Learning to DJ

[AceFace]

hey everyone, i finally found someone to teach me the beginnings of DJing! i'm sooo excited! i start next thursday and i've been instructed to bring records that i love and want to mix together. i have a few (and i have Love American Style on the way as well), but i was wondering if any of you DJs have some staple records that everyone should have. like songs or whatever that are easy to mix in and are used often. i know once i get better, i'll be able to hear these things for myself. i'm interested in spinning old school (and some new) hip hop and reggee/ska. then i'll go from there into other genres.

also, what's your preferred online source for vinyl? i REALLY want that new MIA on vinyl.

[Knuckles]

nice, I've always wanted to learn to rock the 1's and 2's myself.

maybe someday...

[AceFace]

i think it's also exciting b/c there are NO "shejays" around my town.

[Knuckles]

The only club in my town is Elks club.

[AceFace]

i think i'm leaning toward an old school kinda name. how about "Koolie Kid Ace".

although DJ She-Ra is tempting.

[AceFace]

i think it's got kinda a 70's feel to it and i really wanna work on the retro thing when i'm on the wheels/ i just hope i get good at it. i'm hopeful that this is finally the instrument i've been waiting to play all my life, b/c i suck at bass.

[kaiser soze]

Congrats and goodluck!

Beware, it is a very addicting and pricey interest. I have no idea what I've spent on records, equipment, and the sort

I've been spinning since 96, starting with techno, going into house and jungle, and building up an impressive downtempo collection....but since going back to school I've put it on the back burner :(

What sound are you interested in?

Here's a pic of my setup (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y132/rhythmfiction/DSCF1025.jpg)

[AceFace]

well like i said i wanna spin old school hip hop, reggae and ska. of course i love the kind of stuff that MMM does. he mixes a lot of different stuff. not that i'll EVER be as good as him, but what is his "style" called?

[AceFace]

i really like anything with a retro feel. i have some old 2 tone i'd like to use.

and i like your set up! :)

[ScarySquirrel]

well like i said i wanna spin old school hip hop, reggae and ska. of course i love the kind of stuff that MMM does. he mixes a lot of different stuff. not that i'll EVER be as good as him, but what is his "style" called?
I think Mike is considered more of a turntablist than a traditional DJ... meaning he's more interested in creating his own music with the turntable than necessarily mixing tunes together.

However, with his varied styles of mixing and stuff, and considering his scratch ability, I'd call Mike a hip-hop DJ who is well-rounded.

[AceFace]

right right. i mean i'd LOVE to learn sampling and shit like that, but i'm a LONG way away from that!

[Drederick Tatum]

having the tracks is 90% of being a DJ. mixing well is cool, but if the song is slammin', people don't really mind if it's perfect or not.

[monkey]

i love love love it when im djing, playing some great song that i love and someone comes up to me and gives me props on it... it's the best feeling. i get to share the stuff that makes me happy, and hopefully lift others' spirits too!

i wish i did it more. i wish i was better at it too. hehehe.

[mikizee]

i think i'm leaning toward an old school kinda name. how about "Koolie Kid Ace".

although DJ She-Ra is tempting.

My ex started to DJ and she called herself DJ Electra.

And I used to shout out at her shows when i was drunk in my most try hard UK MC voice - 'DJ Electraaaaa... tha sexy selectaaaahh!!! BOH!'

Hmmmm.... yes.

[AceFace]

YAY! i have my first lesson today! i've got my records and CDs all ready to go!

[AceFace]

thanks mute! you've been really a good source of motivation for me!
you rock and rule!

http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/users/sbrinkma/pictures/you_rock_you_rule.jpg

[paul jones]

my girlfriend used to have her own night at some place.She played Northern Soul and 60's stuff.She really misses it

I'd like to do a bit one day.I take over the internet jukebox usually down the pub but the barstaff tend to turn the sound down a bit as they describe my choices as 'weird shit'

[thegoodmrbrodie!]

sounds like you will be needing these (http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/discography/index.php?l=1). :)

[Rock]

I went to this shitty vegan restraunt in DC last month and the DJ they had there had the best records ever. It made me want to dust off my other deck....but I didn't.

