Contents: Tips on becoming a DJ, learn how to beat mix. What turntables to buy, Record buying, Promotion.
This page is now split into 6 sections
Let me start off by saying that all of the
following is just my advice, and doesn't guarantee you success. All I am aiming
to do is make you aware of some of the facts of being a DJ, and hopefully speed
up your learning curve.
In summary you need the
following things :
Obviously you need the equipment, but do you need "Technics" /
"Vestax" or even Direct Drives ? I don't think so - although
they would be nice. I use Belt driven "Ariston" (now
"Synergy") 1200's from Richer Sounds. They may only be
belt drives, but I reckon there way more than adequate for home
use (hell I've used them out before now !). Vestax are way cool decks
then can run backwards at the flick of a switch at you can adjust the sensitivity
of the pitch control whilst you are mixing (getting it up to plus 16 i think).
Technics are industry standard - if you ever play out the chances are you will
be using them - get some practice on a pair before you play out for the first
time. If you get a crappy set of decks make sure you replace the
crappy cartridges with something descent. Stanton Carts seem pretty
standard, but there are other makes (like Orofon) - I'm no expert on carts, I use a
standard Stanton 500 AL (I think !). Rumour has it that elliptical needles are
the business if you are into scratch mixing. You'll need some Headphones and slipmats
too. Try to avoid slipmats that have been screen printed - the print wears of and actually
inhibits the slippiness of them. If you are on a mega tight budget you may want to consider
getting the poly packing that will wrap you new decks, cut it into a 12 inch disc and use that
instead - slippier that certain slipmats I may care to mention ! When you're looking for
Headphones you'll want them to go LOUD. I've use ones from Tandy (Radio Shack to anyone in the
USA that may be reading !) and they were OK - you want them to be closed cup - i.e. they have
a pad that goes over (and ideally encloses) your ear. Sennihiser seem to be the vogue amongst
DJ's, They're pretty pricey mind. If you're in the UK then you may want to get hold of the
"British Airways" ones - they are printed up with the old BA logo on top. Don't know if
someones
knocked them off or if they were just rejected by BA! They retail at around 30 UKP (Compared to about
80 UKP in the regular format), so are a bit of a bargain. Certain specialist dance record shops around London have some
at time of writing (Nov 97)(Clue - First word sounds like the product Cadbury sell, and the
second work is "tunes")
You may notice that i've been not mentioned CD's so far. I was torn between deciding whether to
use CD or vinyl when I first started. I chose vinyl, reckon it was the right decision because
There are some links to some equipment manufacturers and resellers
on my Music Links page. I also have a local copy of the technics FAQ - excellent if you own
a set of technics and want to mod them.
If you're starting out and have the money, I'd reccommend you get a pair
of Technics 1210 / 1200 's straight away. Buy them 2nd hand as they last
forever to save yourself some money. At least if you decide to give
up you'll be able to sell them for nearer what you paid for them. You'll
usually find if you buy 2nd hand you get a mixer, headphones etc. Basically
someone has given up and is selling their setup. This is a winner (if it's
decent kit) as you've got all you need in one purchase. What you'll
find is more often than not it's some spoilt little rich kit that got a
top flight set up for their birthday, expecting to be DJing at Cream
within a couple of months. When this (obviously) doesn't happen they
give up and try and find another way of attracting members of the
opposite sex !! This is why buying 2nd hand can be a winner.
Please note : I cannot recommend equipment other that that I've used, and
they are all detailed above. Contact the shops on my
links page, or better still go and try some at a DJ
shop.
DJ Magazines did a couple
of good articles in the Feb 1997 (?) issues. Contact them to ask about back issues (they may do them).
