  How to DJ: Skills, Attitudes and Basic Mixing Techniques Introduction

This page covers some comments and opinions on the basic skills and attitude of a DJ. How does a typical audience behave ? What they expect and how they react. Afterward we give a set of recurring, but wrong, ideas about 'DJ-ing'.

The Audience

The audience is the most important of all. They are the final judge of what you're doing. A party without people is no party. It is as simple as that. People can be at a party for a number of reasons

 They are there because they are organizing the party.  People can come for social contact.  To take pictures of the room (I hate the Japanese tendency to run around with half a ton of lenses and photo machinery)  To drink & forget their problems. As the night goes on, people will become drunk or stoned (or both at the same time :).

Dirty Trick: If you throw salt over the floor before people come in then the audience will drink more later on the evening.

 To dance and have a good time. These people are the ones which will be your judge.  People can also be there because they came along with other people. These people aren't expecting anything. So don't expect anything from them.

So, a party is not that difficult at all. Nevertheless some DJ's have quite a strange picture of what's going on at parties.

Some Recurring Misconceptions

A number of DJ's have the tendency to act as if they are god. This is wrong, they are not. A number of these wrong attitudes are stated below.

 Playing music is not only using your intuition. The times you have an aha-erlebnis and you know what to play will be very small. If you play 300 songs overnight, 80% will be based on ratio. Only 20% on 'feeling'. Especially in the beginning because you will be nervous and will need to fall back to your technical skills.  Do not expect everybody likes what you are playing. Often DJ's are very explicit about the music they like and the music they don't like. Don't be like that. It is not because you are playing music, that other music is bad, also don't insult somebody if he doesn't like what you like. You are not the center from which music comes. (technically this is true, but it doesn't go any further than that). There will be songs which you like, which nobody else will ever like, try to detect these and cut the crap, how painfully it might be to play a night without your favorite songs.  Learn different styles. New influences are absolutely welcome for a DJ.  For most DJ's the following holds true: you are playing for the audience, the audience isn't there for you. So, look at how people react to your music. You are playing music either for money, for personal reward or because nobody else wants to do it. In any case the result: 'the audience stays and is happy' is the most important.

And the worst kind of god-attitude that is embodied within current day DJ's and Party- organizers is that:

 DJ-ing with MP3's ain't cool.  It doesn't sound the same.  Sorry, we only do turntables.  You don't have to do anything yourself  and so on..

It is just required to point out that more and more DJ's nowadays use CD's, which weren't cool enough a while ago, then we can safely say that this kind of 'oops, I don't like it when the world changes'-attitude won't bring them any further.

The Correct State of Mind

On top of these strange attitudes, we have DJ's who wants to use certain drugs to play. They probably think it is cool to be high (or down, or slow or fast). I wouldn't advice to behave like this: stay sober. The essence of whatever you are doing is to feel good. If you don't you will not have enough focus to do what you are payed for. If you want to gain some confidence, be fit! Do exercises every day and eat well (healthy food). It really helps to do some exercises before I go to a club (even if it's only DJ's meeting not a party). But, let's skip this 'how- fucked-up-is-the-DJ-exactly' crap. Let's continue with the real work: Indexing and Selecting Your Music

Whether you have CD's, vinyl or MP3's, have an index at hand, sorted by style, annotate with the BPM and marked with the 'sound-color'. This list should contain cross references between styles: 'switch to this style using this song'. On top of this style list, also have a full index by name available every time you play.

Creating such a list takes a lot of time. You can easily spend months to create it, but when you have such a list it is your treasure. This will be half the money you make with DJ'ing. So never give this away.

Warning: A mistake often made is only to exploit the index and not to explore anymore. This is wrong because you might encounter better mixes. It's also wrong because you're definitely not looking at the audience, and above all it's wrong because DJ'ing isn't fun anymore this way. Tempo

It is also a very good idea to accurately measure the tempo of all your songs (that is up to 1/100 of a BPM). Programs such as BpmDj, BpmCount or BpmLive can help you with this. The tempo in general is necessary to a) match the tempo of the new song to the old song and b) set the tempo of various effect boxes exactly to the current playing tempo.

Finding Cool Music

Tip #1: Comb the aisles of your local record store, hit all the online music outlets and follow the dots from song to song and artist to artist (this is the fun part of DJ'ing - research).

Tip #2: ask producers for previews of music and songs that will come out.

The sound quality, timbre, color and immediate recognizability belongs to the song, not to the DJ. Your set on the other hand belongs to you. The night belongs to the party organizers.

This means that if the songs is not good or boring that it is not your responsibility to fix it. You should select songs that are already good in the first place. How you weave them together in your set is on the other hand your task. Even 5 minutes of crappy songs can ruin your set, so be sure to use the best music you find.

New CD's

Often if you buy a new CD you want to know what is usable on that CD. In general if I get a new CD I play it from front to back. If I survive that first play then it is a good record. If not then hopefully there were some excellent and remarkable good songs in it. Once this is done, I'm interested in finding mixes that fits to the good songs. This requires some fiddling. Which song can be linked to this cool song. Basic trial and error. I do however only work with the songs that are worth it. I don't spend much time on songs that 'might be good if handled like this or this'. Bottom-line is that these were not sufficiently good in the first place.

Select Music

A good strategy to play music for a specific audience is to rely on a number of prototype people you know that like the music that is typically played at a certain kind of party. Think: 'would this person like this music ?' This works quite well ! Basic Mixing Techniques

The Mixing Desk

Now (halfway the guide), let's start with the basics. The mixing table. A normal mixing table has a number of mono and stereo channels. We are only interested in stereo channels. Every channel has  A gain. This can be found on all mixing devices. This changes the pre-amplification of the signal before it goes to the volume fader. The gain should be set as high as possible without clipping or distorting the music.  An equalizer. Depending on the mixing table it is a parametric or non-parametric equalizer. A non parametric equalizer is a filter which weakens or strengthens a signal in a certain frequency range. E.g, if a mixing table has three knobs, one with 11kHz, one with 3kHz and one with 100Hz it is a non-parametric equalizer. On the other hand if we have a mixing table with 4 knobs, 11kHz, 100Hz and a knob which let you choose the frequency and another knob which let you choose the strength of that frequency then it is a parametric equalizer. When changing the equalizing, the gain has to be changed too. E.g., when cutting down the bass, the gain can be raised.

Warning: the human ear becomes accustomed to a certain frequency spectrum. So, avoid the trap of equalizing everything too sharp. If you see (you won't hear it) that your equalizing is completely out of balance fix it slowly. In fact not that many (modern) songs need equalizing anymore.

Fatal: Some DJ's like to turn their three equalizer buttons completely to the right when they play. This should not be done because it modifies the sound and often removes critical information from the music. Normally the sound is unmodified if all equalizers are set to 0, not to +15dB.

