What are the basics
Home 2023 › Forums › The DJ Booth › What are the basics
- This topic has 13 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 12 years, 7 months ago by
Lamid45G.
-
AuthorPosts
-
August 11, 2013 at 1:20 am #43039
NewportDJ Drew
ParticipantJust start. Best way is get the same song and mix it. Start it at an off beat and get it right. Perfect practice makes perfect. Use a metronome to learn the bpm. Use a piano to get the key of a track. Don’t get taught by somone else it retard your unique style.
August 12, 2013 at 3:55 am #43057Lamid45G
ParticipantKind of a bit harsh to what your wife said, either shes really really busy or she just dont have the patience to teach you the basic,
You can’t just expect to throw someone in the water and expect them to float and swim right away and scream at them out of loud from the side, “PRACTICEEE !!!!!!!!! Practiceeeee, practiceeee……!!!!” you need at least the basic of it,
the basic is my dear sir, is something that CAN be learned !!!
If you don’t even know the basic of DJing what the hell you going to practice on anyway ? LOL
So learn the basic of DJ ing first, ocne you learned, understand the basic of it THEN you can practice itMatter of facts read here…
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/learn-to-dj/August 12, 2013 at 5:34 am #43063Steve (k-rex) Richman
ParticipantWow, this is a large question, raiden. Understand your wife’s reluctance, even the hardware you;re talking about is somewhat of a challenge. You’ve got an old version of SL, and when you say decks I assume you mean cdj’s – or even turntable, same applies. This gear was designed for djs making the transition from vinyl to digital, and would probably be the most difficult setup on which to learn (since it is designed for experienced pros). I’d suggest starting with something much easier, like Virtual DJ Home, until you learn the fundamentals of mixing and beatmatching. Follow djrizki’s link above, much good info, read the prep tips on this site, think about your music library. Start by mixing the same song on two decks, as mentioned in the previous posts. Once you are somewhat comfortable with this, then roll out that scary vinyl stuff. Or not – lots of us are happy with our controllers 🙂
August 12, 2013 at 6:09 am #43070DJ Vintage
ModeratorYep, the video course Phil put together is pretty much a must if you are starting. And yes, counting beats and phrases is important, and listening to the harmonics, genre and such (just because two tracks are somewhere near the same BPM doesn’t mean they sound well when mixed). Part of that can be (self)taught. If there is a DJ school around, you could consider getting a basics training there. If not, this site, Youtube and other places have lots of information for you to get you started and then it is, as others have stated, LOTS OF PRACTICE!
Greetinx and good luck,
C.August 12, 2013 at 9:18 am #43098thompson_nlj@hotmail.com
ParticipantAges when I was talking to a guy at work he told me get the numark IDJ live and see how you get on before deciding if I like mixing and that I can do it. Showed it to my brother in law who said nah just go for it and buy a used serato box. I did ask around a few friends that dj and they all said just blow the dust off your wife’s old decks and play around with them. Which is all well and good but she mostly has D n B but I wanted to do hip hop and dubstep. So for £180 for SL1 and having the turntables etc already there it was worth ago. Plugged it all up last night and my brother in law had a quick go. So I think the wife is interested now as she never had a clue about rane. So maybe it will encourage her to get back on them. She hasn’t touched them in 3 years or more. When we first met she was in pubs and clubs now and again djing so she’s got skills but lost the love. But after seeing DJ fresh last year and a few other acts I said to myself I gotta learn how to do this. If by this time next year I get to mix at a party or 2 ill be happy.
August 16, 2013 at 4:54 pm #43207dj.andy.warhol
MemberI believe there is no “good” overall way to start your way in this magical world. Some things work for me, the same may not work with you, my advice is maintain curiousity be aware of you goals, what you want to achieve. The basics – that’s what everyone will tell you … practice find your own style, if it makes you happy and hype, then you wont have problems. I will overcome every obsticle.
August 17, 2013 at 3:23 pm #43242gbadegesin
ParticipantYour wife probably telling you that she will not teach you is probably the best gift she has given you.
The basics of Djaying is music and songs. You will first have to learn the structure of a song, what a bar is and what is BPM. Those three things in my opinion is what we all do sometimes subconsciously when mixing.
Also, you can pretend that you know noone who can help you and that will strengthen your persistence. As NewportDJ said, this will make you come up with your own style rather than copy someone who taught you.
Like many others here, i learnt by myself and this was by listening to the radio and taking note of the transitions and the flow. I still have the fist mix i ever attempted, even a crocodile would not dance to it tallkless of a human. Djaying is one thing that you will have to practice for the rest of your life if you really want to get into it.
I do a weekly show where i spin hiphop and stuff and this is what i use as my practise sessions.
Finally, you can learn on anything. I started off with an old laptop, a mouse and VDJ and now i am on top of the world….August 17, 2013 at 7:39 pm #43244Moderatorgbadegesin, post: 43399, member: 1507 wrote: … you come up with your own style rather than copy someone who taught you … i learnt by myself and this was by listening to the radio and taking note of the transitions and the flow.
