Choosing DJ gear is the first step for every new DJ. This is more of an important decision than you first think. Choosing the right DJ equipment can help you become successful and the wrong DJ equipment can hold you back.
The challenge is that its a nightmare to approach buying DJ gear for the first time. So many different DJs recommend different products and brands. When you walk into a DJ gear store the walls are lined with blinking lights from all of the different pieces of DJ equipment are available. Each piece of equipment has different models with different features. Its enough to make your head spin!
So how do you get started choosing your dj equipment?
A lot of DJs forget why party venues hire DJs. Its because DJs are entertainers.
Having a DJ in the room creates a better, more energetic feel to a room than having music play off of a juke box. This is a fact.
So if the DJ can create all this energy, why is it that so many DJs just look at their laptops like they are checking their email?
The best DJs, the ones that have the biggest following and the most loyal tribe are the ones that let loose and pump up the energy like the guy in this video.
Okay he might not look cool because he is a little older and his movements make it look like he’s having a seizure but he’s doing his best at being an entertainer. You should too!
A lot of you know me for my one line of advice that I always give when it comes to DJ Gear: Buy cheaper gear to start out with and spend the remaining money on building a music collection and educating yourself.
As with most things in life, there is one exception to the rule. This one piece of gear is essential to your DJing from day one. The piece of Dj equipment I am referring to is Dj Headphones. It doesn’t matter if you’re just learning to dj taking dj lessons or you’re already playing gigs, get a good pair of headphones. If you are just learning how to DJ, sign up for free DJ Lesson Videos by clicking HERE right now!
A good pair of DJ Headphones is essential for a number of reasons:
- You are going to spend hundreds of hours with them on your head in the studio and the dj booth. They have to be comfortable.
- You are going to beat the headphones up. They will be dropped, kicked, spilled on, stretched and pulled. They need to be sturdy to take this everyday DJ wear and tear.
- Some headphones put out a higher frequency. This high frequency damages your ears a lot more than a low end frequency. Buying a cheap pear of Iphone headphones and using them to DJ will leave your hearing spotty as you get older.
- Dj booths, studios and parties are loud environments where the DJ needs to hear what is in his headphone and not whats going on around him or her. You want to block out the noise around you at all costs so you can concentrate on a song or mix. Quality sound-blocking is a must for any DJ.
- They have to be flashy and look cool. You want people to know you’re the Dj right?!?!
The good news is that high quality DJ headphones aren’t that expensive (compared to most dj equipment) so they’re worth splurging for.
Here are the top three headphones recommended for comfort, durability, frequency, sound blocking and cool factor:
Lets be honest, nobody likes to see a DJ with his head stuck in a laptop up in the DJ booth. He might as well be checking his email or writing up his grocery list for after the gig!
You have to give programs like Ableton Live and Traktor DJ Studio credit. They are kickass pieces of DJ software that can do some pretty incredible stuff. Even just the ability to get the Dj Software to beatmatch for you opens up so many doors for your DJing. If you want to learn more about digital DJing, sign up for free DJ Lesson Videos by clicking HERE right now!
But the obvious downside was that all of this computer based software did not do well with the performance aspect of DJing…. until now.
Over the past few days I have seem some really cool pieces of software that really get the DJ involved. Take the video above for example.
A dj from Uruguay, Gustavo Bravetti, does an awesome job of demonstrating how creative you can get. He shows how you can use ableton live and Nintendo Wii controllers for your DJing. Read the rest of this entry »
When I was starting out learning to DJ I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know how DJs mixed, what type of dj equipment I should buy (vinyl turntables, CDJs – dj cd players or a digital setup), or any of the mixing basics. I took DJ Lessons but it didn’t really help…
I wanted to learn to dj in my own home but I still wanted a pro to show me how its done and to give me some practices to make my DJing skills progress faster. Now that I am a pro, I have the opportunity to make easy dj training a reality for DJs like you.
To learn to dj like a pro you will have to train like a pro dj. What does this mean?
First of all get the Free Dj Training video lessons by clicking here NOW!
Lets take a look at 5 of the top pro athletes in the world right now: Tiger Woods, Lebron James, Syndey Crosby, Wayne Rooney and Payton Manning. These guys are the top of their field and live their dream lives and yet they all still swear by a number of things: The first is coaching. Even the best have coaches to make their learning process easier and faster. They all have training aids such as videos. They all study other great players in history.
My point here is that if you want to be a HUGE pro DJ, follow the footsteps of the pro DJs that have already made it. There are TONS of resources out there for DJs. There are dj videos, dj manuals, dj guides, dj books, dj dvds, in person dj lessons, online dj academies and even biographies on successful DJs now and from the past.
Get out to parties, nightclubs and raves by yourself. Hang around the DJ booth and watch the DJs mixing. You’ll learn a TON. Check what dj equipment they are using. CDJs? DJ Turntables? DJ software like Ableton Live or Serato… How are they mixing? How much time do they spend looking at the crowd? What are they looking for?
“What dj equipment do you recommend I start with?”
This is a question I get asked daily from my Dj students. Its usually proceeded with “I have a budged of $xx and I’ve been told I should buy turntables or CDJs…”
While I have a FREE DVD coming out that will teach you everything you need to know about DJ Gear, let me give you the answer to this in a few words. In the meantime, you can learn a lot about DJ Gear through our Free video DJ Lessons. Get yours now by clicking HERE!
Don’t buy turntables if you are just starting out.
Don’t buy expensive CDJs (Pioneer CDJ 1000s – dj cd players).
Don’t buy a $2000.00 laptop
Most DJs that start out want to get the coolest pro DJ gear possible. This is a waste of money at the start because you will just be learning basic mixing techniques to begin with (cue & throw, beatmatching, pitch riding etc).
Instead of throwing away thousands on gear when you start, buy some cheap CDJs and a cheap mixer, or even better a DJ Software and digital controller package. These will be low cost solutions that you can learn mixing on quickly and easily.
The best part is that you will have tons of cash left over. Use this cash to build your music collection (which is most important) and to learn more about DJing by getting dj lessons or buying some programs (DVDs) to get you mixing better, to learn to promote yourself and to learn how to get big gigs!
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.
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.
1) How To DJ. Advice To Help You Learn How To DJ: How To DJ 2) Advice On DJ Lessons For Beginners: DJ Lessons 3) How To Be A DJ. Advice On How To Become A DJ: How To Be A DJ 4) A Review Of The Best Dj Games: DJ Games
