Well this is my first post, so i thought I should say hi. Ive been reading a few posts, there is a lot of stuff I dont understand...can someone give me a link or somewhere that explains the basics of learning to be a DJ...I really love music, Ive been thinking of buying some equipment but i dont know what to get...can someone point me in the right directin?? THANKS A LOT

DAVID..

Welcome to the forum. This is the # 1 place to learn how to DJ.. so you really don't need any links. Your already here. Just ask us the questions you want to know, and everybody here will help you and give you different idea's, and pointers. Once again welcome to the forum, and enjoy !

Like what does it mean to mix? Can you scratch with CD's? If so, what are the advantages of vinyl over CD's or vice versa? If I am going to buy some equipment, what is the bare minimum I will need, how much will it cost me? Ill probably have a lot more questions, these are just off the top of my head. thanks a LOT

Like what does it mean to mix? When you take 2 songs and beat match them together on the accurate beat count. Saying if 1 song is 120 BPM ( Beats Per Minute ), and the other song is 110 BPM, then you will need to make the song that is 110 BPM and speed it up to 120 BPM to match the beat speed. Once you established that you can mix the songs together more accurately on the beat count. Beat count is when you count the beats of the song so that you know when to mix better. For Ex:

1,2,3,4..1,2,3,4..1,2,3,4..1,2,3,4..1 <-MIX ON 1

Never mix vocal over vocal. Always try to mix on a beat count which is usually # 1. Other forum members will give you more pointers as well. For now this one is mine.


Can you scratch with CD's? YES

If so, what are the advantages of vinyl over CD's or vice versa? CD's are better to carry around. Vinyl would be more heavier to carry about but Vinyl are the roots of all DJ experiences. And till this day lots of DJ's who like the feel of vinyl are still not happy about switching over to CDs. This questions really depends on what you want to do as a DJ.


If I am going to buy some equipment, what is the bare minimum I will need, how much will it cost me? This all depends on what company you choose to buy gear from.. all companies have different prices of gear that comes with different types of gear. This all depends on you, and what your looking into doing. American Audio has many reliable and reasonable prices for all thier gear. I suggest you look around in American Audio LINK to see what gears peak your interest, and what you think you are more geared toward.

Well what equipment do I absolutely need to get started? And is it safe to buy used?

The type of eqipment you need will be up to you.. you have to figure out if you want to do CD's, Vinyl, Rack-Mount. What style are you looking into doing? What are you plans on being a DJ? Are you planning on just staying home with the gear? Are you just gonna make mix tapes? Do you want to learn how to scratch, and learn all the trix of the trade? To Narrow down your questions you have to let us know in more detail what your looking into doing? Once we established that then we can help you even more.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ SKILZ:
[qb] The type of eqipment you need will be up to you.. you have to figure out if you want to do CD's, Vinyl, Rack-Mount. What style are you looking into doing? What are you plans on being a DJ? Are you planning on just staying home with the gear? Are you just gonna make mix tapes? Do you want to learn how to scratch, and learn all the trix of the trade? To Narrow down your questions you have to let us know in more detail what your looking into doing? Once we established that then we can help you even more. [/qb]

ok, another question, what is rack mount? Im probably going to do CD's though. As for my plans, I wanna just try to get good, maybe do some parties and stuff if Im good enough. I wanna learn how to do as much as I can. As for the style, I wanna do rap/hip hop stuff

Cool.. What i mean by Rack-Mount is by a 19" Rack-mount CD Player. It's 2 CD player system in 1 unit. Check out this link DCD PRO 1000

If your interested in starting with CD's then you are best to check out the selection at the American Audio Site. Look under CD Players, and check out all the selection you can choose from.

And the only way to get good is by Practicing. There is no other way.

Okay thanks, what are the advantages of a dual CD player over a single CD player? Which do you suggest i start out with?

that all depends on your budget.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ SKILZ:
[qb] that all depends on your budget. [/qb]

Okay, Ive been looking at some of the dual and single CD players. Why is a dual CD player better than a single one? The DCD-PRO200 MKIII looks pretty good, but I don't know very much about this kind of stuff, is it worth it? Thanks

edit-I just found a great deal for the DCD-PRO200 MKIII and ****** PMX-1100 for $250...considering just the DCD-PRO200 MKIII goes for $440 on American Audio, this is a pretty good deal, isn't it?

Wow Im really sorry for all the questions, and I must sounds really indecisive...but I just found This. Its a lot cheaper than what I was looking at(because its a lot worse, no doubt) but I was thinking of getting it just to see if I am truly interested...if not, I would rather see an $80 item collecting dust than $500 worth of equipment. Is this a good idea?

I use Pro Scratch 2s (table top decks) for mobile work (sweet 16s, block parties, etc). I'm happy with them. What I like about singles/table-tops is that if one fails, it's easy to replace. I also keep a Discman handy as a cheap get-me-through-this-gig-until-I-can-get-a-new-one backup. Although, these days, with the price of gear dropping, you could pickup a backup dual-deck pretty inexpensively.
I like the way it looks and feels. It works with my setup.
For hip-hop/rap, I would probably go with the DCD-1000, or CDI-500s. Scratching, seemless looping, the fun stuff you'll want/need.

Bare minumum:
CD player, either 2 table-top, or a rackmount.
Mixer, to match up to your decks (rackmount or 10")
Amplifier & speakers OR powered speakers
Cables
Cases
Music, and lots of it.

We really can't discuss prices here, but Private Message (PM) me, I can point you in the right direction.

If you're worried about buying something and being left with a $500 paper weight, there's always Ebay.

PM'ed ya Billabong