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Learning to DJ?
cloudkj asks: "Being a geek and a music fan, I've played with various applications for creating and mixing music. DJing has always been an interest of mine, but I've never had the time nor the resources to take it up as a hobby. Now that I've left college and started working, I have the time and the funds to allow me to explore DJing. What are the best ways to start learning how to DJ? Are there any spectacular pieces of digital DJ software out there that a aspiring DJ needs to have? How does a DJ transition from digital to the real thing?"
I always start with the Wikipedia article whenever I want to learn something new.
It seems you might be interested in a program called Final Scratch.
Is it just me that thinks this one is odd, or should this have been posted to slashdj.org
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I'm sure there are lots of people out there that are going to dissagree with me, but one of the easiest ways to get into digital music creation is with Garageband on a Mac. It's pretty damn good, and if you play around with it for awhile, you'll have no worries moving up to logic or logic express.
You could do what my brother did and start taking tons of ecstasy and pass out in a puddle of your own vomit on the courthouse lawn. I think that was the secret to his success.
Does this sig remind you of Agatha Christie?
Well, there are a few. I'm sure links will pop up later, so I'll stick to the info part.
The first step, obviously, is learning to beat match. This involves working up a sense for tempo and rhythm, and also for listenting to two simultaneous songs and determining which needs to be slowed down / speeded up in order to match the tempo of the other. Most modern DJ software (and a few CD drives) does this automatically, but it's still a required skill to have.
Next comes harmonic matching. This involves learning about keys and chords, and making sure the two songs don't interfere harmonically. There are less rights and wrongs here, it's more a matter of "do the two songs blend?".
Finally, there's music selection. DJ:ing isn't just making sure everything is in place, it's also about using two songs to create a third. This is where taste trumps theory, so you just have to take inspiration from other great DJ:s and learn the "groove."
Going from DJ Software to CD:s is a minor change today, most CD:s can even play the same mp3:s directly. You lose a lot of information (such as the scrolling waveform or the handy playlist search function), but you're not ready to hit the floors until you know your selection by heart anyway.
Hitting the vinyl requires a lot more tactile training, and you're also immediately stripped of any beatmatching, looping or cue point facilities. It's you, the needle and the track.
A great segway, however, is getting Stanton's Final Scratch. This product comprises a special soundcard and two specially encoded vinyl discs with timecode information. The timecode is reported to the software, which then plays the appropriate part of any song you choose. This way, you get most of the benefits of digital music playback, but you also teach yourself how to handle vinyl. The move to real analog playback is then made much smoother.
Personally, even though I'm well past my active DJ years, I'd love to give Final Scratch a go. Given a small enough buffer size and some clever interpolation, it'll be at least as good enough as the real thing, and in many aspects far superior.
Teeworlds - it's Super Mario Quake!
If you're going to brag that some hip-hop punk DJ, make sure your equipment works. I been to one end-of-the-semester campus party of 300 people where the DJ spent all night trying to get the equipment working. It was 10pm when he got it working that the cops showed up to send everyone home.
I would go find a DJ I like locally and ask him that same question. Talk to EVERY DJ you can, and ask him what you have to ask. Having somebody real in front of you is way more valuable than all of Slashdot. No offense, dear reader.
You can get practical software solutions, practical hardware solutions, and really get a lot of comprehensive feedback where a Google search will fail you. And if you're lucky/friendly and find a DJ who's interested in YOU, you could get actual feedback on your performance. Sometimes, a Pro will let you touch their gear, and that's thrilling, too.
Good luck!
Please stop stalking me, bro.
I'm not even sure what a DJ is. Doesn't that just mean you have lots of MP3's and a CD burner? My recommendation is to learn to play an instrument. Go out and buy yourself a guitar/banjo/piano/anything and take some lessons for it. Or maybe learn to sing. It's really fun and rewarding to play an instrument and/or sing.
I used to put my faith in worship
But then my chance to get to Heaven slipped
I used to worry about the future
But then I threw my caution to the wind
I had no reason to be care free, no no no
Until I took a trip to the other side of town
Yeah yeah yeah, you know I heard that boogie rhythm
Hey - I had no choice but to get down down down down
Dance, nothing left for me to do but dance
Off these bad times I'm going through just dance
I got canned heat in my heels tonight, baby!
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
When it comes down to equipment, forget your laptop for mixing - use it for storage and cataloging. I would recommend checking out the cd turntables from a company like numark - I have used the fusion 818 set, and man are they a lot of fun.
If you are interested in scratching, nothing beats vinyl.
hope this helps, have fun.
1. Blends different tracks together, and creates a new track.
2. Creates smooth transitions from one song to the next, so the partiers don't have to have their energy messed up by a gaping pit of silence.
3. A GOOD DJ takes you on a journey energetically, providing you with different levels of emotion through the music, all while reacting to the mood of the crowd.
Please stop stalking me, bro.
My amateur rig is a laptop running Traktor DJ Studio and a visualizer called G-Force. Traktor DJ is leaps and bounds ahead of any pro DJ software out there. It's a commercial package with anything a DJ or amateur could ever want. Beatmatching, streaming, looping, it's all there. It will even help you "work up" to a level of mastery until you go out and buy real turntables. G-Force is a great shareware app that will give a set-it-and-forget-it light show with nothing but an ordinary projector.
Finally, here's some advice from when I first started. Learning "how to DJ" involves three things you must master. First, learn the equipment, which isn't too tough if you're already an ubergeek. Second, get familiar with a whole spectrum of music, which can be hard if your tastes are polarized against genres like rap or country. Last, and most importantly, you must refine your skills to "work a crowd" and respond to your audience's tastes. Developing that charisma is by far the most challenging aspect of becoming a DJ.
[shameless plug] For more tips, I set up a pseudo-DJ tutorial at my website. [/shameless plug] Good luck.
Saw a segment on this DJ School on Current. Looks like a great way to get started without dropping tons on turntables. They also have a training DVD.
http://www.scratch.com/
http://www.current.tv/studio/media/1468855
Required listening for any self-respecting DJ
...is what do you consider a DJ? Do you want to scratch for a nu-metal band like DJ Lethal? Do you want to back a hip-hop act? Do you want to produce your own beats and DJ for crowds like Tiesto? Do you want to be one of those guys who plugs his iPod into a sound system and says he's a DJ? Do you want to use vinyl, or take the digital way out?
Answer that question, and then you can start down the road.
Final Scratch 2 and Traktor DJ Studio 2.6 (3.0 will work too) is a killer combonation.
Go get yourself a set of inexpensive direct drive turntables and a 2 channel mixer, hook up a Final Scratch 2 to a Firewire port, fire up Traktor DJ studio 2.6, let it analyize your mp3's, and you'll be mixing within a few hours.
Traktor 2.6 works with the Final Scratch 2 and let's you do everything you would normally do with records with your mp3 (pick up the needle, move it forwards and backwards and set it down, spin it up, slow it down, scratch, wind it backwards, everything), and Traktor will give you very clear visual cues to help you get your beats in line.
