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electrogrimey

EuskalHerria wrote: »

Just looking for some basic tips.

First of all, I am a fan of what is known on here as mainstream dance music. Armin, Ferry Corsten, Sean Tyas, Cosmic gate Etc. I don't seem to know most of the artists posted around the forum. Where is the best place to start learning about these artists and fine tune my own taste in music? I plan to download and listen to members mixes after my exam, is there anywhere else people would suggest?

Also a quick basic question on building a set, how is the best way to go about making a set? Obviously there are things that vary like the potential crowd at a venue and that but are there any generic tips that could help me out when i go to try and build me first set? Thanks in advance.

This forum is good for discovering new music, there's different threads with Oldschool Techno, House, Dubstep, Electro and D'n'B. Have a look through them and see what genre stands out for you, then check out what label the artist you like is on, and look up other artists on that label. The BBC essential mixes are also great for finding tunes.

suspectpackage

electrogrimey wrote: »

You won't really get gigs by handing out a CV, you'll get gigs by handing out a mix.* They won't notice from your mix if you've done the course, or just practiced and used youtube.

*Having contacts is also a massive part of getting slots.

But I was under the impression that there is a company that employs DJs and the DJs work in different nightclubs from time to time so you have to be good enough to get employed by the company? Obviously a good mix is essential though.

And one last question, in this day and age, is it OK to just be a computer DJ and not use decks? I've seen DJs in nightclubs just working off their laptops.

electrogrimey

suspectpackage wrote: »

But I was under the impression that there is a company that employs DJs and the DJs work in different nightclubs from time to time so you have to be good enough to get employed by the company? Obviously a good mix is essential though.

And one last question, in this day and age, is it OK to just be a computer DJ and not use decks? I've seen DJs in nightclubs just working off their laptops.

You talking about something like this: http://www.stardjs.ie/? Never heard of anyone involved in anything like that tbh.

Basically, yes. People bad-mouth digital djing, but some of the biggest names are using Traktor: Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Collie. Get yourself a good midi controller, you won't get any proper gigs using a hercules or a behringer controller, but with a vestax, or something allen+heath you'd get as much respect as with decks.

VinylJunkie

Do you want to DJ in Coppers? If so you will need a back catalog of vinyl ranging from 1960 - 1980 + so of the classics such as the A-Team theme tune.

electrogrimey

VinylJunkie wrote: »

Do you want to DJ in Coppers? If so you will need a back catalog of vinyl ranging from 1960 - 1980 + so of the classics such as the A-Team theme tune.

Don't forget the classic album '100 essential drunken 'Ra-head songs'

suspectpackage

electrogrimey wrote: »

You talking about something like this: http://www.stardjs.ie/? Never heard of anyone involved in anything like that tbh.

Basically, yes. People bad-mouth digital djing, but some of the biggest names are using Traktor: Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Collie. Get yourself a good midi controller, you won't get any proper gigs using a hercules or a behringer controller, but with a vestax, or something allen+heath you'd get as much respect as with decks.

yes, i was talking about companies like that. In my understanding there are many clubs that employ straight from companies like that. I worked as a barman in Dublin for the past 2 years in different clubs and almost all of the Djs were with some kind of agency that was hired by the club.

I'm going to strongly look into the things you recommended. How much should I be willing to splash out on vestax or allen+heath? Would a vestax be enough by itself? something like this? http://ci.vestax.com/en/products/

Cheers

electrogrimey

suspectpackage wrote: »

yes, i was talking about companies like that. In my understanding there are many clubs that employ straight from companies like that. I worked as a barman in Dublin for the past 2 years in different clubs and almost all of the Djs were with some kind of agency that was hired by the club.

I'm going to strongly look into the things you recommended. How much should I be willing to splash out on vestax or allen+heath? Would a vestax be enough by itself? something like this? http://ci.vestax.com/en/products/

Cheers

Yep, something like that one,
or this one, which you'll need to buy a soundcard for, but is generally considered to be better.

