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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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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
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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!
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 =)
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