Who is a DJ in here?

[R-Tistic]

How many of you all DJ? I have seen the "DJ" title used by a few people.

For those of you that do, how long have you done it, what do you use, where are you located, and what type of events do you typically do?

I am just now starting to do it seriously..and I'm really in that stage of deciding how much I want to invest in it, how much I want to charge, what my image or style should be, etc. etc. I've been doing beats for 12 years, and I've fell off with that in the last few years and started focusing on DJing small events in the last few months. I have never ran with any DJ, and I really started doing it on "accident", just because I always had good speakers and a lot of music on my computer. I still don't want to have that title until I get the equipment and skills to do more than just play songs from a playlist, without having any sort of mixing equipment or anything else.

[Blu Lacez]

Why did you fall off from making Beats???

One Of Ma Friends uses Ableton Live 5, to Dj with..It's pretty handy, i've seen him use it, it's mad Unique!!
He still mixes using Vinly and all..But he is starting to follow the trend of Cds/mp3s..and all..
I couldnt Dj to save my life!!
But I'm learning how to scratch..cuz i love scratchin it's So Dope!!

[AboveTheLaw]

If you're going the Vinyl Route, steer clear of these brands: Numark, Stanton, Gemini, and the low end Vestax models.

Get yourself 2 Technics 1200 or 1210, they're industry standards and have been for over 30 years.

As for mixers, speaking purely from sound quality, you'll want to look into the high end offerings from Pioneer, Rane, Vestax, & Allen & Heath.

Amplifiers and Loudspeakers are another topic, if what you've used thus far has attracted attention, keep them in your setup.

Just as important are your needles. If you're going to do heavy scratching and mixing then look no further then the Shure M44-7. They have high skip resistance, big bass and a high output as far as cartridges go.

Then you got the little accessories, record brushes, cleaning fluids, turntable lights, slip mats, wires, adaptors, etc.

If you want to make use of that music collection on your hard drive and blend it up with your turntables, I hope you're using Serato Scratch.

These are some basic suggestions as far as equipment goes. You can make a lot of money doing this, but don't let that stop you from using your ideas in a creative manner. Good luck!

[R-Tistic]

Why did you fall off from making Beats???

One Of Ma Friends uses Ableton Live 5, to Dj with..It's pretty handy, i've seen him use it, it's mad Unique!!
He still mixes using Vinly and all..But he is starting to follow the trend of Cds/mp3s..and all..
I could Dj to save my life!!
But I'm learning how to scratch..cuz i love scratchin it's So Dope!!

I don't know how or why....it was never a conscious decision, but it had to do with different things. I'm sure it's still in me, but I have just been more interested in DJing. I think part of it has to do with me listening to so much older music and comparing mine to theirs, and realizing that I need to learn music theory and nearly master it to get where I want to.

Scratching does seem hella fun though, I've always had an interest in doing that. When I do parties, I doubt I'll get to scratch a lot though.

[Blu Lacez]

Why did you fall off from making Beats???

One Of Ma Friends uses Ableton Live 5, to Dj with..It's pretty handy, i've seen him use it, it's mad Unique!!
He still mixes using Vinly and all..But he is starting to follow the trend of Cds/mp3s..and all..
I could Dj to save my life!!
But I'm learning how to scratch..cuz i love scratchin it's So Dope!!

I don't know how or why....it was never a conscious decision, but it had to do with different things. I'm sure it's still in me, but I have just been more interested in DJing. I think part of it has to do with me listening to so much older music and comparing mine to theirs, and realizing that I need to learn music theory and nearly master it to get where I want to.

Scratching does seem hella fun though, I've always had an interest in doing that. When I do parties, I doubt I'll get to scratch a lot though.

Oh Yeah, I feel that way at times!!
And it's somthing about hte older music, how each musial elemesnt compliments one another and is in perfect unison,that is missing in some of todays rap music!!

As scratching, i doubt that you could get away with it @ parties, pple want to dance, and not spit freestyles..lol...

[soopadoopaflykid]

well it matters if you like the feel for cd players like poineers or you like vinyl....me personally I like cds more...you can go with like Serto and you can use vinyl or cd players...also for a mixer a good one usually cost a around 500 new...Im not too sure how much your willing to spend but to get some good gear cost between 1500-2000 for new shit and thats not including amps or speakers

[MarshColin]

I used straight vinyl for about 6 years. As of last year my homie turned me on to Serato. I got 2 Technics 1200 M3D's and about 2 months ago I got the Rane TTM57SL with Serato built into it. I say go with a laptop and Serato man. It's simple, and it gets the job done. It's also way easier than lugging around records to every gig. You got the choice of sticking with vinyl or going the cd-j route as well. I use both, depending on what the venue has. If the venue doesn't have house decks then I bring my 1200's.

