Research and Take Notes!

Seriously. You wouldn’t buy a car before you took it for a test drive, right? This is essentially an investment through which you’re expecting to see some sort of return, so do your research! This is a matter of preference and you should take notes of which DJ equipment setup you like and which you don’t like. Take note of the manufacturers. Take note of the specific models and research their specifications.

Especially take note of speaker placement, where in the room sounds good and bad, the size of the room, what the floors and walls are made of, and whether or not the music is distorting in some range or in the entire audible frequency spectrum. If the DJ’s doing it digitally, ask him/her what types of audio files they use. You might not hear it all the time, but there are big differences between CD and MP3 quality audio. If you don’t know the difference, look it up!

What is it for?

Are you aiming to be a small club DJ, a wedding DJ, a big rave DJ, an internet DJ, or some other type? Keep your audience in mind as you’re taking note of SPL (loudness) ratings, RMS speaker wattage, amplifiers, not to mention controllers, CD players, vinyl decks, even the types of plugs on the speakers. Obviously, bigger budgets often yield better gear, not to mention wider selections. It’s certainly admirable to try and do a lot with a little, but if the money’s there, use it wisely.

Wattage

Look for RMS wattage; ignore any Peak ratings you encounter. RMS is an average rating and it’s the most pertinent to the actual usage of the speakers. Compare SPL ratings with RMS and determine which speakers are most efficient and capable of reaching the decibel level you need to fill the room. Small clubs will usually sound good with a 600W (2 x 300W RMS) system. Weddings and such sound fine with a 1000W (2 x 500W RMS) system, and larger halls will
probably require something around 1600W (2 x 800W RMS). Those are simply rules of thumb, though; you should still do your research.

Amplification

Match your amplifiers with your speakers such that your amplifiers have a slightly higher RMS wattage rating than your speakers to allow for headroom and to reduce levels of distortion. Remember that amplifiers work better when not pushed to their limits. Also, take note of the impedances (ohms) of both the amplifier and the speakers, as that will affect how much power the amplifier will deliver depending on how you hook them up.

Powered DJ Speakers

If you don’t want to mess around with matching amps to speakers, you can always look for active (or powered) speakers: ones that have amplifiers built-in. They can be considerably heavier, however, and if the built-in amp blows, you’re out of luck. There’s not much need to worry about what material the cabinets are made of, unless weight is a major consideration. Finally, keep an eye out for speakers with “Speakon” connections, as they’re often more reliable than other speaker connectors.

While Las Vegas is primarily known for those wanting to gamble at a game of poker and for Broadway style shows, night life in Vegas is a big business. Party goers from all around Vegas and around the world are always looking for the most happening clubs. The market is competitive and those looking to DJ need to stand out from the crowd. Professional training can give you that edge when competing for gigs in Vegas. If you are considering professional training, you should check out the DJ4Life Academy in Vegas.

DJ4Life Academy is a two part school for those looking to either learn how to DJ or take your DJ skills to the next level. Training is offered both online and with private one on one instruction. The online training essentially gives you some of the basics. It covers everything from what type of equipment you should have to beat matching and
equipment key functions.

After you complete the online training, you can begin a three part live one on one training session. In the first part, you work with a personal tutor who gives you the basics behind equipment setup, the proper use of EQ’s and Phasing, developing your own style, what works and what doesn’t in DJ’ing, and much more. The tutor will customize your training based on your needs and knowledge and skill level.

The second part of your training gives you advanced training like perfecting beat-matching, common tricks, using special effects, and more. In addition you will get training on how to land gigs and even help you make some demo mixes. The final part of the training brings it all together as you get the chance to become part of the night life in
Vegas. You will be given two opportunities to actually DJ in events setup by the DJ4Life Academy.

As you can see from above, aspiring DJ’s can learn a lot from the DJ4Life Academy. Very few course offer their students the chance to use those skills in a live setting prior to training. So if you want some professional training that not just teaches you the basics, but also allows you to put your new skills to the test, consider DJ4Life Academy.

