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How did you get started?

Hiphop fan in the late 80s, got into rave in the 90s, got into DJing in 2000 cause all my friends were either ravers or djs.

How did you get money for your gear?

Got a job/begged/borrowed

What gear did you start with?

A Technics SL-1600 and a Technics SL-1700. Neither were meant for DJing and were hand-me-downs from my dad. They were terrible for DJing actually.

A Stanton SK-5 - shit mixer - didn't even have EQs

What gear do you have now?

2 Tech 1200 M3Ds

Rane 62

Pioneer DJM-707

VCI-380

Various midi controllers (Dicers, LPD8, Trigger Finger)

Small sound system (2 QSC K12s, 2 Yorkville NX720S)

How many different setups do you think you have been through?

So many. After struggling with the non-dj turntables, I bought one of the tech 12s and a numark table and then promptly returned the numark for another tech within a week.

Been through 3 mixers in between that stanton and my current Rane 62 (Roland DJ-1000, Pioneer DJM-707, Rane 57)

Owned a VCI-300 before upgrading to the 380.

How did you get your first gig?

Friend was a DJ, asked me to play with him.

How do you get your gigs now?

I hustle. A lot. It's my only source of income. Club, bar, and opening and headlining gigs are via reputation and networking. Most of my mobile and corporate gigs are either through networking or word-of-mouth.

I also have several different agencies and companies getting me different types of gigs. I have at least 3 companies locally - 2 for local corporate and mobile gigs and one for in-store gigs. Just landed a proper touring booking agent for doing headlining gigs so I'm hoping I can ditch the mobile and corporate gigs sooner than later. Stoked cause I hate booking tours myself.

What marketing methods would you say are most effective for a dj trying to get big?

How big? Local? Build a following that will come see you play - doesn't matter how good you are or what you play really - if you can guarantee a certain number of people to your gigs whenever you play, you will get gigs.

Beyond local? Produce, or try to make something that goes viral (or better still both). Neither are easy or guaranteed to work tho.

How much did you make when you started?

Very little - most gigs I did for free or drinks (usually opening slots for local electronic nights). I remember getting paid $150 early on for a gig and that felt like a lot.

How much are you making now and how did you negotiate that kind of payoff?

Anywhere from $100 - $1000+

I charge what I'm worth depending on the gig, what I get to play, who I get to play for, and how much work I have to put into it. I used to be very firm in my fees, but after a while I started only getting booked for certain kinds of gigs (mostly ones I didn't like doing) so now I charge less the more fun I get to have. If someone lowballs me or isn't offering what I think I'm worth, I decline.

Do you use Facebook to promote and if so how do you use it to promote?

Yes - engage the fans, give out my own tunes and mixes.

Have resources to show us how?

Just be social and engage people beyond just self-promotion.

Do you use youtube or soundcloud to promote and if so how do you do it?

Youtube - not enough. Soundcloud - lots.

I put up stuff and promote it and if people like it, they share it.

Where all do you promote your work online?

Everywhere. Facebook, message boards, soundcloud, twitter - need to get onto instagram and vine...

What is the best way you have found to sell your music and beats?

I haven't found a good way yet. I have 14 releases on various labels - some releases have done well, some haven't but I've barely seen a dime.

There's very little money in the music itself these days unless you get a big licensing deal (and most of my releases are exempt as most of them are on under-the-rader bootleg labels and contain unlicensed samples). The tunes are more for marketing to build your following and fans.

I'd rather give most of my stuff away for free nowadays.

What style of music do you play?

just about everything. I play music I like which is a lot of different styles, and I play music I don't like if I get paid enough. What I'm known for is breaks and funky music, but I'll play anything except maybe country and trance. Been really into mixing rock lately...

What are the best blogs or websites are the best to learn DJ stuff?

techtools, dj worx, serato forum, r/beatmatch

Best thing to do is just experiment though.

none of this was around when I first started so I just taught myself which I still think is the best way to learn, although learning some basic music theory will help a lot (was classically trained in violin for 13 years).

What books are the best you have found for learning to DJ for beginners? What about pro level?

for both: How to DJ Right

How would you go about getting started in DJ if you had to start over? (in terms of money, gear, style, and other basic stuff you can think of)

same way. collect vinyl, get turntables, learn to dj the old fashioned way.

Gearwise, I would have saved more and bought quality gear first instead of trying to be cheap and get shitty gear first cause I would have saved money in the long run. My techs are still working great after almost 13 years.

I should have also chosen a different name for my personal passion djing than my money/top 40/mobile djing.

Where is the best places to find gear?

Anywhere - ebay, craigslist, online stores like musiciansfriend.com agiprodj.com turntablelab.com - lots more

How do deal with the bar owners and patrons that show up to listen to your tunes?

uh, what?

