Howitzer

Ever since I started djing 2 years ago, Ive always been digital. Went from controllers to DVS so I could play with something that felt like vinyl. Ive used sync on and off, and as people are saying, if youre pressed for time its a nice little helpful cheat.

Personally I find the interaction with a physical medium to be 100% more engaging than just syncing alone. Its like the whole process of selection to bringing the tune in is shortened to seconds rather than minutes. Its clinicalised to such a degree that its lost its soul. I see the argument that if your crowd couldnt care less, then why should you, and to be fair, a lot of new top40 stuff is throw-away music. You wouldnt wanna waste £10 on that vinyl.
But the fun you have yourself, in your bedroom, spinning some classy wax is a completely different feeling.

Recenty Ive met up with a few locals who dj solely on vinyl, I had a crack at it. I know the tunes, I know the phrasing, I know how to beatmatch. But I’ve always got my lappy off to the side or some visual cues on my controllers going off somewhere. This time I was out in the cold with only my ears.
My god thats good fun, the most engaged ive ever been on my decks. Watching people spin wax is mesmerising too.

If you have never played on vinyl, I urge you to at least try it, for the simple fact that its more fun!

Ive always lived in a very musical household, from a young age I was playing bass in bands and having a good laugh. But getting a band together is a pain in the arse. Trying to find people that are reliable and dedicated is too much hasstle. So I lost interest in playing in a group of people. This was also when I started losing interest in rock/indie music. It wasnt fresh anymore, I needed change. Along came drum & bass to save the day.

So one day my mate calls me into his room; “check this out man” with a copy of traktor open on his machine. I had no idea djing had come this far! Also, im a proper geek, so music and tech was right up my alley. I took a not so legitimate copy home and messed about for months with a mouse, keyboard and no headphones. lol.

I told myself; “If youre still into this in 3/4 months, then buy the software and a controller”. Theres no point investing a lot of cash in a fad afterall. So, 3 months later I got traktor, a controller, a nice big subwoofer and rocked my conservatory for a few months until I moved house and had a proper place for my gear.

Then I got TT’s for a DVS, which I absolutely love, and now im seriously considering vinyl. Theres something inherantly sexy about wax, I dunno what it is. Its like an uncontrollable urge to dig.

The wierd thing is I see myself becoming more like my dad everyday. He’s a bassist, and a DJ, and loves audio gear & tech. But my dads cool, so thats ok 😉

It completely depends on the time and the venue. But heres a few things to consider:

Your venue may be empty when you start so you’ll need to slowly increase the volume the more it fills.
People are still sober early in the night so want to chat and chill out with a few before hitting the dancefloor at peak time. So start with the volume reasonably low, so you can chat over it comfortably.
Dont drop any bangers until youve warmed the place up for an hour or so and its getting busy/late. Theres no point as people wont be dancing and you’ll potentially use up some of the later dj’s prime material.

Set the vibe with some underground chillout music in your chosen genre thats suitable for the night and drop the more popular stuff a little later 🙂

I think both have their place.
Nothing will beat the proprietary controllers for an all in one software specific solution.They allow a much slower learning curve with the software of choice.

Non-proprietary controllers are, for me, best suited to small generic tasks that expand a setup beyond what the propritery controller can offer. An extra set of cue points for example.
Im much more likely to buy a small controller I can immediately see potential in rather than a massive generic midi control I have no idea where to start with, faderfox *ahem*.

To be honest, if protability is not an issue, i’d go for a second hand setup off ebay. 2 tops and 2 subs, matched. With either a 4 channel amp or 2 2 channel amps and a crossover. It sounds like a lot, but you should be able to pick stuff up fairly cheap if your patient. Peavey are affordable, you might find some even better deals out there too.

2 15″ tops will simply not cut a 150 person venue, especially outside.

I recently witnessed a mobile DJ do a party, probably about 70 people there. He had a similar setup to what I describe, and it was adequate. But he didnt match the tops to the subs so sound was a bit off. With a bit of proper tuning it wouldve sounded loads better.

Its true to say i’m a bit of an audiophile though, no-one else there cared.

Seriously, rent a PA first. It’ll probably set you back £100/£150, thats a fair cut of your wage, but the advice you’ll get on setting up the system will be forever invaluable. Nothing can come close to a good rig setup properly. It is not simply plug and play.

It really depends what youre playing. Background music, yeah, should be fine. War volume? Nah, no chance.
You really will be better off renting a proper PA system including subs, and possibly even a sound engineer!

A proper PA setup. At least 2 15″ tops to start with, then a sub . . . . or two.
Ive had my eyes on all the local deals, there isnt much that’ll fit in my car though 🙁