Share/Save

Mixing a new beat that will blow those stragglers off their barstools and onto the dance floor is the goal of any good DJ. Sometimes it takes some special tactics though. Here are a few ideas to get them up and freaking out:

Start with a popular song and only slightly modify the lead-in. Almost nobody is going to get up and start dancing only to sit down because it’s not exactly what they wanted. Trick them into getting up off their barstools and starting to groove to dancing queen. Then blow their faces off with a brutal drop. Make them think it’s over once in a while and smack them in the face for doubting you.

That’s the second tactic. I love knocking people off their feet with a wall of sound that can be danced to. You need a good drum beat and rhythm that can be heard but above that you can make people jump and they will pay attention. Just make sure that each song isn’t like that. You need to jazz it up. Maybe not literally but why not? Throw some jazz in there. Maybe you’ll be the father of a new style. Kick and snare with some quick cymbals are the basis for anything worth dancing to.

I mentioned jazz but throw in some other styles. Reggaeton infused dubstep is gaining a strong following but hasn’t hit its peak yet. Metal, goth and hardcore has been top dog recently, so transitioning from that to a new style may seem awkward but it’s not impossible. Remix a remix and throw everyone off.

Modulate the hell out of those bass lines. Vibrate the floor and shake those barstools. Make them feel naughty for sitting on those barstools because of how hard they are vibrating. Make them feel it in their chests. Make the old man creeping in the corner worried that he’s having a coronary.

You don’t have to take my advice but this isn’t a formula for success. It’s just what I have had work for me. See you at the club.

Share/Save

I’m a bit embarrassed about this, so I’ll give it to you straight. A few months ago I told you guys about how to make beats with Sonic Producer, a beat maker software I’ve been using to make beats for my mixes. I wasn’t lying, I really do use it and I do think that it’s a good program for beginners to get started in making their own beats. Or, at least, I did. After I wrote that post, one of my readers (who shall remain unnamed) emailed me in an outrage. He couldn’t believe that I was using Sonice Producer when there was a much better beat making program out there, with higher quality sound samples and a ton more features. He was right. I’ve been using that program for the last 2 months and it’s awesome. I wanted to tell you about it earlier, but I’ve been too embarrassed to go back on what I had said just a few months ago. But now I’m finally ready to give you my DUBturbo review. If you’re still interested in making studio quality beats, read on…

Ok, let’s get straight to the point. Why do you want to make your own beats?

1. You want to express your inner talent
2. You want to make something that sounds really good and share with your friends
3. You want that awesome feeling of success from creating something good all on your own

That’s why we all want to create music, make beats, be DJs, and so on. That’s what we all want. But achieving those things is usually not that easy, right? Otherwise, everyone else would be doing it. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you. I wrote this Dub Turbo review to show you that, with a good beat maker, you could achieve your goals easily.

So Why is DUBturbo Better?

Like I said, I was using Sonic Producer for a long time and honestly recommended it as the beat making software you should get. But here’s what made me change my mind about which beat maker you should use:

1. Dub Turbo does NOT use compressed MP3 files for your sound samples – only high quality 44.1 kHz stereo WAV files. These are Broadcast Quality!
2. 16 Track Sequencer – Create and edit your beats easily with the sequencer. It’s all click-and-drag easy!
3. Drum Machine - Use your keyboard like an MPC drum machine. You can assign triggers and knock your beats out from your keyboard instead of having to click. This is going to save you TONS of time and is going to make your beats sound extremely professional!
4. 4-Octave Sampling Keyboard - You don’t need an external MIDI controller – just use your computer’s keyboard to make your own samples. Pianos, bells, bass, saxes, it’s all in there. Literally thousands of mastered, stereo sounds to choose from. You can even edit volume levels for each sample.