[Rock]

sounds like you will be needing these (http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/discography/index.php?l=1). :)

Ooooo, i don't have the Stuido One Disco set. I may just need to get that.

[thegoodmrbrodie!]

sounds like a rather good idea. i havent got it either.

[DJ_Skrilla]

Yo shit, that comment about the Elk club cracks me up. I guess that would be better than spinning at like a YMCA. Sorta.

As for online vinyl purchases:
http://360vinyl.com/
http://www.sandboxautomatic.com/
http://www.turntablelab.com/

Also keep an eye on ebay for rare records. you will notice that a lot of the obscure beastie stuff gets won by fellow message board people. (Astrobboy).

You could always buy serato or m-audio torq to spin music digitally. You should probably start off by getting turntables and a mixer first. Good luck.

[beastiegirrl101]

Paul Jones has a girlfriend!

[AceFace]

OMFG i am on a high like you wouldn't believe! my first lesson was incredible!

i started out learning how to set up my equipment (his equipment). plugging mixers into amps and other mixers into things. we were using 2 CD decks and 2 turntables. that was a LOT of wires!

after that we went over some sound info. main mixing board, line EQs, the gain and how that's used, the cross fader. i was sure that i'd be learning all technical stuff and using no music.

but it did happen. he decided to train me on the cd mixer first b/c it was easier and it would teach me to hear things. i learned BPMs and how to slowly mix things in and out. he showed me a few basic things and asked if i had brought my CD mix. of course i did!

he said "ok, me and my wife are gonna chill here and you're our DJ for the next hour, make us dance". omg it was incredible. i really got the feel of fading in and out. i tried different things like cutting the bass out of one song and adding a different bass line. and then fading in the rest of the new song. it was sooo freaking coool. i even made them dance a few times! they complemented me on my music choices and my quick fades. the song of the night just happened to be Suco De Tangerina. they were DIGGING that one!

i went home and dreamt of mixing music all night!

[AceFace]

i look forward to watching you shake your ass to my funky sounds! ;)

i'll keep ya updated on my progress!

[AceFace]

ok! i've had a bunch of PMs asking me how this is going so i'm gonna kinda break it down here.
***beware... LONG post of heartfelt concerns***

i've been practicing twice a week. it KILLS me that i don't have my own equipment, but whatever.
i've been working on collecting records and all that. it's kinda weird b/c my music taste is all over the place.
looking at all these records, i might be able to put two together that sound like a "genre".
i don't know if that's a bad or good thing. what i do know is that it's a FRUSTRATING thing.
looking far ahead, i want to see what i might be potentially spinning for the masses to dance to.
and it changes daily. i'm digging the new Simian Mobile Disco and the new Digitalism and all that other electro/disco stuff.
i could easily spin that and in this small town of ours, there's not one electro DJ to be seen for miles!

but then i start thinking about how much i love reggae/dub/ska.

and then it's all this funky stuff i like. all the 60s and 70s soul and the funnnnnkkkkk.
man i would LOVE to get down with some of that shit! but would my little town want to get down with me?

and then there's hip hop. i know i wouldn't make a good hip hop DJ b/c i do not have my foot in the current releases.
i just don't really care for it. i like the old school late 70's early 80's stuff. well and the beasties.
and MIA. and i swear if someone wanted a BBoys DJ in town, i would rock that shit.
haha. wouldn't we all. i really want to spin hip hop, but i just don't think people would show up time after time
for a step back in time.

i'm working on beatmatching. listening to the radio show the other night really made me feel better.
I know now that you don't have to do ALL THIS TECHNICAL stuff to bring the dance on.
if you have the right mood, as TAL explained to me, nothing else will break it.
not even if you're laughing uncontrollably b/c you're a happy person and
someone just cracked a good joke (Mike D is king of laughter).
people are still gonna dance to your tunes if you SELECT them right.

all the other stuff is gonna come in time. the beatmatching is difficult.
i tried it for a good month and then broke down and tried the "use the same song" method.
that REALLY helped! now it's not as hard! but yeah, it's still hard. that's what she said.

tonight there are gonna be two other DJs in the lab. they're gonna be there for me to watch
and ask a gazillion questions. it's a one on one training and i feel i'm REALLY getting a lot of
attention since i'm the ONLY female in town really wanting to do this, and do this well.
i think it's getting around quick who i am and people are genuinely trying to help me succeed.
i like that.

now if i could only chose a DJ name!

