First off how are 1210's impractical?
Secondly if your an Old school Dj…how do you not mix? This I thought was a basic part of Djing..wow!


Good ..your going to need it! ;)

Stopped reading there. At that point all questions are moot because it doesn't really matter, right?

www.djjohnnym.com

QFT

Hahah! :D

maybe he meant:

i'm "old"
I used to go to "school"
I want to be a "dj"

Which thread is more self-destructive, this one or the one where the guy wanted to class action sue Beezo?

serato.com

Give the guy a break, DJs also just play music, being able to mix isn't actually required, though it may break some hearts in here to hear that.

You should buy Virtual DJ and sell me your 1210's

Very true...the term DJ originally referred to disc jockeys on the radio that selected recorded music and played it . Francis Grasso was the DJ who started beat match mixing in the discoteques in 1969.

en.wikipedia.org

But yes, it does break hearts to hear that in here.

You will find my comment on another post "All DJ's Do Is Press Buttons"....

It takes a brave man to know his limitations. You can't carry an extensive collection of 12"s to cover every eventuality and a couple of fragile decks to some twat's wedding or an 18th birthday where it's gonna kick off after too much alcohol. When I did use them, records jumped when people danced. I rarely have the luxury of a DJ booth or even a frickin' stage.

Yeah, maybe I am old and so will you one day and I bet you won't know be mixing or even keeping up with the music then. Wanna be a DJ, I don't think so mate and I sure don't wanna be a boring poser. By the way, my 1210's got thrown across a dancefloor by an irate bouncer because I didn't turn off when he said so.

I watch people rip it up at my parties, old and young. I get the job done but I don't want to pretend I'm something I'm not. I've watched my mate mix live on vinyl, two 1210's and a mixer, cutting, scratching, keeping it interesting, no technology, just pure class. I can't do that and there's no point cos my audience will not appreciate it?

All I want to know is, what do people use to control the huge amount of mp3's on their portable hard drive. I don't want CD players on the laptop screen, I want to find the tracks quickly and easily and queue them up for my MDCD-5 to play.

can't you just plug your hard drive right into the mpcd5 and navigate through the files and folders? For what you need, that sounds like the best option for you...

I'm more curious about why you never learned how to mix two songs together after all these years. I'm not making fun I'm just wondering.

I find that when you blend the songs together rather than just letting them fade out it sounds more pleasant to the ears and seamless and you are missing out on alot of fun things you can do in a party. That was the very first thing I learned before I felt comfortable calling myself a DJ. I'm so so scratching but I can mix my ass off, it made me a better producer and I have a better feel for the music I play because of it.

+1



I'm old as a fuck - (going on "late 40's - damn...) - I caught the DJ bug 30 yrs ago. I just did a mobile event Saturday - played Travis Porter, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown - tons of "new rap shit that I shouldn't like but love" ... and yep - mixed it - I don't/can't scratch but beatmixing is fundamental...

Serious question - did the Bouncer throw your decks because he didn't respect you as a DJ you were "wasting his time" - pushing buttons not doing anything when it was time to go?




I can respect that - but about the "will not appreciate it" part - seems like you short changing your audience unless you do some great Mic work (New York style or wedding dj chatter)



I was going to say bypass the MDCD-5 (WTF is that anyway???) and go with ITCH serato.com but you may just be able to bypass the decks and just play songs right from the laptop - from what U say the crowd probably won't care, you aren't mixing - why not "JUST" use a laptop?

jukebox

well i can see how tt's in general can be "impractical" for some gigs.

Just because you can't do it doesn't mean people don't appreciate it. Because I mix and scratch I can charge double what you charge for private parties because they would rather pay more than end up with a "DJ" like you.

I can beatmatch all day, but the last wedding I played I just faded from song to song... and the groom actually thanked me for "not getting creative". Not all crowds appreciate making everything into "one long song".

Thank you, somebody with the sense to see outside their record box at last.

jwagner: The statement was "MY audience won't appreciate it". Learn to read and you can charge even more mate.

"...did the Bouncer throw your decks because he didn't respect you as a DJ you were "wasting his time..."

No, he was on steroids and didn't like the fact that I didn't kiss his a*se. His boss paid the bill and I upgraded or should I say dumbed down to digital.

who? your stuffed animal collection?

unless you are playing nothing but 50 and over weddings your crowd WILL appreciate mixing and the skill it takes to do so. think about it...what is the major demographic that is getting married today? 25-35 year olds. now what is the major demographic that goes out to clubs and parties? 21-35 year olds. 2+2=4. i think YOU in fact are the one who is not looking outside of your tiny little box. and it's jaggoffs like you that give real mobiles like me a bad name.

I believe he's in the UK so I think we're safe..LOL

Check this thread out

serato.com

The couple I referred to in my earlier post was in their mid-late 20's. The majority of their guests, on the other hand, were considerably older (there was also no alcohol at the wedding). Every group has a different dynamic; the next wedding I'm playing the groom has specifically requested an old-school hip-hop set quick-mixed club-style and they're in their 30's.

