How does a sound designer/producer/engineer get started to DJ?

[Kaine]

What do GOOD DJs do?

Play to the moment.

/Thread

If your playing rather than just entertaining yourself then the only time you should be selfish enough to play what you want to play is when your doing an artist set and your in front of a room full of people who already get your music. The rest of the time your there to entertain the people first and foremost and only then once you've got the room warmed to your style should you think about educating them.

But about faux-vinyl setup -- is it really enough to make cues stick together and go from a track to track? I guess I had a few run-ins with "DJs" who played their iPod playlists and didn't care to match beats or keys leaving that really awkward 10-second moment.

Learn on a faux vinyl setup... as someone who learnt on a vinyl setup 20 years ago and has spent enough time over the decades fighting with shitty decks in clubs that fail to maintain their equiptment properly, I can't think of anything worse for someone who's grown up button pushing and expects digital reliability.

Your there to entertain people. Not the trainspotters or the gear junkies... the other 98% of the room that isn't stroking their collective beards are the ones keeping the night in business. That 98% doesn't care what format your playing from as long as you keep the vibe alive and the music flowing so that everyone can have a good time.

I'm running a Twitch with Serato currently and I can be far more creative on that, than I ever could on vinyl and you find that most dance music is structured to take advantage of digital and the affect it's had on mixing over the years and even the music being released can't be downplayed. The average tracks (depending on your chosen genres) used to be 5 - 6 mins long in the past with long friendly intros that let you build and relax the ebb & flow. Now everything is 4 - 5 mins with the expectation that if your going to mix like that, then you'll set up your own loop points in software to take advantage of it. I think I'd feel pretty disadvantaged mixing on faux vinyl or even the real stuff these days.

Controller wise your probably best off deciding what software you want to play with currently and going with a controller set up with that in mind. Whilst it's true you can map most controller to most software clients picking one designed with your program in mind can offer up some additional benefits or even just make your life a little easier with a more ergonomic layout.

I saw a USB DJ Controller at the LIDL lately...
Can't go wrong for an experiment at such a price. Buy something better once you really know what to look for.

Looks like a rebadged version of : http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/discover-dj

Which in turn is a cut down (sans ipod dock/mount) version of : http://www.numark.com/product/idjlive

Getting some serious use out of those plastic molds!

[ferez21]

I personally thinking about DJing too, and for me the solution is to take a 4 month course (once a week) offered in n audio school near by, you should consider that as well.

The thing that bothers me more than the technical aspect is how i can actually get a job as a DJ with no experience or any connections in the field, as there are tons on tons of DJs around.

Question to you guys,
I never had a big music library, especially not dance floor oriented tunes, is that a problem? Or are there enough resources out there to build a "working" dance floor playlists in no time?

As for a practice controller, Icon makes a really nice and cheap Dj controller called the iDJ, which have most controls you can get for the lowest price.

[Tricky-Loops]

In Bavaria there is a DJ in every bigger farm. At least they call themselves DJ. They don't have to care about music. Because the main goal in Bavaria is to booze as much as possible. The main interest of the people is how much Mass Beer they can drink without getting unconscious, not which music is playing. When they notice that they've drunken too much, it's usually too late. Only the next hospital can help to keep them alive. If you don't know which music to play, come to Bavaria, as long as the beer resources are big enough, nobody cares about the music...

[chaosWyrM]

youve gotten some pretty sound advice about djing in this thread so ill leave that alone.

as far as a controller...i use a numark omni. its inexpensive...has/does everything you need, is easily portable, and built like a tank.

http://www.numark.com/product/omnicontrol

[edit] the numark page says its discontinued...but you can find them. i got mine second hand...and its been flawless.

[psychoxkps]

emotica I thing djing without use of main fader is better and + if you using traktor.. fry bump a deck to b deck with effects and use main fader for effect.... traktors cool in this way.. most z2.. well.. let ourselves in touch with ni what come after s4.. its now on special offer:)

[ghettosynth]

emotica I thing djing without use of main fader is better and + if you using traktor.. fry bump a deck to b deck with effects and use main fader for effect.... traktors cool in this way.. most z2.. well.. let ourselves in touch with ni what come after s4.. its now on special offer:)

Dude, that did not parse! By main fader do you mean crossfader? And what is "fry bumping", sounds cool, whatever it is, are all the kids doing it?

[awol9000]

I would also like some recommendation for a nice DJ controller please!

Ableton Live - Akai APC40
Traktor - NI S2 or S4
Serato - Novation Twitch

[LettyLocke]

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Becoming a DJ is one dream everyone sees once in their lifetime. You need to experiment with so many sounds, feel the music, remix the songs to name a few. For that you are going to need equipments on which you can practice. Buying everything is not even affordable nor financially convenient. Hence, the solution is to rent or hire the sound and DJ systems. Take local party contracts and then start learning and earning at the same time. I did this and particularly hired from this (http://www.avdj.co.nz/) local dealer at Auckland. Do keep experimenting, you'll find your way soon towards success. It's a very rewarding domain.