DJ Catalystix
Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2015
Hi guys,
Just wanted to make a thread to help starter dj's. i know i could of used something like this when starting out. Could of really skyrocketed my progress.
So first off your equipment. Some people may disagree but i think when starting you should use a midi controller with software like VDJ or TRAKTOR. This will let you learn the fundamentals of DJ'ing, how to mix, how to transition while keeping it smooth and it will really bring your style out. No two dj's have the exact same style. thats what makes everyone diffrent!.
I would highly recommend for a cheap and efficient starting deck the numark mix track pro 2's. They are simplistic yet have alot of features to introduce you to the DJing world.
now im going to get stick for this but, in my opinion for the first week (maximum) use the sync button, this will take some complexity from mixing so you can start nice and easy and get the hang of what your doing. what does the sync button do? well its kinda 'Cheating' it makes the BPM of both songs the same so you dont need to do this by ear. if both songs are playing and you use the sync button. it will match the beats so it sounds smooth.
Okay so phasing. Each song (EDM) usually goes in 32 beat phases. so every 32 beats the song will change and very often there will be a breakdown before this phase ends. At first i would recommend counting the 32bars. but as time goes on it becomes natural, you know where 32bars is all the time.
So Say we have Track A and track B. you play A first and with B you should cue the song 32bars before the drop. depending on how much of the intro of track B you want to play you could do que 64 bars before the drop or 96 bars before the drop. that bits up to you. with drum and bass i would reccommend 32 bars. So then you Play track B on the que (which should be 32bars away from the drop) when track A hits the first beat of the new phase. simplified this means that track A will go into a breakdown as Track B is having a build up and dropping. this makes the mix flow and it just all sounds right.
now your mixing isnt going to be perfect. Actually it might even sound like a trainwreck BUT don’t worry, no one jumps on the decks and is perfect NO ONE. With djing, Practice makes perfect. That is literally the only way you can excel. Put in the work and I promise you will get results. Some people ask me tips in reply I tell them to go and mix. Know your tunes. Know your style. The more you practice the clearer everything will get. Now your going to have to upgrade to something more complex in around a year because you are going to get BORED. There is nothing to midi mixing once you get the hang of it. It becomes simplistic and you get bored.
This is where I would recommend buying a pair of Turntables or CD player. I recommend as a started buying CDJ 350’s they are amazing CD players, will really give you an insight to what club setup’s are like. The difference with CDJ’s and midi being that on a midi you can see the music, Hot Cue, Sync and other functions that are ‘cheating’, Now im not going to go into CD players and beatmatching but when you can finally beat match in my eyes you’re a ‘real dj’.
Thank you for reading and I hope I helped. Its been a long time since I used midi but if you have any questions, drop me a message and ill make sure I can help you.
Thanks again,
Dj catalystix
Just wanted to make a thread to help starter dj's. i know i could of used something like this when starting out. Could of really skyrocketed my progress.
So first off your equipment. Some people may disagree but i think when starting you should use a midi controller with software like VDJ or TRAKTOR. This will let you learn the fundamentals of DJ'ing, how to mix, how to transition while keeping it smooth and it will really bring your style out. No two dj's have the exact same style. thats what makes everyone diffrent!.
I would highly recommend for a cheap and efficient starting deck the numark mix track pro 2's. They are simplistic yet have alot of features to introduce you to the DJing world.
now im going to get stick for this but, in my opinion for the first week (maximum) use the sync button, this will take some complexity from mixing so you can start nice and easy and get the hang of what your doing. what does the sync button do? well its kinda 'Cheating' it makes the BPM of both songs the same so you dont need to do this by ear. if both songs are playing and you use the sync button. it will match the beats so it sounds smooth.
Okay so phasing. Each song (EDM) usually goes in 32 beat phases. so every 32 beats the song will change and very often there will be a breakdown before this phase ends. At first i would recommend counting the 32bars. but as time goes on it becomes natural, you know where 32bars is all the time.
So Say we have Track A and track B. you play A first and with B you should cue the song 32bars before the drop. depending on how much of the intro of track B you want to play you could do que 64 bars before the drop or 96 bars before the drop. that bits up to you. with drum and bass i would reccommend 32 bars. So then you Play track B on the que (which should be 32bars away from the drop) when track A hits the first beat of the new phase. simplified this means that track A will go into a breakdown as Track B is having a build up and dropping. this makes the mix flow and it just all sounds right.
now your mixing isnt going to be perfect. Actually it might even sound like a trainwreck BUT don’t worry, no one jumps on the decks and is perfect NO ONE. With djing, Practice makes perfect. That is literally the only way you can excel. Put in the work and I promise you will get results. Some people ask me tips in reply I tell them to go and mix. Know your tunes. Know your style. The more you practice the clearer everything will get. Now your going to have to upgrade to something more complex in around a year because you are going to get BORED. There is nothing to midi mixing once you get the hang of it. It becomes simplistic and you get bored.
This is where I would recommend buying a pair of Turntables or CD player. I recommend as a started buying CDJ 350’s they are amazing CD players, will really give you an insight to what club setup’s are like. The difference with CDJ’s and midi being that on a midi you can see the music, Hot Cue, Sync and other functions that are ‘cheating’, Now im not going to go into CD players and beatmatching but when you can finally beat match in my eyes you’re a ‘real dj’.
Thank you for reading and I hope I helped. Its been a long time since I used midi but if you have any questions, drop me a message and ill make sure I can help you.
Thanks again,
Dj catalystix