How To Be Good DJ

Step 1: Know Your Audience

• In your house, you can play for yourself; if you're playing for a party, you need to please the crowd. It's important to know your audience before you DJ. While there may be the occasional group of goths who like to do the Macarena, or some grandmas who like My Chemical Romance, in general you'll have much better luck keeping your crowd dancing if you're playing the kind of music they like to hear.

1. If you know some of the people you'll be playing for, ask them what songs they'd really like to hear. This will help you get a feel for the kind of music that will go over well.
2. Go to the clubs your audience frequents and get an idea of what songs pack the dance floor. Have some of these songs in your repertoire for your big night.
3. Playing a club or bar on an off night, and not bringing your own crowd? Find out the vibe the club is going for. If they want a retro-lounge feel with lots of Thievery Corporation and Massive Attack and you pack your playlist with Three 6 Mafia and Lil Jon, your first night will likely be your last.
4. If you're playing a wedding, baby shower, Sweet 16, or Grandma's 70th birthday blowout, there is no such thing as "too mainstream". Make sure to have compilations of great disco, funk, rock, and other classics as well as an assortment of current popular music - that way you can play a little something for everyone.

DJ Tiesto performing in a large stadium in Chile.

Step 2: Get your equipment

• Once upon a time, almost every DJ spun using two Technics SL-1200 turntables and a basic mixer. In the '90s, more and more DJs started to use CD equipment, like the Numark dual CD decks. Now, computers have advanced enough that instead of walking in with a crate of vinyl or a backpack full of CD books, some DJs just bring a laptop and mix MP3s directly from it. Before you buy equipment, you'll need to decide what kind you need, and see if there's a less expensive way for you to get the gear you need.

1. What format is most of your music in? Don't buy turntables if the majority of your stuff is on your computer.
2. See if any of your friends have equipment you can use to practice spinning. You can both save money and see if it's the kind of equipment you'd want to buy.
3. If you're at a college or high school, you may be able to use their radio station's equipment in its off hours.
4. Got a friend who works at a bar or club? See if they can get you in to use the venue's DJ equipment before it opens for business for the evening.

Buying a Mixer and Headphones

• No matter what your setup will be, you'll need a mixer and a good set of headphones.

Mixer and headphones. Photo by David Villalobos.

1. Your headphones must have great bass if you are going to beat-match.
2. Your headphones also need to have closed backs to block out external noise, so you can hear what you're mixing. The less you can hear of the outside environment when you have them on, the better.
3. Your mixer must have a cross fader.
4. It also needs a cue that will allow you to listen to the music you're cueing up on headphones without broadcasting it out of the main speakers.
5. You can find many solid, basic mixers cheaply on Craigslist and eBay.

Buying Turntable Equipment

• Without the right equipment, you can't match beats. Follow the below advice to get a good starter setup.

1. Make sure your turntables are direct-driven. Belt-driven turntables won't allow the fine control you need for beat-matching or turntable tricks.
• DJ John Steventon, author of DJing for Dummies, says to avoid Gemini XL-100 or Soundlab DLP-1600 turntables.
• Technics 1200 turntables are universally considered to be the best turntables available. However, their price tag matches their quality.
2. Your turntables should come with needles and cartridges. If they do not, you will have to buy them.
• When you play out, some venues will provide you with a full set-up EXCEPT for needles and cartridges. Make sure to check before you get to the space!
3. Slip mats will allow your records to move almost frictionlessly on the deck plate when you are manipulating them.
• Remove the rubber mat from the turntable decks. It will prevent the records from sliding, even if you are using a slip mat.

Buying CD Decks

DJ Brady Williams explains the Denon dual-deck CD system.

• A regular CD player will not give you the fine control you need in order to match beats. If you want to mix properly, you'll need a CD deck that allows pitch shifting, cue setting, and fine adjustment so you can find the beat.

1. There are two basic interfaces for CD decks: buttons, or a turntable which controls the CD and emulates the feel of a turntable for vinyl records.
2. Numark makes some of the most popular dual-deck CD players. They also have a line of CD players that emulate turntables. Denon also makes both types of CD players for DJs. Gemini is another popular manufacturer.

Buying Software and Hardware for DJing Digital Media

• If you plan to DJ with MP3s, you have two options: software that will allow you to do all your mixing directly on your computer, or decks which contain a hard drive and have controls that emulate a turntable. New products are beginning to combine the two.

