CHECK OUT THE EQUIQMENT PORTION OF THIS SITE TO DECIDE ON WHICH DJ SETUP YOU'D LIKE TO USE. WHEN BEGINNING TO DJ, IT IS "STRONGLY" RECOMMENDED THAT YOU START WITH 2 TURNTABLES AND A MIXER. EVEN IF YOU HAVE TWO TURNTABLES THAT DON'T HAVE A SPEED OR "PITCH" CONTROL, YOU CAN STILL BEGIN TO LEARN THE CONCEPT OF CONTROLING THE SPEED OF SONGS BY MANUALLY SPEEDING UP OR SLOWING DOWN THE RECORD WITH YOUR HAND. BUT, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY OF THE ABOVE YET WE'LL PROVIDE YOU WITH INFO ON HOW TO GET STARTED TODAY WITH FREE SOFTWARE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD DIRECTLY TO YOUR PC.
IF YOU ARE ON A TIGHT BUDGET AND CAN'T AFFORD TO GO OUT AND SPEND THOUSANDS ON A DJ SETUP. IT'S POSSIBLE TO GET A FEEL FOR DJ-ING BY INVESTING APPROXIMATELY $250.00 IN THE DJ SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO HEAR AND CONTROL YOUR MIXES THROUGH A MIXER. SEE THE EQUIPMENT SECTION ON WHAT YOU'LL NEED.
STEP 1 GET THE BEAT
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF DJ-ING IS KEEPING THE BEAT AND MIXING TWO SONGS SO THAT THEY SOUND LIKE ONE. THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF LEARNING HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN MIXES.
IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, YOU 'LL NEED TO LISTEN TO THE BASE AND "CLAP" OR "SNARE" SOUND OF EACH SONG. IF YOU CAN SNAP YOUR FINGERS TO THE BEAT OF THE SONG, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO CATCH THE "SNARE/CLAP" OF THE SONG. (SNAPPING YOUR FINGERS TO THE CORRECT BEAT OF THE SONG IS THE KEY TO BLENDING SONGS).
ALTHOUGH YOU CAN PRACTICE MIXING WITH ANY SONG, YOU WANT TO USE SONGS THAT HAVE A STRONG BEAT. GOOD EXAMPLES OF THE IDEAL TYPE OF SONGS TO USE WHEN BEGINNING TO MIX ARE... "BILLY JEAN" By Michael Jackson, "CLOSER" By Neyo" ... BOTH OF THESE SONGS HAVE VERY STRONG BASE BEGINNINGS WTHOUT ANY VARIATION OF THE BEAT IN THE SONG.
STEP 2 HOW TO BLEND/MIX SONGS (BPM)
BLENDING IS THE ART OF MXING TWO DIFFERENT SONGS AND MATCHING THE SPEED OR "TEMPO" OF EACH SONG SO THAT IT FLAWLESSLY SOUNDS LIKE ONE BEAT. IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH GOOD BLENDS OR MIXES, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE SPEED/TEMPO OF EACH SONG YOU WANT TO PLAY. THE TERM BEAT PER MINUTE OR (BPM) SPECIFCALLY REFERS TO THE SPEED OF THE SONG. OLD SCHOOL DJ'S WOULD WRITE THE SPEED OF EACH SONG DIRECTLY ON THE ALBUM. THIS WOULD ALLOW THEM TO QUICKLY KNOW WHICH SONGS WOULD BLEND/ MIX BEST TOGETHER. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THIS CONCEPT, YOU CAN GET A CLOCK AND PLAY YOUR FAVORITE SONG - LITERALLY COUNT THE NUMBER OF BEATS THE SONG HAS WITHIN 60 SECONDS. THE NUMBER OF BEATS YOU COUNT AT THE END OF THE 60 SECONDS IS THE ACTUAL BEATS PER MINUTE (BPM) OF THAT SONG.
THE GOOD NEWS IS WITH TODAY'S TECHNOLGY YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS. THESE DAYS, YOU CAN EITHER PURCHASE A MIXER THAT CALCULATES THE BEATS PER MINUTE(BPM) OR, GET DJ SOFTWARE THAT AUTOMATICALLY CACULATES THE SPEED OF EACH SONG AFTER THE SONG IS LOADED INTO THE SOFTWARE. EXAMPLES OF SONGS THAT HAVE SIMILAR (BPM'S) ARE: "I'M A DIVA" By Beyonce and "NUMBER ONE SPOT" By Ludacris BOTH SONGS ARE 73 BPM'S.
ONCE YOU'VE UNDERSTOOD THE CONCEPT OF BPM FOR EACH SONG, YOU ARE READY TO PRACTICE BLENDING YOUR TWO SONGS. MAKE SURE THAT YOU TRY TO USE SONGS THAT ARE OF SIMILAR SPEEDS. DON'T TRY TO BLEND A SLOW TEMPO SONG LIKE Beyonce's "I'M A DIVA" (73 BPM) WITH NEYO's "CLOSER" (126 BPM).
STEP 3 STARTING THE MIX - THE (CUE)
WHEN STARTING YOUR MIX, YOU GENERALLY WANT TO START WHERE THE MUSIC BEGINS. THE POINT OF WHERE YOU START THE SONG IS CALLED THE (CUE). SOME SONGS DON'T START WITH THE BEAT OF THE SONG PLAYING RIGHT AWAY. YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND OUT THE BEST STARTING POINT OR CUE OF THE SONG YOU WANT TO PLAY. ONCE YOU'VE DETERMINED YOUR (CUE) POINT, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE BRINGING THE SONG IN ON THE SAME BEAT AS THE SONG THAT'S PLAYING. THIS TAKES PRACTICE. BUT ONCE YOU'VE MASTERED BRINGING SONGS IN ON THE RIGHT CUE, KEEPING THE BEAT OF THE SONG PLAYING WILL BE A LOT EASIER.