 A volume slider, which allows you to change the volume which goes to the main mix. Most mixing tables can go to +15 dB, but there is no use in that. Avoid the trap of raising the volume relatively to each other until the two songs are playing at +15 dB and you can't get higher. Volume 0 should be the maximum volume you apply.  A PFL button. PFL stands for pre-fader-listening. If you push this button, regardless of the volume fader you will get the complete signal in your headphone/monitors.  A monitor is a set of boxes next to you which gives you what you hear in your headphones.  A balance, which lets you choose whether you hear the left or the right channel for stereo channels. For mono channels the balance is replaced by a pan, which lets you direct the signal to the left or to the right. For mixing purposes a balance is not necessary. Just don't forget to place it in the center :)  Possibly, AUX sends. These are buttons to change the volume of the channels going to an effect unit. These can be pre-fader or post-fader and are often no use for a DJ without an effect unit.  A mute button, which mutes the sound completely: nothing is send out over the AUX sends, nothing is send to the main mix and sometimes nothing is send to the pre- listener. The latter depends on the kind of mixing table.

Aside from all these things for every channel we also tend to find the following

 A volume indicator which shows you the pre-listening signal, or if there is nothing to pre-listen the main-signal.  A main volume, which changes the volume in the room. This typically builds up as the room gets filled. But shouldn't be touched normally. If you want to change the volume, change the channel-volume, or gain if it was set too low.  A phones volume, which changes the volume send to your headphone.  A monitor volume, which changes the volume of the speakers next to you.  A cross fader between two channels

Mixing Two Songs

So, when we want to throw in a new song (song B),

1. Place the volume slider of channel B to zero 2. Set the gain of channel B to zero 3. Push the PFL button of channel B. Be sure that the PFL of channel A is off. 4. Change the gain until we have maximum signal without clipping. Do not touch the volume slider. If you do this the audience will hear what you are planning to play. 5. Now change the equalizing if necessary. For most songs not much equalizing is needed, unless you are playing very old songs of course. Don't equalize everything too sharp. It is quite easy to hear nothing at all if you don't boost the high frequencies. Don't do this. Change the volume of the headphones or increase the gain if possible. 6. After equalizing, maximize the gain again. If you cut the frequencies, the gain is not maximum anymore. 7. Now the real work can begin, look for a good position to kick the song in. 8. While sliding down channel A, slide up channel B.

Technically this is not difficult at all. However, this scheme should be remembered very accurately and practice is necessary. Otherwise, one of the steps is easily looked over. Especially checking the correct gain is important because it avoids 'not-loud-enough, so let turn up the volume a bit more, oops can't go further...'-problems.

Playing MP3's

If you want to play MP3's, be sure to have spare parts (an extra computer for instance) at hand. One PC with two sound cards is possible but you still have your single point of failure. Use a good sound card, with a good sound quality.

Have all music on both PC's (if one fails you can continue with the second PC), connect them with a small hub if you want. Also, have CD's at hand to continue when both PC's fail.

When playing MP3's, using Winamp

 There exists a Winamp cross fading output if you are forced to work with one PC.  have a suitable CD inserted in a CD-player at any time. Windows has the nasty tendency to offer you a blue screen of death. In that case immediately' switch to the CD, which should be ready.

When playing MP3's, using Linux (which would be the more sensible choice given its stability)

 Be sure to switch of crond if you have a slow machine.  XMMS has also a cross fading output.  Shameless plug: BpmDj (http://bpmdj.yellowcouch.org/) offers the solution to solve your DJ-ing problems.

Digital Distortion ? Some of the current day digital sound cards (like the Ensoniq chips which can be found in all new sound blaster cards), have the tendency to increase the level of your signal higher than possible. This result in digital distortion which is at least ugly. To avoid this don't set your PCM-volume to 100% but place it at 80% (or even less).

Changing Tempo & Accuracy of Pitch Shifters

If you want to do beat mixing you need a way to change the tempo of your music. Since this is done by stretching or shrinking the time the music plays, the music will also change in pitch. If we stretch the music the pitch will go lower, if we shrink the music the pitch will rise. The question now is whether the standard pitch shifting software is good enough ? We need BPM's with an accuracy of 0.05 BPM. At 160BPM this requires us the ability to shift the pitch with 0.0003125 %. At 120BPM this requires that we have the ability to shift the pitch with 0.00041666... % The best pitch shifter I encountered till now is AlsaPlayer. This program can shift the pitch of music with 0.01% with is definitely not good enough !

Now, even if they are not accurately enough, it is possible you want to use things like AlsaPlayer (it is good software after all). If that is the case, I want to warn for one thing. Suppose we have song B at tempo 140 and song A at tempo 135. We want to match those two songs. Therefore we calculate the pitch-shift, but instead of dividing 135 by 140, we divide 140 by 135. We see a number (1.03703...) larger than one, while we expected a number lesser than one. As such we take the difference with one (0.03703...) and subtract it from 1, which gives 0.962962... (Not so) Strangely, this is another result than 135 divided by 140, which is 0.964285. Playing Different Kinds of Popular Music

When playing different kinds of popular music, the most important is to know what is popular with the audience. On top of this there are a number of rules.

 Play every song between 2.0 - 2.5 minutes. If you play songs longer people will find it boring. If you play songs too short people will become irritated. Of course, a mistake in the 'short' direction is not that bad.  Minimum 4 songs of the same style in a row.  Work your tempo down until you reach a suitable tempo for a slow.  Always play two slows. After the first not everybody has the girl/the boy he/she wants. After a slow, kick in a beat again. No point in messing around with a 'good' build-up. Some (lonely) people are waiting to dance, and the people slowing will leave the floor anyway when you switch to a non-slow.  In the beginning of the night choose your end style of music. After 3:00, 4:00 o'clock people go home when you switch style, so stay to the same style after that.

Switching from song A to B

 Can be done when A has the same connotation as B. E.g., Red Zebra after the Sisters of Mercy is quite possible in Belgium for people who likes Gothic.  Can be done when A has the same 'color' as B.  Can be done when A has the same 'tempo and style' as B.  Is done with a cross fading over 5 to 10 seconds. Don't try to mix the beats when you don't have the skills. Nothing is more irresponsible and insane than a DJ in an ether binge. Euhm.... I mean... Nothing is more irritating than two non matching songs over each other with the bass drums interleaved and a DJ trying to fix that live. If you ever happen to be in such a situation (which will occur) just cut one of both songs. The audience will be happy if you do that. When you cut one of both songs you will be disappointed, just remember that it was too late for a subtle mix anyhow.

