You may not know it, but music and technology have been intertwined since the late 1800s. It is only recently that this has become a popular hobby for people to take up. With all of the advances in modern technology, digital DJing can be done from home with just a laptop and some good speakers. This article will explore how to get started as a beginner DJ, what equipment you need (or don’t need), and give you some resources to help make your first gig happen!
So you want to take up DJing as a hobby? That’s great! There are thousands of people who have started out using the same laptop and headphones they use for their everyday routine. I think that it is important to note that digital DJing is not an extremely difficult thing to do, but it is pretty complicated.
If you are making this decision, understand this: It will take time, effort, money, patience…and don’t expect to be DJing every weekend after about three months.
But if you keep at it and stay passionate about your creativity, there is no doubt in my mind that one day you could make a living off of IT! Why stop with just hobbies though? There are plenty of people who play around with this simple form of DJing just because they enjoy it. There are also plenty of people who have a set up at home and love using it to play music for family and friends, even though there is no real purpose behind the hobby…
Now that we know what digital DJing is and why you should or shouldn’t do it, let’s talk about how to get started!
The first thing you need to do before signing any papers or having financial commitments with equipment vendors is figured out exactly WHY you want to start playing around with DJ technology.
Do you want to be a mobile/club/party DJ? Maybe your passion lies more in making mixtapes for yourself of your favorite tunes from the radio. Or maybe you want to become the next sensation on YouTube; uploading videos multiple times a week to show your mixing abilities!
Do what you love. There is no point in spending money on equipment or software if it’s not something that you are passionate about…
Most people start out wanting to become famous on the internet, so let’s stick with this for now…
So you want to be the next DJ Tiesto/Carl Cox/Deadmau5? Plenty of people have made careers off of uploading their mixes online.
The process of becoming Internet Famous usually starts with buying some basic equipment and learning how to use it properly.
Now, I’m not saying that if you buy better gear right now you’ll automatically get more hits in your videos…but why take the risk? It doesn’t cost much to buy some decent headphones/speakers and a good MIDI controller.
The most important thing you need to do is focus on your knowledge of how music works, and buying equipment should come second.
There are plenty of people who have made big names for themselves with crapy laptop speakers, so don’t let not having the best equipment stop you!
Just be sure that when it comes time to play out in public (or on youtube) that the quality of your audio isn’t distracting from your mixing skills…