BuwhahahHAHAHA!!!

but not all 21-35 go to clubs, alot of that age range hates clubs. THey also hate djs, poppin bottles(unless they are drinkin a beer), and over priced drinks.

never understood why djs think everybody wants to hear a dj, some people like bands, jukeboxes, or just no mixes.

you seem like the one in the box.

+1

I think the sweet spot for the Club/DJ mixing experience is the 30 and up crowd. The low end (30's) grew up and peaked on all those 2000-ish southern rap BECAME that deal (Lil Jon, Back that Ass Up, Luda, etc). the 40 somethings had the golden age of Hip hop and rap (90's) was the dominant music (Biggie & Pac). The 50-ish somethings were the beginning of the club scene (disco, Funk, new wave, studio 54, House Music, etc)...

The 20 somethings started with Soulja boy until now?

Around these parts I've seen more rackmount CD players than turntables at weddings (with an honorable mention to the dual-laptop/mixer setup).

.. listen just got with with any of the major DJ sofware... VDJ or serato or perfect... i was going to sat tracktor but shit the screen looks busy as fuck... either way they will hold your music and you can SEARCH drop a track and just press play/stop... VDj is the cheaper option 299 $ or if you buy a controller you get a 50-100 % discount depending on the controller.

i didnt really mean it like that, its just that all djs seem to think they are needed and people have to hear a dj. As a long time dj, ive seen many situations, where an ipod would have worked fine compared to the terrible dj that was playing. Or some people still like rock(or other tunes) and not hip hop/edm, so they have to real need for a dj other than playing a song.

my one cool story bro, is seeing my homie dj(never was much of a dj, but good promoter), 8 years ago, i remember because it was his '21st" birthday, and all he did was use itunes, to the hot club/hot night of the week and it got the party crunk(it was 8 years ago). he changed things up from time to time, tweaking the playlist, but it showed me that no one really cared in a room of 250 enough to leave. DJ's arent realizing these days, that in the high end/bottle service/upscale scene that those people arent there to hear you, they are there to get laid and party, your dj skills and music are pretty irrelevant, and since you are playing the same songs as everyone else, and 1-100(depending on size of town) other djs can do your job.

that being said, i don't necessarily condone it, and i wish it was different, but it is what it is.

One of the unsung dj skills is being able to differentiate when the crowd is there to see you, and when they aren't; and acting accordingly.

not sure i can agree with you on this on. the spot i do on fridays was super slow. one time the owner told me he had a $12 ring or something and it ws bad. i told him let me play here and ill turn it around. they have a juke box, a real nice one that takes pics and all. its not like im a dmc champ or something but im real great on transitions and blending. most places around here hirer djs weekly and do quite well. the ones that dont are kind of dead

Gospel!!

Joshua Carl - always this the truth! So many wannabe's that get hired by shit promoters don't understand this. They think the whole club is there for them.

I do agree wit this hear. with radio the way it is these days, most crowds are only familiar with a few selects songs. the hottest songs on the radio end up being the hottest songs in the club. once in a while, you'll have a club hit transition to the radio, but still and all, people these days are usually only familiar to a limited amount of music. you can blame this on record execs, 99cent downloads, program directors... whatever...

as a dj, however, i do appreciate hearing different music from another dj. but 8/10 this usually has a negative impact on the crowd. People, especially in hip hop, dont appreciate good music. These days everything is brand-driven. Sorta like Coca Cola and Nike. If their logo is on it, then people will like it no matter how bad it is. Samething with music. The Drakes, Lil Waynes, Rick Rosses get constant rotation on radio and in clubs no matter the song quality. If crowds were more substance driven then DJ's could be more creative. But these days they only want hear specific music. Therefore, DJ's tend to have a cookie cutter approach.

WHAT??? they are always there to see me....my name is on the flyer!!!

LOL - Interesting groom. I just did a wedding Sat night where the father of the bride came up with $50 tip in his hand and wondered how I got all those songs to "blend into each other?" When he saw my turntables, he just smiled at me as I nodded back with my headphones on! :)

Different strokes...

Yeah. I think it's BS someone would hire a DJ who wouldn't blend songs together. If that were really the case, they would have had some relative with an iPod handle the music

Honestly I could have easily done that gig with 2 ipods (still needed to crossfade), but they mainly needed someone with a sound system, a mic for announcements, a decent song selection and the ability to play songs on cue without messing up (as I and others have said a hundred times before on this forum, mixing is but a single aspect of DJing). It was the most atypical wedding I've done (there was no alcohol either).

Personally I prefer it when I'm given a bit of "artistic license" to mix the songs as I see fit; it makes the gig much more engaging/fun for me. I've gotten tips for my mixing at other weddings too, both with tables and with my Xone DX controller; I know that there are people who appreciate mixing skill.

Different strokes indeed :).

i see what you mean, a lot of people want to hear the song, the whole song.

now of course its not gonna go dead air, but just the old radio blend i think is fine for most people.

At a house party a few nights back there were a couple of 'DJs' there with their VCI400, traktor and no headphones. Doing essentially nothing except for mangling songs with FX.
I realised the next day just how much better it would have been if someone had just made a well selected itunes playlist for the night.
I figure every person having a house party now would know someone that would beg to come over and 'DJ' it and do the exact same thing.

egggggxactly