. its gonna be tough to mix if your record doesnt stay at speed you set it. |
Quite possibly the best two posts of this thread. Exactly the information I was looking for. Thanks for the input. (did I quote right?) |
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| dartman |
| yes, very nice. the not quoting right thing just makes it tough to read your posts easily, i wasnt trying to be a dick or anything. i'm glad that you got some of the 411 that you were looking for |
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| bent |
Omega_Blue:
This might seem like a silly question, but when you say you can mix easily using computer programs like traktor, do you look at the beatcounters or the bar that shows you if the beats are slightly out of sync? |
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| djeternal2004 |
your making it sound like djing is a science rather than an artform. I would even say most of your bedroom praticing is science and technical practice. In your bedroom you can throw on any tracks and beatmatch , and fade ... simple. That can take ne thing from a month to a year or two. If your interested in playing out live to a crowd then read below.
'Programming' however takes years or even more than a lifetime to master. Try throwing on any old track in a club/pub and most of the floor will most likely clear out.. trust me playing to an empty dance floor can be humiliating at times but its an experience and thats when i realised, personally, that there was more to djing than just a science. Knowing what to play and when to play it.
Thats what makes a good dj different from a great dj. A combination of that and uniqueness. Just look at Zabiela... technically hes astounding and most importantly unique for a mainly prog dj
However you sound like you've picked up the basics quite well and it comes naturally to you. Keep it up :)
Also listen to as many live sets as possible for tips on programming.. no ones knows how to do it better than the pro's |
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| FC`Noir |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dervish
Yeah but if it's belts or nothing.
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I'd stick with nothing, until was able to get some Direct Drives. Why waste your money? The difference in price isnt THAT much. If you suddenly lose intrest in DJ'ing because you cant wait a few weeks to save for even some cheap direct drives? More like a passing fad than any real desire to DJ. But sure if you want to throw your money away, go for it.
| quote: | Originally posted by Dervish
Don't get fixated on technolgy it's got absolutly all to do with djing.
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Uh.. okay whatever. Have fun with those belt drives then. Get frustrated because the heat warps the belts and the pitch changes in mid song, every couple of half notes.
Belt Drive decks will limit your ability and when you go to get newer decks, you wont get much worth, back from your old belt drives. So like i said, if you want to waste money go for it because thats what you'll end up doing, buying belt drives. |
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| Boomer187 |
| quote: | Originally posted by djeternal2004
trust me playing to an empty dance floor can be humiliating at times but its an experience |
hehe, thats the fun part. I rememebr just playing a show that the promoter made some bad calls with regard to the lineup, so there was no one there for me.
I remember thinking, alright I gotta read the crowd, wait, noones there. So I just played I liked and a few people rolled back in :).
I think someone also mentioned buying vinyl, that is the most expensive part. I love vinyl shopping, but I never have enough money for it. You will be spending a crap load of money on em.
another thing to think about is just getting cd decks. They are cheaper and I am sure you have a lot more mp3's than vinyl. |
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