I love electronic music and there are some kinds of hip hop that I love. I play guitar, bass, and i have dabbled in electronic music (myspace.com/cavemanpatrolunit) but i would really like to learn how to DJ. Where do i start what do i need?... i am totally lost in this area and i have been researching it for years! any and all help is greatly appreciated. -Slaze
buy ableton live and take some (a summers worth if you find the right place) classes that teach you how to operate it...you will be able to create any kind of electronic music you want...theres some other programs too, like protools, etc. not cheap though...
Ableton and Pro Tools are for producing music... Talkin' bout wanting to be a dj...? To start, you should go to alot of parties where they are playing whatever kind of music you want to spin, and listen to sets, and dance and have fun. this is studying. its wonderful. if you can't get out or something, then listen to radio, listen to your iTunes radio to a specific genre... alot of these aren't even sets, but they can be a pretty good means of finding tracks, and they tell you the track names so it's all good man. you have to amass like aloooot of tracks, the more the better. i suppose it makes most sense to start on computer for sure, but Ableton is very overkill for beginner, try to download a DJ specific program for free maybe. Virtual DJ is the standard. but yeah get aloooot of tracks in whatever genre you are going to spin, find out the classics and the hot new ones as well y'know, but basically they should be tracks where you are just "Damn this is soooo good" kind of thing, listening to it over and over type thing. Yes yes, I know one genre is really boring, but trust, you need to develop smooth transitions first off, and it is really tough (though entirely possible and awesome) to mix Hip-Hop and some Psytrance then some Dub into some Electro into DnB into Classic Disco into Rare Groove into Gabber. Some easier genres to start off with are Minimal, Acid, Progressive Trance, and Goa/Psytrance. It helps to start off mixing tracks with 4 on the floor, because you can match them up really easily by listening to the kick. Psytrance is way easy to mix, because the beginnings of each track is an ambient bit. alright. I'm not going to get into any technical skills, you can find that easy on wiki or something, but I'm going to leave you with some real shit. Being a DJ is playing tracks. A good DJ knows how to arrange those tracks into a cohesive set, and how to get people dancing, and/or provide appropriate sonic atmosphere for a social gathering. A bad DJ shows up with intentions of showing off, getting laid, getting free drinks, looking cool headphone on one ear hand in the air style etc... acting as if it's really amazing what he is doing at the booth. A good DJ shows up wanting to improve everybodys night with music, and make fun, make excitement, to transmit pure energy through music, and get everybody dancing. Basic things to keep in mind during a set are transitions, beatmatching, harmonic relationships, form/dynamics of your set, readin' the crowd, what time it is (ex. 8pm vs. 4am); you need to be able to identify and tune in to the vibe of the night and room, don't mean to get all-encompassing and acid on you but it is a hippie forum here ha, but thats a good one right there, you'll understand it. The technical stuff comes with time and effort, but if you're intentions ain't there then you will never be a good DJ. hit me up or reply to this thread or whatnot if you ever want advice on hardware/software, tracks, getting work, getting girls, anything. good luck man
the only reason i said ableton is because it gives you total control of what your doing...and gives you more ways to create truly original music...and as the previous guy said, it lets you *produce your own* music...just playing other people's songs together like your standard DJ isnt anything too special...but producing your own sound is something that is a little more gratifying, atleast i think...But if you are just trying to get a collection of electronic music, and then buy some equipment and spin some shit, then its not too hard...But you will need to buy vinyl (records) if you want to spin...otherwise, you will just have to go digital...but atleast try to be different than what everyone else is doing if you go that route....theres literally a million dj's spinning the same shit....
OMG FUCKING AMZING MOVIE... just watched it.. its 3:30 in the morning and now im wide awake. I have been messing around on Virtual DJ for a few years now. what do i need to split my headphones from the speakers? also, where in the world do you get vinyls for electronic music... I live around ann arbor and i have no clue where to look. what do i need to start spinning real stuff? vinyls, tables, mixer, speakers, headphones... did i miss anything?
what is a good starter kit for djing... i may buy a numark battle pack off of a friend for $200.. is it worth it or should i buy a better start up pack?
so I got the battle pack for the tables and bought a numark M3 mixer. so far so good =) now im trying to figure out what genre I want to spin I have a good range of vinyls but would like to start focusing. what do you guys like to spin?
kilowatts, skeetaz, bluetech, vibesquad are good ones...skeetaz will especially kill the dance floor...