At every moment have a list of the three/four/five next songs you will play, this should ensure continuity. If people ask something, don't switch immediately, put them at the end of your list, and eventually adapt your list. Trusts people's opinion only when they are happy. Otherwise neglect them.

Don't play killer music. Killer music is music where you loose a lot of people. For example. If you have 32 diagonal spread, seriously drunk people with 16 man and 16 woman, at 6:00 'o clock in the morning do not play a slow. They will go home afterward. (OK maybe that was the intention :). Another example is a blues-party (Hmm... no point in partying if your girlfriend has left, you are broke, your car has been stolen and you are constipated... Still wondering how fucked up people are when they go to blues-'parties'.); if you play at 3 o'clock a Techno-song (even if it is a good one), they will throw beer at you and drag you away. Knowing what an audience likes is as important as knowing what the audience absolutely dislikes. You don't want to play a killer song, not even by accident. Playing One Style Whole Night

Essentially, it is much easier to play the same style (Techno, House, Acid, and so on) whole night than playing different styles. Of course, you have to know the style before you even think of playing. E.g: don't play Salsa if you don't know shit about it.

 Build your music tempo up, instead of playing it down. Tempo breaks are long ambient passages, not slower songs.  Breaks can be found in o lyrics, where a nice lady tells us she is horny (or something like that) o or ambient passages without a bass drum o or snare-rolls which builds up  If you are playing Techno whole night you might want to surprise your audience by slowly removing the bass drum and afterward kicking it in again. Removing the bass drum slowly and kicking it in is better than boosting the bass drum because most installations cut the mid and high frequencies when you boost the bass too much.  If you are playing Techno, you can build your own buildup if you have a parametric equalizer. Set the frequency low, cut everything out at the right moment and start changing the frequency. Be sure to kick in the complete sound at the right moment. (This can be tricky :) Before you do this practice on the installation in the beginning of the evening. Beat Mixing

The Tempo

Now, something more difficult: Beat Mixing. Beat mixing is mixing two beats exactly over each other during a certain period. The difficulty with this is that different songs have different tempos. In the upcoming discussion we refer to song B as the one which will be mixed over song A. Synchronizing B with A is the first problem, keeping them synchronized is the second. This discussion is aimed at MP3-players.

In general beat-mixing is only possible when the two songs are playing at the same speed. Therefore, one needs to bring the tempo of one of both songs to the tempo of the other song.

Warning: knowing the tempo of a song up to an accuracy of 1BPM is not even enough to keep two songs synchronized over 1 measure. How accurately the tempo of both songs needs to be known is discussed here and here.

This however forms a problem because

 The tempo of most acoustic songs have is not perfectly constant.  Depending on the technique used, the tempo can be measured slightly wrong.

Therefore , during playing one needs the ability to shift a playing song a bit forward or a bit backward, such that they stay synchronized. This is called nudging. A nudge typically consists of shifting the song 5 to 10 ms. This is around 1/64 note.

Syncing

When a suitable song has been selected and it is playing at the correct tempo one needs to start the song at the correct moment. Typically this moment is at the beginning of a phrase (that is the beginning of 8 measures). Normally, when the song is started it won't start exactly at the moment you intended it. Therefore, you will need to nudge a little bit. This however is not easy because it is difficult to decide whether the song you threw in started too late or too early. For instance, in the figure below, the white line is the time-line of the main song. The red line is the monitor song which has been started too late. The blue line is the same monitor song but started too early. As can be seen, if we only listen to the beats, it is impossible to distinguish whether the song is too late or too early.

Nevertheless, we do not necessarily need to listen only to the bass-drums, we can also listen to the entire song. This however is also a problem because it becomes simply a chaotic piece of audio which is very difficult to interpret consciously. However, unconsciously it is possible to hear the difference. Therefore, one only needs to try to follow the music and focus specially on one of the both songs. The song for which it is easy to differentiate it from the rest and keep on focusing on it is the first song. For instance, in the red case, the song which can relatively easily be listened to is the white one, our main song. Hence, the monitor song comes too late. In the blue case, we will easily focus on the blue song, the monitor song, hence the monitor songs comes too early.

Another pragmatic way to solve this problem is to nudge forward, if the problem becomes worse, nudge two times backward.

Nudging

During the time the two songs overlap the tempo difference between the two songs (even if it is a very small tempo difference) will result in a slight synchronization drift. This is pictured in the figure below

To solve this one needs to know beforehand which song is the slowest one of both. before a mix is done. Solve this problem is easy. Make sure both song are synchronized, now wait until the two beats sound double. Nudge forward. If it becomes better, you should keep on nudging forward since the second song is going a bit too slow. If it becomes worse you should nudge 2 times backward and conclude that the second song is going a bit too fast. To be workable a DJ should maximally nudge every 4 beats, otherwise he has simply a wrong tempo and should change the tempo of one of both. The direction determined by this technique is the direction you need to use to keep them synchronized once they have been synchronized.

Cross fading

When you finally have the two beats exactly over each other in your headphones you want to switch slowly to song B. Before you do this be sure to cut off the bass drum with the equalizer. Otherwise you get a very ugly flanging effect on the bass drums. If the volume is good, switch off song A's bass drum while you turn on songs B's bass drum. This way it will go unnoticed. If you need to nudge to keep the tempo up during fading, watch the hi hats, not the bass drum, you won't hear it.

Take Your Time

Most songs are in a 4/4 rhythm and it is in general a good idea to respect this pattern: multiples of 4. 4 beats in one measure & 4 (or 8) measures in a sequence. If you respect this you will find that you get easily into the flow of mixing. Of course, this requires some practice, but after a while you will actually start using this scheme. Each 4 measures you can change something like cutting away the bass-drum of one song in favor of the other or using the 4 beats/4 measures knowledge to add breaks and gaps in the music at appropriate places. Such breaks will also ensure that the audience does not loose track of the underlying synchronization.

Breaking Once you have learned how to cross-fade two songs, you might want to experiment with sudden breaks and gaps in the music. This will give the music more punch and keep people dancing. Sound Effects

Sound effects are nice things since they make the life of the DJ entertaining. There are a plethora of sound effects out there and probably even more effect boxes. In most cases they can be divided in broad categories that reflect the underlying signal processing algorithms. E.g, LFO (Low frequency oscillators), flangers, phasers, loops, reverbs etc. When DJ'ing techno and electronic music such effects can help to spice up your set. The key to using effects is first to know your hardware and setup (the wiring to/from the mixing desk/effect box(es)). Since there are so many possible routing setups it is probably useful to stick to a common routing which is the sound signal that goes to the effect box, which in turn will alter the sound and return it to the mixing desk. There the 'wet' (affected/effected signal) is mixed again with the dry (unaffected) signal. When the effect is over it is often useful to fade out the effect instead of throwing out instantaneously. For hard effects this is necessary to avoid too sudden changes.

