When I first started the site I asked my friend Ted to contribute an article to Unite about DJing. Personally I have always been intrigued by turntable science and the art of spinning records for sweaty drunk people. Since this article came out in July 2007’s edition of this site. It has inspired me to start collecting vinyl again and even D.J.ing. Hope it inspires you. J.D.

I’m not a DJ in the traditional cutting and scratching sense that you see so many great DJ’s do.  I don’t DJ a living, and I don’t claim to know everything.  I have been doing this for a while now.  I’ve played all over NYC and NJ at small clubs, bars and house parties.  I’ve managed to make some extra cash, meet a lot of people, drink for free and I have a great time while doing it. 

    I started out by DJ’ing at my college radio station.  It really helped me get the basics down, mixing, sound levels, and most importantly getting comfortable with playing music to a live audience.  After college I began offering up my services at friends parties.  “Do you have a DJ? I’ll come and spin some records for free”. From there I started doing bars, often asking the owner or manager if they had a open slot one night of the week for a DJ to spin.  I started out on Wednesday nights, 9pm to 4am.  It was great.  I had a setting to play music that I wanted to hear and share with other people.  I asked a friend of mine to split the DJ duties with me.  This allowed me to takes breaks, use the bathroom, talk to friends or even take a night off if I needed one.  From a bar you can use that as a launching pad to paying gigs in small clubs and more parties. 

    Before you start offering up your skills as the next great DJ make sure you have everything together.  First, do you have the enough good music to play continuously for 4 to 8 hours?  Not sure, start digging around.  Yard sales, record fairs, flea markets, the Salvation Army, eBay, and even relatives are a good starting point.  I stopped at a salvation army recently after work.  When I looked in the record section, i found a stash of great punk and new wave record.  The Clash, Gang of Four, Circle Jerks, NY Dolls the Ramones and more, all in good shape and cheap.   Another time a co-worker gave me a crate of his old records.  They weren’t all gems, but I was able to pull AC/DC, Alice Cooper and The Kinks from it.  Secondly, do you have all the needed equipment?  At minimum you’ll have to have a good set of headphones with a ¼ inch plug.  If you’re doing vinyl you’ll need good needles. Most bars and clubs don’t provide them.  If they do have record needles, who knows how old they are?   Rock and Soul on 7th Ave in NYC is an attitude free place to pick up new DJ equipment.  The prices are fair and the employees are friendly.  Third, you have to practice at home.  Remember, you’re dj’ing to a live audience, you can see them and they can see you.  If you make a mistake, they’ll know who it was.  You don’t want to embarrass yourself.  Take some time to get your skills down before you start to play out.  What does a basic home set up require?  Two turntables, a mixer, an amp, speakers, headphones and needles.  Having all of those will get your started.  Turntables are easy to come by, but the most expensive.  Most DJ’s prefer the Technic 1200.

It’s been used by DJ’s worldwide for decades.  Unfortunately one new 1200 will cost in about of $500.  I was lucky and bought both of mine off of Craig’s list for price of one.  For a home setup Gemini and Numark make similar turntables that will get your by that are considerably cheaper.  As for a mixer they range from under $100 to thousands of dollars.  I’m not a turntablist, I don’t require a five hundred dollar mixer.  My first mixer was a Numark and cost me about $100.  It was cheap and served its purpose.  As for the amp and speakers, they are the easiest.  If you don’t already have an old component stereo system in your basement start hitting the garage sales and second hand shops.  You could get an amp and speakers for fifty dollars, probably less.  Those old 70’s and 80’s amps and speakers are nearly indestructible.  I’ve used my parents early 80’s amp for house parties for the last 10 years.  It’s put up with beer being spilled on it, cigarette smoke and ash like a champion.    

    Now that you have your home setup complete you have to practice.  I can’t stress this enough, you have to practice.  Get familiar with your records; see what works and what plays well together.  Try different genres of music out.  Over the course of a night you may start with garage rock, segue into punk mix that with funk.  Also very important, something you need to know that no one will tell you about.  Find a long song to play if you have to go to the bathroom.  I like to play anything off of “Appetite For Destruction”; most songs on there are at least 6 minutes long.  So practice, practice, practice.  You may also want to put together a mix CD to hand out, be sure to put your contact information on it. 