How do you price your skill level?

I ask for what I think I'm worth.

Before I bought my Technics I owned a Stanton STR8 wich handled pretty well for the price. The torque is not on par with proper turntables but you can work with it. In time and with practise you'll know how the drive functions, i.e. how much pressure to apply, torque spin recovery and such. Quick ebay search I saw them go for about 70 dollars used.

I still use mine today for record digging and sampling and it still functions after hundreds of hours.

I really have a bad experience with numark turntables and would advise against them. And they're a terrible eyesore.

Ecler Nuo 2 would be my mixer of choice. Well built, good component, sounds nice, compact and costs about 100 doilla used if you're lucky. Another choice could be a Vestax PMC-05

Remember that cartridges also cost money. I personally use Shure M44-7's and I'd recommend them. The Ortofon Concords are also nice.

That is probably over the budget which is way to low. Trust me vinyl djing is not cheap but it is very rewarding. I like the idea that you want to start on vinyl. Transitioning to cdj's or controllers in the future will be a lot easier rather than then the other way around.

I'd also recommend getting a DVS system or a DVS integrated mixer. There's a lot more creative freedom with that to experiment with different things. You also don't have to spend as much on vinyl.

Don't forget the headphones! Out of budget, again. You can go with something cheaper, just try to get closed and on-ears.

But you're starting to see a trend right? 300 dollars are just not gonna cut it in my opinion. Even if you manage to get everything with that budget it's most likely going to perform really poor which makes everything less enjoyable, and more importantly.... harder. And learning to play vinyl is hard enough to begin with.

And I'm not saying go drop 2 grand on industry standard gear. Just... you know maybe save up to like 6-700 maybe. just so everything functions nice and well. Buy used gear, do research, practise practise practise and have fun :)

PS. This helped me out a lot when I was starting, and is very good information and lessons on turntablism. It also goes over basic turntable setup, i.e. arm adjustments, need and cartridge maintainance etc

No worries at all, sir noob. To explain I'll start at the beginning. Back before the invention of the sync button, records with different beats per minute (bpm) were physically sped up or down on their respective turntables to match one another. For example, if the record on deck A is spinning at 130 bpm and deck B has a 128 bpm track going 'round, we want to increase the speed of the 128 deck by sliding that pitch/tempo fader on the side. On real turntables, this makes the motor spin the turntable and the vinyl faster. At the same time, the beats of the two tracks won't always be right on during this process; if they start out at different speeds, they'll fall out of sync in the time it takes to adjust the pitch faders accordingly. This is where "nudging" comes in, which is when we touch the outside of the spinning table to slow down or speed up the record. We nudge the record, with the goal of keeping the beats from the track on deck B matched with those of deck A, all the while adjusting that pitch fader, until we no longer have to nudge the redorc to keep the beats synced. Sorry if that explanation doesn't make sense, if your still a little fuzzy check out this wiki article on beatmatching for a more formal explanation.

The essence of this method is carried over to pretty much all dj programs, Virtual DJ included. The main difference is that we have the sync button. Even the most precise vinyl turntablist can't always get their records match and synced 100%; they can get very close, but it is near impossible, with analog equipment, to sync two tracks perfectly. With digital mixing however, it's not only possible, but only a mouse click away with the sync button. Sync matches two track perfectly, as long as their beatmapping is correct. But if you want to use the pitch sliders, you can do it exactly the same way as with vinyl; just manually slide the fader of the 128 bpm track on deck B until it is as close to the 130 bpms of the track on deck A. Again, you can get it pretty close, but until you hit that sync button, its unlikely to get it perfectly beatmatched. But that's that's ok, because we can nudge in VDJ as well. Next time you play a track in Virtual, use your left/right arrow keys on you keyboard. You will hear the track slow down or speed up, then return to normal when you take your finger off. This is nudging. To answer your second question, this is the tool you use when the beats of two tracks with identical bpms are not synced. You temporarily slow down or speed up one of them until the beats of both tracks hit at the same time. You can adjust the pitch sliders to do so if you'd like, but you'll likely lose the benefit of having both tracks set at exactly 128, unless you press sync again.

The pitch sliders can also be used during a track to speed up or slow it down for dramatic effect, or if you are trying to move from 130 bpm house to 140 bpm dubstep, for example.

In my opinion, beatmatching is a fundamental skill that should be understood by all DJs. In my experience on the other hand, manually matching beats takes up a lot of time, time which could be spent looking for another track, manipulating effects, inserting samples, or anything else that comes up. In the end it's your choice how you match your tunes.


