djing | Digital DJ Tips

November 22nd, 2012 Training

5 Ways DJing Can Help You With Your Day Job

by Reason808

DJing at night can actually make you more successful in your day job… here’s how.

It’s amazing how much the lessons I learned in a club as a DJing helped when I got my “real” career outside DJing. In fact, I highly recommend DJing as a great training program for any type of creative career… and it’s a hell of a lot more fun than most internships.

Although I’m not driving a Bentley sipping champagne with supermodels, I’ve pretty much made my living as a creative professional for 20 years: as a designer, producer, animator, creative director, college instructor, and yes, a DJ. The companies I’ve worked with were also diverse: software corporations (Microsoft) and entertainment conglomerates (MTV Networks), plus small businesses and funky art projects. It’s amazing how many times at all these various places I’ve thought, “Yup, this is just like DJing at the club…”

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October 29th, 2012 Reviews

Review & Video: Wicked Audio Solus Headphones

by Phil Morse

The Wicked Audio Solus street and DJ headphones are boxed to look the part – but how do they perform, and can any headphones really be very good at this price?

In the same ballpark as the hideously expensive but high quality Dr Dre models, the fashion-led Skullcandy brand, and the previously-reviewed sharply styled Aerial7 offerings, the Wicked Audio Solus Headphones are designed for street and for DJing, and specially for folk who don’t mind making a point of wearing them.

They’ve got DJ features alongside the urban feel – but in the case of the Wicked Audio Solus, they also have another desirable feature: A low price. So they question is, at this price point, are they good enough for the job?

8 Comments »

October 27th, 2012 Training

Your Questions: Why Does Everyone Use Macs For DJing?

by Phil Morse

The ubiquitous backlit Apple… but is it necessary to use a Mac for DJing? Pic: Thomas Hawk

Digital DJ Tips reader Felipe writes: “I’m a Colombian follower and a few days ago I started thinking about buying a new DJ laptop, and read your post 8 Little-Considered Factors When Choosing A DJ Laptop.

“But I can’t understand why everybody uses a Mac for DJing. I’m not a big fan of Mac, but I want the best for my DJing. Can you tell me what Macs have that make them so popular with DJs? What do they have that’s so special against Windows laptops?”

145 Comments »

October 26th, 2012 Training

5 Easy Steps To DJing With Live Musicians

by Mohamed Kamal

saxnbeats

Do you ever wish you had the opportunity to DJ with live musicians? To get your crowd just as excited as when attending a live concert? Do you ever wish that your DJ sets had the extra dynamics and improvisational qualities that live musicians can bring?

Because make no mistake: Adding live musicians to your set changes your crowd’s club experience massively. It creates an atmosphere similar to that provided by a cohesive band, they type of band that instinctively play off of each other. Your audience is dancing to your tight beats and at the same time watching an engaging performance by these musicians.

15 Comments »

October 14th, 2012 Training

Over To You: Which Windows Laptop Is Best For DJing?

by Phil Morse

OK, here’s the deal. We’ve got some exciting new DJ courses coming up soon to add to How To Digital DJ Fast, and we’re going to start filming shortly. As well as new video lights and mics, we’ve also decided we need a Windows laptop, and we want to know the best Windows laptop for DJing.

See, we’ve always used Macs for DJing here at Digital DJ Tips, since we traded up from an old Sony Vaio years ago – and despite the relentless march of the iPad for DJing, we think the laptop will be pretty important for digital DJs for a while yet.

187 Comments »

September 25th, 2012 Training

How To DJ Warm Up Sets (And When To Break The Rules)

by Phil Morse

Club’s open, people are arriving… so how do you play it, and is it ever OK to bang on the big tunes?

Standard DJ etiquette says DJs playing the warm-up set should, you know, warm up. They should hold back, leaving it for the main guest or guests to drop the big tunes and thus raise the energy level to the roof. Tease the crowd, make the dancefloor seem less hostile to people who’ve just walked in. Get things starting to move – but don’t grab the glory.

Certainly, so the rules go, you shouldn’t turn the volume up, banging on all the tunes the crowd knows. Try all the tricks to get everyone hanging from the rafters before the big-name guest DJ hits the booth. That’s just bad manners, right? Well, actually, as we find out today, it’s not always so clear cut…

19 Comments »

September 23rd, 2012 Training

Over To You: Can I Add A Controller To Traktor Just For Effects?

by Phil Morse

Adding an Allen & Heath K2 to your set-up would give you extra controls. Pic: Traktor Bible

Digital DJ Tips reader Perry writes: “I use Traktor Pro 2 to DJ with, alongside my Kontrol S2 controller and laptop, and while DJing I find it hard to easily vary the effects I can use. If I’m honest, the S2 just doesn’t give me enough options for controlling effects within Traktor.

“So I am writing to you today to asking if there are any external controller units that integrate with Traktor and allow for you to have more control over what you are doing?”

31 Comments »

August 18th, 2010 DJ Culture

How To Organise Your Tunes While DJing, Part 2

by Phil Morse

Do your sorting digitally and play better DJ sets than the old vinyl days.

In How To Organise Your Tunes While DJing, Part 1, we looked at how using the BPM counts and star ratings can help you to keep your eyes on the crowd and out of your virtual record crates when DJing.

This time around, we are going to look at some advanced ways you can really stand out from the rest and look to all the world like you’re putting no effort at all into producing world-class mixes, time after time.

13 Comments »

August 11th, 2010 DJ Culture

How To Organise Your Tunes While DJing, Part 1

by Phil Morse

Organising your music is easier than the old days... if you know the tricks.

In Why Packing a Good Box of Tunes is More Important Than Ever, we talked about how important it is to get all your music ready before you get to a gig, and different ways you might achieve this using tags, folders and so on.

What I want to talk about in this two-part tutorial is ways to help you to always find the perfect tune to play next when you’re actually DJing. Today we’ll look at two pretty common tricks, and next week we’ll get advanced and experimental.

22 Comments »