You’ve heard things like this before, and some of them you’ve heard from me. I’m not going to lie to you and say something stupid like, “Dub Turbo’s interface is even easier than any other beat maker.” Other programs have nice, easy interfaces too. Other programs have sequencers and samplers too. So what makes DubTurbo different? It’s definitely an easy interface, but you still have to take a little time to learn how it works and how to make the best of it.

Here is the real difference between DubTurbo and all those other programs I used to make beats on:

DUBturbo comes with really DETAILED tutorial videos. I didn’t just sit down and make a best-selling beat on my first try. I took a couple hours to really learn how to use the software. And it was worth it. After really fiddling with it and watching the tutorials, I actually knew what I was doing.

The difference is that watching the tutorials will make it painfully easy to make beats you will be proud of! Check out how detailed the step-by-step tutorials are:

Ok, so to be honest, I don’t think I’m supposed to be showing you an actual tutorial from the purchased version of DubTurbo. But I really want you to see that I’m not just BSing you. This is a long video (because it’s so damn detailed!) but you could skip around if you want. Just watching this alone will give you a great idea of how much you can do with this awesome beat making software.

If you’re not convinced after watching that video that this is the right beat making software to get, then you’re not really that interested in making your own beats. It’s as simple as that. If you want the tools to quickly and easily make beats that sound like the professional tunes you hear on the radio, this DubTurbo review should have made it clear by now that DUBturbo is the beat maker to get.

Impress your friends, impress the ladies, impress YOURSELF! Get DUBturbo Now!

But wait, how much does it cost?

My Dub Turbo review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t give you the most important piece of information. You want to know how much all this actually costs, right?

Well, here’s what I’ve got for you. CLICK HERE for a 25% Discount!

This is a guest post from DJ Sean who teaches video DJ Lessons on his popular DJ training blog, How To DJ Fast.

When I was learning to DJ it was with a big bag of records that you’d have to lug over your shoulder. Times have changed but there are a few time-hardened facts that remain the same when it comes to learning how to DJ.

Whats funny about “the facts of life” for DJing is that so many beginner DJs tend to make the same mistakes as I did when I was starting out as a DJ. I wish that an older veteran DJ showed me the ropes so I could become a great DJ that much quicker.

I didn’t have money for DJ Lessons but I wanted to learn how to DJ so I just sort of stumbled my way through the learning process.

So to help you get ahead with your DJing and save you some time and pain through mistakes, I’m going to share with you some of the time-hardened DJing facts:

1) Beatmatching Is Tough

The first time you turn on your Pioneer CDJ or throw a vinyl onto a turntable you’ll know what I mean. The technology is so exciting and you can’t wait to start playing your tracks together.

Soon you will try to play two songs together and the moment you do you’re instantly lost. You were feeling like a DJ with your flashy gear and a decent collection of music but then it hits you.

There is a mis-mash of sounds and you don’t know which are which. It’s just noise. You’re overwhelmed by the sound but you try to focus. You’ll squint your face and press your headphone ear cup harder to try to hear better but it won’t help.

Don’t worry! You’re not alone.

Even the world’s top superstar DJs started out the same. You see the human brain isn’t naturally programmed to listen to two sounds at once. We are good at focusing on 1 sound but as soon as you add another we have a tough time keeping track of both.

The even better news is that its pretty easy to train your ears and your brain to tell two songs apart and to be able to pick out different elements of a song. This is great news because its an essential part of learning to DJ.

So don’t get frustrated. Don’t give up. Anyone can learn to beatmatch.

2) DJ Egos

Once you’re able to beatmatch and mix like a DJ you’re probably going to start trying for gigs. Its at around this point when you’ll start meeting more DJs. And if you have an social intelligence at all you’ll quickly notice that most DJs have egos.

The ironic thing is that the vast majority of DJs have egos. There are even a lot of local DJs that only play house parties for their friends that have the ego of a celebrity.