And those headphones look pretty solid, I'd look up reviews. 123DJ.com is a god place to look at headphones, HeadFi.org has good reviews of all kinds of headphones. Personally, I'd recommend the Behringer HPX2000s if your starting out; they're inexpensive but sound great for the price, they're loud, and they look like "real" DJ headphones if that's a selling point for you.

Hope all that blahblahblah helped, feel free to ask any other questions.

Alright here's where you need to look. My brother has the first pair, I have the second, there are pros and cons to both, but based off of your need for studio monitoring the first pair of headphones may be the best choice for you.

1.) http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B000ULAP4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1334094124&sr=8-3

For the money you have to spend these are typically considered flat out the best headphones for the value they get. head-fi.com has them rated the second best pair of headphones, like period. These are amazing, I'm super jealous my brother has them and I don't, but now to my headphones.

2.) http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SRH750-DJ-Headphones-Black/dp/B002PAQYK8/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334094157&sr=8-1-spell

I have the pair listed above because the bass is so solid that it makes beatmatching and DJing super easy. They don't have the best sound in the world, but they're durable, strong, easy to throw around on your head and your neck, have swivel cups, and do everything I need my DJ headphones to do. I have another pair for just computer listening though, because these aren't that comfortable for long periods of time. Having said that I've worn them for 4 or 5 hours at a time and haven't minded too much. The real issue with these is the bass response is so powerful you have to watch your levels or your ears will really hurt afterwards. If it's bass you want and DJing capabilities, you want these.


I think I would recommend the audio tecnicas (the first pair) because from what you mentioned you said studio monitoring first, and these are simply made for that, with DJing as maybe their secondary use. Again, they're number 2 on head-fi...these headphones are amazing and I think you'll be very happy with them, my brother certainly is.

Listening to a lot of mixes is certainly a great idea, I didn't even think about DJing for years, I just love music so much, I realized after a while I had a serious collection going and people seemed to like my taste in music.

I started using Virtual DJ without a controller for a LONG time, just putting together mixes with a mouse and keyboard (painful, but it works). I'm always listening to music, always looking in various places for music new and old. Beatport is a great finger on the pulse of electronic music, but certainly don't limit yourself to one place. Did you hear a song, a band or producer you like? Type that shit into pandora and have a listen, you won't find gold every time, but it's a good way to discover new stuff.

My buddies in the IRC channel (look how to access this room on the right hand nav bar dealie, we'd love to talk to you about getting into DJing) are usually linking this book and this one as well to newcomers. I haven't read them myself though.

Your passion for music will drive you forward, just keep listening and do some practice transitions, keep mixing, all the time. The different styles and techniques you can employ in your DJing can be overwhelming, but just focus on the basics. Learn your style, your niche, your SOUND, work on blending tracks and whatever else you want to do will.. present itself in time. Good luck homie and I hope to see you in #r_djs!

Pretty much all vinyl. It's the most fun. But, despite having spun a few parties, it's just a hobby for me, which makes it way easier to justify the format (and a big part of the fun is digging for old house and disco records, and finding gems in the dollar bins).

Ellaskins was pretty helpful when I was starting although I think that just as helpful as his actual videos is his takeaway message, "practice and enjoy" - just gotta stick with it and get the feel for it. Also, I had the book How to DJ Right which helped me visualize some things early on.

As for BPM, I finally got around to putting BPM stickers on my disco collection because the BPMs are so all over the place that I got tired of thinking "oh yeah this track would go great next" and it turns out to be like 20 bpm slower once I start attempting to mix it. I haven't bothered with my house collection because it's all in a similar range and I just have a good idea of which records are "slower" (like 115-120bpm) "medium" or "fast" (closer to 135), and so as long as you are not grabbing an outlier, with practice, you should be able to figure out about how much quicker or slower the new record you're trying to mix in is, and you just get a feel for pitch slider position. I also generally try not to go over/under about 4% on the pitch slider especially if the track has vocals (for something more like, say, techno, I think this matters less). I'm sure lots of people have different opinions on that, just giving you mine.

lot of good advice here already but i'll try and toss out some personal experience:

• get OBS. it can be intimating to use if you have no experience but there's a youtube video for basically any problem you could encounter so don't be afraid to google around for your specific issue if/when you run into one.
  
  
• if you're using a 4/5 channel dj mixer, get a usb audio interface (something cheap like this will work just fine). this isn't absolutely necessary and you can actually get around audio issues with OBS without one (as long as your mixer has a USB connection) with some hardware routing but you'll lose out on an entire channel. this explains that perfectly and was the only video out there that actually helped me achieve this without the need of a secondary interface.
  