1. Almost every company that makes CD decks also makes decks for MP3 DJing.
2. Serato Scratch Live allows users to control the interface via actual turntables and CD players. It is one of the most popular applications out there. Traktor Scratch, another popular application, has similar functionality.
3. Traktor is a popular application that works entirely within your computer. A free demo is available, but times out after 30 minutes.
4. Virtual DJ is also extremely popular. It works within your computer, but its interface mimics turntables.
5. If you're just getting started, there's great free or shareware software out there. For the Mac, there's Djay. For Windows and Mac, try Tactile 12000. For Windows, Mac and Linux, try Mixxx.
6. To keep up on the latest DJ software, check out What's the Best DJ Software?, Ars Technica, and DJing for Dummies.

How to Set Up Your Equipment

• Setting up your equipment is easy, but can be a little confusing.

1. You will need three RCA cables. If you're plugging a computer directly into a stereo, you'll need one RCA cable. For some computers and most laptops, you'll also need a headphone splitter cable that will allow you to connect your headphone jack to RCA cables.

DJ Tutor demonstrates how to set up equipment.

2. The ends of the RCA cables are usually colored white and red. Frequently the ports on the back of the turntables, mixers, and CD players are color-coded as well, which makes things simple. If they're not color-coded, just remember: "Red is right, left is light."
3. In the back of your turntable or CD deck, you will see two holes labeled "Output" or "Out". One should be marked "R" and the other "L". Place the white cable end into the L port, and the red cable end into the R port.
• If you have multiple outputs (say, on a CD player), use the one marked "Line".
4. On the back of your mixer, you'll see areas marked for "Phono" (use these if you're using turntables) and "Line" (use these if you're using CD decks or computers). These should be numbered 1 and 2. For now, work with those numbered 1.
5. In the area labeled for the equipment you are using, there are two holes labeled "Input" or "In". Place the white cable end into the L port, and the red cable end into the R port.
6. Do the same for your second deck.
7. On the mixer, if your input 1 is a turntable, switch that input to "Phono". If it is something else, use "Line".
8. If you are using a home stereo system or amplifier, you can use RCA cables to connect your mixer to it.
9. There are ports labeled "Output" on your mixing board. Plug the red end of a third cable into the one labeled "R", and the white end of the same cable into the one labeled "L".
10. On the ports labeled "In" or "Input" on the back of your stereo, plug the white cable into the "L" and the red cable into the "R".
11. Make sure every item you're using is plugged into a power outlet.
12. Turn on your turntables, CD deck, or computer.
13. Turn on your mixer.
14. Turn on your amplifier or stereo.

Step 3: Learn the technical skills

• If you're going to DJ well, you need to learn to use the tools on your mixer to even out volume and fade from one song to another. For most genres, you also need to know how to beat match. This will keep the music flowing and make people less likely to leave the dance floor. NOTE: Some software applications have interfaces that do not emulate what is shown below. If that is the case, please refer to your user manual.

Learning the Mixer

• Before you get started with beat matching, you need to learn how to use the mixer to transition from song to song.

1. If you've never used a mixer before, start by playing around with it.
2. Set up your CDs, MP3s, or turntables so they are going through channels 1 and 2, and make sure that the two sides of your cross fader are also set to channels 1 and 2.
3. On certain cross faders, the left hand side is channels 1 and 2, and the right hand side is channels 3 and 4. If so, set yourself up on channels 1 and 4, and use channel 4 as your second channel for the steps below.
4. Make sure the fader between your channels is set to the middle, and the volume sliders for channels 1 and 2 are parallel.
5. Put one song on your first turntable, CD deck, or MP3 input, and let it play.
6. Put another song on your second turntable, CD deck or MP3 input, and let it play. It will probably clash. Don't worry about that for now.
7. In many cases, the two songs will be at slightly different volumes, even if the levers for each channel are set to the same volume. Slide the levers around until they're at equal volume.
8. Slide the volume for the the first channel all the way down, and note how the song fades out.
9. Now slide the volume for the first channel slowly up as you reduce the volume for the second channel at equal speed. Note how one song fades out as the other fades in. If you're ever stuck with a mixer that has no fader, you can use this technique to transition between songs.
10. Slide the fader all the way toward the first channel, and hear how the second song fades out. Now slide it 3/4 of the way toward the second channel. You can still hear the first song, but very quietly.
11. If you have controls for the bass and treble for each channel, slide the fader all the way to the second channel and slowly adjust each of those dials to see how it alters the song.
12. Continue playing around with your volume inputs, cross faders and other dials until you are entirely comfortable.

How to Cue

SkyHighAtrist has many excellent DJing tutorials on YouTube, including this one on how to cue and beatmatch a track.

• Cueing a track is setting up the song to precisely where you want it to begin, usually on the first beat. While the concept is the same, the execution is a little different based on what equipment you're using.

