laptops in a club

Táck

this thread is not a debate comparing laptops to cdj's or 1210's. this is solely looking at users, promoters and dj's...it is more about the acceptability of a laptop user...

im getting a macbook soon and i think more then likely the xponent external controller. im in canada now and can get it for a good price so this is where i plan to master it and then in time progress to the vestax or even cdj's. if i need to. if, being the operative word.

my question is, when im confident enough to chase gigs back home in ireland, will promoters or other dj's be arsed setting up my stuff on top of theirs. what has been your impression of others. i dont mean it in a, ive got cdj1millions's and you dont, you mere laptop dj, i mean are they willing to take your setup into theirs? or do they just expect everyone to be able to navigate cdj's and a djm?? i do know how to navigate them, i just dont own a pair and wont anytime soon so i wouldnt be able to play out on them.

im currently running/promoting/playing at a gig over here. im using virtual dj and a hercules and for the crowd we play to, its more then fine. but one time this guy came up and asked was that virtual dj, to which i replied yeah, and it was like i just told him i had aids. i couldnt care less (i dont have aids)(i hope) what his personal opinion of me was/is but i would care if he was thinking of asking me to play in his club until he found out what i was using. i wouldnt blame him for thinking anyone can do what i do coz they can, but there is more to it if you're anyway good. I will progress onto, hopefully traktor if mapping isnt too much of a pain, but definetly torq if i get the exponent.

some of the clubs ive been to in ireland, i'd imagine it would be a nightmare to have to setup my gear to play for an hour in between two others or even on last or whatever. say the dj box in wax...not ideal for a lot of movement even for one.

anyway just thought id throw it up. again, this ISNT a latop vrs vinyl debate. this is aimed at people who have or had controllers or are or where promoters...

electrogrimey

Fair enough most DJs are using the club set-up, but I've seen a good few guest DJs come in with laptops, and they just set up on the space left on the desk, or else get a laptop stand and throw it over them. It's not too much hassle to come in and plug in a laptop and controller, I wouldn't worry about it at all, sure eventually everyone's going to be on digital so it's not you who's being awkward, it's them if they complain.

Quiggers

been doing it for two years now, just bring all the leads you need, some adapters too, and get stuck in. mines probably a bit awkward as i've built it and the power supply and external HD and usb soundcard all into a flight case, i kettle lead, 2 audio leads and i'm set up.

acman

It really isn't an issue...not nowadays anyway. If anybody denies you a gig because of the medium you use to mix probably isn't worth working for.

thecommander

Just please make sure that a) you know what to do if it crashes/stalls. And b) be able to mix in a cd/vinyl while it reboots.

Amount of times I've seen it go wrong and the DJ not having a clue how to fix it. At least if cd player breaks you can blame the club, with a laptop it's all on your plate.

Táck

yeah laptop crashes are something i as of yet havent experienced whilst in front of a crowd. touchwood!

brianc27

your man was probably looking at you like youve had aids as for a mere 200 quid you could have something like traktor instead of virtualdj, its a complete entery level piece of djing software, as for setting up laptops, i would usually head into were ever i was playing 15/20 mins before it opens just to set up my **** (no matter what time im playing at), dont really like getting in the way of others, the odd time ive set up around someone playing, its not too much hassle but i always feel like a little bit of a dick getting in the way but thats just me, ive never had any issues with people setting up around me.

also i prefere to have everything set up and working so i dont have it in the back of my head that somethings gonna fvck up.

ED E

Táck wrote: »

yeah laptop crashes are something i as of yet havent experienced whilst in front of a crowd. touchwood!

A little tip on that:

Create a 20/30Gb partition on your drive and install a second OS(XP or 7 say). On this install only drivers and mixing applications. No Antivirus, maintainance tools, updaters, networking etc etc. I have a copy of 7 like this, only practiced a small bit on it but its yet to crash. Very stable:)

colin29

I think it's just a case of pluging the amp or spaekers into your soundcard and off you go.
I haven't played out in a long time, I used to use turntables but before moving to Canada I sold all my vinyl and equipment, I didn't think I would miss mixing but I did, I got a Vestax VCI 100 since coming here(Vancouver) and have been loving it ever since, I copied a fair amount of my vinyl into mp3 so didn't lose out altogether. Anyone who sticks their nose up at digital djing is a dick as it's just pushing the scene forward.
PS Tack if you're looking for other djs to join you give me a shout.

Colin

Zascar

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

A little tip on that:

Create a 20/30Gb partition on your drive and install a second OS(XP or 7 say). On this install only drivers and mixing applications. No Antivirus, maintainance tools, updaters, networking etc etc. I have a copy of 7 like this, only practiced a small bit on it but its yet to crash. Very stable:)

Great advice there - definitely what I would advise (although most would say just get a mac and stop fcuking around)

Actually I was wondering about this myself, how are you finding 7? I installed it the other day (and I also tried it when it was in beta) but I always end up coming back to XP. Maybe I just need to get used to is. I think it is very stable and apparently its pretty good with drivers etc - so might be a good choice for DJ's.

colin29 wrote:

Anyone who sticks their nose up at digital djing is a dick as it's just pushing the scene forward.

Amazing how opinion is changing - a few years ago the general consensus was very different. I'm so happy to see the ignorance around digital is almost gone. There used to be massive snobbery about laptops and controllers but finally I think most can now admit digital is the way forward. Vinyl purists used to use the whole Mp3's Sound Quality debate as a way to slander - that's now pretty much defunct. In the early days most of the software bar Serato maybe was just not stable, but that's pretty much history now too. As I mentioned above the only snobbery you'll really encounter if if you use a pc and not a mac - but really if you are smart about it you should not have a problem.

I do know what you mean about people looking down on certain controllers etc - check some of the other threads and you'll see plenty of it. At the end of the day though we all know that any argument around mediums is pretty much defunct if what comes out of the speakers is any good. If fisher price released a baby-dj package and richie hawtin used it to bang out a savage set that everyone loved - people would be impressed that he can do such good things with simple equipment - and not the other way round. It's probably more stupid for someone to buy CDJ-2000's or a Dubfire-like setup - and simply fade one track into another.