    Now that you have a DJ gig coming up ask yourself, who am I DJ’ing for?  Who is your audience?  Friends, coworkers, a room of drunks?  It’s good to know this in advance.  You don’t want to show up at some punk club with all indie rock records or vice versa.  Is it crowd college kids or people in their 30’s?  Is it a rock/metal crowd or a bunch of hipsters?  If you’re not sure, or if the crowd changes as the night goes on try to find something middle of the road.  A friend of mine plays a lot of 60’s and 70’s funk, soul and RnB.   The songs are recognizable and good, easily mixed and you can play more than once song from an artist. 

    What do you have to bring with you?  Sometimes it’s as simple as headphones and records, other times you have to bring everything, headphones, records, mixer, turntables, PA, amp, wires, needles etc.  What do you have to do in advance?  Will you be passing out flyers to everyone on the street?  Or will it be as simple as e-mailing your friends letting them know where you’ll be dj’ing next? 

    Where are you DJ’ing and how are you getting there?  Taxi, ride from a friend, subway, driving yourself?  Remember, if you’re drinking you probably can’t drive yourself home.  Will you be able to leave your records overnight and pick them up the next day? Do you even want to leave your things overnight?Play songs people are familiar with.  Unless you’re DJ’ing the Other Music holiday party people don’t want to hear the newest, coolest, underground and next big thing non stop.  They want to hear songs that they know and like.  I try to sandwich that cool 45 that you found at a garage sale in between 3 or 4 recognizable songs.  Three or 4 well known songs, cool unknown song, then 3 or 4 familiar songs.  Partygoers aren’t standing in front of the speakers listening intently on everything you play.  They’re socializing.  They want familiarity.  Mixing up your set with the known and unknown will help ensure that you’re asked to DJ next time. 

    Don’t forget, you’re the entertainment for the night. While everyone is hanging out, having a good time and getting drunk you’re busy thinking about the next 5 songs that you’re going to play.  What does this all mean? Don’t get too drunk.  Nobody likes it when the record skips, or the table gets bumped.  Nobody will notice, they’re drunk you say?  Not true at all.  One specific DJ comes to mind (who will remain nameless).  My friends and I used to go to his night in the city.  Around 3am, without fail it started.  He would be so drunk that he would bump the turntables when he was getting a record from his crate.  Everyone noticed.  We even had a name for it, the “insert DJ name here” remix.  Just remember, drink some water, in-between the beers.  Or better yet, don’t drink alcohol at all.

    Are you going to make money?  In the beginning, probably not.  Records cost money; a home setup costs money, PA’s cost money.  I started out doing friends house parties and bars, usually in trade for beer and food.  If I was lucky I got cab money.  Once you get established you’ll start getting paid.  It’ll be either a flat rate or a cut of the door/bar.   A cut of the door/bar usually is something like “if the bar make over X amount of dollars you’ll get ten percent of that”.  Unless it’s a reputable bar/manager/owner be wary.  How would you know what the bar makes, you’re not behind the bar?  At the end of the night the manager could say “we were just under X dollars at the bar, so I can only pay you this “.  I prefer a flat rate that will be discussed before the needle hits the first record. 

    The DJ world has made some huge leaps and bounds with all of the recent advances in technology.  I see more and more laptops and iPod’s in the DJ booth every week. Although not for me, iPods and laptops eliminate the lugging of heavy crates of records and carrying heavy turntables.  Personally, I’m a purest.  I try to only play vinyl, preferably 45’s.  Sure I have to bring a lot of crates with me but it’s worth it.  If you don’t have a lot of records you can go with CD’s, your laptop and/or iPod.  You’ll be able to bring your entire collection of music in a small bag.

    Will you be nervous at first, yes of course.  Everyone is a little nervous at first. Just remind yourself this is a party, there is great music on, relax and have a good time.  T.D.