I was DJing in a Nighclub last night and a young guy came up and asked me what Dj Gear I was playing on. I showed him…. The Pioneer CDJ 1000s (dj cd players), the Pioneer DJM 600 and traktor DJ software.
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I asked him why he was curious about my gear and he said that it is because he is Learning To DJ and he had just bought his DJ equipment.
Naturally I asked what he bought and he told me the Pioneer DJM 800 dj mixer and the Pioneer CDJ 1000 dj cd players.
He said “I just started to learn to dj last week… “. I nearly fell out of the DJ booth and this is not the first time this has happened.
The reason why I almost had a Dj heart attack is because his dj equipment is worth over $5000 USD (…if he got a good deal). There is no reason to spend anything close to this when you are starting out.
If you are just beginning to DJ and have decided to buy gear, for the next few weeks or months (depending on how dedicated you are) you will be learning the basics of DJing. Cueing, throwing, beatmatching, blending, cutting, EQing, Dropping etc. All of these skills can be learned on a $100 mixer and two $200 dj cd players just as easily as on the $5000 setup that this young guy just bought.
No wait scratch that… You can learn the basics even FASTER on simple dj equipment as mentioned above ($100 mixer) because there are less extra features to learn. If you spend all of your time figuring out how to use effects and loops and other advanced features that come on a $5000 mixer, you won’t learn to mix as quickly as if you just focused on the basics first.
So here is what I recommend…
…start off with the cheapest set of DJ gear that you can find while still gear that isn’t going to fall apart on you. Learn the basics on a simple 2 channel dj mixer, basic CDjs or turntables (dj software is different because it is inexpensive and one program like Ableton Live) is all you need.
Spend your extra money on building your music collection and learning to mix. These are the things that will make you a good DJ, not the gear you play on. When you become a good DJ you will get a lot of gigs, be paid well and then buying expensive DJ Gear make sense!
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I am just looking to buy Dj Gear soon and your advices is awesome. Especially the part about spending less on gear to start out and more on music & learning to mix.
Thanks!
I disagree with this article. It think having better gear does make you a better DJ. You look cooler and you can use effects and do more cool stuff. Its way more advanced djing than just a simple mixer with 2 channels, eqs and faders…
I aggree with this article and I totally disagree with you Dj Fav, when starting you first need the basics like cueing mixing and working on your sound control and knowing your music where your breaks in your songs are and when it’s picking up and that kinda stuff and you must allways keep in mind that with all shorts of remixes nowadays there’s lots of sound effects in it.
Thanks Charlton!
You’re bang on!
Knowing your music, learning to beatmatch, how to cue & throw a record and working on your sound are all WAAAAYYYYY more important than effects or looking cool.
fav dj simply tell me how are u gone to make a nice mix if u cant use cues lows mids highs crossfaders if u have the best gear!its not the equipment its the music u make so dont pretend the pro u are here for the same reason we are!
thanks i am a beginner, you are very good at this thats how i know i will do good
well i think there is something inbetween.
of course, you can buy gears for tsds of $$ and you might never learn real cueing.
i got my gear and amp for about 1000 bucks and was happy, i spent about 600 for amp (mixer incl.), i bought a better soundcard for my notebook and virtualDJ software.
thats everything.
last weak i geared up my light system and bought a notebook controller (denon DN-HD2500). i learnd cueing and cutting, but my software mixes auto. so maybe i´d relax for a while!?
…
i dont no y but i prefer the cdj100 above anything else…iv played on almost every cdj out there even the dvj bt 100′s are my fav…n i think wen your starting thats wat you should go for
I agree Lenzo!!! Great way to start. Cheap and fun with all the features you need!
You know so many interesting infomation. You might be very wise. I like such people. Don’t top writing.
It’s a masterpiece. I have never thought people can have such ideas and thoughts. You are great.
Yo, good all round advice on this site and I like your delivery Sean, so well done for that. It’s great to hear the views of other DJs.
The only objection I have with the part about getting low cost equipment is that you’ll never get that when you play out, so you’ll learn on basic decks only to come up against a MK3 Pioneer when you play out.
yeah its true i own a numark fusion 494 and yes its a good start pack for begginers djs
I agree and disagree with this article. From what i was told by two resident djs was that if you learn on a club standard you never have to adapt to one. Then again im taking lessons on club standard gear so going home and practicing on the lowest priced gear might feel weird. Starting off with cdj 400 or 800 and a djm 400 isnt a bad idea I THINK. I’m being financed for my equipment though and have a steady job to make the payments. So yeah im dropping 2500 but it will last me atleast a few years.