1. Play your first song through channel 1.
2. Listen to it until you find the first beat.
3. If you're on a turntable or turntable interface, place your fingers on the record label and spin the disk backwards until the needle is just before the first beat. You may have to slide it back and forth to find the right point in the song.
4. If you're using a dual-CD deck, use the scroll button to back up the track until you can hear the stutter of that first beat just beginning. Hit the cue button to mark this point in the song. When you want to fire up your song, just hit play. If you want to restart from the cue point, just hit the cue button to bring it back to that point.
5. If you're using software, you should be able to use your cursor to mark the point of the first beat.

How to Beat Match

In this video, DJ Tutor demonstrates how to count out the beat.

• It is much easier to practice beat matching if you have something with a clear, basic 4/4 beat. For your first few attempts, the more minimal and similar the two songs are that you are matching, the better! This process seems very long, and the first few times you do it, it will take a while. With time and practice, however, it will get much faster.

1. Select two songs that have very similar "BPM"s, or beats per minute. If they're very different, it will be much harder to match them up. Many records will tell you the BPM of each track. However, they're often wrong, so don't rely on the information on the record! Use your own ears to confirm the information.
2. Cue your first song up on one turntable, CD player, or input in your digital system. (Keep your crossfader set to the middle - for now, we're going to listen to both channels.)
3. Let it play for several seconds.
4. Find the beat. Emphasize it by nodding your head, tapping your hand on the table or your thigh, or tapping your toe - whatever works for you.
5. Most dance music is in 4/4 time; you can count the beats as a steady 1-2-3-4. Figure out what the first beat is in the sequence. This is called "the one" - it's where you're going to want to start your second song.
6. Now cue up your second song on your free turntable, CD player, or digital input.
• Listen to it until you find the first beat.
• If you're on a turntable or turntable interface, place your fingers on the record label and spin the record backwards until the needle is just before the first beat.
• If you're using a dual-CD deck, use the scroll button to back up the track until you can hear the stutter of that first beat just beginning.
• If you're using software, you should be able to use your cursor to mark the point of the first beat.

DJ Tutor explains why to use a pitch shifter to synchronize two tracks.

7. When you hear the one on the first track, start your second track.
8. You probably started the second track a little soon, or a little late. Back it up to the cue point, and try to drop it again. Do this repeatedly until you match that first beat.
9. Let your second track play to see if the two tracks are synchronized. Chances are, within a second or two, you will hear the beats slip out of phase. You now need to adjust the speed of your second track with the pitch shifter.
10. If your second track is running faster than the first, move your pitch shifter to slow the record dramatically (-8 or so). If it's running slower, speed it up by moving your pitch shifter to +8.
11. Return your second track to the cue point.
12. Start your first track over, and let it play for a few seconds.
13. Drop your second track on the one.
14. The song will likely now be out of synch in the other direction. (If it's still too fast at -8 or too slow at +8, you will need to pick another track that has a BPM that is closer to your first song.)
15. Bring your second track back to the cue point, and adjust the pitch shifter to -4.
16. Drop your second track on the one.
17. If it's too fast, stop it, adjust it to -6, and try again. If it's too slow, adjust it to -2, and try again.
18. Think you've got it matched up? Let the two tracks run for a few seconds. They may start to sound phased; this is a sign they are slightly out of synch. Adjust the pitch control a little more to fine-tune your beat match.
19. Continue until the beats match.

Step 4: Practice, practice, practice!

• The more you practice, the better you'll be, and the more comfortable you'll be when it comes time to play for a live audience.

1. Most skilled DJs practiced daily for extended periods when they were learning in order to build their skill set.
2. Practice fixing problems (a mis-cued track, for example), so you'll know how to fix the problem when it comes up while you have an audience. No one is perfect, and if you know how to fix those problems you'll be less flustered when they occur live.
3. Practice mixing with music you're unfamiliar with. You may have a situation where you have to mix in something you've never listened to or don't know solidly.

Step 5: On the big night

• It's your big day, and you're perfectly prepared. Here's what you need to do to make the night go smoothly.

1. Arrive early. If you're bringing your own equipment, you'll need more time than you think to set up. If you're using the venue's equipment, you'll need a little time to familiarize yourself with its quirks.
2. Don't get drunk or high. It won't make you any better at DJing; it will just make you less likely to notice when you screw up or annoy the audience.
3. Be flexible. Even if you've planned what seems like the perfect set, some of your songs just won't go over, and others will be more successful than you imagined. Be prepared to change up your music selection.
4. If someone from the audience approaches you, be friendly! Even if they request a song you think is lame, make sure to smile and tell them, "I've got a packed set, but let me see if I can work that in." They will always remember that you treated them well, and they might just be the person who introduces you to your next gig.