Started with DDJ-SB, can recommend. Has every feature you might need, works painlessly with Serato/most software straight out of the box, and are pretty hardy - can be important when you play to a messy crowd
Great controller to start out with.
Some advice for beginners/anyone interested:
The primary aim of a DJ is to keep the music rolling, and the party moving
Basic principles are essentially;
Understanding tempo and timing - If you already play an instrument the timing of your transitions will mostly feel very natural (ie; every 16, 32, 64, ..., bars)
Understanding how keys relate to each other - Serato has "Mixed In Key" functionality baked in, making it easy to ensure your tracks won't clash and sound like shit during transitions
Understanding what makes a track/transition exciting or not - Important to know when it's time to either pump the crowd up or send them to the bar for a drink
Understanding how to bring the crowd up or down, and when - If you're playing an opening set, don't come out with every hands up banger and earth shattering bass drop in your arsenal. At this point your crowd is probably still pretty sober and just wants to settle into their night, and you'll likely piss off whoever is playing after you. Conversely, if you're playing at 1am after a thumping set and the crowds pumped, it might be time to start bringing out your heavy hitters. Knowing how to read and respond to the crowd is the difference between a technically OK, mediocre DJ and a DJ that brings people from all over to listen to their sets
Bonus tips:
Know your equipment - Self explanatory
If you are into production or have some kind of DAW, but don't feel confident playing your own music, you can always cut up parts of tracks, do little edits, or throw some vocals over the top for an edit/mashup you know the crowd will love
Don't make every single transition a slow fade over 32 bars - it might be nice to keep the music rolling without interruption, but hearing the same transition over and over gets tiring, and not every track you want to mix into will necessarily be the same tempo/key as the one you're playing. Listen to some recordings of mixes from DJs you are into, then when you hear a transition that excites you, listen to the songs individually and try to understand how the DJ put them together and why they made the choice they did. If you can, try recreate the transition if it involves a new or interesting technique
Learn to produce - Not much is more satisfying than seeing something you made make a whole crowd of people move
Play the tunes you enjoy - Don't play a genre you can't get into because your friend reckons "errbody is into deep house what is that dnb shit?" The crowd will generally notice if the DJ is a little uncomfortable
Don't limit yourself to one genre/tempo/key - Keep things interesting
Have fun - Not much point otherwise, and the crowd will generally have a better time if the DJ is also having a good time
Hope this helps
Great controller to start out with.
Some advice for beginners/anyone interested:
The primary aim of a DJ is to keep the music rolling, and the party moving
Basic principles are essentially;
Understanding tempo and timing - If you already play an instrument the timing of your transitions will mostly feel very natural (ie; every 16, 32, 64, ..., bars)
Understanding how keys relate to each other - Serato has "Mixed In Key" functionality baked in, making it easy to ensure your tracks won't clash and sound like shit during transitions
Understanding what makes a track/transition exciting or not - Important to know when it's time to either pump the crowd up or send them to the bar for a drink
Understanding how to bring the crowd up or down, and when - If you're playing an opening set, don't come out with every hands up banger and earth shattering bass drop in your arsenal. At this point your crowd is probably still pretty sober and just wants to settle into their night, and you'll likely piss off whoever is playing after you. Conversely, if you're playing at 1am after a thumping set and the crowds pumped, it might be time to start bringing out your heavy hitters. Knowing how to read and respond to the crowd is the difference between a technically OK, mediocre DJ and a DJ that brings people from all over to listen to their sets
Bonus tips:
Know your equipment - Self explanatory
If you are into production or have some kind of DAW, but don't feel confident playing your own music, you can always cut up parts of tracks, do little edits, or throw some vocals over the top for an edit/mashup you know the crowd will love
Don't make every single transition a slow fade over 32 bars - it might be nice to keep the music rolling without interruption, but hearing the same transition over and over gets tiring, and not every track you want to mix into will necessarily be the same tempo/key as the one you're playing. Listen to some recordings of mixes from DJs you are into, then when you hear a transition that excites you, listen to the songs individually and try to understand how the DJ put them together and why they made the choice they did. If you can, try recreate the transition if it involves a new or interesting technique
Learn to produce - Not much is more satisfying than seeing something you made make a whole crowd of people move
Play the tunes you enjoy - Don't play a genre you can't get into because your friend reckons "errbody is into deep house what is that dnb shit?" The crowd will generally notice if the DJ is a little uncomfortable
Don't limit yourself to one genre/tempo/key - Keep things interesting
Have fun - Not much point otherwise, and the crowd will generally have a better time if the DJ is also having a good time
Hope this helps