A usable strategy to learn to use effect boxes is a) practice, b) record, c) keep a chart handy of what works and when it works. You'll find that you might tend to favor specific effects when you are playing but when you re-listen you'll notice that you might have overdone it, or placed the effect at the wrong place. Below I list my experience with effects

Reverbs

Are an excellent too to add ambiance to certain passages. It can however become somewhat too dense in tracks that require punch.

 for pretty boring techno music it can be nice to add reverb to a number of bassdrums and then skip the remaining bassdrums  reverb can also be nice at the end of a phrase to carry the switch from 'high energy music' to a long empty gap.  in empty areas, reverb can add ambiance

Grind Effects

This is a kind of on the fly within measure resampling of a sampled loop. This often leads to 'matrix' kind of effects.

 Good for long high pitches notes (violins etc)  Not suitable for bassdrums

Loop Effects

Is an effect where the current playing song is sampled and immediately replaced by a looping version of the short sampled fragment. The result can be useful to build up bassdrum rolls or snare rolls even if that was not present in the original song. The effect is often very invasive, and can be combined with digital filters or flangers. In all cases, the use of this effect should be minimized to once every hour or so, otherwise your set might become transparent

 should not be used to switch from song A to song B. The problem here is often that the original song is still in the mind of the listener and is carried over the loop. A sudden switch then to song b is very often inappropriate.  The length of the sampled fragment should match the tempo of the music  This is a heavy duty effect useful in high energy modes, use sparingly

Pan/Bouncer Effects

Is an effect that will move the music from left to right in an automatic fashion. Depending on the number of autopanners and whether they are tempo sensitive or not, a number of interesting things can be done

 To alternate between the monitor song and the main song, place the main song in an autopanner which goes L-R-L-R-L-R--- Place the monitor in another autopanner which goes R-L-R-L at the same tempo. The autopanner should of course be a low frequency oscillator  Autopanners work at most places  Can be used at the end of a phrase as a quick alteration before the song continues

[Voice] Samples

Having seen the Goa scene adopt/embrace ridiculously stupid samples I can only comment that samples when used extremely spare (1 voice sample on an entire CD), will make that people remember that song, which is exactly the reason why producers insist on some shitty voice sample. Let me repeat that:

This of course leads producers to suggest that each song should contain some voice sample. However, in the end this works against the song since movie samples and voice samples without sensible meaning are plain stupid.

Delay Effect

Delays are different from reverbs. While reverbs tend to be impulse expanders, delays will copy the signal to itself. From a technical point of view the implementations are completely different. To understand this, try to create a reverb with a delay effect by shortening the delay time. You'll notice that you are actually creating a digital bandpass filter the shorter your delay time becomes. Reverbs don't have this problem. However, it is somewhat more difficult to create reverbs that go on for long times. In any case.

 Delays, when they are matching the tempo of the music are excellent tools to add some extra layers to the music.  When they are slightly out of tempo (e.g;. 5/4th of the tempo) they can make the rhythm interesting at places.

Flangers

... add space to stuff. Euhm. Well, yes they add space in general.  useful at the end of phrase before the next phrase starts  flangers are a form of autofilter, so the depth of the effect is dependent on the spectrum of the sound. Therefore adding a reverb to the sound before the flanger can help to have a deeper effect.  flangers don't work well on low frequencies (well they do their work, but it is difficult to use them properly at low frequencies),

Vocoders

Are multirate filter banks that will split the signal in a large number of subsignals, that if combined will produce the original sound again. Of course, it is possible to choose which part of the signal should be reused in the end. These tools are used to have the effect of a 'talking synth', which is a good effect for certain songs and to convey a kind of robot life. Producers nowadays also use this effect to fix the problem of singers that cannot stick to their tone. This gave the very unnatural singing effect and to be honest -> I hate it. If there is a dance song with a vocoder in it I turn it off, mainly because I know that the effect is used for people that cannot sing. Strategic Considerations

Obtain Preview Music

A good tip to get in touch with producers and managers that can get your career started is to try to find producers for new hot tracks. If you can connect to them you might get previews of new interesting tracks, which can help your own career forward as well.

Fitting your set into the night

A consideration when multiple DJ's are playing is to know your position and in general the main aim should be to preserve the flow of the previous DJ and not make the next DJ his life overly complicated. In a sense, the previous DJ decides what your first half hour will be since you will need to shift from their style to yours.

What you play also depends on the time of night. If you're the star playing at 01:00 (or midnight), you'll probably play some killer tunes to shake that bodies, while if you play at 10:00 you might want to play anything you want :-)

To achieve a nice take over it is also valuable to chat with the previous DJ to check out what style he/she intends to play. obviously that can change, but having some idea can both make you more prepared to jump in, and also be nice to the next DJ but not making your final song something that completely clashes with their style.

In general, one should not be too concerned with the overall layout of the night because this is the responsibility of the party organizers, who should know what you play and planned the night accordingly.

Keep them dancing but offer bar breaks From the mailing list: As for how I play the night, I have a couple of discs of songs that I know will get people on the floor. I plan the night to flow like a roller-coaster - people on the floor all night looks good, but if you're playing a club you want them to be going to the bar and buying drinks too. I've had a few times when I've played something I thought would keep people on the floor, only to lose them and needed to bring them back with a crowd-pleaser.

Length of your set

The length of your set determines what to can play. If you play for an hour you might want to stick to a limited number of styles. If you play the whole night you might want to alternate styles once in a while and if you play an hour or two hours you can consider your set to be a form of showcase of your capabilities

Stage fear: Know thyself

A thing I noticed with many DJ's is that they often mix too fast and somewhat chaotic during the first 20 minutes of their set. As DJ you will be nervous the first 20 minutes and there is little you can do about it, except to know this and accept it as a fact of life and get over it. Such stage fear is normal and the best thing to do is to breath in and focus on the job at hand and force time to be steady. That is: measure how long you play each song and make sure it is not 40 seconds or so :-) Of course it is pretty normal to make this mistake because you might ask yourself every second: 'how is it going, should I change tracks, style ?'. By the end of the minute you will certainly have decided to change both track and style. Clearly a bad plan. Just relax. And by consciously relaxing you might find that it becomes easier to relax. Well... This starts to sound like some hypnotic regression analysis. In any case, observe the stress, accept it and let it go. That is the trick.

Understressed Rabbits

Then of course there is the opposite problem that some DJ's exhibit. After an hour or so they left the stress completely behind and are at the same stress level as the audience. This is also a bad plan since the audience is there to relax while you are there to work. So there should be a certain stress difference between you and the audience. What I noticed is that DJ's that have fun and laugh and tell jokes often don't mix that well, while those that focus and concentrate on their set do a much better job, although they might not show the smile everybody is waiting for :-)

Of course another source of this problem might be that these DJ's practice their mixing skills on sets of only half an hour or so. In that case they run out of juice after an hour and certainly after 1.5 hour. If you practice: make sure your sets are sufficiently long.

