Over To You: What’s A Good Program To Start Production With?

Digital DJ Tips reader Kaan writes: “I’ve got really interested in producing and remixing lately. I don’t have a lot of experience in terms of DJing, because firstly, I’m not 18 yet (five months to go!) and secondly, it’s extremely hard to get into the scene here in Switzerland because it’s not as big as in other countries, and the scene is dominated by some ‘top’ Swiss DJs here.

“So I thought I could perhaps start off with remixing songs and perhaps get later into productions, to get prepared as I wait to turn 18. OK, I know it won’t make things easier when I turn 18, but at least it will keeps me motivated! So could you recommend a program for remixing songs, especially taking some accapellas and put it above a progressive house tune with some editing?”

Digital DJ Tips says:

Today’s new DJs can get a good headstart by learning to remix, re-edit and generally make tunes their own, and it sounds as though you wait to be “club legal”, you’ve got a bit of time to dedicate to learning!

Firstly, start with whatever you have. You can do the above on Traktor, on Virtual DJ, on Audacity (it’s free), on Garageband (if you’re an Apple user). Bet you’ve got something lying around you can use. Just like with DJing, it’s not the hardware or software but the ideas that count. Get by with what you’ve got or can get, the rest will fall in to place later. your biggest enemy is not starting.

Having said that, you may want to look at Ableton Live as a digital audio workstation to use for DJing and producing, performing and composing. It has lots of fans due in part to its unique clips workflow that allows you to improvise with preset loops. FL Studio and Logic pop up over and over again among our readers too.

Over to you, readers: Kaan wants something to let him start doing simple mashups, re-edits and maybe productions. What have you used? What would you suggest for a beginner? Please share your thoughts in the comments…