I have never heard of a lowyat night out, but then again I don't really go to any of the other forums on lowyat. It would be something fun to do though

EDIT: By the way I just stumbled across http://www.djbolivia.ca/videos.html on the DJ Reddit. This site is FREAKING AMAZING! A huuuuuge series of tutorials on DJing and production. Check it out!

This post has been edited by hanleon: Jun 13 2014, 05:16 PM

@takalimc I don't have a set of CDJs handy to use for it, and maybe my music isn't quite appropriate ^^" mostly deep/tech house these days

@darthbii there are lots of ways/points to mix a song in. I'm not sure if you meant phrase matching or beatmatching, because if you've phrase matched the songs together then the mix in point for Song B is naturally whenever a phrase ends on Song A, or some combination of that.

Let's say Song A is playing the Outro (32 bars), and you phrase matched Song B's Intro (32 bars) to it.

The natural mix in point is either halfway through the phrase (16 bars):
1. Kill the bass of B, fade in as much as you want.
2. Slowly trade the bass of A and B as it reaches the end of the phrase
3. Fade-out Song A when Song B's intro ends.

Or you can mix it with a slam at the end of the phrase:
1. Let Song A's outro play
2. When Song A's outro is about to finish (last 4 beats), cue up Song B's breakdown
3. When song A's outro finishes, slam the breakdown in by upfading Song B's breakdown

In between getting everything matched and ready and actually playing the song, DANCE! Interact with the crowd however you want, but most importantly look like you're having fun.

Learning how to compensate for different song structures is what a DJ does, you'll get the hang of it soon enough. There aren't many strict rules in how to mix, don't be afraid to experiment! If it sounds good it probably does for everyone else ^^

@oOoproz There are a number of studios available around Malaysia for DJs (or interested parties) to rent mixing equipment to practice or just learn the ropes of DJing.

You could also look for the various DJ academies like Bionic Academy KL, Mile High Sounds, and Goldsounds DJ Subang (heard it's not as good). I think the basic course is 500 for 8 classes and will teach you how to beatmatch and mix using CDJs. Some courses may point you towards digital gear as well, which I think is more relevant and the gear is cheaper too.

If you're trying it out on your own, you can just get a simple controller. Try to avoid anything about RM1500 unless you truly have the passion to play music for others. You'll be disappointed otherwise.

You could also look around for 2nd hand deals on equipment. It helps save you money!

@thevool I don't know much about connecting studio speakers to laptops so I can't really help you there. You could probably try putting the monitors on (when you get them) directly before buying an interface - maybe it works. It might sound fuzzy or muddy though, and if it does then you can go buy an interface.

Alternatively, why not just invest in a solid, very good pair of headphones? Their output should be just as crisp as monitors. You'll just lack the feel of bass but to begin with it's an affordable and long-term investment. Good headphones > good monitors for its utility!

I don't bring an interface to gigs, would infinitely prefer using my own controller over CDJs. My controller can be plugged directly into the PAs or into the mixing board, so no stress there. Are you trying to DJ or just do production work? If you're DJing then you'll probably be buying a controller, which can interface directly with your monitors.

This post has been edited by hanleon: Aug 14 2014, 05:34 PM

@darthbii It's all about your budget and whether you think DJing will be a long-term interest for you. The T1 certainly has more functions and is a dedicated 4-channel mixer. It's a long-term investment if you're going to keep it for a long time.

However, when you just start (for your first 1 or 2 years) you will have your hands full with just 2 decks. In fact, you can DJ perfectly fine and play out to all kinds of parties with just 2 decks. I'd say go for the WeGo because it's a simple, functional controller which you can learn on and actually play out with. It's got some cool visual functions with rotating LEDs and colors so there's a sense of style to it.

You can consider the WeGo as your entry level controller. You can learn on it, and if you ever upgrade to bigger gear the WeGo will be a nice portable backup controller or a controller for smaller parties. You'll most likely want to upgrade (you don't have to) to a bigger controller when you're more experienced.

The Audio Technica ATH-M50 is a very solid choice for DJ headphones. Clear, crisp sound with good (but not high) bass response, good durability, about USD125 if you can find it for that price. I've used mine for several years with just one earcup change, sounds great still. Not the craziest bass response because these are studio monitors, but don't let that fool you because too much bass will mess up your mixing anyhow. For the price you really can't beat it tho!

How's your tour coming along @takalimc? Any insights that you learned on your journey?

Lol why not @takalimc! If you could earn enough out of it...

@darthbii Mile High Sounds also has a producer course, costs 3000 because it includes an original copy of Ableton. You can try looking up Reddit for free producer guides, there are plenty of DJ- and producer-related subreddits there. I personally frequent /DJs and /beatmatch.

Haven't had a steady line of gigs like you @takalimc! =P But from what I've read, if you really want to make it in DJing you will most likely quit your day job to focus on the music. Otherwise it's really hard to balance day job vs night since you're basically not sleeping.

There are several guides/articles about balancing a day job and DJing life. The conclusion of most of them is that if you're really serious about making it big in DJing, you should quit your dayjob and really immerse yourself in the DJ lifestyle.

DJing *can* be a stable job but you have to work very hard at it to succeed, especially here in Malaysia. You could also go into mobile DJing which is the #2 slot of top earning DJ jobs in the world. That's the industry I'm trying to get into at the moment weddings, private functions, corporate gigs... those pay a lot more than club ones, but the mindset and playstyle is very different.

Welcome to the thread ivandj

Cool set elitekev. A few mixes were awkward because the phrase matching wasn't spot on. Also, do provide a tracklist next time!

It's Halloween! What spooky song will YOU be playing on Friday? Mine will be Enzo Bennet - Colors. Hopefully the people at my event appreciate my playlist!

Definitely use playlists to organize your stuff, and keep multiple backups of all your music in different locations (hard drive, cloud, pc, phone, ipod, etc). Your drives *will* fail one day; it's best to get in the habit of regularly backing up your music.

Hard drive space is cheap these days. Just buy a 1TB and you'll be set for a very long time. In fact, buy 2 hard drives. Keep one at home as your 'if everything else dies' backup, and use the other one as your main music collection. Back it up every month or sooner.

To keep up with fresh music, the only way I know is to listen to music all the time. Follow your favorite artists, labels, sites, channels on SoundCloud, Youtube, Mixcloud, and so on. Set aside plenty of time to troll through your streams and pick out music that you like. Doing this sets you above the other DJs who just do the Beatport top 100. There's no shortcut to diggin'!

@darthbii Well then you just need a good system to keep track of all your tunes! I use iTunes to sort all kinds of music into playlists, then do smaller playlists for specific gigs.

I also have a lot of music coming in these days, also average around 20/week. I spend a lot of time listening in the car get a different system (other than your phone) to put music in maybe?

@takalimc Sorry dude, I've got my own underground DancePolitik event to go for

Finding a lot of great new music with the "Best of 2014" playlists coming out recently. @takalimc you should definitely check out the inthemix.com.au Top 100 tracks of 2014, lots of very cool music there