Comment Technique + Tools == Good DJ (Score 1) 125
For Technique, I recommend none other than Scratch DJ Academy, with Locations in NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles. They have week-long bootcamps in the summertime if you don't live close enough for their once-a-week class. You can learn on your own, but you take the chance of learning things incorrectly and it will take you much, much longer (one hour a week for six weeks equated to six to nine months of on-your-own our instructors told us). My experience there was very positive, I plan to return for more classes.
Tools are all up to you. By definition, DJs just beat-match two tracks together. Old skool DJs are all about vinyl, some are spinning on CD tables now, and some have adopted MP3 time-coded record setups like Scratch Live and Final Scratch.
If you don't have any equipment, you should know that the industry standards for tables are Technics 1200s (every club you might spin in will likely have those), but if you just want to get your feet wet and see if you like it, I'd recommend starting with Neumark's DJ in a Box, which comes with two tables, a mix, and some headphones. The equipment is ghetto for the most part, but for $350 (new) you can get a full setup and see if you're into it instead of dropping $1000-$1500 to see if it's your thing (though you can buy up stuff from Craigslist and eBay from losers who did that before you). My personal preference, since all my music has been MP3 since the late-90s leans towards standard turntables (I like to scratch) and a Serrato Scratch Live to spin my MP3s on vinyl.
If you're talking about musicial composition (you want to make your own electronica), there's a host of products with various specialties. The Apple camp gives you Garage Band free with iLife (free with new Macs) and there are tons of expansion packs. If you outgrow that, you can look at Logic Pro and then Protools when you outgrow that. There are packages for beat making, there are tons of tools on the PC. If you're just starting out and you're a Mac guy, start with Garage band before you look at anything else (go download NIN's "The Hand that Feeds" and remix it like the rest of us did).
It's fun stuff though man, good luck and enjoy.
Tools are all up to you. By definition, DJs just beat-match two tracks together. Old skool DJs are all about vinyl, some are spinning on CD tables now, and some have adopted MP3 time-coded record setups like Scratch Live and Final Scratch.
If you don't have any equipment, you should know that the industry standards for tables are Technics 1200s (every club you might spin in will likely have those), but if you just want to get your feet wet and see if you like it, I'd recommend starting with Neumark's DJ in a Box, which comes with two tables, a mix, and some headphones. The equipment is ghetto for the most part, but for $350 (new) you can get a full setup and see if you're into it instead of dropping $1000-$1500 to see if it's your thing (though you can buy up stuff from Craigslist and eBay from losers who did that before you). My personal preference, since all my music has been MP3 since the late-90s leans towards standard turntables (I like to scratch) and a Serrato Scratch Live to spin my MP3s on vinyl.
If you're talking about musicial composition (you want to make your own electronica), there's a host of products with various specialties. The Apple camp gives you Garage Band free with iLife (free with new Macs) and there are tons of expansion packs. If you outgrow that, you can look at Logic Pro and then Protools when you outgrow that. There are packages for beat making, there are tons of tools on the PC. If you're just starting out and you're a Mac guy, start with Garage band before you look at anything else (go download NIN's "The Hand that Feeds" and remix it like the rest of us did).
It's fun stuff though man, good luck and enjoy.