Of course beatmixing is one of the easier skills to acquire, and alone does not make a good DJ. But given that you can probablly put this together for around $1,000 dollars and have a totally viable digital DJ system for learning on, I'd suggest it to anyone who's serious about learning how to make this happen without buying top of the line gear which can easily top $10,000 for just a basic setup.
If this sig is witty, it was probably borrowed from someone else's sig.
A few years ago I became interested in DJing and making my own electronic music. A friend recommended that I buy a program called Acid, which allows for the creation of loops and sequences, and I started learning to use it. I figured out that it makes it possible to DJ digitally, albeit not at all in real-time, and started putting together mixes. Once I figured out what I was doing, I talked to a friend of mine who was a DJ and sent him a few mixes. He helped me pick out a pair of turntables and a mixer, recommended a few records to me, and all of a sudden I was a DJ in real life. This is where things got a little harder. Learning to DJ can be difficult and frustrating. It takes a few months of regular practice and effort, and you really have to love the music you're DJing. I recommend that you take your time with this step. Get some records that you like and practice, practice, practice. Once you feel confident, record yourself. You'll feel the need to practice a whole lot more. Slowly start getting records. Make sure that you know the songs that you get - it's better to have a handful of records that you know really well than a ton of records that you can't even identify. Anyway, it sounds like a lot of people are recommending Final Scratch. I don't have any direct experience with it, but I've heard very good things. I have no doubt that if you start with Final Scratch and learn to DJ, and then move onto turntables, it won't be a difficult transition at all. Teetow's comments are excellent - remember, A DJ doesn't just mix from song A to song B and then to song C, all while trying to keep transitions subtle. A good DJ uses the music that he has to take listeners on a journey and tell a story. He (or she) uses individual pieces of music the create an entirely new piece of music. Once you've got that figured out, then you're really a DJ.
This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
Are you trying to Dj in clubs, art galleries and hip bars? Make some cool friends, preferably those who promote events. There's really no other way in, it's a popularity contest and DJ slots are highly coveted. If you don't have any friends and/or people don't think you're "cool" you're probably SOL, no matter how much you know about music (and by the way, there are a LOT of people who know a lot about music, and almost all of them are cooler than you. For starters they don't go to Slashdot looking for advice on breaking into the DJ business.)
Are you trying to DJ weddings, corporate parties and proms? Start a business. Align yourself with professional event planners. Haunt Craigslist looking for "DJ wanted" ads. Be aware that you're going to be playing primarily Top 40 (past and present) and Kool-in-the-Gang's "Celebrate" over and over and there is little room for you to inject your own taste and style. Also be aware that the only groupies you'll get are drunk fortysomething divorcees.
Do you just want to do it for fun? Every time you hear someone you know is having a party, even if it's twenty people in an apartment, offer to DJ. If you're good enough they'll start asking you to do it again and maybe you'll get some referrals. If you stick with it and are halfway decent it might work out. Of course there's no money in this (in fact it will cost you money), but you will get invited to a lot of parties.
Finally, own the proverbial two turntables and a microphone... And fancy headphones and a LOT of vinyl. Learn to make a show of playing records-- using CDs and digital files is acceptable some of the time, but real DJs play vinyl. A DJ is a performer and they want to see you look and act the part-- if you're just sitting there with an iPod they're going to wonder why they couldn't just do that themselves.
Oh... And you'll probably have to own your own sound system, too (and not a home stereo.) Most places (especially house parties) won't have adequate sound, or it will be just a mess trying to figure out their system.
My advice to you is as follows. This is coming from someone who has DJ'd around the world, supported big acts like the Prodigy, had residencies.
Your first step is to learn to play music that people want to hear. Don't worry about beatmixing, cutting, scartching, all that can come later. If you want to be popular, the kind of Dj that gets asked to play regularly and has a good following (regardless of whether it's underground or mainstream), learn first to read the crowd and play music that you think they will like. Some of the world's best DJ's are technically awful. But they play upfront tracks.
Then, when you're ready, buy some turntables. They don't have to be Technics - in fact I recommend some rubbish old ones first. They will improve your technique.
Then practice, practice, practice.
"You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein
I have done some DJing. I use PCDJ. http://www.pcdj.com/ It does beatmatching, mixing, and you can even set up turntables without styluses, and scratch using a webcam. Check it out!
A witty saying proves nothing. Voltaire (1694-1778)
Check my sig, and you can watch video of my show (just click "the stage" on the site)
Just remember, there is a difference between a KJ and a DJ. If you ever find yourself doing karaoke, remember what I have to say...
The huge difference between KJ's and DJ's is how a playlist is handled. A DJ's playlist will generally try to work with the mood of the crowd, thier goal is to get the crowd off thier feet dancing and having a good time. This absolutely warrents using 2 turntables, crossfader, and a bit of an ear for beat matching so everything sounds like one contingous mix.
KJ's are a completely different realm altogether.....
In karaoke there is a rule called "Rotation" whos goal is basically to give everyone equal stage time no matter how many songs are turned in. Let's say Bob turns in 3 tickets, Frank turns in 2 tickets, Bill turns in 1 Ticket, and Mary turns in 4 tickets (glory stage hog bitch) The ticket order would go like this.
Bob, Frank, Bill, Mary, Bob, Frank, Mary, Bob, Mary, Mary
You can see the same basic pattern there. Everyone has songs qued in round 1, Then it's just Bob, Frank and Mary round 2, Bob and Mary in round 3, then Mary all by herself in round 4.
Lets say Bill and Bob both decide to turn in new songs. Here is how the playlist would look after.
Bob, Frank, Bill, Mary, Bob, Frank, Bill, Mary, Bob, Mary, Bob, Mary
Bill gets put in at round 2, since he only had 1 ticket in. Bobs new song is enqued at round 4 because he already had 3 in. This is how rotation gives everyone equal stage time.
So with that in mind, karaoke isn't about mix at all, it's about making everyone happy because they all know when they're coming up, and who they're going to follow if they turn new songs into the rotation.
Another piece of advice I have about being a KJ is don't try to be a DJ at a show you're doing karaoke at. Karaoke folks are more concerned with getting thier stage time than mixing. Rapid fire your playlist like I do, use the wireless mic's as batons in a relay race, passing them off to the next singer. In the minds of your customers, you're not wasting time with anything but keeping the show moving towards thier next turn, and they'll really love you for that.
Only reason i'm posting about karaoke jocking is that I do it for a living, and I know a lot of folks that try to be a jack of all trades at thier shows. Just focus on being good at whatever you're supposed to be doing, and folks will appriciate it.
A DJ is someone who plays music for people, this means only two things:
-Access to a suitable music collection.
-Knowledge of the crowd or listeners you're playing to.
Nothing else.
Now... depending on the style of music you're playing to people this might mean picking up some technical skills, but these are not really mandatory, if you can read the crowd and play just the right tune you'll be alright.