  
• if you're not using an external mixer/are using Serato or Traktor, using a secondary computer or even your phone would be a much better way to stream, as running stream software like OBS with another cpu intensive program like Traktor will result in choppiness with the stream. i have a late-2012 macbook pro and hit this issue myself, so if you've got a PC or alternative decent laptop you can use for dedicated streaming that would be ideal, another option is using your phone in conjunction with something like Facebook Live, without the need of OBS, but you'll sacrifice audio quality dramatically using a TRRRS line-in instead of USB.
  
  
• if you have shitty internet, you basically might as well not even bother trying to stream because it will usually not be a good experience. this is the camp i'm in for the time being, anything less than a 3MB upload rate is pretty much worthless, though you can sacrifice video quality for audio superiority within OBS and sometimes it can work out into a comfortable stream. this is something that will take some trial and error to figure out, as well as figuring out how much to delay your audio to sync up with your video, which will always be at least a little bit off by default until you adjust it within the audio mixer of OBS.

Ah I see, I noticed that the first time I DJ'd for a party. My friend had a set of wires that worked as a mixer, but no mixing controller like this. I have kept an ipod ready, because crashing and malfunctions happens far too often without a legit setup, but never considered having it ready in a separate channel, so that's awesome.

So most speakers have cords which go into mixers? if not what kind of wire setups do they have, and do most speakers need separate adapters to plug into a laptop?

and Do mixers have their own separate programs which connect straight to the computer/laptop?

I've seen preview buttons on some programs, now I can see how they are useless without having two audio outputs. I've always wanted to mix with Ableton-esque programs, so I can make legitimate remixes, rather than just looping sound and adding in samples :)

My problem is, when I watch most DJ's with professional controllers and equipment, I hardly ever see them doing any work. Many times I have seen DJ's be working on the mixing (the previews) and nothing looks live (For example, I often see a DJ scratching and changing EQ traits, while the current song is playing and never hear an alteration later). I'll definitely try out some equipment at next opportunity, unfortunately, I'm in Northern Japan for the summer and access to a good store is distant.

Thanks for the links!! I'll do some research!

I like books, so maybe we should have a book section? We can include:

• How to DJ Right: The Art and Science of Playing Records for technique.
  
• Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey. Not necessary but probably interesting for DJs.
  
  We should probably include things about turntablism too. Here's a tutorial video series for that. And links to documentaries? I found Scratch to be pretty entertaining. Or would this stuff be more suited for the turntablists subreddit? r/DJs has more subscribers...
  
  Harmonic mixing seems like it would be a good thing to throw in there.
  

http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SRH750-DJ-Headphones-Black/dp/B002PAQYK8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324648532&sr=8-1

Amazon brought their price up to $150, but you can click "31 new from $99.00" and choose a different seller. It looks you can get a pair for $99.00 + free shipping. I love these headphones. I have no complaints about them at all. From what I've read they appear to be the best headphones for that price. I like them more than my friends $200 A&H Xone:XD-53s.

I'll answer your questions, trying not to sound like a dickhead - but read a book about digital DJing if you want to do it. I used "How to DJ properly". I'm sure you can find a free copy online, it'll explain why you use lossless and not MP3s

if you can't be arsed like most skids..

iTunes is less than 320kbps - really avoid using it for tracks you'll play out, and they often compress the song to make it a smaller file.

lossless formats are WAV/FLAC etc - in short the file's not been compressed to or edited since the source from your artist - that's all you want to use for a pro sound. They will thump the low end and have nice detailed highs, along with the dynamics your artist intended! If you play an MP3 on a big system you'll loose the whole crowd, seen it so many times.

I'm afraid you wont often get lossless for free or from any domestic supplier like iTunes. Use DJ specific sites. Read the book!

First and foremost, just play with it. Noodle about and have some fun! I did this for quite some time with 1 scratch record and then bought Qbert's Do it yourself DVD. I can't recommend it enough, really cool. Yoy can switch between a few different camera angles at any point (eg. overhead, zoomed in on fader hand, record hand etc). Loads of cool extras as well as the scratch techniques too . And it's not boring, Qberts a bit of a nutter so you will be laughing...

I've recently gotten myself a fancy new setup to record. Along with using a Novation Twitch and an Akai MPK25 to control Serato DJ, I have a lighting rig, which I use while mixing to make it more dynamic. I use a chauvet Obey 40, with two Chauvet Mini Kintas and two generic LED spotlights, to create an atmosphere. AAANNDDDD along side that, my most recent addition is two video cameras on tripods to catch the whole mix from different angles, which I then take into Sony Vegas 13 to edit it all down and make it look cool. (Oh, and I've got my mix recorded in Serato while I play, which I sync up with the video via a few clap samples that I play from my speakers). Here's the final product ( don't mind my kinda boring mixing, I just wanted to test out my whole setup to see if it worked) http://youtu.be/MkKARNRvfU8

And to help you out with the recording situation, Behringer sells rather good quality input/output sound cards for about $30 (Behringer UCA202 Audio Interface https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KW2YEI/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_5zRVub1GCHXDR), and you just plug in the output from the mixer into it, and use audacity (or your favorite recording program) to record it all.

