Dave Paul

Yip, as Chuck said the choice here is essentially one between getting paid and playing the music you like.  Want more money?  Do weddings and Top40-type mobile work since these gigs remain (by FAR) the most lucrative, both in terms of hourly rate and frequency of work.  However, you seem pretty firm on playing only the music you like so the most you can do, barring finding a promoter who already loves what you play, is to promote your own nights – this can be a lot of work, let me assure you, and it comes with the added stress of you footing the bill.  If you have a setup that works for you, stick with it for as long as possible to get the best value from it, and bear in mind that unless you’re putting it to paid work new gear is going to COST you money, not make it.. the cost of a good hobby indeed.

Hi Dan, start with which ever (DJing or producing) appeals to you more – nothing aids learning like enthusiasm, and you can’t teach keen.  Without question, producing music is a far broader topic than DJing – one could spend numerous lifetimes learning about it.  Xavier has offered excellent advice on how to go about educating yourself, I agree that the most productive means of learning is to ask specific questions eg/ “How can I make a bass sound like the one on ‘Dre Day’?”, “How can I make a (x)-style trance build?”, “How can I sidechain a synth sound from a kick drum?” and so on.  Just about every question a beginner could ask has been answered online before, it’s a matter of phrasing your searches in such a way that meaningful responses are returned.

For what it’s worth, I use Traktor for DJing, Ableton Live for remixes, edits, and MIDI sequencing and REAPER for multitrack recording and soundtrack work.  I prefer Traktor for DJing as it’s extremely powerful and flexible, it’s very stable, works with just about every controller ever made (unlike Serato) and is cheap (unlike VDJ).  Lots of people seem to like CrossDJ these days too, but I can’t comment as I have no first-hand experience with it.

Ableton is awesome, but the full version is ruinously expensive – not an investment to be taken lightly by someone just starting out.  REAPER remains, IMO, the best bargain to be had in music production:  stable, dirt-cheap, incredibly powerful, endlessly flexible, with an enthusiastic user base and standout support from the developer.  Some would say that the power comes at the cost of a steep learning curve, and for an absolute beginner I would be inclined to agree.. however, I came to it having used Pro Tools for a few years in a commercial studio and Cubase prior to that,  and it was everything I wished a DAW could be.  The only legitimate criticism I’ve heard leveled at it is that very few commercial studios use it and therefore bringing REAPER projects to a Pro Tools-only studio can be tricky depending on how they’ve been prepared.  That’s something you’re unlikely to have to think about at this stage though of course, and in time you’ll decide how important that is to you.

Sorry for the long-winded reply, but I’ll end with the best advice I feel I can offer:  Get started NOW, with whatever you have available.  All the best in your endeavors.