April 11th, 2011 
Review Monsters So you want to learn to dj? This article will cover all aspects of dj’ing and ways to get you started. As a DJ, you will need a good knowledge of music, patience to learn, plenty of motivation to practice and of course, equipment. Still interested in becoming a dj, read on!
Becoming A DJ
If you are dj’ing, the main part is going to be who you are dj’ing to, the audience. They will judge everything that you do. This can be a large amount of pressure on the dj to ensure that they perform to the best of their dj abilities. Remember, a party without people is definitely not a party!
Below are a few reasons why people attend parties:
- Socially – To interact with other party goers!
- Drink – For whatever reasons they have!
- They organised the party!
- To dance – no explanation needed but these will be the people that will assess your dj’ing the most!
From that list, can you now see that people can be at a party for a number of reasons, but as the dj, you will need to judge this and play music accordingly. As a dj, it is vital that you have the right attitude. Being ignorant and thinking that you are something special will not go down well at events that you dj and will harm your dj’ing reputation. If this is going to be your profession, be a professional dj. One key point that we think is vital, everybody at the event may not like your music that you are playing, bear this mind when selecting tracks.
Basics – How To DJ
Whatever type of formats that you are using to dj, e.g mp3, vinyl, etc, ensure that you have it in a logical order with clear BPM’s. Any notes that you think should be added, should be, this will help you switch songs, styles, etc whilst dj’ing. It is one less thing that you will have to worry about when dj’ing. This list will be invaluable to you as a dj, so don’t lose it, give it to another dj, you will be surprised how long it will take you to build up.
DJ – What Is? – Tempo
It is a good idea to measure the tempo of all your songs. This is upto 1/100 of BPM. If you are using digital dj software, this should be included as a feature to help you do this with ease. The tempo is necessary to match the tempo of the new song to the old song.
DJ – What Is? – Mixing
The mixing table. A normal mixing table has a number of mono and stereo channels. As a dj, we are really only interested in the stereo channels. Every channel has:
- A gain. This can be found on all mixing devices. The gain should be used as high as possibly without distorting the music.
- An equalizer. A non parametric equalizer is a filter which weakens or strengthens a signal in a certain frequency range. E.g, if a mixing table has three dials, it is a non-parametric equalizer. If the mixing table has 4 dials, 11kHz, 100Hz and a dial that lets you choose the frequency and another dial which let you choose the strength of that frequency then it is a parametric equalizer. When changing the equalizing, the gain has to be changed too. The best example of this is when you are cutting down the bass, the gain should be raised.
- A volume slider. This allows you to change the volume which goes to the main mix. Most mixing tables can go to +15 dB, but there is no real point in that! Remember not to keep turning them up otherwise you won’t be able to go higher!
- A PFL button. This stands for pre-fader-listening and is vital to any dj. Regardless of the volume fader you will get the complete signal in your headphones.
- A balance lets you choose whether you hear the left or the right channel for stereo channels.
- A mute button. This will mute the volume!
DJ – How Do I Mix 2 Songs?
Here is basic, step-by-step example of how to mix 2 songs. This is basic for a dj, but we all have to start someone right?
- Ensure the volume slider of the next song is set to 0 as well as the gain.
- Use your headphones to listen to the song that you want to mix. Remeber the PFL button? This is where it shines and helps you as a dj!
- Start to play around with the gain until it sounds its best and doesn’t sound distorted! If you use the volume controls at this point, bear in mind that the people will hear this song and hear what you are hearing in your dj headphones.
- Now start with the EQ settings if needed.
- Adjust any gains, etc to ensure that as a dj, you are making the most of the music.
- Now, start targeting the postition for this song to come in.
- When you have found it, start to move the slider of the song that is playing to the audience down and the song that you want to bring in, starts to slide up.
That is the first real basics of becoming a dj. A good dj tip is to check that everything went ok and is in the right position otherwise your good work may come undone in the next song.
DJ – How Long Should I Play Songs?
This depends of the type of music that you are playing. If you are playing house music, songs often exceed the 5 minute mark. If you are playing more pop, rnb, etc, songs should be played for 2 and a half minutes on average. Any longer and people may not appreciate the song and start to lose interest. This should be judged by you as a dj.
Depending on how experienced of a dj that you are, try not to play the same song genres in a row. This does depend on the event that you are dj’ing at though!
DJ – Should I Use Sound Effects?
Loop Effects
This is an effect where the current song that is playing is sampled and then replaced by a looping version of the short sampled version.
DJ – About My Mixes
Listen to your own dj mixes after you made them and see what can be done better. After a good mix, stop your session. If you do this after a bad mix because you are frustrated, aggravated and annoyed, you will not learn new dj skills.
How To DJ
How to DJ – Conclusion Hints
LEARN! If you are serious about dj’ing and getting into the industry, we have come across a few e-books and tutorial videos that can really help your success as a dj. Everything You Need To Know About Dj’Ing and Top DJ Videos From The Pro’s can be really helpful and get your on your way. As a dj, learning new skills and techniques can be a real big help to you getting a set over another dj.
PRACTICE! A good dj will always enjoy practicing. At home is a great chance to experiment, try things out, see if they work well and can be included in your next dj set. If you make a mistake, who will know, and a good dj never tells!
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