How to learn to mix

Listen to your own mixes after you made them and see what can be done better. On a side note here: something I picked up from educational psychology is to always stop practicing after you performed something good. In this case, after a good beatmix, stop your session. If you do this after a bad mix because you are frustrated then you will not learn new skills. Some Final hints  Practice: Have a small mixing device at home. (not a Krupp kind of mixing device :) You can act like you know everything and are confident, but without skills it doesn't mean anything! Prepare for hard work behind your gear and train your skills.  Learn from other DJ's: Listen to them and what they do, as well for the global picture, the songs they are playing as the small shifts they make. Listen also at the faults they make and how they could have avoid it. Beware: the better you become, the more frustrating it is to go to parties :)  The day(s) before you play, listen to old, boring music. Music to which you have no affection. Good results guaranteed !  Take enough sound-cables, power-cables and so on with you. Don't expect something will be available. Also take a mirror with you. Some mixing tables are that fixed and unreachable that you will need a way to see.  Don't forget a lamp.  Tape your sessions and listen to them afterward.

Two other problems taken from the mailing list:

1. Hearing degradation. As much as I try to protect my hearing, when it comes down to it, I'm exposing my ears to high volume for long periods of time. This hasn't been overly bad, but occasionally my ears will ache and hum after too much audio stimulation. 2. Unwanted attention. Because, at clubs and in festivals there are often people on all sorts of substances, people may come up to you and start talking about random stuff, or be erratic, or demand songs. That's kind of what security is for, but having some big guy stumbling around and getting in your face is not fun. However, this has only happened a couple of times, so it's no biggy... you'd probably get the same thing just dancing on the dance floor to some extent - it's just not as easy to leave when you're DJ'ing! A good phrase to deal with people who come up with requests is to say "I'll see if I've got it".

How Do I Get Started?

The idea of becoming a DJ can be an appealing one for many different reasons, and the idea is especially popular these days.

In this guide, I break down the general process of going down this path into 10 steps, as well as providing some other general tips and suggestions for starting your DJing career or hobby.

The purpose of this guide is not to break down every single skill and technique in great detail. These things will come with practice and dedication. This is a fairly generalized guide which is meant to direct you down the path to being a happy and successful DJ. Step One: Learn What DJs Actually Do

What kind of DJ are you interested in becoming?

Okay, so you probably already know what a DJ is. But, I have a mild obsession with completeness, so please humor me for a moment.

Strictly speaking (and in modern context), a DJ is anyone who plays pre-recorded music for an audience. If someone hires you to advance an iPod playlist at a cookout, you’re DJing. But, since you’ve made it to this guide, I imagine you’re interested in doing a little more than that.

So, let’s break it down into a few (somewhat) coherent categories. These are not hard and fast definitions, because many people (such as myself) often end up swapping different DJ hats.

The club/bar DJ (resident) This is the DJ that has a (recurring, usually) gig at the local night club or bar.

Each club has a different feel, reputation, and audience… which also means that clubs vary in what they expect from their musical selection. Typically, the night club DJ’s job is to keep the dance floor moving, uninterrupted… often by doing long blends (transitions) between songs, or some other trickery to keep people’s feet moving.

Ideally, this DJ knows how to ramp the energy up and down to balance between an active floor and a busy bar.

The performer/guest DJ There is a lot of overlap here between this type of DJ and the last. The reason I put this in its own category is because the performer/guest can have a different kind of pull.

People go to see this DJ because of who they are, their reputation, what people think they can do behind the decks, etc. This can include anyone who has built up a following that people will come out to see.

The more “exhibitionist” DJs also fit in here, such as turntablists (people good at cutting, scratching, and various record tricks), and other semi-live performers.

The mobile/wedding DJ A notably different style of DJing is often required of the mobile DJ. This is usually more of the entrepreneur type, and typically where you will have the most success in making some money.

This kind of DJ often needs to be comfortable with taking requests (and sometimes even playlists), speaking on a microphone, and investing in his or her own sound equipment. The Radio DJ This is where the concept of a DJ comes from in the first place (see some DJing history here). I don’t really have much experience in this area, and it can vary greatly depending on the format.

We will mostly be focusing on the “live audience” kind of DJ for this particular guide, though we will be covering some radio DJ tips soon on the podcast… stay tuned!

Of course, these are broad categories and it really breaks down much further than that. I have written elsewhere about what makes a good DJ, and we’ll be getting more into that in this guide. Step Two: Determine Why You Want to DJ

Do you have stars in your eyes? Want to start a business? Just for fun?

There are a lot of reasons that you may wish to become a DJ. The most important thing is to be completely honest about what those reasons are.

And, since we’re being completely honest… I wouldn’t count on success if your sole purpose is to get rich and famous.

That’s not to say that you cannot make money in today’s world as a DJ, nor does it mean that you shouldn’t shoot for the stars. I’m a big fan of the idea that anything worth doing is worth doing with full conviction, passion, and effort.

But, if the only reason you’re getting into DJing is because you want to be famous, you probably won’t have the drive to do the required work. You have to love it. And in today’s world (“everyone is a DJ”), standing out takes a lot of hard work and a lot of luck.

Many people want to DJ because they love music and the idea of sharing it with a receptive audience. Some think it will help them get laid. Some want it as a source of income.

Whatever the reason is, identify it so that you can act accordingly.

(Hint: if you just love doing it, it isn’t going to feel much like work.) Step Three: Test The Waters

Get your feet wet using some free DJ software.

Let’s get a feel for some software to get an idea of what a DJ does, without making any big investments.

There are a number of different options here, so I’ll just briefly cover a few of the popular ones. The first two are free, and the last has a free demo.

Virtual DJ Home Atomix Virtual DJ is an entirely free and fully functional piece of DJ software. It supports as many decks as you want, and includes pretty much all the bells and whistles that you would expect, such as key lock, sync, loops, sampling, recording, and more.

If you want more advanced features, such as timecode control (we’ll get into this later) or video output, you can upgrade to one of their paid products. See a comparison chart of their product line here.

Many people choose Virtual DJ because it is fully featured, well supported by the community, and it is free.

Mixxx This is another popular option, and for good reason. It is entirely cross platform (there’s even a Linux version!), is very well-featured, is open-source, and even supports timecode control right out of the box. To my knowledge, this is the only free software to do that.

The community has built-in support for many popular library formats and DJ controllers. See their feature list here.

Traktor Pro 2 Native Instruments’ Traktor Pro 2 is my personal choice. It is not free, but they do provide a free and fully-functional demo so that you can try it out before making an investment.

