Learn To DJ Online - Learning From Video DJ Classes and Courses

When I first started DJing in Phoenix a few years ago, I was amazed by the difference between how easy it looks and hard it can be. Although I was being trained by a pro with more than 15 years of experience, it was so difficult to get the sound right.

With beat matching, tempo, cues, and all of the more advanced techniques, it feels like you could just drown in confusion before you really start to catch on. Now it doesn't take a lot of DJ skills to get out there and play a few top hits while fading from one to the next. Yup- we can all play a middle school dance after a few nights with our friends' decks.

But to me, it's so easy to see that what all of us DJ's really want is to get up in front of a large audience that knows good music and blow them away. To be respected in front of our peers (who know what good DJing sounds like) is a feeling that can't be beat. Except- when you get paid for it to.

In order to take yourself from playing school dances to doing clubs and getting your name out there, you need to practice. Like most things, DJing is going to take practice to get good and to become sensitive to the sound you are trying to exude. When I started learning, I got so frustrated at the speed I was improving before I got some video DJ courses. The video courses made all the difference.

With so many DJ's today moving to CD's, iPods, and software, the DJ that can get out and spin some vinyl is in higher demand than ever. You just cannot be the rich sound or vinyl or duplicate the effects that can be done on vinyl with a CD mixer or DJ Software.

Now, put simply, to be a DJ you are going to need:

1. Sound recordings in a DJ's preferred medium (vinyl, cd, or ipod)

2. A couple of sound devices, IE decks, cd players, ipods, or what have you. You need at least 2 so you can alternate back and forth.

3. A sound system for amplification or broadcasting of the recordings (e.g. portable audio system, PA system) or a radio broadcasting system.

4. A DJ mixer, an electronic two-channel mixer with a crossfader used to smoothly go from one song to another.

5. A microphone, so that the DJ can introduce songs and speak to the audience, and

6. headphones or a monitor speaker, which is used to listen to one recording while the other is playing, without outputting the sound to the audience.

But once you've got all six of those items in place, you have to learn how to use them correctly and with your own style. It's like making love: just because you have the right equipment doesn't mean you're done learning.

Bradley Spencer was a DJ in Phoenix, Arizona for a good long stretch. Now he helps aspiring DJs get their skills in line before trying to get their name out.

As a DJ trainer, Brad always suggests starting with a complete DJ Video Training Course before playing out or paying a professional DJ thousands of dollars for hands-on training.

How To Make DJ Music - Online Resources

The Benefits If You Make DJ Music

Even if your tracks don't see the same success that Justice, Deadmau5 and other artists do, even if you are relatively well-known or just well know to a few, there are still lots of advantages when you make DJ music.

The top DJ produces don't get the best gigs because they sweated through clubs with their little DJ kits, reading guides on how to DJ and trying to mix.

It's because they made a few dancefloor filling bomb-dropper tunes that electronic music fans around the world ALL know about!

That gives them license to DJ at Ibiza nightclubs, capital city top clubs and the best festivals around.

Make DJ music that gets played in 10 or 20 different countries and make it work. Then watch the offers for gigs ROLL in.

Get yourself an agent! You're going to need one.

I discussed this in my interview with DJ Sean Gallagher recently. We've noticed how certain new music producers get huge gigs really fast and we were wondering how they learn to DJ so fast.

If you start make DJ music yourself AND you're good at it, you could well be one of those guys who gets amazing gigs right away!

The Benefits If You Make DJ Music

Even if your tracks don't see the same success that Justice, Deadmau5 and other artists do, even if you are relatively well-known or just well know to a few, there are still lots of advantages when you make DJ music.

Don't be this DJ

Imagine, you sweat for years working your way into clubs as a DJ, competing hard with other guys to get a coveted residency. But you have no remixes or tracks to your name.

Then, on the day of a huge event, you get pushed aside because the promoter and owner want someone else to DJ instead.

They want a producer who's only ever DJed once in his life to play instead of you! This producer has just made one killer track in his life, but everyone knows it and loves it!

This happens all the time. Regular DJs who don't make their own tunes are forced to make way for producers whose music is known by everyone.

Don't be that DJ who gets pushed off the decks! Make your own DJ music instead.