Don’t be one of them. Not because people don’t like egos (they don’t), but because it won’t help you as a DJ. A lot of my DJ career was advanced because I am a very easy person to get along with. I would be offered big DJ gigs because promoters and nightclub owners enjoyed working with me.

The nicer and more down to earth you are, the better you will fair as a DJ. Don’t believe for a second that you have to be full of yourself to succeed.

3) DJ Training will save you time

For whatever reason a lot of DJs post on message forums asking for advice on how to start. The old wrinkled veterans from the vinyl days will say “teach yourself”. Very few DJs share the advice of “invest in DJ training”.

Yet that is the best tip I can give any new DJ. It took me almost 2 years to learn how to DJ because I took their advice and taught myself. I could have gotten my first gig within 2 months instead of 2 years if I had invested in some DJ lessons.

And I know that DJ lessons are expensive. But online DJ training videos or online dj lessons are cheap. You get to watch them over and over again and you’ll make the $50 or whatever nominal amount it is back with your first gig. So why not save months or years of your life and learn to DJ 10 times faster with some DJ Training?

Investing in DJ training is the best investment you’ll ever make!

Break out your turntables and get ready to mix a masterpiece because OurStage, Rolling Stone, New Era and DJ Irie have teamed up to host a great competition for DJs looking for their big break! The New Era “Fly Your Own Flag” DJ Competition, powered by OurStage, offers aspiring DJs from across the U.S. to guest DJ at a New Era sponsored party featuring DJ Irie. This is a great opportunity for up-and-coming DJs to launch their careers.

OurStage wants to find the best remix of DJ Irie’s samples. The stems are available for download on the website, so all you have to do is create a mind-blowing remix. You have until October 28, 2011 to complete your masterpiece and upload it for the OurStage community. Fans will choose the top 20 remixes and then a panel of industry experts, including DJ Irie himself, will choose the winner! The chosen DJ will win a guest spot at the New Era-sponsored event in Miami, FL on November 21 at Mansion Nightclub. All you have to do is register on OurStage.com and start mixing!

This is an amazing opportunity for any DJ to get the chance to make it and show off your skills. Get started early and take your time to perfect your tracks. There’s nothing else like this for up-and-coming DJs, so be sure to enter!

I have been getting lots of emails and comments lately asking for a post on different kinds of DJ software. So today I will let you in on one of my personal secrets – the beat making software that will teach you how to make beats for your DJ mixes!

The reason I have kept it a secret for so long is that I didn’t want people to know just how easy it is to make really awesome beats for your music when you have the best beat making software. I figured that if everyone knew about this, they wouldn’t be as impressed by my music. But then I decided that I’d rather give out solid tips to my readers than worry about what people think about my own work.

So here you go – one of the best beat making software I know!

For a long time now, I have been using Sonic Producer to make my beats. I had tried a few different programs before, but most of them were not as good as this one, so I stuck with it. If you want to hear an example of what kind of beats I make with Sonic Producer, you could listen to a few samples at their website.

So you can see, the beats sound very professional and high quality. That’s exactly why I stuck with this software after trying a bunch of other ones. But there were 2 other main advantages – lots of features and simplicity. It is so damn easy to make awesome sounding beats with this beat making software that I didn’t want to put it down when I first started using it. I spent hours making one beat after another. In fact, even if you don’t yet know how to make beats, this beat making program will help you learn quickly.

Here’s how it works. You get a screen that looks like this:

You can either record from an instrument that you have, like a keyboard, or just use the built-in instruments in the software. That’s what I do, since I find that easier and quicker. So after you choose what kind of instrument you want to get your sounds from, all you have to do is click on the squares where you want that sound to play. Depending on the BPM you choose, you could think of each 4-square segment as 1 second in real time. So if you want to play a drum once per second, you just click every 4th square in a row. But regardless of your BPM, the cool thing is that with the way this is designed, your sounds will always be properly spaced. So even when you change your BPM, everything is preserved.