Skills you might need:
-Beatmatching
-Harmonic matching
-Needle dropping
-Scratching
-Doing voice overs (for instance, in radio work)
-Putting on a show, in the visual sense, might mean video screens or maybe costumes, maybe even (shudder) dancing
Listen to some mixtapes, radio shows etc. of suitable variety to see what you're aiming to. Talk to people: DJ's, listeners, music geeks, partygoers, the list goes on. Once you're aware of what you're trying to do, just practice. As much as you need to. Also, if you're a DJ of the bedroom variety,and have no other feedback: record your sessions/sets, and listen after some time to hear all the mistakes you've made. It's painful but there's no way around it. Maybe play them to people who might give some insightful comments.
Again, in my opinion, what you're aiming for is entertainment, something that is seamless and builds up to a cohesive whole. Something that keeps people dancing, listening, tapping their toes and nodding their heads. Tell a story, you can line up your records by tempo, theme, artist, melody, intensity etc. To do this you need to know your music well. Listen.
Don't let your ego rule your thing, people aren't going to be there to watch you (unless you dress up in drag and do spastic dancing for show), they're there to dance or listen to music, make it worth their while. Audience comes first.
Hmmh, but then again... maybe i've got it all wrong. Plus I'm slightly drunk. Take this with a grain or two of salt.
How to DJ Right by Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster is easily the best text I have read about DJing. I had been DJing for quite a few years when I read this book and there was a lot of information which I found very useful.
My advice would be that if you are serious about learning, buy yourself some good second-hand technics decks. They have excellent re-sale value because they are built to last for years. I have some old second-hand 1200 Mk2s which I bought when I was living in England, and they have been moved around countless times and still are as good as the day I bought them. Even if you buy a cheaper mixer to start with, get the turntables right.
I'd also advise to get in with an online community of people that play the same sort of music as you want to. Not only is it handy for finding gems which you might not know about, when you get confident enough to start hosting your mixes online you will get some useful advise and criticism of your mixes.
Blessed are the 1337, for they shall pwn the earth.
Welcome to the wonderful world of mixing. The first thing you're going to need is gear. Absolutely essential are 2 good direct-drive turntables (direct drive is essential, belt-drive won't have nearly the torque you need). The industry standard is the Technics SL-1200 (the MK2 is the normal baseline model, the MK5G is an updated version with selectable +/- 8/16 % pitch adjust and updated styling). Some other acceptable models (which are themselves heavily influence by the 1200) are the Stanton ST-100 and STR8-100, the NuMark TT1600 and TTX series.
Now, I know you're saying "Turntables? Vinyl?!! Are these the dark ages here?" Well, the fact is that most dance music is released primarily to vinyl, for DJs just like you. The good thing is that, since LPs are an analog technology, incremental improvements in quality are possible without breaking compatibility. In fact, record mastering is an art which has advanced considerably even after the invention of the CD, and well-taken-care-of LPs played back with professional-quality cartridges blow the sound quality of CDs away. Believe it.
Speaking of cartridges, that brings us to the next set of kit. There are a wide range of pickup cartridges, ranging from $20 entry-level models to the superior Ortofon Concorde at over $100. Honestly, get the Concordes. The cartridge itself is extremely high quality and delivers amazing sound quality without distortion, and the actual needle tips are replaceable (for much less that the cost of new cartridges), and can even be swapped out with different styli for different purposes (ultra high-fidelity vs. scratching, etc.).
The next piece of gear is the mixer. Here's another area where there is a vast range in price. The extremely expensive models feature loads of inputs, multi-band equalizers, full banks of filters, several effects loops (and possibly some integrated effects), quadraphonic mixing, optical faders, and maybe even full-digital mixing. The truth is, you probably don't need all those feature while you're starting out. The important features you want are a seperate 3-band EQ on EACH CHANNEL, nice smooth (and user-servicable) faders, and maybe an adjustable curve on the cross-fader. I use a Stanton mixer with these features, and an optical scratch fader, and it set me back only about $250 new.
Now, I know I said earlier that Vinyl is the DJ's medium of choice. That has been the case for several decades, but to be perfectly honest, there ARE some viable alternatives now. Stanton's Final Scratch system is a pretty amazing box that plugs into your existing DJ setup and your PC, and allows the playback of MP3s which are controlled by real, physical specially-encoded Vinyl. There is a slight latency involved with playback of the special discs, which is fine for mixing and even light scratching, but more complex scratches aren't really possible. Even then, the system is truly amazing, and it hooks in with the excellent digital DJ software package Traktor from Native Instruments.
CD turntables are also a major new technology. This field was pioneered by Pioneer with their CDJ-1000. The first model featured a large mechanical jog wheel that can be used to manipulate CD tracks like Vinyl (the platter doesn't spin on its own however, so it is slightly more limited than Vinyl). Since the introduction of this product, Technics and NuMark have both introduced their own CD turntables with full 12" platters that actually rotate. If you must use CDs, there are some good options out there (be aware that they are very expensive, however).
OK, by now, you're presumably kitted out and you've bought a couple dozen records that you like. Now, h
Anonymous Luddite: "What do you think of the dehumanizing effects of the Internet?"
Andy Grove: "Not Much."
There's enough decent advice upthread on the learning part that I'll just dive into little chestnuts and nonobvious things without pretending to give you a comprehensive tutorial.
(A) You'll want one good vinyl turntable, even if you plan on spinning vinyl. Here's why: lots of releases for DJs are still vinyl-only, so despite the best efforts of the p2p ripping squad restricting yourself to mp3s and CDs will restrict your ability to use good music in your sets; furthermore, if you start buying up older classics, etc., it wasn't that long ago that ALL of the releases for DJs were released on vinyl, and without a turntable you'll be unable to use those. So no matter what, you'll eventually want to pick up regular turntable...and if you're just planning on ripping stuff to CD or mp3 I'd recommend one of the newer Numarks (like the ttx1) with direct digital output.
(B) p2p mp3s are great for house parties and practicing but unsuitable for even semi-pro use, even setting aside the legal aspects -- on good sound equipment anything encoded at less than 256kbs is going to be noticeable, especially if it's being mixed into something much cleaner-sounding...you might get away with it in an entirely mp3 set or on substandard sound equipment, but not on good equipment or mixed in with uncompressed sound.
(C) Record every practice session and listen to it at least once, probably twice -- once right away, once the next day. You don't have to archive these for posterity, but this is the fastest way to hear what you're doing wrong.
(D) At some point you'll need to develop an understanding of response curves on speaker equipment, and you'll want your home setup to have as flat a response curve as possible (ie, you'll want to buy studio monitors, or at least adjust your stereo's eq to get as flat a curve as possible). Most home and car stereos boost the bass a lot and the treble a bit, and most consumer cds have been mastered to sound good on that setup, but most live sound setups will be much closer to flat -- if your recorded sessions (you've been recording, right?) sound good in someone else's car without adjusting the eq, it probably means it'll sound whack on a real PA setup. Conversely, recognizing that the system at your gig is weak in the treble and midrange -- and adjusting your signal accordingly -- can do wonders.
(E) The versatility of your music collection grows as n^2, with the caveat that for that to hold the music has to be compatible: 20 records of funk and 20 records of techno is a much less versatile setup than 40 of techno, unless you're jeff mills.
(F) Laptops and software is the future in djing, but a lot of the 'digital dj' stuff is terrible -- once you've got the fundamentals down I'd suggest jumping straight to Ableton Live and some vstis, especially if your ambitions are more artistic than career-oriented.