[TAL]

Oooh, long post. But it mentioned me, so (y)

Also our favorite book on the topic also explained that.
Maybe you haven't gotten to that part yet.

[AceFace]

what did it specifically explain? maybe i have already forgotten. :p

[AceFace]

i see what you mean.

i dunno, there's so much pressure to have your beats match and have interesting crossfades and such.

[AceFace]

this is the book TAL and i are talking about:

http://books.google.com/books?id=b8rCDZ1fueUC&dq=how+to+dj+right&pg=PP1&ots=guAVGDuz6A&sig=EBFSWo-lqpku3Gmx-ts9OSxCZ34&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dhow%2Bto%2BDJ%2Bright%26btn G%3DGoogle%2BSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail

[HEIRESS]

Im DJing an xmas party in town this month (aka putting songs on cds and then placing them in the cd player, very technical I know) but they asked me what name to put on the flyer so I chose DJ Olga

I thought it had a nice ring to it. plus its one of my middle names.

my brother has turntables and ive played around on them before but Id much rather push play on a cd then head out to the floor and dance to my wicked tunes rather then be stuck behind the decks all night. but thats just me.

[abcdefz]

When in doubt, throw on "Billie Jean."

[AceFace]

see, i REALLY like DJ Hbomb. that's been my nickname for ages. "HBOMB". but it's taken. by a DUDE no less. :p

so maybe i'll be going with Lady H~Bomb. seriously, this changes EVERY day.

i like the technical stuff. the work involved. but also dancing to your own tunes. it's Def a high. you go with your awesome self, DJ Olga!

[TAL]

Here's DJ TAL's myspace.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=179959892

[AceFace]

DJ TAL is kinda cute!

DJ Hbomb. and this isn't even the one i found earlier. the other one is in FL.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=15056681

[thegoodmrbrodie!]

you should dj name yrself after a cereal.

dj raisin bran.
lady shredded wheat.
dame cheerio.

hmmm...

:)

[AceFace]

you should dj name yrself after a cereal.

dj raisin bran.
lady shredded wheat.
dame cheerio.

hmmm...

:)

Funky Princess Fruity Pebbles

[TAL]

Crunchy Nut Ace

[AceFace]

OHHHHH that sounds GAH-ross. hahahaha.

[TAL]

WINNER!!

[mikizee]

I still like 'DJ Electra'

so sue me

[AceFace]

OK. SO. i am FREAKING out.

best day ever.

a friend of mine is just GIVING me this. he's bringing it bye today.
i am incredibly excited. so i'll have two turntables and my
VERY OWN CD turntable to mix with!

http://www.djdeals.com/technicsSLDZ1200.htm

[abcdefz]

(!)

[TAL]

Did he steal it?

[Kid Presentable]

It doesn't sound right, going to a class and learning this stuff, but whoever decided to market it was pretty clever apparently. Anyway, good luck.

[AceFace]

he's completely and totally rich! (the best kind of friends:p) he bought it to play around with and he got bored with it quick. (he's not a DJ). so he just OFFERED it to me for FREE!

WTF? i am freaking out over here!

[Kid Presentable]

My bad, it's a friend and not a class. Right?

[AceFace]

yeah, i'm just going over to a friend's house and playing around with his equipment. he's showing me stuff and then letting me do my own thing. it's been really great!

[beastieboysbaby]

hey! that is awesome! (y) hope you have a great time DJing. that's gonna be sick

[kaiser soze]

ehem.....if you ever get bored with it, feel free to pass it on to me!

;)

[AceFace]

thanks to the help of a wonderful and very good looking friend, i think i have a strong contender for my DJ name.

Lady Kutlass

i better make a decision soon, b/c i got offered my first giggidy this weekend for the end of jan! i'm NERVOUS as HELL!