This can mimic the sound of having a complete drum set.

Here’s what the other parts of the screen are for:

This is what I was talking about when I said there are a lot of features. You have full control of the volumes on every channel, you could export to high-quality MP3 format, change the tempo and do whatever else you want with it.

I don’t mean for this to be an advertisement for this software. In fact, I don’t think this is the absolute best beat making software. But I do think that it’s one of the best for beginners who don’t yet have the experience in how to make beats in Ableton, Fruityloops and other more advanced software packages. I have just been getting requests to reveal some of the software that I use and this is one of them. It’s up to you if you want to use it, but the point is that it has my recommendation. Another DJ software I have been asked to make a post about is Atomix Virtual DJ, so that will be in one of my future posts pretty soon.

If you want to watch some videos of how to make beats with Sonic Producer, check out their website!

- The Mixing DJ

Hi everyone!

As you all know, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are insanely popular these days. I’ve been aware of this too but have been too busy (or lazy) to get with the program. So today, I’m proud to say that I’ve finally joined the social media revolution. Better late than never, right?

Like and Follow the Mixing DJ on Facebook and Twitter!

Follow @themixingdj

I have also upgraded my email system, so I’ll be able to send better emails to my subscribers. And that means MORE Exclusive Tips, Tricks & Resources! So subscribe right now if you haven’t already!

Share/Save

Hi everyone! I’m really late on this one but wanted to share it with you nonetheless. DJ Sohn has put out another awesome mix – actually he sent it to me over a month ago but I’ve just been super busy and it slipped my mind. Sorry man!

Here it is for you all: DJ Sohn (BD Thursday) – Podcast Episode 50

Enjoy the music and feel free to leave some comments. DJ Sohn will be around to answer any questions and receive your inevitable praise =]

Facebook d.j.sohn | Twitter d.j.sohn

Share/Save

I have a special treat for you today. It’s our first post featuring a brand new mix from our guest DJ – DJ Sohn from BDThursday. He has put together this excellent, uplifting vocal house mix. Give it a listen. You can even download it for free.

Uplifting Vocal House (BDT, Sloatbake Master) by d.j.sohn

Here’s the track list:

1. armin van buuren vs sophie ellis-bextor – not giving up on love (extended mix)
2. alex guadino – im in love (wideboys remix)
3. alex guesta – so much love to give 2011
4. tristan garner ft. polina – fallin (original mix)
5. matisse & sadko – hi scandinavia
6. roger sanchez ft. FM – 2gether (blacktron & antoine clamaran re-edit)
7. gabi newman, dj angel feat. alex senna – hanging from the ceiling (sunloverz remix)
8. tune brothers & plastik funk – groovy baby (hard rock sofa remix)
9. tv rock feat rudy – in the air (axwell remix)
10. john de sohn ft. nick wall & christina skaar – unleash my love (original mix)
11. tim berg vs. michael woods – dynamik bromance (blender bootleg)
12. armin van buuren ft. laura v – drowning (avicii’s unnamed mix) (BDT, Sloatbake extended intro)

d.j.sohn was forged through some mixture of gold, bad decisions and chest thumpin’ club music. He started dj’ing when he took up radio at a small station in Maine. He has quicly begun making a name for himself as a Boston-based DJ with an insatiable appetite for dancefloor pleasing jams, moving crowds at venues such as The Greatest Bar, An Tua Nua, Sanctuary, CBS Scene at Patriots Place, Coogan’s Boston, RISE and Down Ultra Lounge. When he’s not behind the decks, he can typically be found working with the rest of the Bad Decision Thursday team showing off his decision making skills and producing the weekly podcast.

Facebook d.j.sohn | Twitter d.j.sohn

If you have any questions or comments about this mix, feel free to leave a comment below and DJ Sohn will be around to answer your questions.

Thanks for listening!

Share/Save