So I just bought some new CDJ turntables and have finally stepped away from vinyl. Im still going to keep the old decks to rock some classic vinyl on, but now I will be spending most of my time behind some CDJ’s. Any way since I have new tables I will write some reviews of the new gear and I will aslo begin uploading mixes! Also I am now going to have a bit more time for my blog so you can expect more posts from yours truely!
Never Let The Music Die
DJ Vunker
Hello dear reader! I am writing to inform you that for a few weeks here I wont be able to readily update my blog. I will however be working on some mixes that I will upload later on over the summer!!!
Never Let the Music Die
Dj Vunker
Now there are quiet a few DJ’s out there in the world, and many im sure play the genre you do. Now how do you make it so that you are chosen for a club/event instead of them? Well you need to do a few things, so here I will provide a little guide on how to really get your name out there. First you need to get your name out there, be sure you attend events where there are others dj’s who play your same music are. Then when there be sure to converse with many people and make it known that you are a DJ. Now another thing that will boost your name is if you make a few promotional CD’s. You will have to spend a bit of money in order to make it. Now for your promotional cd you should record one of your own mixes. Spend a day or two thinking about your mix and the tracks you wanna use, the next day use those tracks and assemble them so that they sound the best together, then spend one practicing you mix and making edits and adjustments to keep the crowd moving. Then practice it one more time to have it ready, then record it onto a computer and start 
burning CD’s. The more effort and time you put into making your CD the better, because it will end up sounding that much better. You will want to have cd cases for them and make them look professional and pretty!!! Now with your cd’s you would also want to include some contact information so that after they are amazed by your mix they can get ahold of you for their next event. I’ll provide you with another post that will go a bit deeper on making your promotional CD. Now you will also want a buisness cards so that if you come across someone who is looking for a dj you can provide them with your contact info. Lastly you also want to become friends with as many people as you possibly can, make a facebook or a myspace page and remember that you need to add as many friends as you possibly can!!! You want your name out there! After getting your name out and people know how good you actually are then you will have a much better chance at landing a club or event gig. Now you probally wont be landing a slot for Sensation or ETD POP, or a residency at a club in Ibiza right off the bat, so keep in mind that it will take lots of time and effort before you will be up there. So take any gig you can to make a bigger and better name for yourself. Remember money is money, and its even better when you get it for somthing you love! So keep working hard and I will provide you with more tips on the things to use to help you become a superstar DJ.
Never Let the Music Die,
DJ Vunker
Now if you don’t know how to beatmatch or what it is for that matter, check the links on the colum to the right and look for the DJ Tutorials and you will find lots of info about beatmatching there, like how to do it and what it is, actually ill provide you with a link for one of the videos here. So before you continue to read you should know what im talking about, check back till then if you dont. Now for those of you who do know what beatmatching is and are still starting out, what I did to work on it was making mash ups. What I would do is I would take two tracks beat match them together and then play them both at the same time, using the mixer to alternate between the two by changing the high end and the low end on the sound. The whole point of this is to keep them on the same beat, and to keep it match for the best sound. The more you do this the better, because this is a great way to practice keeping your tracks beat matched!
For those of you who have been reading my blog I would like to fill you in on where I am looking to take you. I will be writing some reviews on some DJ gear sometime soon, what to buy, and what not too. I will also do a few side by side comparisons of the gear as well! I will also include some more tips on working your self into becoming a skilled dj, also how to make a name for yourself and land some gigs!!! Now you will also have to remember that you will need more than the information that I give you to make it big as a dj, you will also need to have passion for the music!!! Now back on the topic of future posts, I hope you look forward to them, and that you can improve yourself as a DJ and maybe become the next Armin, Paul van Dyk, or Tiësto! You never know!
Never Let the Music Die,
Dj Vunker
If you are looking to become a DJ or already are one you should always try and keep your skills sharp. Now what if you are in a place where you have no gear to practice with, well what I tend to do is to listen to a mix by another DJ, as well as just my tracks. By listening to my tracks I am able to get ideas for where to que the track, and where to bring in another. I have found that I also find what tracks sound awesome together and to just push my mixes that much further. Now the reason why I would listen to DJ Mixes is because it can help give you inspiration for your own mixes, as well as understanding the techniques that the DJ uses. For example I would listen to a mix from Sensation, and then I would analyze it while it was playing to try and figure out why the DJ’s mix was so amazing. Now this doesn’t mean that you can easily become a world class DJ, but it helps you to continue to hone in some of your own skills off the tables. Remember you need to be open to new things! Another little thing you can do is to record one of your mixes, put it as an MP3 or burn it to a CD and let some of your friends hear your work. Also ask for some critique on your mix so you can be sure that your mixes will always be the best. I learned alot from having friends critique my mixes, and that has helped to improve my skills as well. Simple things like this can really push you up the ladder.
Never Let the Music Die
Dj Vunker
Here is a mix that you can watch,
For those of you who read my blog and don’t know the lingo that I use I am making this list just for you! Included here are some of the basic terms that you should know if you are looking to go into the fun world of dj’ing!
Turntable – A turn table is the device that lets you play the music and sends the signal to your mixer
Mixer – Is a device that allows you to control the sound that you are making. This is what you use to beatmatch your tracks and monitor your other tracks as well.’