Allen & Heath is the big boy of digital controllers, something like this is the very top of the range, you can't really get anything better than that.

suspectpackage

nice, i like the look of the A&H one. Probably buy a cheap one starting off though. One last question, say I bought the A&H one, which seems like the best one, and I had a good quality laptop and headphones, is that all I'd need as far as equipment goes if I was a nightclub DJ? I think so.

Cheers.

EuskalHerria

What sort of connection do I need to get my laptop and decks hooked up together? Will it be available in the likes of PC world?

CDJ200's btw.

ED E

EuskalHerria wrote: »

What sort of connection do I need to get my laptop and decks hooked up together? Will it be available in the likes of PC world?

CDJ200's btw.

To do what?

Record: You could use the line out from your mixer to your computer's 3.5mm line in TRS "Jack" and then out to monitors, giving ok sound most likely OR you could record off a spare output/monitor if you have it.

Set: If you want to integrate the laptop into your set then you need to get a decent soundcard(About E100+, order online, if you got one here you'd be ripped off, and thats an if) and run its line out into a channel of you mixer, then it acts like another deck.

Hope this helps:)

ED E

suspectpackage wrote: »

nice, i like the look of the A&H one. Probably buy a cheap one starting off though. One last question, say I bought the A&H one, which seems like the best one, and I had a good quality laptop and headphones, is that all I'd need as far as equipment goes if I was a nightclub DJ? I think so.

Cheers.

One point I'd make is I doubt you can call any one unit best, different strokes for different folks.

You forgot a music library there also:)

Another thing is no computer is 100% stable(even a Macbook). Crashes happen. Rare on a good setup but sure look at tiesto, his CDJ f#cked up mid Adagio, and they are industry standard. If a laptop goes down you have 4-5+ by the time you Kill the error+Reboot+Open Package+Open Set+Find Where you were. Cant have the audience standing there while you hit buttons and curse at your kit. This is where a backup comes in. If you're playing clubs they may already have some kind of kit already hooked up to the mixer, you'll need some CDs/Vinyl and the knowledge to use the stuff in case anything goes wrong.

Finally, earplugs, the good ones are 200+ but they come highly recommended. Dont wanna end up like Daft Punk.

electrogrimey

suspectpackage wrote: »

nice, i like the look of the A&H one. Probably buy a cheap one starting off though. One last question, say I bought the A&H one, which seems like the best one, and I had a good quality laptop and headphones, is that all I'd need as far as equipment goes if I was a nightclub DJ? I think so.

Cheers.

Yea, the xone:4D is a built in mixer and midi controller. You can also go the route of getting a mixer, and a midi controller, which is what I'm doing. Something like this, or this (which is what I've ordered). Reccommended cheap mixer would be something like this. Depending on the controller, you'll also need soundcard. The Audio 2/4/8 DJ series are great. Only a handful of controllers, the Vestax VCI-300, and some of the Hercules, have a built-in soundcard.

EuskalHerria wrote: »

What sort of connection do I need to get my laptop and decks hooked up together? Will it be available in the likes of PC world?

CDJ200's btw.

Do you mean to control the laptop using the decks? For that you need to get Traktor Scratch, or Serato. Traktor is the better of the two, arguably. You'll also need an Audio 8 DJ to connect the two. Then you can use the decks as a MIDI controller, using two special CDs.

EuskalHerria

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

To do what?

Record: You could use the line out from your mixer to your computer's 3.5mm line in TRS "Jack" and then out to monitors, giving ok sound most likely OR you could record off a spare output/monitor if you have it.

Set: If you want to integrate the laptop into your set then you need to get a decent soundcard(About E100+, order online, if you got one here you'd be ripped off, and thats an if) and run its line out into a channel of you mixer, then it acts like another deck.

Hope this helps:)

Cheers for the reply. For both recording and using the decks as a controller for using Traktor. Was thinking that was the way to get the laptop hooked up for recording but wasn't sure.
Thomann.de for a sound card, is that recommended?

electrogrimey wrote: »

Do you mean to control the laptop using the decks? For that you need to get Traktor Scratch, or Serato. Traktor is the better of the two, arguably. You'll also need an Audio 8 DJ to connect the two. Then you can use the decks as a MIDI controller, using two special CDs.