(G) Take breaks -- a few weeks of not touching the decks after a year of practicing the same stuff every day and you'll come back with a passion, and ideas that'd never have materialized if you'd ground away at it. When people tell you to practice every day they're correct, too, but only up to a point.
(H) Last bit: the crossfader is overrated. I'd recommend keeping it in the middle and manually adjusting the volume on individual sound sources...if you rely on the crossfader to make this smooth you'll be handicapped a bit when you're trying to mix lots of channels at once, and your transitions will all sound pretty similar...
No real comment here, but I had to laugh ruefully when I read that. Am I the only one working 16 hour days with two hours of commute for peanuts? I can barely sleep enough to make it through the week.
What's your job anyways?
The real meat of DJing is records. If you're serious, you'll be spending tens of hours and hundreds of dollars a month shopping for records - much more time if you play obscure stuff, much more money if you do contemporary pop or commercial dance. The DJ is the lord of the meta; acting as a metafilter and selecting the best of the kind of music the audience wants to hear and arranging it across the length of a set, forming a metanarrative for maximum emotional impact. Learn about music, about classical composition, about artistic lineage and the history of movements and styles. See the connections that no-one else sees, hear the subtext that no-one else hears and make them obvious to an audience. In short, be the guy who always finds cool new music and play it to people.
OK, so now you listened to all of your Beatles, Bee Gees, Beach Boys, and B-52s ("the four Bs") LPs over and over. Well, it's now time to become a Disk Jockey! (aka "Platter Head", "Vinyl Veteran", "Shellac Spinner")
First off...go and find a radio station. Just drive around and look for the big antennas, then go knock on the doors of the building and show them your collection of 45s. They are sure to hire you on the spot.
OK, now on your first work day make sure that your turntables are set up correctly. Playing your 45 singles on the 33 1/3 setting is sure to get you a stern "talking to" from the station manager. Second...most songs have a bit of an instrumental bit at the beginning... this part is the best time to talk because people are paying attention at that time...So you should give the current temperature or traffic reports or something similar so you are killing two birds with one stone (music AND information)!
Don't be afraid of new technology. There are these things called "Compact Disks" that are becoming more and more popular, but alas they don't have the warm golden tones of good ol' vinyl LPs...so I've held off on them for now, but I keep trying them out every few years to see if they've fixed the sound on them, and you should too!
Anyhow, back to the DJ-ing.
You will probably be sent out to malls or stores or bars sometimes to do these things called "remotes". They are fun and will give you an opportunity to mingle with the "common man". But don't get too friendly because the world can be a scary place and it's good to remember that the DJ booth back at the radio station doesn't have these scary people.
Sometimes, you will have to interrupt your DJ-ing with some special news event that just happened. (In the biz, we call this a "bulletin") That is OK. When you are done with the interruption, make some sort of light-hearted comment like "Boy, I'm sure glad *I* wasn't on that plane" to bring up the mood and get your eager listening audience back in the mood for some music (or "Tunes" as we professionals like to call them).
You will probably be given a list of songs to play. It is OK to ignore this list because YOU are the DJ... YOU know YOUR audience better than some high-priced firm in LA. If you feel the need to play the Eagles "Hotel California" three or four times in an hour...go for it!
Anyhow, I hope these tips help you in your quest to become a DJ.
Karma: Excellent. 15 moderator points expire sometime.
Shameless product plug of the best visuals a DJ could have at a party.
Best of all its free
http://www.beatharness.com/
No, it's not just you. This has nothing to do with technology or news. It's one of the growing number of stories that would be better of posted to a blog or something. I think Slashdot needs a STFW section.
My aim was to set-up a simple DJ'ing system using only laptops for live music at a local student dance event hosted by the SCI catering to an audience of about 150. With no prior experience with mixing software , or for that matter, DJ'ing basics, I started out looking up on the net, tried out a few, and learnt as I used.
I really liked, and finally used, Sam Party DJ. It offers a full-featured trial, has an easy, configurable UI, and two virtual decks to easily organize playlists and mix and crossfade tracks. Ideally, it's good to have two sound cards, to be able to listen to one track (on headphones) while you play the other. It can use Winamp playlists to load tracks and has auto and manual modes and a plethora of features like beat matching, tempo increasing (without making vocals sound like smurfs) etc.
If open-source is your cup of tea, try Mixxx. It's not as polished, and has a steeper curve (or so it felt to me), but might serve your purpose.
I was planning to write-up a small blog-post or doc on this but never got enough motivation. If you want, I'd be glad to write-up something and put it on my home page.
Of course, if you are instead looking for software/equipment to mix/record your own tracks, you might want to use something like Project 5 from Cakewalk. You might also want to get yourself a MIDI controller or a keyboard, if you want to create real music. :) I use a Yamaha PSR-295. And then, of course there is "proper" DJ-ing equipment like scratchpad etc.
Check out AtomixMP3. I didn't notice any limitations in the trial. A local DJ I talked with uses this software.
I'm sure there are lots of different kinds of terminology for what you're looking to do. Some people call it "DJing", some people call it producing, and some people call it composing. Whatever you call it, I have a very good notion of what you're looking for in terms of software. Even though I have 10 years of piano lessons, it doesn't necessarily prepare you for all the other interesting aspects of electronic composition (constructing and mixing beats, learing how to use effects, mixing and engineering your instrument tracks, sampling, VST plug-ins, etc.), including music gear.
.WAV files that often have beat and pitch integration. One of the nice features of Acid is that with proper WAV loops, all of your loops are perfectly synced and in key with each other automatically. The ease of using Acid comes from "painting" the instrument loops into the timeline and breaking it up to add variety. There are also effects gallore you can introduce to your instrument tracks, and various other wonderful tools to use.
For picking a software package to get started with, it depends on how hands on you want to get with constructing the melodies and configuring instruments. You can either use a MIDI sequencing tool, or a loop-based sequencing tool. Most modern day sequencing tools have both MIDI and loops sequencing features, but some are more tuned to one way or another.
A MIDI sequencer requires a good foundation in understanding how to construct melodies, baselines, drumbeats, and effect tracks with MIDI or VST instruments plugged into the sequencer. It's a lot of work, but gives you the ultimate flexibility.
A loop sequencer is more for people who want to dive in and get constructing music right away, and is more rapid than MIDI sequencing. For the power that loop sequencing gives you in the "pick-up-and-go" category, it sometimes lacks in flexibility, depending on your tool.
My recommendation is that if you want to just start working on music in the next 5 minutes after you install your music sequencer, try a loop-based tool. As I said before, most tools nowadays have the best of both worlds to offer you some flexibility, but in reality the best tools for loops sequencing are gounded in their history as loop-based sequencers.
My suggestion for a loop-based sequencing program is something like FruityLoops or Sony's Acid to get started. Even eJay is a very easy to purchase from the local software store and start using right away. I personally use Acid since I've been using it for years. It has a slick interface, easy MIDI integration, execellent loop handing, and a ton of other features that make your loops less canned. Acid's loops are just specially tagged
Whatever tool you choose, explore it's features and try creating a few tracks with it. You'll find as you use the software, you'll get better (like most software packages) over time, and your tracks will reflect your skill with the tool. If you find that the software just doesn't feel right, try another package and work with that. Eventually you'll find something that works for you and your approach to "DJing".
