DJ Guide

The art of being a DJ is just that - an art. As such, there is no right or wrong way to do it - over time you will develop your own techniques that fit in with your style, but may be completely unsuitable for a different type of DJ. However, there are some basic competencies that every DJ needs to master before moving on to develop their own unique moves. Mixing is the most basic and vital part of being a DJ, and you will need to get this down so you can do it in your sleep (which sometimes may almost be literally required of you!). This DJ Guide will give you some tips to getting started on the right note.

Online DJ - Equipment

The first thing you need to get if you're planning on spinning some vinyl is a good pair of turntables, or decks. If you want to learn to be a DJ, you'll need high-quality turntables, and this means that belt drive decks are out. You need to get (at the very least) a pair of decent direct drive decks.

There are a lot of companies making turntables out there; some of them are suitable for Djing and others just aren't. Consumer models are probably going to be belt drives and won't have the necessary power or control to do anything more than play track A followed by track B.

Choosing the right DJ decks

But just because a company is trying to sell a deck as a DJ deck doesn't mean that it's good enough for the job. For example, the Gemini XL-100 is touted as a DJ deck, but it really doesn't cut the mustard when it comes to getting down to serious mixing magic. However, this doesn't mean that the Geminis are to be avoided - the Gemini XL-100 is an ‘entry level' belt drive model, but the direct drive XL-600 is an excellent turntable and a very good starting point for any aspiring DJ.

Some Turntable Recommendations

Technics are of course legendary in the world of turntables, with many years of experience in the art of creating a balanced and reliable record-playing mechanism, and they still make some excellent decks.

Other well-known manufacturers of quality turntables include Numark, Vestax, Citronic, Sherwood, Limit, American DJ, Soundlab and Kam.

For beginners, the Numark T200 responds really well. But remember, as any DJ Guide would tell you, stay away from belt drive decks - go direct! For more advice on all things DJ, check out the Online DJ site.