Best Tips on Starting as a Beginner DJ in 4 Easy Steps.

So you've decided to get into the DJ world maybe as a free time hobby or even to become a professional DJ. If so congratulations! You've come to the best place to find your way of becoming a real music artist. In this article, I'm going to give you the best tips on how to start as a beginner DJ in just a few easy steps. So read closely!

1. Find Your Rhythm

Now that you've decided to give it a shot at starting as a DJ I can understand that you love music and want to add your own touch to it but it's not that simple.

Each and everyone of us has it's own taste according to music, so this first step should be easy for you.

As a beginner DJ you need to find out the genre you like the most. Are you into Electronic music, Funk, Pop, EDM, Rock, Blues, Techno etc? Trust me, It's easier when you focus on one path. I would recommend going with electronic first such as Deep House, because it is easier to beat-match and mix as a starter.

If you don't know which genre to choose do not worry, with a little bit of practice you will find out what best suits you.

2. Be Determined

Yes, I know this may sound easy or even stupid but DJing is not easy, AT ALL. It requires blood, sweat and tears to get all the way up and be recognized.

It's really important to know your goals and be honest with yourself about why you want to start as a DJ. There are many reasons people want to join the DJ world. Some do it just as a fun hobby, some just like the idea of literally pushing non-sense buttons and act like they are mixing, others just do it to get laid and then there are the ones that are really passionate about it, they put effort and hard work into it and I truly hope you're in this group, if so welcome to the club!

DJing is not a fast path to fame. You won't be practicing for 3 weeks and then climb into Tomorrow Land alongside Martin Garrix, no that's not going to happen.

You need to put a lot of work and practice and with a little bit of luck you can achieve whatever your goals are. Just be DETERMINED.

3. Test The Waters

Now that you are ready to work and know your genre, lets find out what a DJ does. I will list you some of the most popular and free software where you can get your hands into DJing.

Virtual DJ

VirtualDJ is a DJ software for PC and MAC. It is used by DJs to replace their turntables and CD players, and use digital music instead of vinyl and CDs. This software is entirely free and it provides as many decks as you want and includes pretty much all the bells and whistles that you would expect, such as key lock, sync, loops, sampling, recording, and more. Its one of the most used DJ simulators as it is fully functional and completely free. You can view some Virtual DJ tutorials in YouTube to help you get familiar with it. I started with this and I recommend you to begin with it too.

Mixxx

Mixx is another popular DJ software. This one is special because apart from being completely free, it is an open-source mixing program. So it supports even Linux! Very well featured, open source and even provides free Timecode control! (Timecode is a special audio signal recorded on a standard vinyl record or audio CD that allows you to use traditional vinyl or non-MIDI capable CD decks to controlsong playback). As far as I know, this is the only software that allows free Timecode control.

There are also some other demo mixing software that you can use such as Traktor Pro 2, Numark Cue, Image Line’s Deckadance, PCDJ, Serato DJ (requires approved controller), and more. This are all professional software which best require you to buy controllers and turntables. This is more of an advanced step but if you are thinking of getting serious with it we will help you find out the best friendly-budget Controllers to purchase as e beginner DJ.

4. Learn Some Skills

There are some basic skills that you need to learn as a beginner DJ such as Beatmatching, Phrasing and EQing.

Beatmatching

Beatmatching is the process of getting two tracks to have the same Tempo(the speed at which the song is playing) and Phase (the beats from both tracks playing in-time with each other)

Nowadays technology as made it to auto-beatmatch 2 tracks when playing by using the Sync (synchronize) button. With that being said you won't have to really make manual beatmatching but sometimes it's a useful tool to know(for ex: when you are using Turntables) and of course it helps you tune and develop your ears so that you know exactly when to adjust the phase appropriately.

Beatmatching is accomplished using a pitch fader to adjust tempo. You use a jog wheel, pitch-bend button, or the physical manipulation of a record to adjust phase.

Phrasing

In DJing, phrasing, also called stage matching, refers to alignment of phrases of two tracks in a mix. This allows the transition between the tracks to be done without breaking the musical structure. In other words, when you are playing a track and you want to play or mix another track, you need to find the right moment so that it makes sense.

Almost all music that you will be DJing is in 4/4 time. Technically, this means is that there are four beats in a measure (bar), and that the quarter note gets one beat. Basically you need to know how to count to 4 as most of the music genres that DJs play are 4/4.

EQing

Equalizing (EQing) is the process of boosting or dropping certain frequencies so that two tracks can mix together well. Equalizing is really hard to master, it's even considered as a form of art itself.

A typical DJ controller will have a three-band EQ (low, mid, and high…. or bass, mid-range, and treble).

There is too much to be said about Equalizing as a tool or even as a form of art. So a brief idea of what it basically is will be enough for you as a beginner.

So now that you've got the basic idea of what DJing is, you can get started and practice as much as you can with your DJ software. After that, if you see yourself getting more & more passionate about it, you can invest in some DJ hardware equipment. There will be more posts on what equipment/gears to buy that are relevant to your budget and experience as a DJ. So don't forget to subscribe to our page and never miss any content that we update.