Long story or should i say a long but scenic drive. i now have a pair of cdj's to play with, with the intention of learning to dj properly. after only 2 hours my neck is killing so i need to raise the table somehow.

its great fun but my loving family have been supportive as ever and sat and laughed at me, tonge out head bobbing up and down - whats funny about that

I have covered over the bpm readout, Like dj tutor says, and have managed a few basic mixes.

Can you recommend a few house tunes with a decent length basic 120/130bpm intro as i cant think of any off the top of my noggin.

did a great mix of Russ Abbot, must send that cd back to Norfolk Dj one day.

I normally have fun with "Bargrooves Disco Heat 2", lots of 130bpm stuff on there, nice long intro to "sleep talk";
Sleep Talk (AFTC's Bad Nights Sleep)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrWog5eYQbA

Great, easy mix with similar tempo stuff - went down really well on NYE!

Don't worry too much about mega intros- learn the loop functions and you'll also find it easier to mix in some normal chart tracks.

Jas

Yes good luck.

For the dance stuff I almost always set up an 8 or 16 beat loop, synchronise it then fade it across (if it's a good loop and the key is right I let both run for a while) and then release the loop. So much easier than mixing on the fly.

Don't know if anyone else does it that way but I picked it up from an American DJ and for the types of unsophisticated audiences I play to it works well enough.

I don't do it the DJ Tutor way as all I'm after is that my audience enjoys my mixing (which they do).

The fact that I'm using technology to do the beatmatching rather than finger tapping is purely a commercial decision. This is not an area where principles matter to me.

I work in a similar way, although I am just getting used to Traktor (with X1 Control) and what it can do.

I have an 8 bar of the incoming song already synced over the top of the playing song, then loop the outgoing with an 8 or 4 and drop in the incoming over the top, using the bass cut where necessary.
Then on the outgoing i chop the loop -> 2, 1, 1/2 beat over the incoming, then release the loop on incoming and drop the fader on the outgoing so it hits the vocal or hook on the incoming right on.

It gets a really good reaction as they know what is coming and are just waiting for it to kick in :)

In terms of the house tunes, it might be best to learn and get used to tunes that you know and play at parties, like 90s dance, Bobby Brown, Livin Joy, insomnia, sandstorm etc, etc This is what is going to change the experience for you audience whereas, and this is my opinion, some of the long house mixes are actually pretty easy to beatmatch and keep in time and the guys who work the clubs are working with audiences which are more open to music they haven't heard before and will just dance to a beat. At mobile functions this is completely different and often i will only use 2 minutes of a 3-4 minute tune, all mixed up to keep them dancing.

I also use the autocheat button on virtual dj and it works for my regular gigs.

Thing is im getting bored of pc djing and there is no inspiration to use it at home, doesn't mean i will stop using it, just want to learn the hard way.

I have been tinkering with the loop and hot cue this morning, in my dressing gown and slippers, with a fair ammount of success

chopping the loop is not to easy as i have to hold down the loop out button and spin the platter.

Now the day job is hindering creativity!