If you need a few reminders why you should start, I'll give them to you:

1. Better for getting gigs

You can get club gigs a lot easier if you have a few of your own tracks.

Put yourself in the place of the promoter. They get emailed and called all the time by DJs claiming that they're the next big thing. He or she will be reassured if you're a DJ with a few tunes to your name.

As well as sending the promoter a link your DJ website and video of you mixing, you'll throw in the links to your youtube tracks (where you've added some comments!).

Promoters are far more easily swayed by DJs with their own music.

2. Prestige

As soon as you start making your first tracks, your status changes.

When you talk about your DJing, you'll be able to introduce yourself as a DJ Producer. You'll no longer just be a DJ!

This is better for you in terms of prestige. Add it to your business card, put it on your website tell it to your friends.

The DJ Producer is in town!

3. Chances of massive success

It doesn't happen to everyone who makes DJ music by themselves, but some get to experience huge success.

Think of one hit wonder kings Stardust and their tune, "Music Sounds Better With You". This tune went around the world and kept going!

I'm not saying you should aim to make a one hit wonder but you do have the chance of making the same impact that these guys did.

4. Better money

If you manage to sell 40,000 downloads of your cool track by marketing it yourself, you'll be in for a nice payday.

You can keep the royalties and get as much as 70% of the cash back for yourself!

If you sell your tune for $1 and keep around 70% of proceedings:

70% of $40 000 = $28 000

Knock out 5 tracks a year and you're doing ok!

But the real money is in the gigs you'll get. As soon as you make DJ music and one of your tracks takes off, you'll get offered gigs all over the world!

Legacy

How long will it be before people forget Fatboy Slim's first album?

Never.

Our musical memories are so good they seem to be better than any other parts of our memory.

And Fatboy Slim's tracks will be getting played and danced to in 20 years time, I can guarantee it.

Imagine being the one that made those great tracks. You'll rock and be remembered for years and years.

Find out more with my articles on how to make DJ music and where to start.

This article and many more other DJ tips, reviews, advice and a free guide to getting DJ gigs can be found at The Total DJ Blog

Mixing Before Mixing - Good Production Practices When Making Beats Online

Making professional quality beats online is a fast, easy and smartest way to create backing tracks for your music project these days. To get that professional quality, though, you have to produce well mixed material. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating your beat tracks for DJing or adding to your next album.

Mixing tracks is more than just turning up the volume on certain parts, although it obviously includes that a well. Making sure that the sounds in your track are well balanced does not necessarily mean raising volume, nor does it mean exclusively all sounds are the same level or stay that way over time. The way to approach your track is listening to it as a process that changes its strengths over time. It is a miniature composition. It has an opening, an ending, and a series of melodic, harmonic, and/or rhythmic elements in between that carry the listener/dancer through the work. There are cadences and accents at work within the beat and mixing properly can bring those forward, strengthening your music.

Adjusting a support sound level can be very effective. Try bringing a bass drum or bass guitar sound from a zero or low level volume to the most prominent element of a track and see how that works. You can also try the opposite, bringing complimentary sounds in and out with the strongest element as a staple of the beat. The same applies to the ending of a beat or piece. Fading elements out or cutting them out cold can be extremely catchy and can highlight the melodic or rhythmic accents.

Bringing samples up and down over time in the mix can also supply the tension and relief needed to increase the entertainment value of a beat. Paying attention to factors like the stereo pan or the EQ of a sound is important and can give you an entire range of creative outlets for your track. Some DJs utilize the EQ heavily during a set; mixing with this in mind can be a great advantage if you balance sections severely towards or away from certain groups of frequencies. This allows the DJ to drop the bass or the high end and maintain the integrity of the track.

Try some of these ideas when mixing your beats and hear how it assists in producing professional quality tracks! Use an online service to generate your beats, burn a copy, and hit the club!

Now all you need to do is pick an online service, sign up, and get started. There are a few online beat making services out there currently. I personally like using Sonic Producer. They offer professional and concise tutorials and lessons. If you want to find out more about it, check out this review by going here: Sonic Producer Review

Good luck!

William Connor, Percussionist and Ethnomusicology Ph.D. candidate,
London, England and Honolulu, Hawaii, USA