[R-Tistic]

To everybody that responded....I'm definitely using whatever is compatible with a laptop, and that sounds like Serato. I won't even attempt to go vinyl unless I had thousands of dollars, or unless I met a DJ who was retiring and really didn't want any of his records (which would never happen)....or unless those vinyl burning programs got real cheap and were effective.

I saw a lot of people mention Serato and the other main one...and for what I do, I don't think I'd be dying for them, but it would definitely help, and I'm sure it'll be a good investment for the future.

Thanks for the responses though

[GangstaBoogy]

Fuck this, I'm gonna be a mixtape DJ. If a no-talent having sack of crap like Clue can do it, I can do it.

[R-Tistic]

Why did you fall off from making Beats???

One Of Ma Friends uses Ableton Live 5, to Dj with..It's pretty handy, i've seen him use it, it's mad Unique!!
He still mixes using Vinly and all..But he is starting to follow the trend of Cds/mp3s..and all..
I could Dj to save my life!!
But I'm learning how to scratch..cuz i love scratchin it's So Dope!!

I don't know how or why....it was never a conscious decision, but it had to do with different things. I'm sure it's still in me, but I have just been more interested in DJing. I think part of it has to do with me listening to so much older music and comparing mine to theirs, and realizing that I need to learn music theory and nearly master it to get where I want to.

Scratching does seem hella fun though, I've always had an interest in doing that. When I do parties, I doubt I'll get to scratch a lot though.

Oh Yeah, I feel that way at times!!
And it's somthing about hte older music, how each musial elemesnt compliments one another and is in perfect unison,that is missing in some of todays rap music!!

As scratching, i doubt that you could get away with it @ parties, pple want to dance, and not spit freestyles..lol...

Yeah the older music just hits you in a completely different way. Sometimes I'd feel like yeah, this beat could be on radio and make a nice rap song, but it isn't doing anything for music and isn't hittin me like this Earth Wind and Fire track is.

And yeah, I'll probably just scratch a little bit during parties to get that small segment hype. DJ's in Tallahassee where I'm at rarely show creativity, whether it's puttin verses over different beats or scratchin and mixin between songs...so I'll do a little bit of that, but nothin to throw the party off.

[The "Untouchable" DJR]

Well I'm retired now so to speak but I used to be a DJ from 1998 till 2005, I mostly played at small parties though and I mainly played mainstream hip hop and R&B along with some old skool hip hop and dancehall. I was also into making my own mix CDs something which I enjoyed doing very much, some of you might remember those Death Row megamixes I put up here last year (Btw check Outbound on the 25th of August for my Aaliyah tribute mix).

Oh and I was one of those vinyl-only DJs, fuck a CD and MP3 mixer and all that shit! 

[MarshColin]

To everybody that responded....I'm definitely using whatever is compatible with a laptop, and that sounds like Serato. I won't even attempt to go vinyl unless I had thousands of dollars, or unless I met a DJ who was retiring and really didn't want any of his records (which would never happen)....or unless those vinyl burning programs got real cheap and were effective.

I saw a lot of people mention Serato and the other main one...and for what I do, I don't think I'd be dying for them, but it would definitely help, and I'm sure it'll be a good investment for the future.

Thanks for the responses though

What equipment are you using right now?

[$Eg2$]

I used straight vinyl for about 6 years. As of last year my homie turned me on to Serato. I got 2 Technics 1200 M3D's and about 2 months ago I got the Rane TTM57SL with Serato built into it. I say go with a laptop and Serato man. It's simple, and it gets the job done. It's also way easier than lugging around records to every gig. You got the choice of sticking with vinyl or going the cd-j route as well. I use both, depending on what the venue has. If the venue doesn't have house decks then I bring my 1200's.

Serato and a laptop are def the way to go.

[Al Bundy]

I'm a DJ and i'm about to get a external sound card so I can spin MP3s on my stanton str8-80's.

[wballz187]

DJ!!! 2 technics mkII 1210'a, 2 pioneer cdj 1000's, vestax mixer, speakers,  amps, gonna purchase some lights, fog machines.

Dj Berto aka Real Time