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How to get started with DJing

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Re: How to get started with DJing

#61

Post by seanp2k2 »

danielvf wrote: post #19
chtfn wrote: post #16

Shame the author promotes the use of Spotify so much, for two reasons: - the ridiculous amount of money going to artists (i.e. the ones who do want money for their music), although you could argue that you would generate revenue for every play the song gets, rather than a one-off amount when buying it (although, pretty sure it still doesn't compare); - having Spotify means everyone will ask you to play your favourite…

She's not using Spotify for performances - she's using it for discovering and selecting music. Once she knows her tracks, then she buys them.

Another option which is big in the industry and unmentioned here is Beatport.

Re: How to get started with DJing

#62

Post by ovao »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #60
ovao wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm having a hard time understanding where this comment is coming from. I can understand if your exposure to DJs has been limited (I'm sure we've all seen performers who are just about useless at truly engaging crowds), but there are some who are genuine performers behind the decks. Not just from the perspective of technical proficiency, but also of artistry. I'll argue that the actual instrument doesn't matter. A mi…

Yep, and I've also heard performance set-ups which sucked. I've heard Araabmuzik mess up pretty badly live (he's normally phenomenal). For me, it's interesting in that it humanizes him a bit; "hey, I get to fly around the world tapping on my MPC to make crowds go wild, but I'm not perfect". Controllerism is a whole other thing, and if you're curious, go read about it / listen to it / go to some meet-ups / shows. It's…

Absolutely. One of my favorite performers (Daedelus) uses a monome for his live setup, and there's nothing on Earth like a Daedelus set. It would be exceedingly difficult (or essentially impossible) to specifically match or emulate what he does with a 'traditional' DJ's setup.

That's not to say that what he or other live performers do is inherently better than someone proficient with turntables, of course. He chooses a monome as his primary tool to achieve the type of performance he strives for, and for some, a controller like that is simply not the right tool. To me, it's all good — the hardware involved has little to no effect on how well a performer can match or exceed my expectations.

Re: How to get started with DJing

#63

Post by [deleted] »

kruhft wrote: post #57
voycey wrote: post #30

This article should start off with "First buy Turntables and then buy Vinyl" Step 2 - once you have mastered beat-matching on this then you can fuck around with the new fancy electronic systems. Step 3 - learn to get good at it. #1 its all about fun and the tactile pleasure of controlling your music, something that the digital age has robbed many of us from, CD's are a happy medium between Vinyl and Digital but are e…

Vinyl is so heavy that it's a burden, but there's nothing like playing on real decks to teach you the ropes.

[deleted]

Re: How to get started with DJing

#64

Post by voycey »

jdietrich wrote: post #51
voycey wrote: post #30

This article should start off with "First buy Turntables and then buy Vinyl" Step 2 - once you have mastered beat-matching on this then you can fuck around with the new fancy electronic systems. Step 3 - learn to get good at it. #1 its all about fun and the tactile pleasure of controlling your music, something that the digital age has robbed many of us from, CD's are a happy medium between Vinyl and Digital but are e…

99% of professional DJs have abandoned vinyl, for good reason. Why lug around a fragile, heavy box of vinyl when you can carry your entire collection on a couple of SD cards? Vinyl is lovely and tactile and nostalgic, but it's also a massive pain in the arse. If you want to learn an industry standard, rent a couple of CDJ-2000s and a DJM-2000.

You miss my point - it's not that you should learn it because its what people use, it's to learn it so you foster a love of the process! CDJ's and MP3's are fantastic (I pretty much exclusively use MP3 now) - but the feeling you get of playing on vinyl is totally different even if you will never use it IRL!

Re: How to get started with DJing

#65

Post by voycey »

kruhft wrote: post #57
voycey wrote: post #30

This article should start off with "First buy Turntables and then buy Vinyl" Step 2 - once you have mastered beat-matching on this then you can fuck around with the new fancy electronic systems. Step 3 - learn to get good at it. #1 its all about fun and the tactile pleasure of controlling your music, something that the digital age has robbed many of us from, CD's are a happy medium between Vinyl and Digital but are e…

Vinyl is so heavy that it's a burden, but there's nothing like playing on real decks to teach you the ropes.

Absolutely! Until you have tried to keep a 2+ minute mix going on belt drive decks you wont understand how much joy MP3 with its zero wow and flutter brings haha

Re: How to get started with DJing

#66

Post by shermanyo »

empath75 wrote: post #24

Okay, so I was a rave DJ in the early 2000s and opened for some of the most popular DJ's in the world at sold out clubs and I'm about to give some real advice. Yes, all of this stuff about producing music is important, but people who can mix records are a dime a dozen. You need to be able to do it, but it's not enough to get gigs. The way you get gigs is to be popular. You need to go clubbing every weekend. You need…

> The way you get gigs is to be popular. You need to go clubbing every weekend. You need to go to after parties. You need to promote on social media. You need to throw your own parties and book other DJ's so they'll book you at theirs.

