Unleash the DJ in You: The Basics of DJ-ing

Everything was dim all around you in the club hall, save for those flickering strobes that dart nimbly all across the room. Then, you notice the beat of the club sounds intensifying like the heartbeats of all the party people anticipating for the spotlight to turn on. One enormous flash of light in front and a man on stage is revealed, wearing those signature black T-shirt and headphones. He starts to pump up the stuff he’s got. As he adeptly twists and turns the turntable and tinker with all the knobs in the mixer, the crowd starts to dance like they were in frenzy. You hear people cheer and you see all their arms waving up in the air. The party is just getting started for a club DJ – that man on the spotlight. Being a DJ is merely not just being the purveyor of the hippest dance tunes, but it is a passion in giving what your audience wants and setting them on the mood to party. It is not merely keeping them abreast to that frenetic club “feel”, but club DJs have this inimitable task of freeing people from all their inhibitions in the dance floor, where they can simply don’t care who’s watching even if they are dancing like crazy.

Let Your Passion Be Your Guide

Like any other noble profession, DJ-ing is a passion that most people would want to emulate. When you visit any club, all eyes are on the DJ as if he is the life of the party. Everyone thinks they’re cool and you might envy how DJs can easily get all the attention of sexy and attractive girls. However, world renowned DJs like Tiesto, Sasha and Carl Cox have one thing in common when they started their passion to be a DJ. They all have an intense interest in making great music. If you want to venture in DJ-ing just because you want to be famous, then you might as well consider another job because you would never be a famous DJ if the music you create is a total crap. So what does it take to be the meanest DJ in town? You’ve got to have passion for great music and you should know the ropes of innovating your own music through various DJ equipments.

Wannabe DJs Must-Haves

When carpenters need tools and chefs need knives in doing their job right, DJs surely requires mastering some DJ equipments that would serve as his tools to make his performance exhilaratingly good. Since we are just talking about the basics here, check out this list of must-haves for peeps who want to explore DJ-ing as a career:

Mixers

These tools are often dubbed as the “brains” of a DJ set-up. A mean DJ mixer machine should be sturdy enough to control all music sources that may come from turntables, CD players, MP3 players, laptops, amplifiers, DJ speakers and a lot more of your stuff you want to manipulate. Every push of the crossfaders and upfaders would determine your expertise in harnessing the music that you produce. Rane, Allen & Heath, Stanton, Vestax and Numark mixers are the most preferred brands because their utmost usability and outstanding features.

Turntables

In a traditional DJ set-up, you need two turntables. It would be more helpful to choose the direct drive turntables because they are sturdier than those which are belt-driven. You should invest on these machines and avoid cheaper brands because the durability of turntables is important. When you do much scratching and performing, cheaper brands tend to wear out easily or the needles suddenly break in the middle of your performance. You might check out the leading brands like Technics, Project, Dual and Stanton. At present, you can also try the virtual turntables which you can easily do the job right in your laptops.

Speakers, Amplifiers and Headphones

Out from the music sources, the speakers, amplifiers and headphones receive the music to be delivered out to the intended audience. Amplifiers go first in the row because it has the ability to magnify the sounds produced from your music sources so that the signals given would be carried through the speakers. DJ speakers, on the other hand, are those large boxes that have woofers and subwoofers, which transmit the sound waves loud and clear to the audience. If you think there’s no need for headphones anymore, then you’re wrong. Headphones are needed so that DJs can hear a preview of what music is cued next. It is through the headphone that DJs make necessary corrections and adjustments to assure the next track would sound the way he wants it. Good brands for speakers, amps and headphones are made by Bose, Pioneer and Gemini.

Essentially, these are just the basic DJ equipments you need to be able to start a career in DJ-ing. You can explore more fancy DJ equipments when you are ready to go pro. So what are you waiting for? Let your passion for good music flow and begin your quest to be the next big DJ!

Read more about Dj-ing at Mydeejayspace. See you there!