In Addition the December 1997 issue of Musik had tips on Hip Hop DJing, from DJ Cash Money
. Their subscriptions department may do back issues, try them on UK 01444 455 555, or
you could try the ipc site at www.ipc.co.uk To start yourself
off try the following : Go down to HMV and get a couple of formulaic House records - anything with a standard Boom
Boom Boom 4x4 house beat. Get whatever is cheap that week and
that you can bear to hear a few 100 times - don't get something
expensive as you may as well use these 2 records to practice with
+ you don't want to be wearing our that limited test pressing do
you !?! Also get 2 records in the same genre - you'll have no
chance if you try to mix a 200 BPM Hardcore monster with a
chilled 110 House track. Listen to the records. From
the moment the first bass drum kicks in count to 4 repeatedly
=1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 etc etc. As a general rule any "new"
noises will come in on a 1. Note : Some records do a sneaky
1-2-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 at the start so be wary. You see that’s
why a told you to get a standard cheese house anthem - they
barely ever do anything that deviates from the 4x4formula !! Once your happy that the
1st record is the std 4x4, do the same with the second. My top tips here would be
My other Top Tip when working out where the 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4's are, and when to fade the 2nd
track into the first is this :
After a few listens you'll
"know" your records - where the breakdowns are etc.. Now it's time to
mix !! Get the first record
playing and cue the 2nd record up to a "1". Once you've
got it at the 1 hold it and start listening to the first record
again. get the 1-2-3-4 from this record in your head. When it
comes around to a 1 let go of the first record. (bearing mind
there may be a lag between you letting go and the record speeding
up, so either release it a bit early, or nudge it around slightly
once released. Now the tricky bit - you
need to keep them in sync - the best is to alter the 2nd record
to meet the speed of the first. This takes time and practice - I'
can't help you here !! Now this is where "Technics" are
Too good - as with a pair of belt drives its dead easy to
nudge the records with your hand -invaluable when you’re
learning ! My only tip here would be
to get used to the feel of the motor in your player. This is
kinda like describing a picture to a blind man, but I’ll try
!!!! Say record 2 is running
faster than record 1. You'll have one hand on the 2nd record
slowing it down, and one on 2 players pitch control pitching it
down. There comes a time when you will reach the correct speed.
When this happens you'll not be pushing or slowing the record
down any more, just following it around. Get used to the feel of
the record - you're not push/pulling anymore. It sounds mad, but
it does work. You could also look in the
back of Musik / Mixmag or DMC as they run courses. And heres something that
you may not know - as part of the National Diploma for Performing arts you
can do a unit on DJing ! Beats Physics any day ! As I understand it this
is taught in London at the British Record Industry Trust School, but will soon
be going out to other London Colleges. For More info you may want to ring
St John De Silva at 0171 394 8845, or snail mail to DJ Workshop, Unit 600 Alaska Works,
61 Grange Rd, London, SE1 3BA.
Equipment
The pro's of CD's are
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Basic Mixing
They also do day courses, so if you're too old to go to college they may still
be able to help you out. The next/most recent course is on 30th Aug 97, and
tutors include Cutmaster Swift, DJ Wild Child, Kenny Hawkes and Nicky Blackmarket
to name but a few.
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Record Buying
Even if you are Sasha with your crew of people dedicated to finding you
records that you may be interested in, the chances are you are going to miss
some of the new tunes. Even if you had an encyclopediatic knowledge
of all the tunes that were out on a particular week you still won't
be able to afford them all. If you can realize that missing a fair proportion
of Killer Cuts if a fact of life, and realize this early on you'll save yourself
a lot of heartache when you become a record obsessed DJ. It happens.
So what can you do to minimize the frustration of record buying ? Well buying
the DJ mags will obviously give you an indication of what is out there. but,
and this is a GOLDEN rule - don't believe what other people say is a cool
tune until you have heard it yourself. Sounds obvious, but there will be times
when the queue to the desks in the record shop is too long (you've got a bus
to catch etc etc) and you just have to leave. What do you do, after all you've
spend hours (?) in the shop looking for interesting tunes and you're not
about to leave empty handed are you ? Nope. So what do you do - i'll tell you what -
look at the covers to decide ! How foolish we all are ! Now if you've
read such and such a tune is the dogs bollocks, even if you can't remember
where you read it, the name of that tune will be someplace in your subconscious
and you will pick that tune above the others. Even picking a tune by an artist
that has produced something killer in the past is foolish. How many one-hit-wonders
litter the dance music hall of fame ? Exactly, more than you can count on the fingers of
all the raised hands at Cream on a Saturday night !!
A better method is to look at the chart returns from a DJ you really like and
see what they are playing. Even this isn't 100 percent successful, but its better than
going off what a reviewer says (unless of course you've had some success following
their advice in the past). The only time to buy a tune is after
you have listened to it first. Simple as that. You could look at my chart
returns to listen to some of the tunes I rate currently, but even then
you will only get about a minutes worth of a 6 (?) minute song. Not much
really is it ? In order to maximize the number of tunes you get to listen
to try the following:
You also have to decide whether to support your local independent record shop or the
corporates at this point. If you are going to be a regular in a particular
shop, and can't be arsed with queuing to get to the decks (if indeed there are any)
ask the manager if you can take them home to listen before you purchase them.