Traktor’s syncing, quantization, and effects are some of the best in the industry. They even offer their own hardware, such as the Kontrol S4 which is fully integrated with (and designed for) Traktor. Upgrading to Traktor Scratch Pro gives you timecode support.

Additonally, a number of third-party controllers come with Traktor LE (the “lite edition”) bundled. This can be a very low cost way to start using Traktor if you plan on buying some hardware anyway.

There are many more options outside of this… Numark Cue, Image Line’s Deckadance, PCDJ, Serato DJ (requires approved controller), and more. This will come down to a matter of preference… however, it’s worth noting that Traktor and Serato are considered to be the industry standards.

Choose a software package and start playing around with it. There are plenty of tutorials which can be found on YouTube that can go over the basics of most DJ software.

One more thing worth mentioning: if your entire goal is to be a scratch/turntablist/exhibitionist DJ, there is very little you can do with a keyboard and mouse. You will probably need to invest in turntables, or at least a very capable all-in-one DJ controller, to head down this road. Step Four: Learn Basic Skills

Mixing, EQing, phrasing, beatmatching, and prep.

There are a number of things you will need to learn in order to be a competent DJ. We’re only going to cover them briefly here… remember, you will probably need to research some of this stuff on your own… and practice, practice, practice!

Beatmatching You’ll quickly learn that this is a major point of contention in the DJ community.

The reason is that technology has arguably made this skill somewhat obsolete. All the major DJ software packages, and even the latest CDJ from Pioneer has built-in “sync” functionality.

The purpose of beatmatching is to get the two tracks you’re mixing to play at the same tempo (the speed at which the song is playing) and phase (the beats from both tracks playing in-time with each other).

Think about it like two cars driving next to each other on the highway, as explained in this video by ellaskins. Tempo is the same as the speed, such as 60 MPH. Phase is having the two cars directly next to each other. Here’s a basic tutorial which gives you the idea. He’s using CDJs, but the principles apply across the board.

So, why learn beatmatching when there is such a thing as a sync button? Well, firstly it gives you the ability to beat-mix on pretty much anything out there. Turntables and most CDJs require you to do this manually.

It also helps develop and tune your ears so that you know what to listen for (when tracks drift out of time, phase, etc.) Even when I’m using DJ software and allowing it to sync my tracks, I use my ears to adjust the phase appropriately… since I know how it sounds from beatmatching.

I’m the kind of DJ who doesn’t like spending hours prepping and beat-gridding his tracks, but I’ve never felt the need to because I can do all of these things manually.

The overall point is that learning to beatmatch will make you a better mix DJ, whether you’re digital or not. That being said, many mobile and radio DJs don’t feel the need to beatmatch at all.

You can always come back to this later, but I think learning to beatmatch early is a great idea. Beatmatching is accomplished using a pitch fader (to adjust tempo). You use a jog wheel, pitch-bend button, or the physical manipulation of a record to adjust your phase.

Phrasing That’s phrasing, with an “r”… not phasing.

This one will make sense to anyone who has ever played a musical instrument. A song is structured based on beats and bars (measures), which make up the song’s phrases.

Phrasing simply means to mix your tracks together at points in the songs which make sense.

Almost all music that you will be DJing is in 4/4 time, whether you play electronic dance music, hip-hop, funk, or top 40. What this technically means is that there are four beats in a measure (bar), and that the quarter note gets one beat.

In contrast, 6/8 time means that there are 6 beats in a measure, and the eighth note gets one beat. For all intents and purposes, all you have to think about is you will be counting to four a lot, because most “DJ-able” music (and most music made these days) is 4/4.

Have a look at this video which gives a pretty good explanation of how phrases work.

Volume/Gain Control A typical DJ mixer (as well as mixing software) contains a few types of volume control.

Firstly, each channel should have a gain or trim knob, which allows you to adjust the level of the signal (by watching your meters). Then, each channel has a line fader (unless it’s a rotary mixer, in which case you will have a knob).

The line fader adjusts how much signal you’re sending to your main output, which also has its own overall volume control. Then, of course, there’s the crossfader which allows you to fade between one channel and another.

If you’re just learning how to mix and you don’t have any hardware yet, you can still control these things in software. Some programs, such as Traktor Pro, have an “auto-gain” feature. It gets you in the ballpark of where you want to be so that your levels match up when mixing one song into another.

Volume control is often a subject of debate. Traditionally, while watching meters… green is good, red is bad, yellow is pushing it.

Unfortunately, due to DJs having a habit of slamming everything into the red all of the time, many manufacturers have adjusted the way their mixers work so that people can mix “in the red” and not hurt anything.

Software also works a bit differently and has its own gain structure. This can make things quite confusing.

The best thing you can do is read your manual to find out where you should be maxing out your signal. When in doubt, staying in the green is just fine. If it needs to be louder, boost it on the amp/PA/house end… don’t distort your signal before it even gets there.

EQing EQing (or equalizing) is the act of boosting or dropping certain frequencies so that two tracks can blend together well.

EQing is an art in itself. But to get started, just realize that the majority of your “space” is taken up by lower frequencies, especially in dance music. So, typically you will not be mixing two loud kick drums over one another, since they are simply too loud to combine.

I have written up an article specific to EQing, which you can find here. Step Five: Break Out of the Box

Invest in some hardware & get an idea of what DJing feels like.

If you’re starting to get an idea of how things work, and you’re enjoying messing around with your DJ software, it’s probably time to invest in some hardware to get a feel for DJing.

A keyboard and mouse is good to get you started, but there is only so much you can do without investing in some hardware. There are a number of routes you can take, here:

The all-in-one controller route This is probably the easiest and best way for a budding DJ to get started, and controllers are getting so good that many of them have reached the status of “professional grade”.

Pieces like the aforementioned Kontrol S4 (meant for Traktor) or Pioneer’s DDJ-SX(meant for Serato DJ) have everything that you need to mix an entire set in-the-box, including a built- in sound card (audio interface). Most of them have CDJ-like jog wheels (though, not all of them… for instance, the Novation Twitch takes a different approach.)

The all-in-one route is normally the cheapest way to get into DJing, especially if you already have a laptop. Check out my All-in-One controller guide, which will give you my top 5 picks for controllers in three different price ranges. (2015 update coming soon…)

(Pros: everything you need, simple to use, often made to integrate with particular software, great for mobile setups. Cons: bulky controllers are often hard to fit into crowded booths, often plasticky or toy-like, sometimes looked down upon by pros, requires laptop.)

The modular controller route This is often the choice for geeky/gadgety types, or people who have very specific needs for the way they perform. A modular setup can be pieced together from any number of smaller MIDI/HID controllers. Some examples are the Kontrol X1 and Kontrol F1from Native Instruments, and the Xone:K2 from Allen & Heath.