Beat Matching – Is the technique where you match the tempo of the other track that you are playing. Say one track is spinning at 139 BPM and the other is playing at 135 BPM you use the pitch control to match the tempo so that the track you are bringing in is playing at the same pace which allows for a much smoother transition.
Pitch Control – Pitch control is the slider on the top face of the turntable usually located on the lower right side of the turn table. You move it to help match the pace of another track
BPM – BPM stands for Beats Per Minute, which is exactly what it is how many beats are played per minute for a track
Track – A song
CDJ – a type of turntable that plays CD’s rather than vinyl
Vinyl – Records, the old school stuff, the big plastic plates
Transition – the shift from one track to another
Needle – the little piece of metal that sends the grooves from a record through the tone arm to the mixer, these are only found on vinyl turntables
Tone Arm – the long metal rod that sits on a vinyl turntable and it sends the music through to the mixer
So i provided you with a basic vocab list for the DJ world, I may have forgoten some things but I included the most important of things. If you have any other words you are curious for leave me a comment and tell me!
The man himself
Many of us when we think of Trance music there is one name that we all recognize and appreciate. That name is Tiësto, a world renoun DJ who has topped charts and rocked dance floors around the world. He gained an interest at the age of twelve and began djing at parties in highschool. Then in the 80’s he landed some residencies in clubs and eventually had his own room which he rocked from 10pm till 4am. Later he began his own record lables and worked hard at becoming a better dj. He then realeased his In Search of Sunrise mix compilation. It wasn’t till we stepped into the new millenium and he realeased “In My Memory” where his sucess really exploded. He then remixed Delerium’s Silence which spread his name out to the mainstream. Then in 2004 he realeased “Just Be” and DJ’d the Olympic games. His Olympic mix is avalible on cd and is called “Parade of Athletes”. He has continued to release awesome tracks and spread his name through out the world and hold huge shows. He seems to continue to grow and become even more amazing! He also is going to be releasing a new album this fall, and is dropping some of his new tracks in Ibiza this summer at “Privilege”. He is an example of how you really can make it big as a DJ through dedication and hard work. Regardless if you love him (which 99% of us do), or hate him we all should show this man some respect and appreciate the awesome things he has brought us!
If you’re interested in learning more about him, check out these sites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiesto
Now one issue that many begininer DJ’s face when they begin is how to sort their music library. There really is only one way to really organize your music to make your mixes always sound good. Now of course you cannot really grab a jumble cds and make a good mix, stucturing you mix is somthing ill go into a bit later. Back to the topic of how you should organize your music library, the way that I have found best is to match your songs by key. The reason why you would organize your mix by key is so you can be sure you are having a harmonic mix. Once you have your music organized by their key, then you organize your cds into their bpms. So you would have all your C sharp tracks sorted slowest to fastest in bpm. or fastest to slowest, thats up to you. The advantages to having your tracks sorted by BPM is that you will have an easier time finding the correct position on the pitch control and matching the speeds in your mix. Granted this all takes alot of time, but in the end it is all worth it because you will end up with an awesome library and have much smoother harmonic mixes. And that my friends is a good thing to be able to do! Now this whole post here is all my opinion and im sure you can argue with this, but it will help you out greatly like it has helped me and you will find that your mixes will really sound much better. Again you can organize your music however you like, but you really should take this into consideration!
Never Let the Music Die,
DJ Vunker
A CDJ 800 MK2
Now when it comes to starting out as a new dj you are certainly faced with the debate of “is it really worth spending that kind of money?”. I can tell you from personal encounters that in fact yes it is. What am I talking about? Well im talking about when you look to buy your first gear to start off with. I had friends who bought some cheap stanton tables and a garage sale vestax mixer. Granted it did work for a couple months, the gear fell apart into tiny bits a pieces and it all became a waste of money. First the mixer lost left speaker out put, then the second channel lost input, then the table motors died, and then it just continued to get worse. A good idea for the beginner DJ is to research the gear they are looking into buying. If you can visit a shop that sells the gear and take a look at it and get a feel for it to really see if it is somthing you like. Now if you are looking to spin vinyl there is no question of what tables you will like and that will certainly be Technics 1200 MK2 series turn table. All dj’s who i know who spin vinyl or used to they all agree that these are the best turntables around. They are bullet proof and last forever, and you can find them pretty cheap used on craigslist if you dont have the cash for new ones. Keep in mind though that buying used is not always the best way to go, but when it comes to that series table you most likley will be alright, but do make sure everything works accordingly and if you dont know what that is, well then ask a friend who knows a bit about djing to come with you to check em out. If you want to take the CDJ approach look at buying 800mk2’s. They give you the power of the CDJ 1000’s minus a couple effects and features. Although like I said it takes alot of cash to go right into a CDJ set up. But as I said it will all be worth it in the end. Because if you are passionite about djing then you will upgrade your gear any way, so why spend the excess cash? Now if you are unsure about how much you will like djing, then you can always rent gear from a store and check it out to see if you really do like it. Now keep in mind those of you who first start off you wont have very great skills by any means, but if you want to learn and get better then do like i said and invest in some good gear. My tips on where to shop I would say guitar center, and craigslist. Just be sure if you are buying used gear that it has been taken care of. Now for those of you reading who have been discouraged by these words, dont be. You can always start off with some janky gear, but beware it will end up costing you much more in the long run. Oh and before I forget, be sure to get a pair of nice headphones so you can hear clearly and really master your mix.
Never Let the Music Die
DJ Vunker
The DJ World 