[godfather dust]

Learning to beatmatch and transition is easy.

I'm assuming you already go to bars, clubs, parties with good DJs so you know what good mixing is. If not spend some time doing this.

[Architekt]

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

[Dragan]

Is the Traktor s4 any good? I had a 100 buck hercules controller but it was too small and didn't have many options at all.

I'm thinking of making DJing my hobby to make myself a bit more hipster/ artistic... I have always liked running in the circles, but since I stopped playing an instrument i feel like i have nothing in common with these types. I'm getting off track here, but maybe i Should take some acting classes?

[Biz]

Traktor S4 is good, perfect intro controller, has pretty much everything you really need.

[Dragan]

(02-13-2018 05:34 PM)Biz Wrote:  

Traktor S4 is good, perfect intro controller, has pretty much everything you really need.

if you don't mind me asking what's your setup like?

Follow up question would be what type of music do you play? How do you go about getting/ choosing songs for the set? And, what is necessary as far as training/learning to be able to pull-off a technically-correct set?

Bonus: can you explain live sets, or advanced dj concepts like using musical theory to make better sets?

[Biz]

(02-14-2018 01:21 AM)Dragan Wrote:  

(02-13-2018 05:34 PM)Biz Wrote:  

Traktor S4 is good, perfect intro controller, has pretty much everything you really need.

if you don't mind me asking what's your setup like?

Follow up question would be what type of music do you play? How do you go about getting/ choosing songs for the set? And, what is necessary as far as training/learning to be able to pull-off a technically-correct set?

Bonus: can you explain live sets, or advanced dj concepts like using musical theory to make better sets?

I actually sold off all my equipment recently -- not enough time these days and living situation isn't ideal for it. I'll pick it back up in the near future.

I've had many different setups over the years, the gear doesn't matter too much. Instead focus on the craft rather than the equipment. Start with a cheap controller and if you decide to stick with it you'll eventually want to get a pair of CDJ's and a nice mixer (pioneer or allen & heath), good pair of headphones and a USB stick -- that's all you'll need. You could also use Traktor or Serato, nothing wrong with that.

Underground deep house, more slow going around 115-122 bpm -- there's endless sub genre's these days, it's gotten a bit ridiculous.

Choosing tracks is your preference, if you have a good ear which many don't it's not very difficult picking tracks you like and would want to include in a set -- myself I know within milliseconds if I like something or not, having developed my ear for 20 years of listening. This obviously comes with practice. TIP: look for new, unpopular tracks that you don't hear on every single set -- be unique.

Study your favorite DJ's sets, both live and studio sets. Get a feel for the flow, how they got from the first track to the last track.

At the end of the day it's your picture so paint it the way you like. Study and practice, this is a skill like any other that takes tons of effort, focus and practice.

[Ringo]

(10-11-2017 05:06 PM)Ringo Wrote:  

I've considered learning to DJ for a few months now.

Update:

I've bought a Pioneer DDJ SB2 about a month ago and have been practicing at least 20 hours/week since. Music is mostly techno.

I think I'm going to make a Youtube/Soundcloud to upload my mixes - this will help me get feedback and keep practicing. In the future I might be able to show it to promoters as a portfolio.

This thing is so much fun!