I view DJing as like Beck says: "I got two turntables and a microphone"... everything else is just making music to me.
Good luck!
Get thee to your local community radio station! Often this is at the university or community college. Also look for dj groups/clubs that may exist. These are usually the best places to find easy to approach people who will readily share their experiences.
Depending on what kind of media you are planning on investing in, your equipment costs will vary. If you are mixing tunes for your own consumption then you would do well with just software on your own pc. Being able to pitch-shift is the only necessity in this case, you can compose the beat-matched tracks in audacity.
If you want to play at the local bar/dancehall or whatever, cd/mp3 mixers will work just as well as vinyl. A lot of dj's went this route, especially in genres like trance and house. There are even hard-drive turntables now. If you want to start delving into turntablism, then you might want to buy a pair a pair of decent turntables and a mixer.. MP3 + turntable combos like final scratch (etc) are definitely cheaper than vinyl in the long run, most 12" singles are ~$15 CDN. You could also do live PA, adding your computer and/or other audio gear into the mix. The possibilities are endless..
If you are going to buy gear, either buy really cheap used gear or buy expensive brand new gear. If you are wary of dropping the cash, then try renting or meeting someone who will teach you first, and see if there is a place where you can get consistant access. Basic consumer instinct is to buy cheap and then upgrade, but if you drop $2000 CDN on a decent set of decks you will be able to resell it at 80-90% of cost. Anything less than this or packaged as a starter kit will be difficult to sell and will probably only be bought in used condition at 20-30% of cost.
I've found the ability to split channels in my headphones really helpful. Mathematically it's just making sure the waves have the same wavelength/amplitude and are in phase.
UBU
That's the software you wan't, I think. Head along to the website and download the free trial, play around with it. It comes with tutorials and a helpful forum. It's like DJing with an infinite number of decks, and the ability to add your own loops, instruments and entire original works of music. It's the best, I totally love it :D
As an aside, I'm surprised so many people on here are referring you to turntables or even Final Scratch. This being a techie site I was sure people would be talking about Ableton and Traktor far more than they have been. Ableton is the app that keeps me on Windows (I know it's out for Mac, but I can't afford to switch just yet...)
Game dev and music blog
Okay. If you want to be a "top40" club dj, you don't need to really have many skills anymore. Just the ability to use some crappy software and knowlege of the latest 40 tracks. Most top40 clubs nowadays just have mp3 and "auto beatmatch" stuff turned on. What you do also really need is to know someone who's on the "inside". Also, you've gotta have a thick skin, because you're not gonna get much respect in "real" DJ circles (This next part is on being an electronic dance music DJ, I have no experience really with hiphop) If you want to be a REAL DJ, you will need to learn most of the tricks of the trade. Trust me, unless you're in podunk town, there's 1000s of DJs that are better than you who are more likely going to get gigs. For example, in Minneapolis, it seems like there's more DJs than clubgoers! So, to impress folks, you need to be good. You need to be almost PERFECT at beatmatching. Then, you generally have to pick a style of music at first and go with it exclusively. It's hard to learn how to mix many different styles of music as a noob. Generally, House or Trance is going to be your best bet in terms of learning, you can always switch to a new genre once you have the basics down. Now, realistically, when you start out, you're going to need to know vinyl. Because to be honest, your first gigs are probably gonna be 30 minutes to an hour at house parties as the guest of the DJ "in charge". Therefore, you can only really count on having vinyl turntables present. Also, learning vinyl first helps you learn it the "right way" first so moving to CDs later will be rather easy. The other way around really doesn't work so well. So, you're going to need to have a large budget. Generally, a record goes for about $8-13. This typically includes the original track and 1-3 remixes. Yes, DJing vinyl is EXPENSIVE, you'll need to have at least 30-50 records to play as playing the same 10 over and over again will be to your disadvantage.Once you have a good record bag going, get involved in the local music scene! The only way to get gigs is to know people. A helpful tool in getting gigs is to record demo CDs. This is an extremely cheap and effective method of getting your name out. Producing a good demo is outside of the scope of this discussion really, but if it's crappy and not produced well, it will reflect on you. If you don't have a good sound workstation, try to make friends with someone that has some quality audio recording and mastering gear so they can help you put a polished demo together. Anyways, burn some CDRs and slap your name and phone number/e-mail on the demo CDs and hand them out at other folks' gigs. Learning to DJ is a long process. To be honest with you, it takes at least a year of practice to become proficient and comfortable. Practice is the KEY here. DJ isn't something you LEARN per se, it's something you practice, like a sport, or riding a bike, etc. People can TEACH you the concepts of beatmatching and harmonic matching and whatever, but really, you'll figure it out yourself eventually with practice. Go out to clubs and be a "trainspotter", watch what the DJ is doing and try to listen to the music and take mental notes on what they do. Just don't expect to pick it up right away. Finally, good luck. A lot of people get into DJing and invest a load of cash and get frustrated and quit. Just keep plugging away at it.
-- There's only one replacement for displacement.....
Remember to drink plenty of water.
Much software for DJing and VJing and streaming etc. in Dynebolic Distro
live disk(Installable/dockable)also openmosix kernel so you can cluster it on your network for better performance.lots of fun. http://dynebolic.dyne.org/
enjoy
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Here are some things I wish someone had told me when I learned to DJ:
1. Do not spend your money on mixtapes/cds or DVDs made by other DJs.
2. Do not spend your money on music you can't use in a set.
3. Do not spend your money on drugs. It bears repeating: do not spend your money on drugs.
In fact, maybe you should just forget about ever having money for anything but records ever again. Records are always going to be an expensive addiction. It's kind of like a puzzle that never really ends -- some records work well with some but not others -- so you're always going to be searching for new stuff that has the sound (hopefully your sound) that you're trying to play. The drugs thing should be obvious, but I've seen so many people for whom it's not that I think it's worth mentioning.
4. Do not spend your money on cheap equipment.
5. Do not spend your money on more equipment than you need.
6. Extra equipment will not make you suck less.
Cheap equipment won't work as well (turntables with too little torque, etc), won't last very long, and will have no resale value whatsoever. If that means waiting six months to save up the money, so be it. Also, you do not need anything but two turntables (or CD decks, if you're one of those people), a mixer, and some cables. If you find yourself looking at samplers, drum machines, DAWs, MIDI stuff, effects boxes and so on (and you will), walk out of the store or turn off the computer and go practice instead.
7. Practice every day. Not every other day. Not when you feel like it. Every day.
8. You are not going to get laid because you DJ.
9. You might actually get laid less because you DJ.
Practice is really the most valuable part, but it's the only one you can't buy. Books and DVDs won't really help you much, so don't waste too much money on them. You need to know what to practice, but there isn't much that one book will tell you that another won't. A lot of how-to DVDs are actually just an hour of showing off with maybe ten minutes of instruction: fun to watch, but useless for learning.