Meant to record and Control the decks. Two special cd's?

electrogrimey

EuskalHerria wrote: »

Cheers for the reply. For both recording and using the decks as a controller for using Traktor. Was thinking that was the way to get the laptop hooked up for recording but wasn't sure.
Thomann.de for a sound card, is that recommended?


Meant to record and Control the decks. Two special cd's?

I'd reccommend getting the soundcard straight from the maker, if you're getting an audio 2/4/8 dj, Native Instruments have free shipping, and you'll get it cheaper than thomann. But generally, thomann is pretty much the best place for equipment.

To record the decks I'd use the record output on the mixer. The 2 Cds transmit the tracks playing on Traktor onto the decks, so that anything playing on the laptop is playing on the decks. When you stop the deck, the laptop stops.

EuskalHerria

electrogrimey wrote: »

I'd reccommend getting the soundcard straight from the maker, if you're getting an audio 2/4/8 dj, Native Instruments have free shipping, and you'll get it cheaper than thomann. But generally, thomann is pretty much the best place for equipment.

To record the decks I'd use the record output on the mixer. The 2 Cds transmit the tracks playing on Traktor onto the decks, so that anything playing on the laptop is playing on the decks. When you stop the deck, the laptop stops.

Looked up a Vestax soundcard and got a generally expensive answer to my google travels.
Tbh I've been away from home (an more importantly my Decks) for a month so I was thinking of sorting this out over xmas, think i'll just stick to practicing on the decks for a while before spending my xmas monies. Cheers for the help dow, will try and get it sorted up to record and will be back on asking about soundcards in about a month:D

electrogrimey

EuskalHerria wrote: »

Looked up a Vestax soundcard and got a generally expensive answer to my google travels.
Tbh I've been away from home (an more importantly my Decks) for a month so I was thinking of sorting this out over xmas, think i'll just stick to practicing on the decks for a while before spending my xmas monies. Cheers for the help dow, will try and get it sorted up to record and will be back on asking about soundcards in about a month:D

I may as well answer your question now: the most popular cheap soundcards are the Maya 44, the Audio 2 DJ, the Numark IO.

ED E

electrogrimey wrote: »

I may as well answer your question now: the most popular cheap soundcards are the Maya 44, the Audio 2 DJ, the Numark IO.

Use the IO myself and like it, good entry level gear. One thing is if you have WIFI on a Dell it can interfere.

EuskalHerria

Another question, slightly completely different. Been watching vids, reading a bit and listening to djs at work to pick up tips. Going to put that into practice when I get the chance.
Music wise though, a lot of the artists that get mentioned on here i've never heard of. So where (other than here obviously) do you go to explore dance music and narrow down your own taste? Any sites you would reccomend going on to learn more about different genres and good artists in that respective genre?

electrogrimey

I've got the Audio 2 DJ, and I can't see any problems with it. Only thing is that in hindsight I probably should have gotten a 4 channel soundcard so I could use all 4 decks on Traktor.

ED E

EuskalHerria wrote: »

Another question, slightly completely different. Been watching vids, reading a bit and listening to djs at work to pick up tips. Going to put that into practice when I get the chance.
Music wise though, a lot of the artists that get mentioned on here i've never heard of. So where (other than here obviously) do you go to explore dance music and narrow down your own taste? Any sites you would reccomend going on to learn more about different genres and good artists in that respective genre?

Beatport.com


But just to let you know, all the good stuff that is mentioned here isnt what will be played on an average night. Certain nights specialising in a certain genre can get away from the chart but most of us(Not there yet:p) end up playing the likes of Mr.Gaga, its what the punter wants to hear, unfortunately.

electrogrimey

EuskalHerria wrote: »

Another question, slightly completely different. Been watching vids, reading a bit and listening to djs at work to pick up tips. Going to put that into practice when I get the chance.
Music wise though, a lot of the artists that get mentioned on here i've never heard of. So where (other than here obviously) do you go to explore dance music and narrow down your own taste? Any sites you would reccomend going on to learn more about different genres and good artists in that respective genre?

