ereeves116

Hey man I was wondering if you could fill me in more on how you learned/became a DJ.

This was something I've wanted to know about for along time ever since my friend let me play with her tables a bit. Now I'm getting REALLY curious haha.

i8acobra

There's a class here in Vegas that I'm going to try...

http://www.dj4life.com/academy/lasvegas/index.html

Visionz

This is going to require a really long reply, and I'm on my way out to meet a friend for lunch and do some erands. I'll definitely respond later tonight when I get home from running around. *lol* smile.gif

Visionz

Ok...sorry I didnt get the chance to reply last night.

Basically, I've always been involved in music in some way or another. I've been playing piano since I was a little kid. I was taught by my mom. In high school, I wasnt involved much with the A/V clubs, but I did do stuff in the radio station. I went to school and my got my bachelors in Music (with a double minor in computers and marketing...lol). Worked as an on air jock in the college radio station and just always had a love for creating and producing beats and tracks.

I first started DJing locally at a couple of small bars, and I got to hang out with some really good well known DJ's in the rave scene. They took me to the next level and got me to hone my skills even more. The rest is kind of history. I would practive every day, and as time went on and new tools and software came out...I started to get better and better at it. I partnered up with a couple of promotion companies who got me in on some time slots at alot of events that some clubs were throwing. Eventually, I landed a couple of residencies at some smaller clubs and quickly earned a reputation of being a really good DJ that could read the crowds, and keep a constant energy going.

I got an offer from a guy who wanted to be my agent and manager, and he went full out and started to get me more bookings and even better residencies. I now hold a Saturday night weekly residency at my cities #1 rated night club, and I hold a monthly residency (one Friday a month) at a large upscale club in NYC. I also landed a contract with a record label that markets out my remixes and the albums I've done (and continue to do).

Being a good DJ really is all self opinion. Look at DJ Tiesto. He's world renowned and millions of people love him. While at the same time...I'm sure there are millions of people who hate his music too. Alot of DJ's tend to take in more of the producer role after they become established. I on the other hand started producing first and then became a DJ. I create my own remixes and mega mixes and I cant tell you how many times a night I get people coming up to ask me what the name of the mix was I dropped. Its alot of fun, and it sets you apart from the regular push play type of DJ. *lol* DJ's are pretty much a dime a dozen though, because people get interested in it, they go out, buy a mixer, a couple of decks (either cd or turntable) and set it all up in their bedrooms and just start playing around. Its not hard to become a DJ if you understand rhythm and can either count beats, or understand how beats work in a song.

You also have to understand timing and be able to take 2 tracks and know when the proper time to mash them together is. This all comes naturally by practicing and learning the songs you use, very well. There's software out there that helps with alot of this like Rane Serato, Traktor Skratch, and Virtual DJ Pro. I use Abeloton Live 8 for my sets, since its not only a tool for DJ's but its also a producers tool and allows you to produce beats, and set up real time effects for cueing and setting A & B points for sick real time remixes.

If you're thinking about getting into it...either take a class like Aaron posted, or just buy yourself an intro kit that comes with 2 turntables or cd decks, a mixer, headphones and so on. These kits can range anywhere from a couple hundred all the way up to a few thousand. Or you can buy pieces individually and build you're own setup. Again, prices will vary depending on what you want, and what style or genre of music you want to spin.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions. smile.gif

i8acobra

My eventual goal is to produce the tracks that other DJ's spin. I'll start basic, but all digital. Eventually, I figure I'll need at least a keyboard as well. Right now, I've got all kinds of beats and sounds in my head, but I have no way of letting other people hear them. I'm really wanting to do Trance or House type music. Not really into remixing hip-hop or pop music.

Visionz

You'll definitely want a couple of good MIDI keyboards and drum pads to lay everything down. Then you'll want really good software. My home studio consists of 3 Behringer studio mixers, 2 Korg keyboards, a Roland keyboard work station, a Novation and Akai controllers, and an Alesis drum pad. I use Reason 4, Cake Walk, and Steinberg titles for software to lay everything down in digital formats.

ereeves116

Thanks for the reply man. I've played string instruments forever and my cousin is big on piano. We were both looking into stepping out of those a bit and get into mixing. I have a friend in Phoenix who is an up and coming rapper and I've been to a few of his recording sessions and I just really want to get into something like that. I'll check out some classes in my are in the near future here.

187sks

I was also wondering how you get music with separate tracks?

Visionz

Music with seperate tracks? What do you mean?

187sks

I mean music that has the vocals and music separated. That's how I assumed that you could mix things together, such as lyrics over a different beat. I thought maybe it would be separated by instrument also but I don't know how it's done.