8 and 9 will spare you some potential embarrassment. These days you can throw a rock and hit a DJ (please do!), so as a general rule people are not going to be impressed by that fact alone. If you want to learn to DJ because you want people to be impressed by you (and there's no shame in that, it's only natural), you're going to be disappointed.
10. Stop doing it when it stops being fun.
This applies to just about everything.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
A good DJ exchanges energy with the dancers...and learns how to keep that energy flowing with what they are playing. All the software or hardware in the world will not make you a good DJ, it takes practice, lots. And like other musicians, you have to learn your instruments, your hardware and software, so well you don't need to think about it to use it.
So offer to DJ at parties, throw parties to DJ at, go to places where people DJ, and learn!
And never stop learning!
ttyl
Farrell
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
drunk fortysomething divorcees.
;>)
Frisky MILFS who already got enough money from previous victims? Sounds like a plan to me!
Try the dj audio player called Atomixmp3 with a Pioneer skin. AtomixMP3 provides instant bpm beat matching, live recording, dual soundcard output, master tempo and plugins.
http://www.atomixmp3.com/
It's not just you. Most DJ's use turntables.
I'va been DJ'ing 8 eight years... 4 four of those on CDJ's and four on the computer. as true self respecting geek DJ i have passed to computer over 4 years ago. Mark my words when i say in 8 to 10 years CDJ"s will be deprecated and people will start looking out to computers for the process.
I use www.mixmeister.com and have been using for the last four version upgrades and it just keeps getting better. i tried every program on the way and i always come back to it. JD does not have to mimick to decks, why not do it visually viewing plot graphs of the music instead of imitating a system that is going to as old. i invested on a decent sound card m-audio audiophile, decent DJ headphones, and the program and you play live with it. Mixmeister does not beatmatch for you, you have to do that, but visually aligniing beats makes the job easier for newbies and old timers. It also catalogues music with harmonic key, which means you can kue tracks on the same note for better results when it gets time to beatmachine and so on.
i have DJ house, trance, hard house and now psychedelic trance, and have had no problem with it. It took me good six months to get solid knowledge and now 4 years later i'm just getting good enough to use the programs potential for live situations, which means i can not only mix tracks, but apply DX effects on real time, which has all the other dj's dropping jaws.. and i spent half of what they did...
check into computer based solutions, and give mix meister a go, i did and i have never looked back...
http://www.pomosideshow.com/geekcomix/geek_comix_
Being a DJ is fun, except for when it's not. If you're playing to a receptive crowd, it's awesome. It doesn't matter how good you are or how great your music is if the crowd is a bunch of terds (and there are many varieties of terds). It's a better job than most, though.
postmodernsideshow.com
I'm a hobby DJ myself and do a monthly (former weekly) event for about four years now together with a friend of mine who has about seven or eight years of DJ experience, and this is my opinion on this topic (I'll first rant about DJ'ing itself and then about the software/hardware we use):
I think the most important thing for DJ'ing is to know your music. You must know the bands and names of your songs and vice versa you must know how your songs sound like when you hear their names. And you must learn how to combine them. The bigger your reportoire the better. Be prepared to buy a lot of CDs over time... my collection is currently about 400 CDs right now and that's not very much, IMHO: other DJs I know have more, some have MUCH more. Most DJs I know could have bought a car with the money they've spent into CDs. (Yes, there are P2P nets, bla bla, but I like to hold something in my hand; and I also know some DJs which still only use vinyl)
We do a gothic event and that means to know a lot of different music genres, from medieval to gothic rock to 80's pop and wave to industrial. In short: all kind of different rock and electronic genres from the 80's to now. DJ'ing for those events is probably different from DJ'ing a techno or hip hop event, but you haven't said which music you're into so I just assume my opinion could be useful for you ;-)
Our concept is to do blocks of one genre and try to slide into another genre and only sometimes do "breaks" where we change e.g. from noise into "heavenly voices" from one song to another. That means if I play a song from some band I have to come up with songs of other bands that fit in the same genre and are good follow-ups to former song. Other DJs have other concepts, for example another good DJ I know normally only plays songs one or two songs of the same genre and then breaks into a completely different genre. Those concepts depend on a few things, e.g. how many guests you have, how many people fit on the dance floor at one time and also your target audience, just to name a few.
Whatever your concept is doesn't matter though, what matters is that you can come up with songs that fit your concept and that people like, and that means you really have to know your song reportoire. And to do that you don't need any fancy software for that. I personally normally work with CDs, I need the inspiration from seeing the CD backs in my DJ cases. A simple list of songs is not very inspiring for me... other DJs think otherwise, like my co-DJ.
But my co-DJ used AtomixMP3 and now the successor (AFAIK) Virtual DJ. Both are very easy to use and affordable. While I rarely use the computer for DJ'ing myself I think they're very good. They also have automatic beat mixing and stuff which may be more important to DJs for electronic music (for non-electronic stuff beat mixing and effect are quite useless, IMHO...).
We also have a console for Virtual DJ which includes a sound card and generally makes the software usable like DJ CD players. It's very nice, IIRC we paid 200 Euro for the console including the software but it's much cheaper now, I think 100 Euro or something. Together with an USB 2.0 harddisk and a notebook you're set.
Ah, and some other important advises: Have fun ! Don't let others stress you. Especially don't listen to song requests from annoying guests, you'll see that the dance floor will be empty when you play that damn song and the annoying guest is nowhere to be seen. And remember that a DJ creates trends, if you only play the songs on the current top 100 you'll probably bore your guests...
Check out the program "djDecks": http://www.djdecks.be/ . It's simulation of an entire DJ setup, all on your PC. You have multiple turntables that can play playlists of your music (MP3, OGG, FLAC, whatever), a mixer, all kinds of effects, and more. Plus you can send headphone output to rear channel or any way you want to configure it. This is a great program for getting a feel for what a DJ does, but without spending any money. You can definitely use it to make mixtapes, and probably even for a performance. It crashed on me a few times, so I'd be a bit cautious using it in public, but it's an AWESOME program!
Also, as many others have suggested, talk to local DJs. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, there's a website "SFDJs.org": http://sfdjs.org/ with tons of local DJs listed, categorized by music genre, along with contact information, events, and more. You could definitely make some good connections there.
A number of years ago, when I was starting to DJ, I spent a lot of time on the news group alt.music.makers.dj (and also uk.music.makers.dj). There were a number of very knowledgeable people who offered lots of useful advice. I don't know the current state of these groups, but at least you will find a lot of information in the Google archives.
IANADJ but I found the film Scratch to be very informative. It's also well made IMO.
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Systems Administrators: We read the manual so you don't have to.
but I'm a dj, and no, i don't mean radio. I mean a real DJ.
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this..
but I use vinyl.. yes, they still make vinyl.. most anything released these days, gets pressed to vinyl too still.
I don't use cds, and i don't use mp3s. personally, i think you have more control over the mix with vinyl
and it's more of an art form getting the mix right, than just standing there playing cds or mp3s..
but that's just my 2 cents.
