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

[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by AceFace

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/use...k_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. :)

[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]

Originally Posted by thegoodmrbrodie!

sounds like you will be needing these.

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

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.

[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=b8r...with-thumbnail