Learn to DJ
Learn to DJ for yourself and not anyone else.
If you want to learn to DJ there are several factors to take into consideration.
Are you cut out to be a DJ? Do you want the lifestyle of late nights, sleeping till noon and traveling around the country non-stop? When learning to DJ there are pluses too of course.
Some of these include women, the chance to see new places and all of the other rockstar style attributes that come with being known as a DJ.
Besides that you may just want to learn to DJ for fun which is what I would suggest be your first and best motivation cos if it's not fun then what's the point? So if you really want to learn to DJ decide what you are doing it for 1st of all and keep that in sight as you progress in this wonderful lifestyle.
So, cutting to the chase, today I am going to talk to you about the equipment of the trade and dispelling some of the myths and hype around what you may require to get you started as you learn to DJ.
One of the initial drawbacks when you learn to DJ, over other hobbies, is it requires a large initial monetary investment before you can get going.
Other things like skateboarding or learning an instrument may require an initial fee of around 100-200 dollars to get you set up but then you are good to go for that time being.
With DJing, however, you must get your hands on a lot of expensive equipment before you are ready to practice.
Not only are there the actual decks and mixer but there is also speakers amp and headphones and that is even before you've got any music! This can easily run you into a grand or more right out the gate.
So since it can be such an expensive thing to get into I want to discuss what is essential and what isn't as some things are bare essentials whereas others can be discarded completely or held off till you are raking it in from playing out.
Firstly let's start with the decks.
I am not too sure about whether they do belt drive decks now but back in my day (I feel old) they did.
Now it is mainly gonna be CD decks so not much of an issue there.
Back when I started the choice was between belt drive or direct drive turntables.
I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say direct drive were the way to go back then and worth shelling the extra cash.
Today you have more options.
You have Vinyl or CD and mp3 including purely Laptop.
Even though vinyl has mostly been taken over by these newer mediums which one you decide on will depend a lot on your music style.
A lot of the old classics in genres like Reggae will be hard to find in digital format so take that into consideration when deciding.
Other than that which medium you choose will ultimately come down to personal preference and what suits you best rather than a performance issue.
Unlike the old days, today, for a good few hundred dollars you are going to get some decent equipment in whatever medium you choose.
If given the choice I would choose mp3 over CD decks simply for the reason that CDs get scratched and are another thing to carry whereas MP3s can all be stored on a hard drive or USB stick.
I do draw the line at actually having a set of hardware decks however vs.
doing it all on laptop.
This is again personal preference in part in that I like to have a hardware interface with which to manipulate the individual tracks.
Other than that I know general opinion is that if you go to entertain a crowd many would say they were not seeing a proper show if you are just clicking a load of clicks on the mouse.
This is arguable but that is the general opinion.
On the other hand I would not let that stop you at all if you had your heart set on laptop mixing in something like Ableton Live.
What's most important is you do what YOU want to do and if you are really passionate about that then others will fall in line and appreciate your passion as well.
So the lesson to take from what I said above is take time to consider what is going to be the best medium for you.
As DJing is a considerable monetary investment you want to make sure you choose the RIGHT equipment before giving over your hard earned cash.
Next is music choice.
For me there are a few things to consider.
Of course there is the passion for whatever music you choose.
This should be the driving force.
At the risk of sounding corny I'd say 'follow your heart' when deciding what music to take up.
In that sense it shouldn't really be a choice at all but rather a calling.
Since you are reading this article you probably already know what kind of music you want to mix which is why you are looking into how to mix it.
Another consideration to bear in mind though is whether that kind of music in the long run is going to promote the lifestyle you want to live.
I noticed that as I became more mature that my music preferences changed with my personality.
Some of the music I used to listen to when all I wanted to do was get wrecked became outdated to me and I couldn't appreciate it when not high on something.
So maybe you don't want to think about that now but I'd suggest you take that into consideration since you may regret it down the line.
Just think to yourself, rather than being just a phase, is this music something I could like several years from now? Your music collection is something you build up over years With today's digital media this isn't such an issue but if you are buying your music (and you are buying it aren't you?;) ) then you want to make sure the investment is not going to be wasted down the line as music ain't cheap.
I, being a real skinflint, like to get the most out of anything I part cash with so the longer something will last me the better, including music.
Well those are just a few thoughts I have given which came to mind from my experience as a DJ.
There is much more to be considered but this should give you a few more things to think about on the path as you learn to DJ.
