Brand new to DJing, need some help.

Hi,
Just a few months ago I was in your shoes. I would recommend a controller that you could see yourself using in 6 months. If you know you are gonna be really into DJing, I would recommend a $400-$500 controller (that is worth every penny), so that you could use it for a while, and not need an upgrade.If you decide to buy a $100-$200 controller, it probably won’t last you that long, and you will quickly get bored if there ar missing key features. That’s just my opinion.

A little off-topic, but just so you know, you are on the best DJ website there is to offer. The way I learned really quickly is searching up “free online dj lessons” or “online dj”. Look at every hit, and see what you can learn. Read every article on this site, it helped me a lot.

Good luck,
DJ Easer

Having tested the Reloop Beatmix 4 myself I can tell you: It is really great for the price tag. Actually a steal.

Read one of Terry’s other posts where he – passionately – goes into the difference between various DJ software in relation to the style of music you play. You can probably copy that text to include controllers. Perhaps very specific stuff (like scratching) will affect your choice, but in general all controllers will feature the same options to a degree. And then it comes down to what software have you chosen, what is your budget, what is your workflow, etx.

So, imho, there is no Hip-Hop trap controller, no 80’s disco controller, etx.

I was interested to see you say you consider it a great way to create some extra income. While that may be true, if making (extra) money is your driving motivation, I fear for the success of it. Good thing is you love music. Almost anybody I know that ever amounted to anything in DJ-ing started out with making money with it being the farthest from their mind. Actually I had a guy I started with in high school and he thought (mobile) DJ-ing was all about looking sharp, chatting up the ladies and instant popularity because of being a DJ. When he found out that it involved loading cars, setting up, carrying heavy stuff, practicing lots, spending time selecting and getting familiar with new tracks, standing behind a table for hours having a responsibility towards the audience he was out there like an arrow. Needless to say he took a regular job and probably never looked back :-).

I still DJ and I get paid handsomely for it most of the time. And although I still love the actual DJ-ing bit, there is definitely some wear and tear from all the heavy lifting.

My point of warning here is that it might sound nice to receive a few hundred dollars for a nights DJ-ing, but in order to be able to actually EARN that money on a regular basis, you’ll need to put a lot more unpaid hours in. Especially at the beginning. There will be countless hours of sometimes mind-numbing practice to get that one skill right. It’s one thing to read on here on in one of the free/paid course on this site about how to do something and understanding the concept behind it. Being able to pull it off professionally, every time, takes a lot of dedication.

And in my opinion the only ones who get that far are those that do it because they love doing it, even the practice. Otherwise, don’t bother, keep your money in your pocket and take up bartending :-).

Last word. Your DJ “friends” that won’t help you? They have me seriously worried. Even total strangers I have asked for help have given it to me. The love of the game means most all DJ’s love talking about their stuff, sharing with others. And these are you friends and they don’t want to help you? What is that?
I spend quite a few hours a week doing my thing on here. I don’t get paid (nor does Terry), but we do it because we love DJ-ing and we want to encourage other to find out for themselves what fun it is (or can be). I don’t know anybody on here personally, yet I’ll give you my thoughts, ideas and experience-based advice when you ask for it.

Might be time for some new friends and/or they are not really the kind of DJs you are gonna be wanting advice from.

Greetinx.

How about Canada Vintage and Terry?
I’d love to get my hands on the Beatmix 4 asap