…And everything went wrong. Brought my laptop thinking I could just connect Serato and use everything I have been using at home. Turns out the Pioneer Opus Quad couldn’t be detected by Serato. Tried downloading driver to my laptop. Couldn’t work. Tried exporting my entire library to RB, also couldn’t work. Spent roughly 30 mins exporting my playlists to a USB drive. Started playing and made so many rookie mistakes - forgot to move fader up when switching EQs, forgot to turn back the filter knob to 90 degrees, forgot to match BPM before switching, lost all my colour tags from Serato (I use them to indicate mood of songs), pulled out USB when song was playing, and the list goes on.

Oh did I mention its a slooow Tuesday night on a rooftop bar, so less than 20 people came and went in a 3 hour span. Realised how different it is to be playing at home vs an actual venue. I would say don’t ever underestimate the sound quality and technical challenges of playing live. Another thing I realised was how different EQs on different controllers would sound. Always pay attention to the sound, if you notice something wrong, quickly adjust.

Hey but I had fun! Definitely not my last!

Hola a todos, tengo una duda existencial desde hace años que no volvía a poner música, pero ahora me equipé y ya hice algunos eventos pequeños pero quería saber cuánto se está cobrando acá en la región metropolitana Chile?? tengo dos parlantes de 15 pulgadas 1500 w rms en total, luces máquina de humo y micrófonos ese es mi equipamiento como cuánto se está cobrando alguien sabrá algún consejo por favor.

I’ve am DJing Peak-Time / Driving Techno on a DDJ-1000 since one year, and I’ve been wondering if anyone else feels the same way.

My mixing style is pretty traditional. I focus on track selection, phrasing, smooth transitions and EQ mixing. I rarely use effects like echo or reverb, maybe some Color FX occasionally.
I don’t always play tracks until the outro either. It depends on the energy and whether I feel the track has gone on long enough.
Sometimes, once I’ve mixed in Track B, I’ll barely touch the controller for the next 3–4 minutes until it’s time to prepare Track C.

And honestly, watching DJs on Instagram and TikTok sometimes makes me feel like I’m not doing enough.
It seems like everyone is constantly using loops, effects, hot cues and doing something on the decks.

I remember techno DJing being much more about track selection, EQs and letting tracks breathe.
I’ve also noticed that Peak-Time / Driving Techno seems to get less attention lately compared to Hard Techno and other faster styles.

So I’m curious:
- Has the way people DJ techno actually changed over the last 5–10 years?
- Do you still mostly mix with EQs and let tracks play?
- Is this just social media making it look like DJs need to be constantly doing something?
- Do you think traditional mixing is becoming less appreciated?

I’m not against modern techniques at all. I just genuinely enjoy long, smooth transitions and letting the music do its thing.

Would love to hear how other techno DJs feel about this.

I've been learning how to dj for the past year, pretty frequently for the last 6 months and have been putting together sets and recording them. I feel a lot more confident with my phrasing and eq swaps and am playing all sorts of genres, started with downtempo, progressive house, melodic techno, minimal tech, tech house, psytech.

I've been learning that each genre has its own mixing techniques that it prefers which is forcing me to learn and practice looping and memory loops.

I've been completely neglecting FX and even hi-pass/low pass filters and would like to practice them in order to more easily mix tracks. I'm really having trouble with atmospheric/experimental music right now.

How did you guys learn to use FX and filters? How to recommend practicing them or how would you teach them to someone else?

Equpiment: Pioneer DJ DDJ_REV1

My sister asked me to handle the equipment for her wedding. She's heard me DJ at a family members baby shower but I just brought my soundbar last time because it was a small area. I know this is not ideal for a wedding. What would I need?

I just want to let y'all know. I do not mind not being apart of the wedding. I love my family but that's not a big deal to me or my sister. She asked me because she trust me enough to do it. I need advice not negativity. We all start somewhere. I've been practing & will continue to practice & do research on wedding so please advice only. I don't need a therapist.

Also, beginner questions;

What are some sites I can get free sample sounds?

What are some things I can do to get my first gig?

I am a dj currently just domlive youtube but was wondering if anyone can help me out on which is better. As I have done some research but am still a little confused on which one will or will not flag and take down my streaming mixes due to copyright stuff. I know mixcloud has mechanical licensing which soundcloud doesnt. But I alway hear everyone say to upload your sets to soubdcloud? Any help is greatly appreciated thank you

So I'm a vinyl house, breaks, techno dj. I do have digital players (SC6000s) and I'm doing an 80s themed Haloween party at a bar. I bought a ton of music but man the beat grid analysis of Serato and Engine DJ is fucking horrible for any music that's not strictly a 4x4 beat. BPMs are totally off. Even with "lucid". Im not bringing a laptop so ill be using EngineOS.