I have learned with that guy ellaskins but another user posted that, besides that i'd recomend to listen to other DJs of the genres you like, obtain the tracks of those mixes, listen to the tracks you like and put close attention to how that DJ mix those songs and at least for EDM mixes there is not too much you can learn or teach.
Also this book is a good inside to DJ topics, is a bit too swallow but at least i enjoyed reading it
How to DJ Right

Hey! Hopefully I can give you some insight. I am not sure if you can use the USB out if the RX2 into a computer to get an audio signal (someone let me know if I'm wrong). Something you could do is purchase an audio interface. I use this one that is relatively inexpensive for my streaming purposes and it works great! I use it with a Mac and if I remember correctly, it was plug and play. The system would recognize the interface from the streaming software and you get a good quality feed from the mixer. It worked out for me and isn't too overly complicated. Hope you get everything worked out!

I dated a girl who had this on her bookshelf. I scoffed at first and then found myself reading the shit out of that book. But, still, a lot of the content seems like common sense picked up by spending time in the trenches.

I got more inspiration from reading Last Night a DJ Saved My Life than by anything else I've ever read or watched.

I suggest that you head over to /r/beatmatch, a lot more helpful people and some links in the sidebar that might help you. Also, go down the library and see if they have the books "DJing for Dummies" and "How to DJ (Properly): The Art and Science of Playing Records". Good luck!

I would highly recommend picking up this book. It covers basically everything you'd probably want to know, and it's a pretty entertaining read. My copy is pretty dogeared.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is just mess around and practice for as long as possible! Both me and Fever are old enough that we predate video tutorials or Youtube vids and wotnot, but tbf, they do make that initial hump easier to get over I think - this was really useful for me when it came out

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DJ-Qbert-Yourself-Skratching-NTSC/dp/B000096JHI

If you’re looking for a Beginners setup I’d highly recommend you get yourself a controller rather than getting CDJs and DJMs. There’s a substantial price difference.

A good entry level controller I would recommend is the Pioneer DDJ-SB3. It offers a simple, yet intuitive layout which offers countless of opportunities to try new techniques.

For this to work, you'll need a sound card that supports at least 2 outputs. Usually, onboard soundcards only support 1 headphone out, so usually people buy external USB soundcards. Once you get a soundcard that supports multiple outputs, you can go into preferences for whatever program you use to send the main mix to one output and the headphone (sometimes called 'cue') mix to the other.

Some soundcards that seem to be popular:

Numark DJ I/O

M-audio fast track

If those are too expensive, there's also the method of getting a cheaper USB soundcard with only 1 output, and hack together a driver using both the USB and onboard outputs so that the computer thinks it's one audio interface with two outputs. If you want more info about that process, let me know!

Yup, what others have said. Use your dominant hand on the fader as you rarely need much fine control over the record itself. Practice practice practice. I found that an instructional like Q-bert's scratch tutorial helped immensely. Just run through it hundreds of times, faster and faster each time. You'll get there. But yeah, dominant hand on the fader.

edit: https://www.amazon.com/Qberts-complete-YOURSELF-Vol-Skratching/dp/B000096JHI

Sorry, I was actually referring to the HD280's. I've owned so many pairs of Sennies over the last 13 years that I can't even keep them straight anymore haha.

They're ~$90-100 -- I usually buy them around holidays when they're on sale for around $70 with free shipping -- these are the pair that I rely on solely nowadays:

https://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B000065BPB

For people who say they are too broke/lazy or overwhelmed with the idea of getting custom plugs, Etymotic has a standard fit model that is really good and relatively inexpensive.

[Here] (http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ETY-Plugs-Protection-Earplugs/dp/B0044DEESS/ref=sr_1_1/182-6609365-7216512?ie=UTF8&qid=1408546882&sr=8-1&keywords=etymotic) is a link so you have no excuse not to get them today

Also remember that literally anything is better than nothing. Even the cheap foam plugs are helpful.

I recently bought these Hearos earplugs designed for music listening:
http://www.amazon.com/Hearos-Earplugs-Fidelity-Comfortable-Package/dp/B0037KM8QY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1346963881&sr=8-7&keywords=er20

They are replacing a pair of Etymotic Research ER20s that I lost.