Just wondering how this differs much from having someone teach you. If you listen to others and start trying some of their things out, you are doing essentially the same thing.
Personally I think if you have the opportunity to go to a DJ School or have a DJ that is willing to teach you the basix of mixing, beatmatching and such, you should jump on it. There is, in my humble opinion, no extra honor in figuring stuff out by yourself that others have figured out a zillion times before you.
Teaching can be a great way to jumpstart any skill. After you have learned the basix, you will start practicing, trying out things on your own and, ideally, find your own style.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that taking advantage of available knowledge is a bad thing and would prohibit you from developing your “own thang”.
Greetinx,
C.August 19, 2013 at 1:06 am #43259ParticipantChuck van Eekelen, post: 43401, member: 2756 wrote: Just wondering how this differs much from having someone teach you. If you listen to others and start trying some of their things out, you are doing essentially the same thing.
Personally I think if you have the opportunity to go to a DJ School or have a DJ that is willing to teach you the basix of mixing, beatmatching and such, you should jump on it. There is, in my humble opinion, no extra honor in figuring stuff out by yourself that others have figured out a zillion times before you.
Teaching can be a great way to jumpstart any skill. After you have learned the basix, you will start practicing, trying out things on your own and, ideally, find your own style.
This, Absolutely, 100% agreed !
Also on the plus side, going to a DJ School also benefits you to networking to other DJ’s, you gets to know a new DJ friends, that might also can help you open up a new gigs, new opportunities…or just exchanging ideas and stuff on more a personal level.
And if you get a really cool Instructor, he/she can help you settle in a DJ environment, help you to join a local DJ label/event promoter, set you up a job training in the REAL clubs, plus many many more…August 19, 2013 at 7:34 am #43262Moderatordjrizki, post: 43416, member: 11983 wrote: This, Absolutely, 100% agreed !
Also on the plus side, going to a DJ School also benefits you to networking to other DJ’s, you gets to know a new DJ friends, that might also can help you open up a new gigs, new opportunities…or just exchanging ideas and stuff on more a personal level.
And if you get a really cool Instructor, he/she can help you settle in a DJ environment, help you to join a local DJ label/event promoter, set you up a job training in the REAL clubs, plus many many more…Definitely. Many DJ schools will have “trainee” opportunities where you can play (part of) a night under the watchful eye and guidance of an experienced DJ.
It’s a great “stress-reduced” way of getting your feet wet in front of a live audience.
Greetinx,
C.August 27, 2013 at 2:33 pm #43574MemberI don’t know why, but I never even thought about the idea of learning at something like dj school. I always learn from the experience either my own or people I meet or play with. How those dj schools work ? I cannot imagine it dunno why … : )
August 27, 2013 at 2:50 pm #43576ModeratorIn my case (I always take private lessons, but you can go with two or have a group lesson), I go to the school, which has a completely fitted DJ booth. 2x TT, 4x CDJ2000Nexus and DJM2000Nexus, Rokit6 monitors, headphones and the option to hook up your own controller/laptop combo. And they have a lot of extra controllers and such of their own too.
They have various levels of “standard” training or, like me, you can just say what you would like to learn or work on.
And then you get a teacher (experienced DJ who is also able to teach, which definitely is not true for every experienced DJ) and you get explanation, shown and then you do yourself with his/her coaching.I did a CDJ-refresher, Vinyl-refresher, Ableton-training (very specific, about flex beatgridding) and I had my son take a two-hour introduction course (he’s a musician but had never played with DJ gear).
It’s good and highly individualised. They are good at assessing your skill level and matching their training level to it.
So you don’t have to go through this “yeah, yeah, I know that already thing”.It’s not really cheap (I pay 50 euro an hour for private lessons), but it certainly is worth it because the material is highly condensed and geared to my level of training and experience. So I can do a lot in two hours.
Greetinx,
C.August 28, 2013 at 1:44 am #43592ParticipantThe DJ School works pretty much like when you taking a private piano lessons.
But most of the DJ Schools, at least have minimum of 2 separate 3×4 studios, each studio loaded with your basic Club Pro DJ tools, such as CDJ, mixer, speakers, the aim is to give you the experiences to what it feels like spinning in the real club environment.
Different schools offered different courses but basically it comes to Basic Level, Intermediate Level & Advance Level
But most of them offer you 1-1 lessons, with the Instructors a local DJ heroes
The lessons itself last for 12 session or 1 month, each session lasted around 2 hours or so
The first 2 hours usually gets down on the basic theory of Intro to the DJ gears and stuff, the rest is the direct interaction to the gears
Its really good for a beginner, they can get their first hands-on experience to what most of the clubs used
And all that for the low price of 300 dolla …I’m planning to open up one, next year, hopefully when everything is in order, wish me luck
-
AuthorPosts
- The forum ‘The DJ Booth’ is closed to new topics and replies.