Strictly trance and downtempo on vinyl. I've been mixing records like this for (holy shit!) 17 years now as a secondary hobby to my first life as a programmer. Anyhoo, I bought a pair of Numark TTX-1s about 4 years ago when I wanted a change from my technics, and I LOVE them. What the guy said above about mixing without the fader is a very good tip. This knob twiddle mixing is a reflection of really having an idea of what sound you are trying to produce for your audience. In other words, some records need to be beaten into submission by the mixer, so to speak (so make sure you also pick a good mixer, Numark also makes a good entry level dj mixer if you aren't into 600$ for a Pioneer). I follow the sound in the current crop of records that most corresponds to the idea that I'm after, so a NuNRG - Casino would need to be matched with something suitably uptempo, maybe as a lead in to a hard trance set. Learn which artists sounds have the best familiarity to you. I find Above and Beyond to be very good at the moment in the trance world, but everyone's ear is different. Someone also made the point about accurate beatmixing, and YES it is important, but selection is the real key, Especially in electronic music where more often than not the lyrics are washed out into pan samples, etc.
Who was it, AVB that said you have to play to the women, cuz all the men are just there to get laid heh. That, and you know you're doing OK if the bartender gets into it. Last tip, don't get all flustered if you don't go out and make a million. Go into it as a hobby, enjoy it as a hobby, leave it for a month if you feel like and if you go back to it know that its what you truly like to do. As a new folk, you should aim for not only recording yourself, but making sure you are recording a suitably long set. The average set length is (duh!) 60 - 80 mins so that it fits on a CD, and while going much much longer without a trainwreck is great, you need to be able to mix a seamless set at least that long to get anywhere.
Oh and Go here:
www.tranceaddict.com (Amature DJ forums)
www.chemical-records.co.uk (a really good vinyl store)
www.juno.co.uk (another really good vinyl store)
www.3beat.co.uk (another good vinyl store, smaller, but with some odd tunes)
-- chitlenz
PS - NEEDLES MATTER!
PPS - NOT all mixes are created equal, look for the best mix on each record you buy and stick with it, even if it IS the B side =)
Imagination is the silver lining of Intelligence.
...some advice from someone who DJ'ed for fun. Part of the fun of DJing is the exhibitionism that comes with it. You want to show off your music taste while keeping your audience entertained. The two might clash if you're not careful!
I'd say don't worry too much about the technical ability at first, just play stuff you like at parties and such. Create a podcast or whatever they call them these days. Or create radio shows and have them hosted online. Publicize your creations! Get your mom, your friends, your neighbors or whoever else to tune in and listen. If they like what you do they'll brag about it. If you're good and/or having fun there should be some following, and at the same time you've built up a small portfolio. Now head to some small trendy new bar that is compatible with your taste and style, and show them what you have. Like every other job it's the experience that'll get you hired. From there you can make your way up if that's what you want, and that'll give you plenty of time to hone your craft in the meantime. But in my case, this is as far as I got, and I was happy that way.
I started by DJing at friends' parties (well, as the resident nerd I wasn't gonna flirt with the chicks the straighforward way, so I had to find a way not to get bored at parties, while playing the music I liked and maybe getting some attention). Later on I headed to the local community radio station, got a regular gig there, and finally got a regular gig at a local bar (psychedelic music, indie rock and some trip-hop in my case, no scratching or crazy mixing involved). That was a blast, I earned some pocket money and free beer and yes I even managed to score once that way! Once I finished my studies I had to get a real job and that was it as far as I was concerned (well I did a bit of internet radio for a while, but I just didn't have the time and motivation anymore). Good memories...
Anyway, my point is, don't let the other posters here freak you out. You can DJ with a laptop and a cheap MP3 player if that's all you got (all the software you need can be found for free). Just start with a small audience and as you get better your audience will grow and so will your budget and equipment. That's the DIY ethic I would have expected the slashdotters to show you.
"In our tactical decisions, we are operating contrary to our strategic interest."
No seriously.
I had fiddled around with DJ'ing and dance music for years but never really "got" it. I could line the beats up and then as soon as they started to diverge, it was all just a mash of sound and I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Then I smoked some pot with a friend and tried again. Again, I lined the beats up, no problem, but this time, as they started to diverge, time slowed down and I could very clearly hear which song was too fast or too slow.
Sounds flakey I know, but it worked for me.
The poster is specifically asking for applications and tools, obviously it pertains to technology and computers.
As a computer and music geek myself, I would like to see more articles related to how technology is used in creating music.
Just because you aren't interested in the topic, doesn't mean others aren't.
If you are DJing, and one of the participants at high school prom (aka me) gives you a petition claiming "WE believe you should play some FUNK" with 40 signatures, you know you are doing a bad job.
I have freaks! I did something right...
Getting equipment is the easy part of becoming a Dj. The success of entertaining an audience as a Dj, be it live or via a recorded mix, depends on sequencing musical elements or tracks in a certain order and choosing the track positions for transitions between the musical pieces. All these parameters should work together towards a certain dramaturgy of the Dj-Set.
If you live somewhere that doesn't have much in the way of good brick-and-mortar record stores, you should try the following links:
http://www.londonwestrecords.com/ AZ-Based record store. Great Selection.
http://www.shopsolid.com/ This is a store that's set up for a specific set of dance music labels, but don't let that fool you, their selection is good.
http://www.dancerecords.com/ Would-be best online record store, if only they'd stop using RealPlayer format for their samples.
http://www.juno.co.uk/ If you live in the states, any record from here is expensive (since it's an import), but you run a better chance of finding some really outstanding records, or records that haven't sold out in the states.
http://www.beatport.com This site specializes in REALLY HIGH quality mp3 files (at good prices) of all kinds of dance music. Unfortunately the entire site interface is built in Flash. It works well, as a Flash interface, but not if you can't run Flash.
http://www.satelliterecords.com/ Record store based out of NYC, great selection, excellent organization, POOR customer service and delivery times. If you can find it here, check DanceRecords.com first. If you can't, bummer.
Those are the goods. All of them have samples you can listen to before buying, and most have great recommendation systems built in to the store. Happy Hunting!
Hades, PoD: Official Advocate
Well, he does have a good question. However, IMHO, this guy should just go talk with some real DJs. This calls for going out (in public!) to clubs and talking with the DJs when they are not busy. Maybe buy them a drink or two and just talk about how to get into the business. They can give you pointers and such. And they will be the best people to get equipment information from.
Now that all being said, I agree with you about DJs for the most part using turntables, but the trade is moving to digital in many ways. Some DJs use mixing software (PCDJ is one that comes to mind). And you are starting to find CD mixers as well. However, I don't think this is going to drive analog vinyl out anytime soon.
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
I've been djing for 16 years now and I can tell you from experience that you need to learn the basics before you get into "digital" djing. Get yourself a cheap pair of direct drive turntables, a mixer, and a bunch of vinyl (used vinyl can usually be had for $1 or less) and learn how to beatmatch. Once you get decent at it, start blending different songs together to see what works and what doesn't. Learn how to control the sound usig the decks, learn how to recover from drifting pitch.