So things like Freestyle/hiphop ill have no issues with but what about like classic Halloween songs. What kind of tricks to mix like Thriller with Somebody's Watching me. Or other classic Halloween songs. Links to any tutorials or videos would be cool.

I bought an FLX4 with rekordbox and I'm loving it. I travel a lot though and I don't have time to practice enough. I found that the Djay app works on my phone so I am looking for a compact controller to run with it so I can practice on the go. I'm specifically looking for something that will let me practice getting into and out of song as well as beat matching, (including volume faders and a crossfader). I can't seem to find an option that has volume faders so I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a compact and reliable controller with a good and realistic feel for working on the basics. Thank you

So I was messing around with the new Spotify mixed feature and really got into the ins and outs that it provides in terms of eq adjustment,bass swapping,filters etc. My main question is can I do all of these on a controller and perform it live? This is my first venture into djing as a hobby and I’m not too versed on how an actual controller operates. Any and all feedback appreciated

I run a Xone:24C and mostly play vinyl, but I recently added a Xone:K3 so I can play MP3s too.

I’d like a dedicated device to run the full version of djay (or a similar DJ app) that I can leave permanently set up with my gear. Ideally, it would have the smallest screen possible, since I just want to browse and play digital tracks without using my phone or laptop.

As the title suggests, I am curious as to what "Open Format" for electronic music DJs means.

Does that mean that if you are primarily a tech house DJ, open format means other electronic music subgenres like Industrial, Bouncy Techno, Funktronica, Experimental Electronic?

Basically other genres outside of house but within electronic.

Or does that mean outside of electronic all together, like reggae, hip hop, disco, funk, salsa, bachata. soul, Top 40, pop, New Wave, Modern Rock, era music, etc?

Curious.

Please teach me something.

I feel like I'm jumping from r&b to pop to house to rap to disco, and it feels good because I love the songs, and I'm having a hard time discerning it from a hypothetical crowds reaction.

Similarly, is there a balance of woman or man vocals?

I was feeling low the last few days, and this evening I hit what felt like rock bottom. I spontaneously went to pick up my decks and started off with my go-to breakup song, which then mixed into something a little more high energy, but still a pretty moody ambience. Then at one point I thought "you know what? Let's give it all I've got" and reached for the heaviest dub and techno stuff in my library, and the change in energy didn't even feel off. I pulled off my best transitions so far, the energy was perfect for the crowd (me) and my glasses flew off my face from the headbanging, along with one ear pad from my headphones (it was pretty loose because the pads were aftermarket).

This must be close to what actual musicians feel like when using music as an exutory, and it was incredible. I even got to try a few tricks that I had recently found online.

A while back I made a post about having an "age crisis" and, through the discussion, there were a handful of comments saying they'd "kill for a crowd that size" and that I'm doing "what many here wish to do."

So, I figured I'd do an AMA and share my progress and what has been working for me.

Long story short, I was bit by the performance bug, and decided that I wanted to start throwing Emo Raves (Emo x EDM).

I am in Central Pennsyltucky so anything beyond "Sweet Caroline" and "Wagon Wheel" covers is a tough sale. I approached some venues that seemed interested but never really got to the planning phase. Finally, one offered me $100 to do it, 9pm-2am, because "nobody knew who I was." I said I'd do it for free IF I could charge a cover and keep the whole thing. He was very excited about that deal...until he saw the crowd. That first night, I brought in 88 people with a $10 cover. I don't think he even wanted to pay me lol

Anyway, I booked another one there and, some upset locals decided to throw a free event on the same night, and I ended up pulling in 55 people on the 2nd one. I don't know if I'll be returning to that venue. I've learned it has a bad reputation that it can't shake and those grumpy DJs I previously mentioned decided to try to emulate and throw their own raves. Unfortunately, they were flops and I heard someone say they would not be going to my Emo Rave because of those ones sucking so bad...then I heard some podcast talking about "don't let your venue define you..." but...I'm rambling...

Anyway, the next event, I did in another town, they paid me a flat rate of $600 and I brought around 200 people in. That one sucked, capping my income like that…but it set a baseline I guess.

Next, was another new, local town, and I packed about 100 into that venue with the $10 cover.

Most recently, I brought in two other DJs and hosted an Emo Rave at a local arcade/brewery. That brought about 140 people with the $10 cover.

My advertising strategy has mostly been creating lame shorts on for the socials using TikTok Autocut features and light editing, a lot of posting and sharing in local FB groups, and I've ran $50-$100 in Meta ads targeting geographic locations.

My setup consists of an FLX10, 2x RCF J8s, 1x RCF 705, 1x Gigbar Move. Only the first two events had house audio/lights but, if I were to go back there, I'd bring my own equipment.

AMA

I’m a beginner DJ and I’ve been using ChatGPT to organize my music by energy, discover similar tracks, and structure a set. I combine its recommendations with my own digging, but I still listen to and personally choose every track.
My idea is to move from a strong opening into peak-time techno, then hypnotic techno similar to Lunaks, and finish with some psytrance.
Does anyone else use ChatGPT this way? Do you find it useful, or do you think it can get in the way of developing your own sound?