Note to those looking to buy, the Hearos earplugs are pretty small. I have to insert them much further into my ear canal than my ER20 (medium size - note they used to sell Small, Med, Large now they only sell Standard and Large, no idea how those compare to the old medium size) plugs. Hearos doesn't sell a large size and they are a bit less comfortable because of this. They seem to work pretty well, although I haven't taken them out to the club yet, just some test listening at home on high volumes. I'm not really happy about the fit, I may see if my Girlfriend wants these Hearos and buy a pair of ER20s in large.

Also note: I have very large ear canals. Most standard size earbuds fall out of my ears.

Personally I have used both the traktor s2 as well as Pioneers 2 track serato controller.
Hands down I would go with serato and Pioneer any day when it comes to learning. I find Serato offers so much more and is so much easier to use as a new DJ. I toured shows with Serato for the first year and a bit of my career before switching to CDJS. Also if CDJS is your end goal then 100% go with Pioneer and serato. If you can mix with serato you can mix on cdjs.

You can grab the controller i started my career with at this link!! ****You dont need to be playing on big rigs to be a successful DJ/Artist!

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07B4SP526/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=sydneyrae-20&camp=15121&creative=330641&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07B4SP526&linkId=869a1fcbc470f66321ddda62cad2e155

If you can get your hands on this DVD . . . BUY IT. If not, just go online and youtube "DJ QBERT DO IT YOURSELF." Those videos pretty much set the foundation for what I'm able to do today.

But on another note, the best way to learn is having sessions with people who are already familiar with the art form.

Read this book if you want to know what DJing is about. Nothing will explain it better than the very people who invented the craft.

This documentary will also be a great way to learn more about the New York scene of the '70s, where the modern DJ emerged from.

Get this table. Nice and tall. Lifetime 80160 Commercial Height Adjustable Folding Utility Table, 4 Feet, White Granite https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DYZQKY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OK.WBbRRWYTFB

Nice username. Love TMV!

There's a book called, "how to DJ right" https://www.amazon.com/How-DJ-Right-Science-Playing/dp/0802139957 that I read a longggg time ago but I think explains how to manually sync records the old fashioned way. Quick google search found this, which breaks down all the random info pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I86wv3WcDgg

audio2dj is a great card to start with.

if not you can get a numark dj i/o, but I highly recommend the audio2dj over the numark

The (expensive) hardware solution with Serato: Get a Rane SL 2,3 or 4 interface. That will allow you use the CDJ2000s like some bigger sized DDJ platters/controllers with Serato.

The (free, but maybe time intensive) software solution with Rekordbox: Download Rekordbox, reorganize your library in Rekordbox (this might help) and either

• get a switch and some network cables to connect your laptop to the players
  
  
• get some USB/SD drives and export your audio files to them via the rekordbox aplication.
  

If you are just learning to DJ your best bet is to spend 100 to 200 dollars.

I started DJing for 120 dollars not including my computer with a Hercules MP3 E2, a set of Behringer headphones, and a cheap external soundcard.

Starting cheaply will allow you to learn the basics and will give you a feel for what you should really spend your money on. Plus if you don't enjoy DJing you only wasted a few bucks (You can pawn the stuff to a friend or on CL).

After you have learned some of the basics and determine that you want to continue doing it then look at the deck and go, "What am I missing here?". Do you want bigger and better platters? More buttons? More knobs? A certain layout? After using something that has just the basics you will be able to determine what you really need.

Links below to the gear I started with.

Deck

http://www.amazon.com/Hercules-DJ-Control-MP3-E2/dp/B002HH9TO2

Headphones (I still use these but plan on getting some new ones)

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-HPX2000-Headphones-High-Definition-DJ/dp/B000IKWBC2/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1334877900&sr=1-1

USB Soundcard

http://www.amazon.com/External-Audio-Sound-Card-Adapter/dp/B004D3UFL4/ref=sr_1_8?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1334877931&sr=1-8

Total comes out to ~$130 plus shipping.

Also just so you know I currently use a Hercules DJ 4-Mx and the previously mentioned headphones.

Yeah I was looking at that one and also the budget one Pioneer DJ DDJ-SB3.

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You obviously get what you pay for but I do also like the compact size.

If all you need is an extra stereo output, take a look at Behringer's UCA202: http://amzn.com/B000KW2YEI

I own one, bought it for use as an oscilloscope, but now I just use it with headphones (my comp at work has no sound for some reason, so I use this). Sound quality is fairly good, never had it hooked up to anything big/serious though. USB Audio, so max 16-bit 48kHz, but it has RCAs, which might save you an adapter, and it's $30. I have never used it to DJ anything. I, in fact, have no Dj skills or experience.