Being a DJ is more than just playing songs together; any fool can do that. A good dj knows WHY two songs should or shouldn't go together. A good dj can use vinyl, CD's or whatever. A good DJ is versatile, jumping into the digital thing will limit you and you'll never make it too far.
Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.
For what he'd end up paying for final scratch + HORRIBLE cheap direct drive turntables, he could just as easily buy a pair of Technics 1200's, which will keep their value a lot more when he decides to sell. He could get a pair of timecoded vinyls from virtualdj.com or any number of other places which are compatible with many different dj softwares, including djdecks and virtualdj. I use two sblives and the kx asio drivers to allow me two inputs and two outputs. A fancy external soundcard isn't necessary, but it is nice.
Final scratch is a rip off and doesn't work nearly as well as people seem to believe.
I learnt to beatmatch by making up some simple drum patterns in fruity loops at different speeds and then used Carrots VTT software (old, old, old) to practice. It translated easily into real turntables when I could finally afford a pair. I'd been collectiong vinyl for about 6 years prior to actually buying a pair of 1210's.
Now, being a self confessed linux geek is one thing i am, however, when talking audio of anyway shape or form you have to go analog. if you learn how to dj on real vinyl, you can dj on anything.
First, choose the genre you want to play. It's going to be hard regardless, if you don't truly love the music, you aren't going to get any good. Don't go by any "whats easier" lists. For me, the hardest I've tried is trance. I can spin UK hardcore fine... trance I'm lost in. Other people are different, can spin trance with no effort but can't spin UK hardcore to save their life. So with no really reliable way to judge whats going to be easy, go with what you love.
Mitigating that is the fact that A DJ's JOB IS TO ENTERTAIN PEOPLE. Don't get so elitist about your music that you forget that you were hired to entertain people. This may mean playing some less than favorite music, accept this. You should try to avoid playing music you hate, this will come across in your set, but you have to balance what you like with what the crowd likes.
Learn good track selection. You ever buy a compilation CD and loved the way it was put together? This is track selection. The tracks need to fit together. That said, if you find the techno-trance-hip hop progression that works, throwing out the rules that way can be incredibly cool. Just remember it is rare that such a crazy progression will actually work.
Then learn basic mixing. Depending on genre and context an unbeatmatched quick crossfade can be sufficient. Once you can do this credibly, focus on cueing, then beatmatching, then phrase matching, and then maybe learn harmonic mixing. BUt remember, the technical skills only exist to ensure a smooth transition from one track to the next, they are NOT the end in themselves. Too many newbie DJs focus on the technology or techniques, rather than the music.
Get the book "How to DJ Right". Excellent book. It won't replace the hours of practice, but it will help you make much more effective use of your hours of practice.
Get recording software, recording sets to your computer is probably the easiest way. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ is a good start. Free, reasonably powerful, supported on several platforms. Later on you can look at other packages to see if they would suit you better, but for now, start with the free one.
If you make enough to seriously dent your music/equipment expenses, be happy. If you break even, be ecstatic. If you can quit your day job... thats incredible. If you get rich, have someone pinch you, you are dreaming. Don't expect to make money. If you do, thats great, but not to be expected. If the expense and trouble wouldn't be worth it even stuck in your bedroom for life, then don't bother.
For Technique, I recommend none other than Scratch DJ Academy, with Locations in NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles. They have week-long bootcamps in the summertime if you don't live close enough for their once-a-week class. You can learn on your own, but you take the chance of learning things incorrectly and it will take you much, much longer (one hour a week for six weeks equated to six to nine months of on-your-own our instructors told us). My experience there was very positive, I plan to return for more classes.
Tools are all up to you. By definition, DJs just beat-match two tracks together. Old skool DJs are all about vinyl, some are spinning on CD tables now, and some have adopted MP3 time-coded record setups like Scratch Live and Final Scratch.
If you don't have any equipment, you should know that the industry standards for tables are Technics 1200s (every club you might spin in will likely have those), but if you just want to get your feet wet and see if you like it, I'd recommend starting with Neumark's DJ in a Box, which comes with two tables, a mix, and some headphones. The equipment is ghetto for the most part, but for $350 (new) you can get a full setup and see if you're into it instead of dropping $1000-$1500 to see if it's your thing (though you can buy up stuff from Craigslist and eBay from losers who did that before you). My personal preference, since all my music has been MP3 since the late-90s leans towards standard turntables (I like to scratch) and a Serrato Scratch Live to spin my MP3s on vinyl.
If you're talking about musicial composition (you want to make your own electronica), there's a host of products with various specialties. The Apple camp gives you Garage Band free with iLife (free with new Macs) and there are tons of expansion packs. If you outgrow that, you can look at Logic Pro and then Protools when you outgrow that. There are packages for beat making, there are tons of tools on the PC. If you're just starting out and you're a Mac guy, start with Garage band before you look at anything else (go download NIN's "The Hand that Feeds" and remix it like the rest of us did).
It's fun stuff though man, good luck and enjoy.
"All I ever wanted was to see Larry Wall give Bill Gates a Perl necklace."
http://www.eisenschmidt.org/jweisen
It really annoys me when I hear of somebody playing music on cd decks (or worse - an iPod) and they actually call themselves a DJ. Anyone can buy an mp3 player or even a set of cd decks and play some records but that's all they are doing! DJing at it's worst is a skill, at it's best it's an art-form! I've been djing for almost 9 years and there are still things I wish I could do, however I do know how to mix and I also beleive I know that the best way to get into djing is to have fun with it. The first thing you want to ask yourself is "Do I really want to get into mixing properly or do I just want to have some fun trying to match up beats on a pc?", if your answer is the latter then get onto google and download the latest software from whoever but know that you won't learn much if anything at all because djing programs try to do everything for you - where's the fun in that? Also about Final Scratch, stay well away from it, it's a concept idea and the first model of it's kind which includes all the bugs and glitches you'd expect from suchlike hardware. The idea is a fantastic one, time encoded vinyl which allows you to seamlessly play and manipulate mp3's as if they were real records - i've even considered getting a similar model myself (Serato Scratch) , but this is a seriously expensive piece of kit that most experienced dj's would have trouble with using - not to mention that you need a set of working turntables and mixer to use it. My advice would be that if you are serious about getting into djing, BUY A SET OF TURNTABLES. You don't need to buy the best to get good, in fact it's quite the opposite, any old cheap shit will do as it will give you a feel for turntables but if possible i'd recommend getting any set of decks with direct-drive. I started out with a set of gemini XL-500 and a numark blu-dog mixer, in total this cost me all under £250 brand new around 6 years ago and was probaly my favourite set-up until i recently upgraded to technics. It doesn't matter what music you play either, the key to djing is playing what you enjoy! It's very possible that your tastes in music will change as you pick up extra skills and techniques and may well want to try something new, that's great as long as the tracks you play will fit with each other (you'll soon work out when they don't). If you don't know what to start with, try a bit of beat-matching or mixing breakdowns with breakdowns, anything! As long as you enjoy what you're doing you'll soon learn new tricks and before you know it you'll be making hour-long tapes, cd's or mp3's to show your mates and every other music lover you can find.
Remember kids: What's right isn't as important as what's profitable.