Im a college DJ and Ive been practicing DJing more popular party music that people would want to hear. Im all good with house, techno, and anything with familiar patterns, but I struggle with “party music” like The Weeknd, Katy Perry, Pitbull and other songs in that category. I’ve been practicing blindly and some transitions work and some just fail miserably. How do pro djs nail it every time? The songs are structured in such odd ways (4 beat intros, random vocals etc). What am I not understanding?

I was wondering if it's possible to do this like azyr or other hard techno dj's do this on a flx4, and if anyone has a good tutorial on how to! I really love the energy build!

Thanks!

Hi all, we're looking for a present for what will be our daughter's 11th birthday. The party mix 3 seems to be the best balance between a party machine for her and her friends and to get into that world of mixing tracks. The issue is that we have a YouTube music subscription and rely on our music access from there. I've read that it's not compatible with the DJ software. Any ideas of how to get around that? SoundCloud has a lot of great free stuff but she'll want the usual commercial stuff we get from YT music.

Hey all, I’ve recently just got back into djing with records again after quite some years of only djing with a ddj controller. I completely forgot how different it was to beatmatch by purely ear. I found myself using the beatgrid and onscreen BPM display to perfectly beatmatch, but coming back to records there isn’t any of that. I’m struggling to find a point on the pitch fader where I can line up the beats of the music. Is there any useful tips you guys have or any good youtube videos that may be of any help?

I do remember when I first started out I had 2 copies of the same house record, and I was taught to beatmatch that way. Obviously it’s easier having the records the same BPM, but maybe doing that again may help? I know that no 2 turnables spin at the exact same speed, and I will need to adjust the pitch fader and nudge the platter accordingly, but I’m still finding it a little difficult! Many thanks guys 🙏

I’m considering djing outside my partner’s garage on Halloween. I’m looking for speakers (compatible with flx-4 + rca 3.5 mm cable) that are decent quality and maybe around $40 or under if that’s realistic? Recommendations from places like Walmart and Best Buy help, thanks!

Hello all, I am 24 and just recently got into DJing. I specifically want to do weddings after running music for a family members wedding. It’s something I’ve always thought was super cool!

I picked up a DDJ-FLX4 and have gotten Rekordbox and started using it. I understand just about it all on my controller and have been starting to practice transitions. My questions are this:

Should I be focusing on purchasing music right now? I am seeing a lot of people say streaming isn’t a proper option, which makes sense as Spotify isn’t working for me atm. However with Beatport you can download offline which seems like a cool idea, however it does lack all the popular wedding songs I have found! Should I go with a record pool or is there a better option?

Second, is there a course I should get into to be able to learn to DJ better? Or is there something else I should be practicing? I would love any advice to improve my actual DJ skills!

Thank you in advance!

Hey soo im completely new to this but i wanna start djing or at least try to. What would be the best starting controller? i dont wanna spend too much money in case i end up not liking it? My options are second hand Hercules DJControl Inpulse 200 MK2 around 80 euros,

DJ: Numark Party Mix II ~120 euros

Numark Mixtrack Pro FX ~180 euros

I dont wanna spend too much money for starters.
Thank you!

Thought I would come back and give everyone that had seen my post a week ago an update on what occurred.

CONTEXT - I was given a week to learn how to open-format DJ for a ball event for a family friend, who had essentially lucked out on every DJ he knew declining his offer to play on such short notice. I came here ask for some advise on what I should do considering the circumstances, and received a lot of feedback about what I could do to prepare for an event.

To everyone that did comment, thank you! I didn't end up actually taking the deck for a spin and seeing what one weeks worth of YouTube lessons got me, but I did end up standing there with my computer and queuing songs that I thought would roll well from one to another. I think everyone has seen it somewhere, but I kinda got inspiration from something along the lines of some of the best parties can be had on iPods, so I thought I would give it a try to see what the reactions were to it.

And it went great! For what its worth, I just had to rely on the fact that there was an open bar tab involved in the night, and that it wouldn't take much for university students to get up and dance. But, I found it to be an incredibly good way to learn a lot at once.

For starters, I think the main thing I got from it was people watching and reaction. People needed the impulse of new songs constantly, and I found myself using small ways to get from song to song without skipping when it got boring to make sure everyone stayed entertained. The other thing I got was probably confidence, and it probably doesn't make sense, considering all that I did, but I was winging all of it, trying to find the next best song to get people going for 2ish hours straight. This will all help me later on when I do eventually find myself on a stage.

This doesn't stop me from saying that I will do this again, cause I won't. I need to really learn to hone my skills for live performance and get to a level that I am comfortable performing a set that I am happy with! So keen to share what I get up to in the future with here!