1) CD’s or vinyl’s?
2) How do you mix?
3) What slip mats are best?
4) How do you scratch?
5) What’s best for recording my mix’s?
6) Should I start up my own mobile disco?
CD’s or Vinyl’s?
The choice is up to you, I’m just going to list the good and bad points, but always go for direct drive turntables as they perform better than belts. Directs are a bit more expensive but well worth that little bit more of your saving’s, as the longer you DJ for, you will need to upgrade anyway so you might as well spend the little bit more and they will last longer.
CD decks-good points
1) Lighter in weight
2) Get more tracks on a disc for your money
3) Cueing is quicker
4) CD’s are lighter to carry
5) Get CD’s from any store
CD decks-bad points
1) Sometimes slow at starting
2) Not used in all club’s
3) Can’t get all the newer underground track’s like you would have on vinyl
4) Pitch bend is not very useful
5) Sometimes a lot more expensive for buying higher end product’s
Turntables-good points
1) Used in all clubs
2) Look good
3) Get all the underground tracks you want
4) Better for a more ‘hands on’ mix
5) Can slightly speed up or slow down the record for a longer mix
Turntables-bad points
1) Extra cost’s for, stylus, cartridges and slip mats
2) Big and heavy
3) Extra cost’s for cleaning vinyl
4) Can’t get vinyl everywhere
5) Vinyl’s very heavy when lots are placed together
How do you mix?
Right, you have your decks, a box of record’s and now your asking yourself, how am I gonna play like Fat boy slim?
Well, if you are completely new to mixing then I suggest that you buy two copies of the same record so you know that they are exactly the same tempo etc…so you don’t have to move the pitch control to get them in the mix. The point of this is to get yourself the feel of your decks, how much pressure you have to add to the vinyl, to push it off without hearing the turntable speeding it up (on vinyl) or the start of time of the CD decks (the time between you pushing the start button and hearing the track). On vinyl to cue up a track you find the first beat and rock the needle over the beat, then when ready to get the vinyl playing, gently flick the vinyl to help it gain some speed (you will master this after a couple of goes). On CD decks you find the first beat as before but only push the CUE button, then you play the track from there. There are many different way’s in which to cue up on CD so look into the instruction manual of your deck’s to see how the cue function work’s. When trying to get it in to a mix, play the first beat when the first beat comes around on the other track
Now the tricky bit to explain, music has a structure of four beats, (1,2,3,4) to find the first beat start at the very beginning of a song (when your more advanced you will be able to pick up the first beat from any where in the track). Now you have found the first beat count until you hear an extra instrument added, these are at the 8, 16 and 32 beats. All song’s are different, so some have 8 beats then an instrument is added or at 32, you simply have to count. After the instrument is added you begin again from 1 (eg, 6,7,8,-instrument added, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,instrument added,1,2,3,4 etc..)
Now this is the bit that will test you the most as a DJ, learning to find the BPM (Beats per minute) and getting them correctly together with another track. To find the beat per minute you have to count the beats for a minute (60 second’s) this is not very good as it takes age’s to find the BPM, and when you need as much time to get a song in a mix, taking 3minutes to find the BPM after several times, means that the track has finished. However there is a simplier way, When a track is playing, simply go up or down (on the pitch control) to speed it up or slow it down, in step’s of 2%, this will quickly narrow dowm the correct speed, once near the correct speed, then go down or up 1% , to get it just right, for a longer mix, go in between the %’s eg, 1.5 or 2.7 etc. For another quick way of finding BPM, count the beats for 10seconds, then what ever you get upto times by 6.
EG, say in 10 seconds, you counted up to 14 beats, times that by 6, your BPM would then be 84.
Particular styles of music are faster than other’s eg, I mix dance, garage and D+B, D+B is much faster then garage so it is impossible to mix them together. Also learning the above will take a long time but if you practise enough YOU WILL LEARN IT, as it will be drummed into you.
What slip mats are best?
If you wish to scratch
, go for hip hop mats as these lower the amount of friction on the platter so moving the record is easier. Ask in stores for best mats they stock.How do you scratch?
I don’t really scratch but I have a few tips,
1) use a much lighter hand on the vinyl as this will stop the needle from bouncing
2) By using a lighter hand you can also move the vinyl quicker
3) try scratching without the platter moving
4) And always use a replaceable cross fader.
5) Keep your hand as far away from the needle as possible, this prevents the needle from jumpin.
What’s best for recording my mix’s?
When I record my mix’s, I use a record able mini disc player, and simply plug it into my REC output of my mixer. I can also make a CD by playing the minidisk into my computer via the mic input.
But, if you don’t own a minidisk you could always plug a hifi to your mixer and record on cassette, or plug straight into your PC via mic input.
How much should I charge for a disco?
This question depends on a lot of variety’s, including your area you work (DO NOT POST YOUR CONTACT INFO), your equipment and what you think your worth, I may have missed a few thing’s out but I’m sure that other people will add to the topic.