If you want to learn to DJ there are several factors to take into consideration.
Are you cut out to be a DJ? Do you want the lifestyle of late nights, sleeping till noon and traveling around the country non-stop? When learning to DJ there are pluses too of course.
Some of these include women, the chance to see new places and all of the other rockstar style attributes that come with being known as a DJ.
Besides that you may just want to learn to DJ for fun which is what I would suggest be your first and best motivation cos if it's not fun then what's the point? So if you really want to learn to DJ decide what you are doing it for 1st of all and keep that in sight as you progress in this wonderful lifestyle.
So, cutting to the chase, today I am going to talk to you about the equipment of the trade and dispelling some of the myths and hype around what you may require to get you started as you learn to DJ.
One of the initial drawbacks when you learn to DJ, over other hobbies, is it requires a large initial monetary investment before you can get going.
Other things like skateboarding or learning an instrument may require an initial fee of around 100-200 dollars to get you set up but then you are good to go for that time being.
With DJing, however, you must get your hands on a lot of expensive equipment before you are ready to practice.
Not only are there the actual decks and mixer but there is also speakers amp and headphones and that is even before you've got any music! This can easily run you into a grand or more right out the gate.
So since it can be such an expensive thing to get into I want to discuss what is essential and what isn't as some things are bare essentials whereas others can be discarded completely or held off till you are raking it in from playing out.
Firstly let's start with the decks.
I am not too sure about whether they do belt drive decks now but back in my day (I feel old) they did.
Now it is mainly gonna be CD decks so not much of an issue there.
Back when I started the choice was between belt drive or direct drive turntables.
I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say direct drive were the way to go back then and worth shelling the extra cash.
Today you have more options.
You have Vinyl or CD and mp3 including purely Laptop.
Even though vinyl has mostly been taken over by these newer mediums which one you decide on will depend a lot on your music style.
A lot of the old classics in genres like Reggae will be hard to find in digital format so take that into consideration when deciding.
Other than that which medium you choose will ultimately come down to personal preference and what suits you best rather than a performance issue.
Unlike the old days, today, for a good few hundred dollars you are going to get some decent equipment in whatever medium you choose.
If given the choice I would choose mp3 over CD decks simply for the reason that CDs get scratched and are another thing to carry whereas MP3s can all be stored on a hard drive or USB stick.
I do draw the line at actually having a set of hardware decks however vs.
doing it all on laptop.
This is again personal preference in part in that I like to have a hardware interface with which to manipulate the individual tracks.
Other than that I know general opinion is that if you go to entertain a crowd many would say they were not seeing a proper show if you are just clicking a load of clicks on the mouse.
This is arguable but that is the general opinion.
On the other hand I would not let that stop you at all if you had your heart set on laptop mixing in something like Ableton Live.
What's most important is you do what YOU want to do and if you are really passionate about that then others will fall in line and appreciate your passion as well.
So the lesson to take from what I said above is take time to consider what is going to be the best medium for you.
As DJing is a considerable monetary investment you want to make sure you choose the RIGHT equipment before giving over your hard earned cash.
Next is music choice.
For me there are a few things to consider.
Of course there is the passion for whatever music you choose.
This should be the driving force.
At the risk of sounding corny I'd say 'follow your heart' when deciding what music to take up.
In that sense it shouldn't really be a choice at all but rather a calling.
Since you are reading this article you probably already know what kind of music you want to mix which is why you are looking into how to mix it.
Another consideration to bear in mind though is whether that kind of music in the long run is going to promote the lifestyle you want to live.
I noticed that as I became more mature that my music preferences changed with my personality.
Some of the music I used to listen to when all I wanted to do was get wrecked became outdated to me and I couldn't appreciate it when not high on something.
So maybe you don't want to think about that now but I'd suggest you take that into consideration since you may regret it down the line.
Just think to yourself, rather than being just a phase, is this music something I could like several years from now? Your music collection is something you build up over years With today's digital media this isn't such an issue but if you are buying your music (and you are buying it aren't you?;) ) then you want to make sure the investment is not going to be wasted down the line as music ain't cheap.
I, being a real skinflint, like to get the most out of anything I part cash with so the longer something will last me the better, including music.
Well those are just a few thoughts I have given which came to mind from my experience as a DJ.
There is much more to be considered but this should give you a few more things to think about on the path as you learn to DJ.
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