Controller

Denon controllers are built like tanks. If the lack of pads on the 6000 bothers you, take a look at the 4000. Similar footprint, 4 performance pads per deck and 4 sampler pads in the centre.

Leaving the Denonsphere, you may want to take a look at something like the Hercules Jogvision. It’s smaller but with a good number of features.

No.

Really, you’re just learning the basics of your genre of choice. Once you’ve got those down, it’s a matter of how much of a show you want to make of it (FX, stems, and so on) and how fresh/interesting can you keep your library (The all important digging skill(s)). Really, it’s learning Rekordbox’s little quirks and the feel of using CDJs but that will be later on down the road.

I’d recommend though that if you are wanting to go down the club route, download Rekordbox and start gridding your tracks. That way you can start getting used to how I looks and what have you. Plus, it’s always good to have a backup plan in case your controller fails while you’re out and about.

Sometimes.

I think there will always be a need for media players in some form. You can’t expect international DJs or producers who either are (or think they are DJs) to be carting around a controller during a tour. I know module is a thing, but you don’t see a lot of Djs doing module to begin with.

So getting familiar with their basic shape and whatnot is always going to be a good idea. That way you have a backup plan in case you controller or laptop fails. (Rare, but known to happen)

But since it sounds like you’ll be doing local gigs, once they know that you’re a controller DJ, it’ll just be a matter of how long they need your RCAs to be.

I would say get the emails and/or phone numbers of the guys you’ll be working with on a regular basis. It’s always worth it to shoot them an email or quick text/phone call before the gig and see what they expect from you each gig. Not always feasible, but the fewer surprises you have to deal with when you show up to a gig, the better.

I guess what I’m saying is to have a back up plan, even if that’s a thumb drive full of mp3s or something. Because what happens if you’re controller doesn’t work? Or your laptop blue screens on you or something and it won’t work anymore? You can’t expect to get paid if your gear doesn’t work to begin with unless you signed an agreement before-hand stating you get paid in that instance.

Trust me, you don’t want to be the guy on stage who tells everyone that he can’t play because his laptop doesn’t work anymore or have to call whoever booked you and say you can’t play. No matter what, you have to have it buried in your brain that you’re dealing with electronics. Which is not a perfect science and they can fail and break. So having a backup plan of some sort will always be recommended.

I actually do have a spare (iPad) controller in the car when I go to gigs. But an iPad or iPhone with DJ software (take your pick, quite a few decent ones out there these days) hooked up to the aux or -preferably – even straight into an extra channel of the house mixer will get you through the rough spot of a blue screening laptop (and yes, it can happen to Macs too, although the screen won’t turn blue) or a controller failure.

There are two kinds of glitches, fatal and non-fatal.

Non-fatal laptop: anything that “hangs” or “blue screens” the computer but that will let you reboot and carry on business as usual. So, problem = hit play on your iDevice with a good dance mix loaded and reboot the system.
Non-fatal controller: very very occasionally your controller COULD stop reacting properly (usually some combination of USB/driver issues) and need a hard reset to work properly again. Solution = same as with laptop.

Fatal laptop: things like a hard disk crash (they do happen), overheating issues, screen/video card failure. Power adapter failure (either the adaptor or, more common, the connector) with limited battery life left is also a potential problem. Solution here: either switch to backup controller(s) or the house system (a RekordBox prepared MP3 stick or a small pouch with your set on CDs will be a great help here), or use the iDevice emergency solution while hooking up a new laptop.
Fatal controller: although rather rare, like anything electronic it CAN go belly up and stop working altogether. Solution: switch to backups/house system or use iDevice emergency solution while hooking up a new controller (if you have one with you).

As you can see, it does not take more than an iPhone/iPod to playback a prepared mix while you solve the rest of the problems, preventing long awkward and potentially night killing silence on the floor. You’d need an iPad minimum if you want to actually DJ on if problems are of the fatal kind. But that CAN be done. Phil Morse wrote a great iBook on DJ-ing with DJay 2.

Like Deathy said, my setup has two CD/media players (simple Numark NDX500s) hooked up, so unless the controller really fails (in which case I can run my iPhone straight into the PA) I an always play. Being a mobile DJ that is even more important than if you play clubs as you are usually totally responsible for sound, including PA.