Laptop DJ'ing

[Dave]

I've finally brought myself kicking and screaming into the 21st century and bought myself a laptop to use while DJ'ing. I'm fed up lugging huge bags around, losing/damaging CDs and spending inordinate amounts of time looking for songs when I should be concentrating on mixing and the like. I want to know what the best software and hardware to buy in order to maximise the laptop's potential. At the moment I'm leaning towards Final Scratch 2.0, but I'd like to know if anyone else who has used this sort of equipment has any better ideas.

[Panda Strong]

Absolutely no help whatsoever, but what kind of dj'ing do you do? We're not talking about scratching and all that jazz, are we? More just playing songs you like, yeah? How do you get into something like that? It's always been something i've wanted to do. Hopefully i'll be getting something on the uni radio soon, once everything is sorted out.

[Giles Walker]

Hmm i would lean towards serato scratch as it is newer and in my opinion better but if you are just going to be playing songs from it you needn't spend all that money as something like traktor will do just fine.

Alternatively you could get a pirated copy of ableton and let it mix (after some preparation) your records (that would mix together) for you. You could even go all jive bunny with ableton.

I would go ableton if i were you, it's pretty user friendly and the more you use it the closer you are to becoming a producer. Also it would make your night sound like optimo a bit, which is not a bad thing.

Final Scratch and programs of their sort are really more for dance and hip hop djs who scratch and do big long running blends.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Panda Strong

Absolutely no help whatsoever, but what kind of dj'ing do you do? We're not talking about scratching and all that jazz, are we? More just playing songs you like, yeah? How do you get into something like that? It's always been something i've wanted to do. Hopefully i'll be getting something on the uni radio soon, once everything is sorted out.

I DJ four nights a week at Exodus, and I have a night at Liquid as well. I've never laid any claims to being a great technical DJ, my skills lie more in the song selection and atmosphere creation spheres. I got started in DJ'ing through student radio as well, playing at nights to boost the station's profile and raising money to pay off our (ultimately unsustainable) debt.

The advice I always give to would-be DJ's is to hook up with a local band and become their warmup/warmdown guy. If the venue they're playing at has DJ facilities, they're usually amenable to the band providing their own pre/post show entertainment. Do a few of those, and if you're any good someone who knows someone will point you in the direction of a paying gig.

There's nothing like playing in front of a crowd to buck up your ideas and sharpen your instincts. Bedroom DJ's, as a rule, just don't cut it in that situation.

Originally Posted by Giles Walker

Hmm i would lean towards serato scratch as it is newer and in my opinion better but if you are just going to be playing songs from it you needn't spend all that money as something like traktor will do just fine.

Alternatively you could get a pirated copy of ableton and let it mix (after some preparation) your records (that would mix together) for you. You could even go all jive bunny with ableton.

I would go ableton if i were you, it's pretty user friendly and the more you use it the closer you are to becoming a producer. Also it would make your night sound like optimo a bit, which is not a bad thing.

Final Scratch and programs of their sort are really more for dance and hip hop djs who scratch and do big long running blends.

Ableton is very much in my thoughts, is it not a bit unstable and prone to crashing, though? I've heard that from a few people.

My attraction to Final Scratch (with Traktor) came via the DJ I was working with in Liquid for a while. It seems to be very user-friendly,but it may be overkill for the stuff I'm doing. The scope for uber-mix-mastery is limited when your main spheres of performance are classic soul/rhythm+blues and indie-pop.

I'll check out Serato, thanks very much for the tips.

[Giles Walker]

If you are just using the laptop for djing and not much else you shouldn't have too many problems with Ableton. Saying that i'm sure the amount you dj it would maybe crash at some point just from the law of averages.

Serato has only ever crashed for me twice and both times it was because i kicked the power supply by accident.

[jamiesd]

I've also been trying to learn how to laptop dj, for a friends upcoming housewarming.
I've got ableton but couldn't even know where to start.
So i've been using mixmeister studio 7.1.

It's cheating really but does the job i need it to do.

[Graeme]

What about something simpler (to me anyway) like Virtual DJ?

[Stripey]

just fire up winamp and create a playlist Dave, it's the killer app for the "cdj" like you who wants to "go digital". IMO FS and the like are a waste of money for someone like you.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Stripey

just fire up winamp and create a playlist Dave, it's the killer app for the "cdj" like you who wants to "go digital". IMO FS and the like are a waste of money for someone like you.

Anyone who had ever achieved even a modicum of success as a DJ would scoff heartily at that. I think someone like me, who is performing pretty much every night to thousands of people every week owes it to the crowd to be the best I possibly can be. If that involves investing hundreds of pounds in new technology to take my career to the next level, so be it.

[Stripey]

Originally Posted by Dave

Anyone who had ever achieved even a modicum of success as a DJ would scoff heartily at that. I think someone like me, who is performing pretty much every night to thousands of people every week owes it to the crowd to be the best I possibly can be. If that involves investing hundreds of pounds in new technology to take my career to the next level, so be it.

The phrase "all the gear and no idea" comes to mind. You're free to waste your money though.