D-Jam

Forgot to mention…I use Stutter as well.

In all honesty, I use effects as an ENHANCEMENT, and I don’t use them much at all.

Part of the reason is most of the tracks have been FXed all out there by the artists, so at times when I’m tempted to “do something”, the tune itself will do stuff. I notice many times now when I make mixes that I don’t do a whole lot to the tracks simply because they play well on their own accord.

Too many DJs now think they’re not doing well if they let a track play. They think they’re supposed to be “constantly doing stuff”, so I’ll see them overdo it all and literally destroy the original sound of the tune. I think Ean Golden is a very talented person, but I also notice he and his followers tend to do the same thing over and over again on many tunes. Yes, they can go nuts telling of how they chained together effects and such, but from the listener’s viewpoint, it sounds like the same thing over and over. Less talented guys will literally do the same thing over and over…thus overdoing it with “glitch”/stutter effects.

I mainly use DELAY, FLANGE, and REPEAT. Usually I’ll toss Delay or Repeat on more “blank” spots that could use an added kick. Flange I like as an enhancement over some points…especially things people have heard to death.

The best thing to learn is to make a set where there isn’t much “downtime”. Where you don’t mix things short between intros/outros and thus you don’t have this “dead time” of waiting for one tune to die down or another to start up. Try to really match beats, rhythms, and phrases so you aren’t just blending over breakdowns like I see many do.

The thing I’ve found is to be careful of how much TREBLE is out there. I’ve been told and shown how a high shrill noise can damage ears way more than loud bass.

I also say every DJ should own a pair of ear plugs and wear them when they’re going to be in a loud club/event for many hours, but not playing. So you show up at 10, but are playing at 1 or 2 AM…wear the plugs.

I personally also like to give my ears a good rest in silence after a night of loudness. So I play a gig, I’d not touch the stuff the next 1-2 days.

I agree with a lot of the replies here. One big help when I wanted to learn is to check out videos people make on Youtube showing off tricks they do.

I’d also tell you to start by just making remixes of tunes you like. This will help you get deeper with the software and thus make it easier to go further into your own ideas.

My experience is honesty that I tried, but didn’t have the interest. It would take me weeks to finish one tune, and even then I didn’t like how it sounded. Felt more like hard work and a chore. It’s why I stopped, simply because I honestly just enjoy DJing. I agree you won’t go anywhere “big” as a DJ unless you’re producing, but I also say if you try it and after a while you find you just don’t like it…then stop and look for another avenue to enjoy it all.

Don’t fall into the trap of producing garbage solely for the reason of trying to land bigger DJ gigs with it.

DJPossess, post: 11383 wrote: This was great reading. In Chicago the clubs Ive been to dont play Hip Hop. Its all the same Rihanna/Pitbull crap. Its especially annoying when a 2 floor club is playing the same thing in both dance floors. At one club I was hanging at the DJ booth when the guys changed shifts. There was no difference in music from the opener to the second guy at all. Where I live alot of bars dont want Hip Hop because of the “element that it draws.” Thats the new code phrase for black/latino gang bangers….Element. So everyone is playing 4 on the floor dance music.

It’s an honest truth. When I worked for a big entertainment company in Chicago, they mainly didn’t want the baggy-jeans-hoodie-wearing street kids. They wanted the white suburbanite high-fashion “pretty people”. There’s even been reports/complaints of some clubs being racially biased at the door, doing things they can to keep “browns” out.

In the end, pretty girls dictate it all. If they walk into a club playing “true hip-hop”, they’ll go beg for pop music. Only a few owners/promoters will tell the girls “no”, but they are the few trying to push the culture. The rest really just want the “pretty” night.

I’ve only seen real hip-hop culture in a few “off the beaten path” spots. Mainly special nights (generally weeknights) that try it. With weekends the clubs want the most bang for their buck, so they’ll go pop just to please the masses.

I just let my ears decide.

Just curious…if you’re not using any audio devices (turntables, CDJs, external MP3 playewrs) in the controller, is there a real benefit to an innofader?

Frankly, I say you should study business or multimedia. Don’t go into a music-centric major.

Here’s why…most of what you really learn happens on the job. You could study business, marketing, management, and still keep up with the industry, learn how it works, and end up working for a label down the road just as easily as you would an ad agency. You could end up getting into nightclub management and promotion. It’s pretty versatile.

The multimedia end is another path. Learn design and interactive media. That way you can make flyers, album art, websites, etc. So if music fails you can at least do other work.

My feeling if you really want a music life is to push for it outside of school. Get into producing, learn how to do it right and make great stuff. Push it online and build a fan base. Believe me, it’ll be easier for a high schooler into college to grow because you’ll have more time than someone who has to pay the bills and possibly take care of a family.

You might graduate college with top tracks on Beatport and labels wanting you to make stuff for them, or you could be nowhere and at least have skills you can use to get a normal job. It’s a win-win.

To this day I’m thankful my father pushed me not to get into the music biz…because pretty much all the colleagues I had who did that are broke and struggling while working McJobs or going back to trade schools to get job skills. I might not always have the time to do the music thing, but I at least can set my own rules as to how I want to do it.