They'll undoubtedly want a deposit, but if they know you and your face then this
shouldn't be too much of a problem. The alternative (and you may want to
mention this is your local shop won't allow the above) is to go to HMV.
HMV will let you take anything back you don't like. This is the only
reason I ever shop there - pop in, pick up a few interesting looking tunes
them listen at home. Beats skipping thru the vinyl !! It has to be said that
HMV seem to be the best of the Corporates - OurPrice & Tower Records hardly ever
stock vinyl, and Virgin usually has a limited selection.
What I am about to say next to some extent contradicts what I have just said
about buying from Corporates. You want to get maximum life out of the tunes you
buy right ? I'm not talking about the record getting worn out and crackly,
but about it's "Playability" shelf life. Take Robert Miles "Children" as a good
example. Over the period of a few months it came out on DBX italy,
then on Platipus in the UK and never made it into the charts. You could play it
for months and EVERYONE loved it. The Deconstruction got it and made it a well
deserved Top 40 Hit. Cool for Robert, bad for DJ's. Why - 'cos now everyone
knows Children was "That record from 1996". If it had never made it Top 40
it would just have been known as "That record". As soon as it went top 40
it got a "shelf life". Why - 'cos everyone was playing it. It probably gets
more play now in your local Ritzy than on the cooler dancefloors,'cos its been played
to death. What I am eluding to is this - the more underground the track, the longer
you can play it. Test presses can escape a shelf life for ever if they never get a big
release, and you will have a more unique sounding set as a result. So if
you want to keep you records "useful" for longer - buy from the smaller labels.
This however comes second to Buying records you like. The minute you buy a tune
that you don't like just because is it a limited press of 10 you've started on the
sad rocky road of being a trainspotter. If you remember one this from this
page remember that !! (I still maintain Children is one of the best Trance records
ever (f**k this dream house pigeon hole !)
Promo's versus imports versus regular releases - what to buy ?
What I am about to say does not change the fact that you should only buy the records
you actually like ! And note i'm quoting examples from a UK point of view, but the
principles should be equally valid whereever you are.
You can expect to pay most for Imports (about 7 or 8 UK Pounds(UKP)), about 5 or 6 UKP
for promos (if they've not been released) and 2 to 5 pounds for a regular UK release.
Fine. Is it worth paying maybe 3 times more for a tune just because it's an import ?
The best reason for this is because the shelf life can be months even for a HUGE tune.
A good example may be the Coco - "I Need a Miracle" tune that came out on Positiva in
the UK in October/November 1997. I got this on import from HMV of all places on it's
original "Greenlight" imprint in December 1996. That's 11 months of playing before the
Ritzy's will have picked it up. A pretty good shelflife that !
Promo's work in much the same way - you get them about 1 or 2 months before they go
on general release. I'd say it's worthwhile getting the promos on the smaller independent
labels as the chances are that you'll have to pay around the same price when they go
on general release. If you by a promo off a major label then you could be mighty pi$$ed
when you see it in HMV at less that half the price a couple of weeks later.
As I have hinted to above - if you wait till the release day then you can save yourself
some money if the chain stores do it at a discount (as they so often do in the first
week of release). If you've got no problem at all with the rest of the country potentially
playing the same tunes as you, fine, wait till the national release date.
You will be loading your shorts - here's 10 simple tips to minimize nerves
I've been asked how mush you can expect to get paid for your first night - interesting question ! If you're into DJing for the money, you'd be better off becoming a merchant banker. There's no formula for working out how much you are worth, but consider the 2 arguments:
looking a bit anorexic at moment - mainly because alot of them lead to nowhere, I'll update them sometime !
Transfer interrupted!
n
later will take this easy option - superstars privilege (oohh bitchy !). Suss out the
styles of the guys on later and try to be different but complementary in style. Don't be the
stereotypical moody DJ - be happy (hard when you're cacking your pants !). Take your own
headphones - borrowing is scabby. Make sure they'll go loud enough for a noisy club.
Take a spare technics Headshell, that way if the needle goes you should be able
to hot swap it on the run - and what a hero you'll be ! Lastly make sure
the place you're DJing at will let you play your own stuff. This may sound dumb, but there
are plenty of places out there that don't want creative DJ's. Given
the way clubbing is going corporate, I can only see this increasing
in the future. The real question is why you'd want to DJ at this sort
of club anyway ! I've run out of Ideas - if you've
got any let me know !
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Links :
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