Unexpected First Gig

First of all – congratulations. You stood up to the challenge and it sounds like you rocked it.

As to the things you mentioned – with the people watching what you are doing – first of all I would make sure that I was backed up against a wall (1-2 metres behind me though) facing the audience – so they cannot see what you are doing as much. Then ignore them – DJ like no one is watching (Basically just ignore them – DJ for the music and for your crowd and not for the people watching you play…)

As far as requests go, what I would do is get people to write down any requests for you. That way you can get them if you are likely to need them before your next gig and you don’t have to remember them all!! Remember though that requests are just that – requests. You don’t have to play them – although a DJ who doesn’t take them seems a bit odd to me – listen to your audience.

I try to play all the requests I get – and I get requests for the next time I am DJing if I don’t have the track. This is important to me as I have a regular crowd who want to hear their requests.. 🙂

Your kit sounds fine to me – until you have your workflow worked out anyway. You may want to wish to buy a controller if you think it will enhance your DJing (Even a small modular unit with a couple of faders on it and EQ controller might be of use? – This gets great reviews and does all this and has a soundcard built in http://www.akaipro.com/product/amx – but if you decide not to get a controller then I would recommend getting an external soundcard as it will be much higher quality then the soundcard in your Laptop.. The numark DJIO springs to mind as a budget option.. 🙂

bob6397

Congratulations! You’ve stepped up and got yourself an unexpected gig and probably more coming your way.

I own a Numark Mixtrack Pro. It cost me 11,000 Philippine Pesos. This DJ controller has a built-in sound card so you may not need to buy one. I got it from a guy who sells DJ equipment on Facebook and OLX. If you have a Facebook account, look for HotSaleForYou. I also bought a DJ laptop stand (generic) for PhP 1,500.

Of course, you can also choose from other brands like Pioneer and Stanton.

The software I use is Mixxx although I also use Serato DJ Intro on my PC. Virtual DJ is fine too but I prefer Mixxx (it’s absolutely free and you can record mixes) and Serato is also quite good.

Many are limited to being bedroom DJ’s with a rare few gigs if any at all. If you have plans of getting more gigs, you need to save up and invest in a DJ controller or maybe a CDJ later on.

Good luck

I would recommend the controller that works for you and stuff everyone else for judging on looks.. 🙂 Only you know which controller that is though.

I find with requests that just having a huge music library available – not specifically all playlisted etc. but atleast analysed in your software lets you deal with requests more easily.. It is a trick though to predict what people will want at each gig and to predict their requests. When you start getting that right you know you’ve got it 🙂

So, for me, that means watching the charts, downloading decent tracks, checking out the radio playlists (The BBC publish them in the UK btw) as this all helps you predict what people will want to hear. But every audience is different so my methods may not work for you at all..

bob6397

Haha.. Thanks 🙂

I haven’t been around here that long though.. I just have good technical knowledge, too much time and the ability to type what I mean in a clear(ish) way.. 🙂

DJ Vintage and Terry_42 have been around a lot longer than I have.. 🙂

Got ur mix playing atm so I’ll post on there later.. 🙂

bob6397