[AceFace]

***UPDATE YO!***

i have my first gig this week! i'm overly excited! I've practiced at the club twice while they're closed and i've got another rehearsal tonight! i'm STOKED! after last night's practice, i've gotten a lot more confident.

i was REALLY nervous last week. now i'm just ready to PLAY! i'm mixing better than i was a month ago and i can actually see progress now. some songs i'm just cutting to and some i'm actually beat matching. of course i'm matching for like 10 seconds or less b/c i'm still learning to keep up the beats... but hey, it's something!

i'm playing a mix of new wave and electro/disco. i'm finalizing my play list at lunch , so i'll post it when i'm done. YAY!

SOOOOO EFFING EXCITED!

[kaiser soze]

Congrats and goodluck! I remember my first gig....I was pretty nervous but it turned out well, a really talented producer/dj (http://www.titonton.com/) was there and he enjoyed it so I guess I did something right

Don't forget to look funky and have fun!

[Rock]

i'm just going over to a friend's house and playing around with his equipment.
*snicker*

[AceFace]

heh, you're too much rock.

here's my set list!

Rest My Chemistry - Interpol 74BPM

Love Will Tear You Apart - A+D SWR vs Bauhaus vs Joy Division mashup 77BPM

Automatic Lover – Teddybears 99BPM

Speed – White Rose Movement 107BPM

Another Breakfast With You - Ladytron 110BPM

Domino Dancing – Pet Shop Boys 109BPM

Sad Sad City - Ghostland Observatory 114BPM

Confusion! - New Order 117BPM

Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem 120BPM

People are People - Depeche Mode 120BPM

Hot Dog - Simian Mobile Disco 121BPM

Slide In - Goldfrapp 124BPM

Shake a Fist - Hot Chip 124BPM

Heinrich Manuver - Interpol (Phones Remix) 125BPM

Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above – CSS (Calvin Harris Remix) 125BPM

Hustler - Simian Mobile Disco 125BPM

Kingdom - Dave Gahan (Digitalism Remix) 125BPM

Idealistic - Digitalism 128BPM

Past Back D.A.N.C.E. - Justice vs Data Mashup 129BPM

[AceFace]

also, i know that once i become a better DJ, that i won't have to have a set list. but i think for the first few times, it's a must for me.

[Guy Incognito]

i dont know if this is gonna help or hinder but i am self taught on djing with cd's and once you get the beat matching (which is essentially just listening and counting to 4 imo) the trick is to cue the next song in right place so that it fits with the one playing, which only takes practice, so you get it where maybe a vocal part disappears but you have cued up the next track so that the melody comes in straight after. Sometimes it can be beatmatched but if you cue up at wrong place its a bit too busy and just sounds like two records playing at once.

That set list looks pretty good although hot chip's a tricky one to mix with.

I think the hardest thing is just dropping the next tune. I thought that would be easy but i still havent mastered the art of that.

keep it up and keep enjoyin(y)

[kaiser soze]

i dont know if this is gonna help or hinder but i am self taught on djing with cd's and once you get the beat matching (which is essentially just listening and counting to 4 imo) the trick is to cue the next song in right place so that it fits with the one playing, which only takes practice, so you get it where maybe a vocal part disappears but you have cued up the next track so that the melody comes in straight after. Sometimes it can be beatmatched but if you cue up at wrong place its a bit too busy and just sounds like two records playing at once.

That set list looks pretty good although hot chip's a tricky one to mix with.

I think the hardest thing is just dropping the next tune. I thought that would be easy but i still havent mastered the art of that.

keep it up and keep enjoyin(y)

It's all about timing. I've spent hours on mixes seeking out the right places to introduce a track, may it be a quick 4 measure mix or a long blend. Obviously electronic music (ie: techno, house, jungle) make for easier mixes and many producers produce tracks that help with this. When mixing music that quickly goes into melody/singing/or live it definitely can be more difficult to calculate.

For example, I have a mix of When Doves Cry and a popular detroit techno track the two work perfectly only at the precise placement of the techno track. At this time the two break down simultaneously and the drumming and bass dramatically compliments the drumming of WDC. If I miss the mix it is a complete failure. It's a floor smasher I guarantee :D

[Guy Incognito]

You need some fly ass sunglasses.

Yo.

I wear glasses and i always wanted to design some sort of visor with headphones on each end so it would like that blind dude off star trek.