My favourite way to find new music is to download BBC Essential mixes of artists you like, and there's sure to be a good few tracks you won't know, and will like on them. The tracklistings are all on the bbc site, so it's really easy to find the tracks. You can also do the same with live sets that are on download all over the net.

You can also look up charts from artists you like, they usually put up a monthly chart of their favourite tunes on myspace, beatport, or their website.

Looking up different artists on the same label as the ones you like is also a good way to find new tunes.

Those tenminmixes on youtube also sometimes have some good tunes.

EuskalHerria

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

Beatport.com


But just to let you know, all the good stuff that is mentioned here isnt what will be played on an average night. Certain nights specialising in a certain genre can get away from the chart but most of us(Not there yet:p) end up playing the likes of Mr.Gaga, its what the punter wants to hear, unfortunately.

Have heard of that but thought it was just a music download site and that was it.
Oh and lord I know that, I started a thread a while back about playing for the punter with the top 30 "hits". It is something I've thought about, when the time comes to progress to the next step do I want to try and become a commercial DJ to cater to crowds I dont want to or what alternative is there for a guy living in Sligo/Galway where the demand for dance music is not great. Rant over. But it is something that taints the joys of being practising tbh, that it could be all to play the latest ****e.

electrogrimey wrote: »

My favourite way to find new music is to download BBC Essential mixes of artists you like, and there's sure to be a good few tracks you won't know, and will like on them. The tracklistings are all on the bbc site, so it's really easy to find the tracks. You can also do the same with live sets that are on download all over the net.

You can also look up charts from artists you like, they usually put up a monthly chart of their favourite tunes on myspace, beatport, or their website.

Looking up different artists on the same label as the ones you like is also a good way to find new tunes.

Those tenminmixes on youtube also sometimes have some good tunes.

Sweet man cheers looking at the essential mixes now and going to give them a listen.
Started a myspace but give up with it cos the whole reliance on flash is doing my head in. Beatport sounds like a solid choice though will give that a look.
Cheers for the replies btw.

electrogrimey

EuskalHerria wrote: »

Have heard of that but thought it was just a music download site and that was it.
Oh and lord I know that, I started a thread a while back about playing for the punter with the top 30 "hits". It is something I've thought about, when the time comes to progress to the next step do I want to try and become a commercial DJ to cater to crowds I dont want to or what alternative is there for a guy living in Sligo/Galway where the demand for dance music is not great. Rant over. But it is something that taints the joys of being practising tbh, that it could be all to play the latest ****e.


Sweet man cheers looking at the essential mixes now and going to give them a listen.
Started a myspace but give up with it cos the whole reliance on flash is doing my head in. Beatport sounds like a solid choice though will give that a look.
Cheers for the replies btw.

What kind of music are you into? Maybe we could give you some suggestions?

EuskalHerria

electrogrimey wrote: »

What kind of music are you into? Maybe we could give you some suggestions?

God help me after this. Well I like AVB, Ferry Corsten, Gabriel and Dresden, Sean Tyas, Cosmic Gate, Marco V, Marcel Woods, Yoji Biomehanika, Deadmau5, Prodigy. To be honest thats just a snippet of the artists i like that i can think of and covering the wide range of music. I got into dance music because of mates that liked dance ( the stuff you'd find on a gatecrashers classis album) so i'm looking to fine tune my musical taste and wondering the best avenues to do that.

why so serious?

Hey guys, I started djing recently just as a hobby really, I have a very basic setup, it is a numark CM100 mixer and numark CDN35 decks, I was using a stereo as my sound output for a long time but it's broke at the moment so I am going to buy speakers to use instead of it but i haven't a clue what kind of speakers to buy!I only want something very cheap as it is really only a hobby and argos do lots of different speaker systems for around 30 - 50 euro. Can I simply buy any sort of speakers as long as they have a cd player input or is there a specific set i should be looking for?Any help would be great, thanks!

electrogrimey

EuskalHerria wrote: »

God help me after this. Well I like AVB, Ferry Corsten, Gabriel and Dresden, Sean Tyas, Cosmic Gate, Marco V, Marcel Woods, Yoji Biomehanika, Deadmau5, Prodigy. To be honest thats just a snippet of the artists i like that i can think of and covering the wide range of music. I got into dance music because of mates that liked dance ( the stuff you'd find on a gatecrashers classis album) so i'm looking to fine tune my musical taste and wondering the best avenues to do that.