You then need to make sure you have some sort of good sound card (audio interface) to use for handling all these audio signals, cueing with headphones, etc. However, some modular controllers (such as the K2 and Reloop Contour Interface Edition) actually have a sound card built-in.

You will need to pay attention if going this route, in order to make sure all of your bases are covered. Modular setups are the most flexible, but usually they are also the most complex.

(Pros: flexibility, can piece together setup over time, unlimited options, satisfies “Gear Acquisition Syndrome”. Cons: setups can get complex, your setup is non-standard, often plasicky or toy-like, sometimes looked down upon by pros, need multiple USB ports or a hub, may require external mixer and sound card, requires laptop.)

The CDJs (CD turntables) + mixer route When compared to a laptop and comprehensive software, CDJs can seem fairly limited. In order to get in the same ballpark as software when it comes to features, you have to splurge on something like the Pioneer CDJ-2000nexus, or at least something like the Denon DN-S3700.

Suddenly, you’re talking about spending a lot of money. However, some people don’t need all those features. For standard mixing, the Pioneer CDJ-350or a used pair of CDJ 800s or CDJ 1000s are just perfect.

Denon has a pretty nice lineup of CD turntables too, just keep in mind that Pioneer is largely considered to be the industry standard.

This is the main reason that people want to go the CDJ route… any noteworthy club in the world has a set of CDJ 2000’s, or at least 1000’s (now discontinued). People want to know how to play on this kind of gear, so they can just show up with their music and go.

(Pros: It’s what pro club DJs use (familiarity), most modern CDJs are great for scratching, most new ones support USB drives, most clubs have these. Cons: pricey option, especially at the higher end (“Pioneer tax”), limited when compared to software.)

The vinyl + mixer route Records are harder to mix than any of the other listed options. Vinyl is also the most expensive format to buy music on. So why would anyone want to go this route?

Three reasons: it’s rewarding, it’s sexy, and people love it.

For a lot of people, mixing records is simply fun. Many DJs love that tactile feel of moving the physical record, and many people love watching a “real” DJ playing “real” records. It’s also still the best route for the pure scratch DJ.

This isn’t the route for everyone, but for many, it’s the only way. (Pros: it’s rewarding, it’s fun, some consider it more fun and rewarding, it’s fun to watch, it will gain you respect. Cons: music is expensive, vinyl is more difficult, it’s the least portable option, and you have little technological assistance.)

Timecode/HID and hybrid setups Many people feel that using a hybrid setup can give you the best of all worlds.

I love the feel of mixing records, and I love the convenience of showing up somewhere and not having to make room for a bulky controller. However, I love some of the functionality that I gain from software… such as perfectly quantized loops and the convenience of a meticulously organized music collection.

If you look up DVS (digital vinyl system) on Wikipedia, you will see a definition like this:

“Vinyl emulation software allows the user to physically manipulate the playback of digital audio files on a computer using the turntables as an interface, thus preserving the hands-on control and feel of DJing with vinyl. This has the added advantage of using turntables to play back audio recordings not available in phonograph form. This method allows DJs to scratch, beatmatch, and perform other turntablism that would be impossible with a conventional keyboard-and-mouse computer interface or less tactile control devices. The technology is also referred to as DVS for either Digital Vinyl System or Digital Vinyl Software.”

Basically, the idea is that you use a special vinyl which contains a special kind of audio signal that your software picks up and uses to manipulate digital files.

You can then add modular controllers to add whatever functionality you feel that you are missing from the traditional “decks-and-mixer” setup.

Some CDJs now support MIDI and HID connectivity, which allows you to accomplish the same thing without the use of special timecode media.

(Pros: best of all worlds, feel like you’re mixing records but using any files you can find/buy, fun to watch. Cons: though it has a small footprint, it can be irritating to set up in a club environment; easy to turn your turntable or CDJ into an expensive “midi controller” unnecessarily.)

If you’re not sure which route you want to go, I’d suggest getting a cheap or mid-grade all-in- one controller for now and re-evaluating later. Step Six: Record a Mix (Tell a Story)

Use the knowledge you’ve gained thus far, and see what you sound like. Once you have a basic idea of how to do basic mixing, you should record yourself to see how you sound.

If you’re using software and using internal mixing, this is quite easily accomplished since the software can record everything in-the-box. If you’re mixing externally using a standalone DJ mixer, you will need to either route the sound back into a computer to record, or use some other kind of recording device.

Even many standalone DJ mixers (such as the DN-X1600 or the Pioneer DJM-850) these days contain an internal sound card, so you can record from them digitally even if you’re using external sources such as turntables or CDJs.

Now, recording a “studio” (bedroom) mix is obviously a little bit different than playing in front of a crowd. Some of the skills which are important in a live setting, such as reading a crowd, do not apply when recording a personal mix.

However, you can use this opportunity to think about how to “tell a story” with your set. This doesn’t mean it has to be an all-out concept mix. Just think about how you want to start, where you want to be when you finish, and how you want to get there.

Perhaps you can imagine that you’re in front of a crowd, and play that scenario out in your head.

This is the point at which you teach yourself not to be mediocre. Many novice DJs tend to hammer out their “banger” tracks, one after another, for an hour or two. There’s no sense of ebb and flow; no sense of direction.

Most people find this boring and tiresome. Of course, you are the DJ and you have the creative license to play however you wish. But, I suggest learning how to think of a DJ set in the context of the whole instead of its individual parts… this is what separates decent DJs with great ones.

I like to approach a recorded mix like a well-constructed artist album. It’s not entirely flat, but it’s entirely cohesive.

This is the point where you can experiment, try different things, and see what works. Try recording a mix, putting it away for a few days or a week, and then coming back to listen to it. Believe me, it’s much easier to be objective when listening to your mix when you wait a while before listening to it.

If you’re like me, you might be pleasantly surprised that any “mistakes” you make don’t sound nearly as bad as you thought they did during the recording session. Step Seven: Build a Following (Brand Yourself)

Construct your support base, build an online presence, show your worth.

Once you have a mix or two recorded that you’re proud of, you might start getting feedback from others… especially from people you don’t know.

I’ve noticed that, in most cases, people who listen to your mixes because they know you will rarely give you feedback that is useful (unless you are good friends with an experienced DJ).

While it doesn’t hurt to be told that your mix is “nice” or “cool” or that you did a “great job, man!”, it doesn’t help you much, either.

Upload your mix somewhere (such as Mixcloud), and try to get some feedback. Find an active online community somewhere; for dance and hip-hop music, DJTechTools Forums seem to be a great place for this.

Or, if you’re a genre-specific DJ, perhaps seek out forums and communities based on those styles.