Oh, and if anyone thinks its hard to dj because there's so much hand eye co-ordination involved - watch this guy:

Dj Ectic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT-d8X7e3QQ)

[HEIRESS]

I like my dj method where i just play cds because then I can dance my ass off all night.

fuck sunglasses. lite brite signs are the best accessory.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/HEIRESS/poopoo/dj1.jpg

[Guy Incognito]

Check out this DJ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Gc4o5dQpI)

ha ha - this (http://www.henrypoole.com/images/story/tuxedo.jpg) DJ is way cooler

[Rock]

best DJ ever. (http://www.ongein.nl/ongein/item.aspx?ID=7323)

[AceFace]

It's all about timing. I've spent hours on mixes seeking out the right places to introduce a track, may it be a quick 4 measure mix or a long blend. Obviously electronic music (ie: techno, house, jungle) make for easier mixes and many producers produce tracks that help with this. When mixing music that quickly goes into melody/singing/or live it definitely can be more difficult to calculate.

For example, I have a mix of When Doves Cry and a popular detroit techno track the two work perfectly only at the precise placement of the techno track. At this time the two break down simultaneously and the drumming and bass dramatically compliments the drumming of WDC. If I miss the mix it is a complete failure. It's a floor smasher I guarantee :D

i'm getting some of that! i have a pretty great sense of timing, so i can cut to the next track at the exact right spot, usually. that hot chip track ends very abruptly, so i cut in with the next right after. no real mixing there. and it sounds pretty good, if i do say. i just couldn't go without using that song. :) i guess that's why Lady Kutlass fits me so well, b/c i can cut just at that sweet spot. (thanks to mute for helping me figure out my perfect DJ name).

it's the changing tempo that's beating me up. this guy is at 124BPM and this guy is at 126. i'm still learning how to adjust the tempo to make them work together. i'm also still learning my music really well. some songs, i can hear when i should start mixing in, but others i'm still having difficulty with. it's coming to me. i AM getting it, but it's not all there just yet.

apparently it's there enough to get myself a gig AND to already be booked for another one! ima do my mahsup night next time. now THAT might be hard to mix.

i am also working on mixing instrumentals with a capellas.

[AceFace]

You need some fly ass sunglasses.

Yo.
now accepting donations for a new pair of D&Gs.

[Guy Incognito]

it's the changing tempo that's beating me up. this guy is at 124BPM and this guy is at 126. i'm still learning how to adjust the tempo to make them work together. i'm also still learning my music really well. some songs, i can hear when i should start mixing in, but others i'm still having difficulty with. it's coming to me. i AM getting it, but it's not all there just yet.



isnt that just a matter of playing the one at 126 at -2 on your deck? I'm not sure if i understand you right there. If you have a master tempo button on your cd deck switch that on as it makes the tune sound a bit more at normal speed if your playing a tune a bit faster or slower.

I would also recommend taking along a suitable mix album just in case it all starts to get too much - I did that first couple of times i played and used it for 30 mins and nobody noticed i was cheating!

[AceFace]

isnt that just a matter of playing the one at 126 at -2 on your deck? I'm not sure if i understand you right there. If you have a master tempo button on your cd deck switch that on as it makes the tune sound a bit more at normal speed if your playing a tune a bit faster or slower.

I would also recommend taking along a suitable mix album just in case it all starts to get too much - I did that first couple of times i played and used it for 30 mins and nobody noticed i was cheating!

but the tempo slide is on a percent, not an actual BPM, so it's harder to calculate than just setting it at a minus two.

ooohhh i see. i'm using VINYL for most of my stuff! i might be using a CD deck for 5 or 6 songs and mixing them with vinyl mostly.

[Rock]

but the tempo slide is on a percent, not an actual BPM, so it's harder to calculate than just setting it at a minus two.

im not following.

if you know one record is at 124bpm. and the other is at 126bpm. you should be able to just change the pitch control by 2% to have the same bpms. i mean maybe a tad less or a tad more, but you know what i mean. right?