This is spot on advice for anyone who seriously wants to make DJing (or live music in general) their career. Anything less than the above, at fulltime commitment, and at best you'll have a nice side gig residency at a local club (for free drinks / entry for your girlfriend and maybe a couple mates).

Don't read parent's post as bitter or negative, but a realistic view of the level of commitment in specific areas required to DJ professionally.

Its no different to us picking apart articles that give an overview of web development, for over simplifying the process of launching a successful web app. He's basically saying sure, you _can_ learn to code as a hobby, maybe even execute your idea with a level of quality on par or better than competitors, but to actually take off, you need to do all the marketing, support, maintenance and other pieces.

> I was a rave DJ in the early 2000s and opened for some of the most popular DJ's in the world at sold out clubs

I don't think this was exaggeration or bragging, and I believe it without any real scepticism. I've got friends who've done similar for our more obscure music scenes, largely due to living local to a major city, and regular offers to play for free on off nights at clubs we frequently go to anyway. (promising to bring a social group of a dozen can literally double the crowd size of the first half of a Wednesday night)

(that, and his name is probably a reference to this sexy bit of kit: http://www.juno.co.uk/products/rane-empath-rotary-10-dj-mixe... good taste, man!)

The problem with gigs being tied to popularity is as soon as you take your foot off the gas, you're overshadowed by all the new acts fighting for your spot. A lot of acts fall off the map just taking the time away to produce their next release, and struggle to re-enter the scene, I think that's the biggest negative.

Re: How to get started with DJing

#67

Post by shermanyo »

imaginology wrote: post #34
empath75 wrote: post #24

Okay, so I was a rave DJ in the early 2000s and opened for some of the most popular DJ's in the world at sold out clubs and I'm about to give some real advice. Yes, all of this stuff about producing music is important, but people who can mix records are a dime a dozen. You need to be able to do it, but it's not enough to get gigs. The way you get gigs is to be popular. You need to go clubbing every weekend. You need…

> Alternatively, you can spend 10 years in your bedroom learning how to be a really good music producer and hope some popular DJ signs your single and then gradually build a following and then maybe in five more years you might make what a junior sysadmin makes. Or you could become a junior sysadmin right from the start and treat music production as a hobby with no intention of turning it into a career. Although, I h…

Meh, it's worked for me: http://i.imgur.com/FYT3mKy.png

(DevOps actually, but you're in the ballpark ;) )

Re: How to get started with DJing

#68

Post by shermanyo »

krylon wrote: post #53
imaginology wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Alternatively, you can spend 10 years in your bedroom learning how to be a really good music producer and hope some popular DJ signs your single and then gradually build a following and then maybe in five more years you might make what a junior sysadmin makes. Or you could become a junior sysadmin right from the start and treat music production as a hobby with no intention of turning it into a career. Although, I h…

> Or you could become a junior sysadmin right from the start and treat music production as a hobby with no intention of turning it into a career. I know a couple of people who did just that. ;-) I was slightly shocked how much money they invested in synthesizers and other equipment, but it was clear they did this for the fun without any intention to make a living from it. And other people have expensive hobbies, too.…

Yep, did just that: http://i.imgur.com/FYT3mKy.png

> I was slightly shocked how much money they invested in synthesizers and other equipment, but it was clear they did this for the fun without any intention to make a living from it. And other people have expensive hobbies, too.

I have a friend who fixes up old cars (old Chevys, etc... from '50s - '60s)

My rule of thumb is to spend less than he is each year :P

Re: How to get started with DJing

#70

Post by Omnius »

jdietrich wrote: post #9
dpc59 wrote: post #2

I'm going to seem like an elitist prick, but in my opinion DJing is absolutely useless if you don't produce/compose. Basic 2 decks DJing is fucking boring, learn how to play instruments and all the theory behind pop music, then figure out the software and hardware to play live sets. Obviously you're going to need to understand the basics of mixing to play live sets, but playing a regular DJ set in front of an audienc…

>I'm going to seem like an elitist prick, but in my opinion DJing is absolutely useless if you don't produce/compose. Basic 2 decks DJing is fucking boring Exhibit A for the defence: this utterly masterful set by garage legend DJ EZ. He deftly plays with the build and release of tension without relying on formulaic drops. There is still enormous creative mileage in traditional two-deck mixing. https://www.youtube.com…

Having to get two tech 1200, a decent mixer, headphones, and some monitors raised the entry level. Then you had the effort of having to learn to beat mix vinyl. Not hard but time consuming, for most, in the begining. Its weeded out the masses. Now the tech has taken the learning curve out and i am not saying thats good or bad but its why there are a million "producer" "Dj's".
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