One important thing, though… make sure that you’re not just leeching from these communities. Do what you can to give back!

One thing that I sometimes do is seek out sets on these sites that I think might interest me, and give feedback on them. I don’t’t just give them a one-liner response (such as “hey, nice set man!”). I write a paragraph or two telling them what I did or didn’t like about it (being tactful, of course). At the end, I simply provide a link to my mix and ask them to give me some feedback in return if they have time.

Eventually, you will want to build an online presence for yourself. I highly recommend having a personal homepage (preferably, with your own domain… mine is dmichael.org) and a Facebook fan page.

If you’re tech-savvy enough, you can build a website yourself, or you could always hire someone at a place like eLance to take care of it for fairly cheap. Having something to link and refer people to is critical, so that you can show what you can do to potential promoters or customers.

If you’re good, you might even make some YouTube videos of short mixes/mashups/whatever you’re in to.

Building an online presence is a good route to take these days, but while it will help you develop certain skills, it will not get you gigs. That’s when you need to move on to local promotion. Step Eight: Hustle (Put In Your Time)

Make yourself valuable to your scene or demographic.

This is probably the most crucial step in the whole process.

If you’re trying to break in to a particular scene, you need to make yourself valuable to that scene before you expect to start playing shows.

There’s no one specific way to approach this. But, suffice it to say, if nobody knows who you are, you’re not going to get many gigs.

Early in my journey as a small town DJ, the nightlife scene that I was interested in breaking in to was in quite a lull. My approach was to go to a struggling night club and offered to throw and promote my own event.

I ran a monthly Thursday night for about a year. While it wasn’t what I’d call a raging success (and it wasn’t my first time playing in front of people), it did get me used to playing in a club, hooking up to a real PA, and gave me some insight into the promotional side of things.

In the bar/club world, it’s largely about who you know. That’s just the way that things often work. Befriend some like-minded people in the scene, and learn how to network like a gentleman (or lady).

If you do it right, you’ll end up with some great new friends, too. Start supporting their shows and gigs. Above all, think about how you can make yourself useful.

What are you doing that is valuable for your scene of interest? When it comes to the club scene, collaboration is almost always preferable to competition. Step Nine: Pursue Your First Gigs

Play in front of real people – what it’s all about.

Playing in front of real people…. that’s what it’s all about, right?

A great way to get some experience under your belt is to play (or throw) house parties. If it’s your party, book a few local seasoned DJs to play, and warm up for them, just as if you were warming up for a headliner in a club.

If you’re getting into the whole mobile DJing thing, try finding special one-off events that you can play (you might not want to start off with your first gig being someone’s wedding).

This can be anything… one of my favorite places to play happens to be a consignment shop. Here’s a nice little write-up about DJing in “unlikely places”. You may have to do some shows for free (and, be careful here, as it’s easy to get stuck playing for free). In the club scene, throwing your own night is another great way to get some gigs, gain experience, and become known.

Start handing out demos and/or business cards to promoters, DJs, and friends at their events. Show them that you were willing to support them… people will notice.

Personally, I made up business cards which have a link to my home page. They can then listen to my demos right from my website. I like this approach because people are more willing to keep your business card (that they can stick in their wallet) than a burnt CD which can’t be easily carried around.

A few tips in regards to scoring your first few gigs:

 Become known by the regulars in your scene or venue before approaching a manager/promoter formally.  If you’ve done a good job with step seven, don’t just sell yourself as a DJ… sell yourself as a brand.  You’re probably going to play your share of empty rooms. Get over it, and keep pressing on.

Another point I’d like to make: How many long-time DJs do you know that give off that jaded vibe, after they have “put in their time” for so many years?

The truth of the matter is that the DJ hustle never ends, unless you’ve somehow managed to reach legendary status. Make sure to keep your ego in check, and don’t let your experience get to your head.

Staying humble and always having a “how can I provide value” approach will keep you fresh and positive. And who doesn’t like working with nice, positive people? “The truth of the matter is that the DJ hustle never ends.” Step Ten: Hone Your Craft

Learn to work the floor, and consider more advanced skills.

Great, so you’ve got some gigs under your belt and you’ve been bitten by the DJ bug.

So now you can simply kick back and let the gigs flow in, right? Wrong!

Now is where you start putting in work so that you can become an expert at your craft. Unfortunately, many man (MANY) DJs skip this step once they’re “good enough”. There’s a lot more to DJing than transitioning from one track to the other:

 Learn to read the crowd and predict the future. You were hired to DJ, not to be an iPod!  Get better at finding music which reflects your unique tastes, and yet works with your audience.  Do your homework; show up early to events you’re playing… this will help you choose the direction of your set.  Learn how to play the right gigs in the first place. Once you’ve gained a little experience and momentum, you can start being choosier about your gigs!

There are a number of other things you can do to make yourself stand out as a DJ.

A lot of DJs (especially ones who play a lot of melodic content) like to mix in key. Turntablists/scratch DJs can never have enough practice and fine-tuning of their skills.

Maybe you’re interested in adding more “live” elements to your set, using drum machines, samplers, remix decks, live musicians… the list is endless.

Just make sure that you are actually doing something worth listening to or watching… gimmicks will only take you so far.

As mentioned in the list above, you should learn how to choose appropriate gigs… but you should also be versatile. Here’s a quote from my first blog post:

“Be versatile. This doesn’t mean that you have to arrive at every gig with every style of music, and compromise your own sense of style and musical taste in order to water it down for the masses. It simply means that you shouldn’t pigeonhole yourself if you want to provide value (notice how I keep saying “provide value”?).

I know that when I play a fashion show in a night club, I need to play music that is upbeat and bouncy without being too obnoxious or vocal. I know that when I play an underground event at a warehouse somewhere, my crowd is going to be bored to tears if I play 95bpm jazzy trip- hop.

This one may seem obvious, but I see this happen so often that it’s silly. Big wobbly dubstep tracks don’t typically belong at a coffee shop at 8 PM.” Some Final Tips

 Don’t expect to quit your day job. In today’s digitally accessible world, being a DJ is easy… but making a living DJing is hard. I’m not saying you can’t make a living as a DJ… you can! But it’s important to realize that you need to put in the work, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

 Do what makes you happy. Here are 5 tips to help guarantee your happiness as a DJ.

 Don’t ever move past step 10 on this list. Always develop yourself as a person and as a DJ. Don’t stagnate!  Learn the value of subtlety. This will help you with your crowd reading and will help you turn your sets into a journey instead of a cyclone.

 It doesn’t matter that anyone can DJ these days. What matters is that you do it better.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this guide, and I hope that it has been of some use to you! If you have any questions regarding becoming a DJ, feel free to send me an e-mail at [email protected].