Maybe start a thread asking for suggestions? Can't really help, I'm more into the electro-house/dubstep side of things.

why so serious?

EuskalHerria wrote: »

God help me after this. Well I like AVB, Ferry Corsten, Gabriel and Dresden, Sean Tyas, Cosmic Gate, Marco V, Marcel Woods, Yoji Biomehanika, Deadmau5, Prodigy. To be honest thats just a snippet of the artists i like that i can think of and covering the wide range of music. I got into dance music because of mates that liked dance ( the stuff you'd find on a gatecrashers classis album) so i'm looking to fine tune my musical taste and wondering the best avenues to do that.

I love trance aswell mate, I got into it about 5 years ago, like you I started off with buying cds such as gaterasher, godskitchen, mix albums etc. but tbh you are at nothing buy just buying the odd cd, you should join websites such as "theclubbingforum" and "trance.nu" where you can find links to great sets, tune into online dance stations, keep an eye on the dance charts on websites like "djtunes" and subscribe to different dance labels on youtube, you will find some little gems, there is so much rubbish been produced aswell these days but you will soon find hundreds of tunes you love! I'm not spamming btw, they are brilliant websites and I use them all the time!

ED E

why so serious? wrote: »

I love trance aswell mate, I got into it about 5 years ago, like you I started off with buying cds such as gaterasher, godskitchen, mix albums etc. but tbh you are at nothing buy just buying the odd cd, you should join websites such as "theclubbingforum" and "trance.nu" where you can find links to great sets, tune into online dance stations, keep an eye on the dance charts on websites like "djtunes" and subscribe to different dance labels on youtube, you will find some little gems, there is so much rubbish been produced aswell these days but you will soon find hundreds of tunes you love! I'm not spamming btw, they are brilliant websites and I use them all the time!

Stay away from those E50 yokes in Argos, if you have any kind of an ear on you it'll be horrible.

A pair of small monitors like so: http://www.thomann.de/ie/behringer_ms16.htm would probably serve you well ,

Or a decent Hifi, and much as I hate to say it go Sony for this. If you had a wad of cash I'd say a bigger brand like Technics etc etc but for the midrange stuff I've heard Sony excell. You'll wanna spend over 100 though. We have 3 Sony units in the house, mine [CMT NE3] cost 130, and two others which cost 110. The difference in quality is huge. That said price and quality dont always coralate.

Actually, third option: Salvage speakers + PC Sub.
I found an old unused pair of 75W mitsu's buried behind a stage. Fronts were knackered but so what, ripped them off. Little black spray on the four sides, left the front in its natural state. Look damn good for free speakers:) They're running of a 150W(I think) Lamtech PC Subwoofer that I got off a friend who works in a large company, it was an old unit they were dumping. All my gaming stuff is run through them and its perfect. Little more time intensive but great value:)

LowEndFreq

Hi all! wondering i you could help...

Looking to get into DJing on my laptop, and i was wondering if you could tell me if i could use a midi cotroller w/o a soundcard, and loop it through my toneport UX2... or if i could make it go straight to audio out, or something.. i dnno sorry i'm totally in the blue about this sort of thing!! any help would be appreciated... cheers guys!!

electrogrimey

LowEndFreq wrote: »

Hi all! wondering i you could help...

Looking to get into DJing on my laptop, and i was wondering if you could tell me if i could use a midi cotroller w/o a soundcard, and loop it through my toneport UX2... or if i could make it go straight to audio out, or something.. i dnno sorry i'm totally in the blue about this sort of thing!! any help would be appreciated... cheers guys!!

Don't know much about the toneport, but it looks like you might be able hook it up with USB, and then take two channels either out of the line ins or the guitar ins...I don't know if that'll work the same as a regular soundcard or not though.

You can take it straight out of your audio out, but you can't use an external mixer that way, but it's fine if you want to use your software's internal faders and EQs with a MIDI controller. That might have a difference in sound quality than taking it out of USB, but I need verification on that...