Ah, that makes sense! Yeah when you get a drummer up there that can hold a steady double bass roll while beating on his various crash cymbals, it gets pretty damn noisy lol.

I've been using a set of hearos ultimate softness disposables the past dozen or so shows and I'm pretty happy with them, but sometimes feel they add a "muddiness" to the music. I've been considering these since they have a 29 NRR and are made for live music, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Sennheiser are the ones that I use: they are good and accesible.

aside from what /u/britty1983 mentioned, if you want to use the output to an external recorder you could pick up an RCA piggyback to run the output into the speakers and piggyback into something like this

I have this sat on my desk. Its not a DJ mixer, but it does what you want.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-802-8-Input-2-Bus-Mixer/dp/B000J5XS3C

Alternatively, if your dead set on using a DJ mixer, just get something cheap and cheerful like the numark m4, I don't see much point in spending silly money.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NUMARK-M4-Mix-3-channel/dp/B00PYVST58/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457884561&sr=8-1&keywords=numark+m4

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCA202-Audio-Interface/dp/B000KW2YEI

although i must say i had the same issue even with this interface then I talked to some fellow djs/producers and just started going in through the 2 mic inputs on my focusrite interface using a rca to dual quarter inch cable now my mixes are crystal clear

My mum bought me this book about 20 years ago. Still recommend it to this day...anything not covered in this book is stuff you have to discover yourself.

I run an Akai LPD8 alongside my Numark MTP. I use the top row as a drum machine and the bottom row for other samples. I got extremely lucky and picked one up used from a local Guitar Center for $15, I just had to get a new mini-USB cable for it.

It's not a MIDI controller, but I also use a Korg KP3 for effects.

My personal opinion here, but I think this is one of those things where people should learn by trial and error. There are so many free resources out there now days, that if you really have the desire and dedication to learn, you will do it on your own. You will crash and burn, but god damnit, you will come back and try again time after time after time. Sure, you can take a lesson from someone to learn a new technique or whatever, but you should have basic skills going in. I've been doing this for 15+ years now. I've met many "I am going to pay this guy to teach me to DJ!" people. Not a single one has ever made it anywhere.

As funny as it sounds, I've given this book to a countless number of people. To some as a gag gift and to others as a subtle hint....

https://www.amazon.com/How-DJ-Right-Science-Playing/dp/0802139957

Use this to plug your mixer to your computer. Then use Audacity selecting this as your input source. It's quite straight fwd.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0023BYDHK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With your current mixer in MIDI mode, you could use something like the Akai LPD8 to act as play/pause for your decks. Ean Golden's setup uses a MIDI keyboard to a similar effect. Both options would involve some mapping, but it would be significantly cheaper than getting another control surface.

You need an Ethernet Switch, as well as either a Thunderbolt-Ethernet or USB-Ethernet adapter for your laptop.

Also, why would a company willingly try to support other hardware makers through something compatible with most mixers on the market? Also, there would likely be some kind of limitation to a useful midi only jog wheel. This is likely more limiting. Most of the more popular controllers offer some kind of HID or more advanced integration with more resolution to the jog wheel. See Serato Native mode and Traktor HID.

Else you could look at the behrenger CMD line. They have what you're describing for: http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-CMD-PL-1-DJ-Controller/dp/B00DW5NCN2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1414422873&sr=8-4&keywords=behringer+cmd

Since you already have the controller, you really just need something with two outputs. One for your speakers and one for your headphones. I would say go with the Numark DJ iO. Its cheap, simple ,and gets the job done just fine.

http://www.amazon.com/Numark-DJ-Multi-Channel-Interface/dp/B000S5Q2EK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342274505&sr=8-1&keywords=numark+dj+io

I got a pair of these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044DEESS/

I wore them at EDC vegas (don't get me started on how almost no one had earplugs) and they worked fantastic. I haven't tried to dj with them but my dj budy has custom pair I think drop the sound by 8 dB when he plays.

Personally I'm saving up for a Numark NS7 & Akai LPD 8; all can be had for a reasonable $1220. This leaves enough money left over for a case. It's entry-level stuff, but it looks pro, and you get motorized turntables for a more authentic feel.

Or if you want to go pro for a bit more dough: 2x Stanton ST 150 + Denon DN-X600 + 2x Traktor Timecoded Vinyl = $1860.

