Nathan Kahn

Hi guys, thanks for the responses! I think you guys pretty much hit the nail on the head. The Reloop Beatmix 4 looks like a great controller, although it is about $411. Besides 4 vs 2 decks, is there any major difference between that and the Beatmix 2? The price is a little bit higher than I’d like, but is it a worthwhile investment over other controllers?

Thank you guys for the replies!

This is your first gig, and if you already felt 4 hours set daunt you, there’s something is not clicking in here, either you not comfortable with the atmosphere, the party or the dj set itself. Any DJ’s, especially the one who just started with their first gig, would not even bother tiwh the time slot, let it be 4 hours or heck until dawn, once you start DJ time no longer exists

Daunting probably wasn’t the right word, but everything didn’t click right away, for a few reasons. First off, I was nervous about my gig because it was really hyped up all around school, on twitter, etc, and I felt like there was a lot at stake, since there were already a few people who told me that they’d want me to DJ for them if I did a good job. Again, some of the music I wasn’t that familiar with, and I had to deal with quite a few drunk people at the party. But by the end, I was into it and everything was fine.

Till then in between, there should be other stuff you could be doing, more house/private parties, or you could try to aim for a prom night at your school, these will shape up your experiences till you ready to play at the clubs

This is just what I planned on doing, just wanted to check. Securing a prom night would likely be pretty difficult. My school has over 3,000 people at it, and they always hire DJs from a company called Endless Entertainment (formerly Arizona Pro DJs). All of their DJs have atleast 4 years experience DJing live, and they usually get paid $1000 or more per event. They are always hired for any type of event, pretty much without fail. I could try and see, but I doubt I’d get anything, although I do have an in (the guy who’s party I DJ’d at is the head of the group responsible for all the hiring/event organizing.

Anything longer than that time and I’ll have a partner join in with me.

I’m curious, how exactly does that work? Do you both mix, take turns, each take half the event, etc?

But, as a college student at Arizona State University, I will tell you that what you would play at a high school dance will be far different than at a house party. House party, they typically want dirty music, usually with lots of cussing and mainly hip-hop. If ever I DJ a fraternity party or some other 18+ house party, I play very little EDM.
Here’s a rule of thumb, at house parties, people want to booty-pop/grind/sing along to the music. Expand your hip-hop/twerk playlist.

I think this answered a lot of the remaining questions in my head in regards to music styles and such, so thank you! Also, nice to see another DJ in Arizona (I live here too if you didn’t realize).

Okay so now I have a few followup questions:

1- A friend of a friend who was at my gig really liked it, and he wants me to DJ at his house party this week, and offered to pay me $200 for it, and I told him I would. My main concern is the sound system. I do not own a PA system, and the speakers which I had to DJ on at my first gig really weren’t enough for the party, and here I dont think there is anything better. What should I do in this case?

2- Are there any good resources for hip hop/top 40 songs to stay updated on those? I don’t really know of any, and I can’t seem to find any good charts online.

3- How should I deal with requests from the host which the crowd doesn’t like, or that dont fit with the music I’m playing? I didn’t mention it earlier, but the host of the party kept wanting me to play some trap at the party, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.

4- Is there any way to deal with not having a song after arriving at a gig which people are constantly requesting?