[AceFace]

maybe i'm making it harder on myself than i thought. everything i've read says that the tempo control is in percent and that going up one BPM does not equal 1%. it's an in between science. the pitch control keeps it from sounding mickey mouse to a point.

of course the guy that is letting me use his equipment has limited knowledge as well. he knows how to do it, but can't seem to teach me.

i AM getting it down, but it's something that's taking awhile. i've read that this is the hardest thing to master and it might take me years to learn it. :/

i'm impatient.

[Rock]

maybe im not using the right terminology.

ok, its like this.

with my turntables, lets say i had one deck playing a song with a beat at 100bpm. and on the other i had a song playing the exact same beat but at 102bpms. what i would do, is take the beat with a 100 bpms and bump the pitch control up 2. or bump the one with 102 bpms down 2. and tweak it a bit until they matched. make sense?

[AceFace]

yeah! based on 100 BPM, that's easy! based on like 127BPM or something weird, it's not as easy, right? b/c the percentages are gonna be different. does my question make sense?

i think i'm going to experiment with this next week. it sounds like a good exercise in learning tempo/pitch change.

[Guy Incognito]

yeah! based on 100 BPM, that's easy! based on like 127BPM or something weird, it's not as easy, right? b/c the percentages are gonna be different. does my question make sense?

i think i'm going to experiment with this next week. it sounds like a good exercise in learning tempo/pitch change.

i struggle with the pitch shift still after 5 years.


It might be a percentage but over time you get to feel how much you roughly need to change find a ballpark area and then get the right tempo, you will start to realise what shifting a tune down 15% will sound like in your head. Thats how it works for me anyway

[AceFace]

last night RULED!

it started off with turntable 1 going down so i only had 2 CD decks and turntable 2 to work with.
i was nervous at first, but i think it was good, i actually had to change up my set a little so it
taught me to improvise. i kinda liked that my first track was jacked up. took the edge off.
made me think that nothing else could go wrong.. and i was right!

i had to cut 2 songs from my set b/c of the turntable issue, but that was ok.
it was really a hip hop kinda crowd anyway so my electro tunes were kinda boring them.

b/c of how i had to change my set around, i actually mixed two songs that i had never thought
to mix before and it REALLY worked out well! that was exciting! and the experienced
DJs gave me a shout from the dance floor b/c i mixed it well. :)

i also have a couple fans! that was neat. one guy that's an electro house DJ.
he liked my set a lot. he asked me to tag DJ with him.
i hope it was my music and not my tits that made him ask.
either way, it made me feel like i knew what i was doing.

the rest of the night was so fun and i lost all concept of time.
ended up getting home pretty late. my feet hurt from dancing.

all my photos are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/razzmatazz233/

and i have a little vid here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ebt6-sTurM


thanks for all your support you awesome party people!

[Guy Incognito]

taught me to improvise. i kinda liked that my first track was jacked up. took the edge off.
made me think that nothing else could go wrong.. and i was right!

i had to cut 2 songs from my set b/c of the turntable issue, but that was ok.
it was really a hip hop kinda crowd anyway so my electro tunes were kinda boring them.

b/c of how i had to change my set around, i actually mixed two songs that i had never thought
to mix before and it REALLY worked out well! that was exciting! and the experienced
DJs gave me a shout from the dance floor b/c i mixed it well. :)

i also have a couple fans! that was neat. one guy that's an electro house DJ.
he liked my set a lot. he asked me to tag DJ with him.
i hope it was my music and not my tits that made him ask.
either way, it made me feel like i knew what i was doing.
!

It just goes to show that you can work on a set that you think is the nuts and then it all goes out of the window for some reason and its still really enjoyable, plus its more of a buzz when you have to delve into the unknown and it comes off. It sounds like you had a great time.

As for your "fan" it was probably a combination of the two , breasts and beats is a good mix:D. I have had experiences , especially at house parties, where girls havent given me the time of day and given me looks like i have got two heads and then when i go on the decks and then they hear me playing they come over and start chatting.

Might be an idea to record a set if you can so that you can give it to people who might want to give you a gig.

And you need to pick an "if all else fails" tune that you can drop when it might not be going well that can pick it all up again

anyway - practice lots and keep rockin those err... funky beats!(y)

[AceFace]

w00t! i've been booked at the club again!