Any kind of jog wheel that outputs midi will work. But you will need to edit some java script to map it to your software. Here's a single jog one. You could pick up two of these, or just pickup any dj controller: https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-CMD-PL-1-BEHRINGER/dp/B00DW5NCN2/ref=sr_1_145?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1493739418&sr=1-145&keywords=midi+controller

fasterZ already posted it, but here - the red/white plug into the outputs on the back of the RMX, and the female 1/8" end is where you plug your computer speakers.

http://www.amazon.com/CYRON-Multicolor-LED-System-HTP904E/dp/B004Q088Q8/ref=pd_cp_hi_3

Read:


https://www.amazon.com/Last-Night-DJ-Saved-Life/dp/0802146104/ref=sr_1_1

http://www.amazon.com/CYRON-Multicolor-LED-System-HTP904E/dp/B004Q088Q8/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1347843218&sr=1-1&keywords=cyron+multicolor+LED

this?

http://www.amazon.com/CYRON-Multicolor-LED-System-HTP904E/dp/B004Q088Q8/ref=pd_cp_hi_3

[Is this what you're looking for?] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DW5NCAU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DW5NCAU&linkCode=as2&tag=pb)

[Turntable sold separately] (http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-CMD-PL-1-DJ-Controller/dp/B00DW5NCN2/ref=pd_bxgy_MI_text_y)

I’m nowhere near as you (172cm) but look up adjustable height tables. I use this, and it fits in my tiny hatchback.


Lifetime 80160 Commercial Height Adjustable Folding Utility Table, 4 Feet, White Granite https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DYZQKY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6apWDbA1SY37J

I've been looking into similar products. Here's a couple on the cheaper side:

Korg nanoKONTROL2

Akai Pro LPD8

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCA222-BEHRINGER-U-CONTROL/dp/B0023BYDHK

I think this book should be required reading for anyone learning to DJ.

So your speakers have a 3.5mm MALE coming out of them?

If so, this is what you need:

2 x RCA Male, 1 x 3.5mm Stereo Female, Y-Cable 6-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I23TTE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_xkyKwb16ZG5E4

Are they powered/amplified speakers? Based on this configuration, I'm guessing they are not powered, so I don't think this will work anyway as you are feeding sound out of a controller not an amp/mixer.

This is a definitive guide for the noob. You'll need to cover what they've covered.

Never used one, but judging from the outputs on the back you should be able to hook it up to computer speakers with either this or this. The first cable would probably do the trick.

I’m liking my new Shure headphones. I loved the Sony MDXs, but they nerfed the series, and I did not like the Pioneers. The plastic on the headbands broke off. They became functional, but uncomfortable, and the outside material that covered the cushions on my ears and on top of my head flaked off and stuck to my head. I have high hopes for the Shures. The feel sturdier in design and material than the others I’ve tried in the price range.

Shure SRH750DJ Professional Quality DJ Headphones (Gold) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PAQYK8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_Nk1PAYygpWTKJ

Probably your best bet

Headfi.com is great source for more detailed headphone analysis, but phones that can take the abuse of travel and sets with that sound sig is a short list.

Get some nice musician's earplugs. I hated earplugs cause I couldn't hear anything. Then I got some of these. No occlusion effect so you can hear yourself talk, and all of the frequencies come through clear, just quieter. I still may take them out for a headliner, but you can really tell your ears are fatigued once you put them in after half a night at the club.

If you're looking to get in at the "fun hobby" end with that sort of budget, I think you should look at either the Behringer CMD Micro or the Numark DJ2GO. Both of those come with the basic software required (either an extremely cut-down VirtualDJ, or Deckadance LE).

(edit: after checking reviews and videos, I think the Behringer is the better of those two. It's still a limited device compared to spending more for more features, so you may wish to also check reviews on the CMD STUDIO 4A if you could maybe stretch your budget - or at least keep it in mind as a first upgrade step if you find yourself hooked.)

The only other hardware you need is a DJ splitter cable - I'm presuming you already have some headphones of any sort (regular cheap earbuds will do for now), and some basic PC speakers. The DJ splitter cable makes up for the fact that the cheap controller you will buy DOES NOT have a soundcard built in - so you will be using the headphone socket on your PC/laptop. The splitter cable sends the Left audio to one of the sockets (as mono) and the Right to the other, which then allows you to have your "main output" (to speakers) split off from your Preview/Cue (to headphones). The software will have an option somewhere to work in that mode (left/right split), to work with that sort of cable.

You also NEED to get a copy of How To DJ (Properly) and then read it. It won't teach you anything specific to the software you are using (like what the keyboard shortcuts are, etc.) - it's quite vinyl-centric, but virtually all of the information about what to do will transfer to your digital setup.

If you end up hating the software that came with your controller, there's a free option called Mixxx which you should be able to get working with it.

One final piece of advice: Buy music. Shitty ripped-off MP3s, or rips-from-youtube, should not be used. Don't get in to that habit. To DJ is to worship the music - to play shitty ripoffs is to shit on the altar.