STEP 4 CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF THE SONG (PITCH CONTROL)
CONTROLING THE SPEED OF THE SONG WHILE MIXING A SONG IS CONSIDERED CONTROLING THE PITCH OF THE SONG. BOTH TURNTABLES AND CD PLAYERS COME WITH "PITCH CONTROLS". THEY ALLOW THE DJ TO EASILY SLOW DOWN OR SPEED UP THE SONG. PRACTICING THIS TECHNIQUE OFTEN IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET GOOD AT IT. A GOOD DJ WILL BE ABLE TO MIX TWO SONGS AND KEEP THEM ON BEAT SO THAT THE PARTY GOERS WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP DANCING BECAUSE THE MIX STAYED IN TEMPO AND ON BEAT. BEING ABLE TO CONTROL THE PITCH OF THE SONGS YOU MIX IS ESSENTIAL TO BECOMING A GOOD DJ. USING 2 TURNTABLES OR 2 CD PLAYERS IS THE BEST WAY TO GET GOOD AT IT. THERE ARE SOME DJ SOFTWARE PROGRAMS THAT WILL AUTOMATICALLY KEEP THE TEMPO OF THE SONG WITH MINIMAL EFFORT FROM THE USER. WE SUGGEST TO GET THE MECHANICS OF MANUALLY LEARNING HOW TO USE PITCH CONTROLS FIRST. IT WILL TRULY HELP YOU WITH MASTERING PITCH CONTROL OVERALL.
STEP 5 BRINING IN THE NEXT SONG (USING SONG'S BREAKDOWN)
WHEN MIXING, YOU WANT TO BRING THE NEW SONG IN AT THE BREAKDOWN OF THE SONG THAT'S PLAYING. THE BREAKDOWN IS USUALLY THE BEST PART OF THE SONG AND GENERALLY STARTS WITHIN 1 MIN & 30 SECONDS TO 2 MIN OF EVERY SONG. MOST TIMES , THE BREAKDOWN OF THE SONG WILL EITHER REDUCE THE VOCALS OR SOME OF THE INSTRUMENTS AND JUST GET TO THE CORE BEAT OF THE SONG. MASTERING ALL THE TECHNIQUES ABOVE AND BRINGING IN A SONG AT THE BREAKDOWN IS THE BEST WAY TO SEE A PARTY CROWD GO WILD. EVEN IF YOU ARE JUST MIXING AS A HOBBY, WHILE LISTENING TO YOUR MIX YOU WILL HEAR THE DIFFERENCE USING THE BREAKDOWN TO BRING A NEW SONG IN VERSUS MIXING A SONG IN AT JUST ANY POINT.
NEED HELP? GO TO THE "LET'S TALK" PAGE
EDITING MUSIC
YOU MAY WANT TO DELETE PROFANITY FROM SOME OR ALL OF THE MJUSIC YOU HAVE. THIS SECTION WILL GIVE YOU INFO ON HOW TO REMOVE PROFANITY FROM YOUR MUSIC FILES. YOU'LL NEED TO PURCHASE A PROGRAM CALLED "MIXMEISTER". YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM FROM THEIR WEBSITE AT http://WWW.MIXMEISTER.COM. THE LEAST EXPENSIVE SOFTWARE IS APPROXIIMATELY $50.00.THIS IS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE AND WILL ALLOW YOU TO EDIT MUSIC AND MIX WITHOUT ADDITIONAL HARDWARE OTHER THAN YOU COMPUTER.
ONCE YOU DOWNLOAD THE SOFTWARE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE MANUAL,BUT, FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDITING A SONG YOU'LL NEED TO FOLLOW THESE STEPS:
1 - IMPORT THE SONG YOU WANT TO USE
2 - LISTEN FOR THE WORD/WORDS YOU WANT TO DELETE
3 - HIGHLIGHT THE FIRST PART OF THE WORD BY HOLDING THE "CTRL" & "S" KEYS SIMULTANEOUSLY
4 - HIGHLIGHT THE END THE WORD BY HOLDING THE "CTRL" & "S" KEYS SIMULTANEOUSLY
5 - HIGHLIGHT THE AREA BETWEEN THE TWO POINTS YOU'VE CREATED AND RIGHT CLICK YOUR MOUSE
6 - CHOOSE "REVERSE" FROM THE POP-UP LIST
THAT'S IT!. YOU'VE JUST EDITED THE FIRST PROFANE WORD OF THE SONG YOU WANT TO EDIT. (REPEAT THIS STEP FOR EVERY PROFANE WORD IN THE SONG YOU'RE EDITING.
ALTHOUGH THIS IS TIME CONSUMING, THE END RESULT WILL GIVE YOU A PROFANITY FREE SONG. WHEN DJING FOR SCHOOLS, WEDDING AND FAMILY REUNIONS WILL MAKE YOU A MORE MARKETABLE DJ... MORE GIGS WILL COME YOUR WAY BASED ON THE CLEAN MUSIC YOU ARE ABLE TO OFFER!!!!!!
