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Mad EP wrote: Sorry - not to be an ass... but 2 months is MORE than enough time to prepare for a first gig if you are willing to work at it.

This.

Ive been wanting to learn to DJ since summer and early last month I finally bought a controller which I casually messed about with for 2 weeks. Then one of my friends posted on Facebook that he was going to be running a dubstep night (next friday) and wanted some support DJs to fill a couple half hour slots. I told him that I was just getting started but could probably manage 30 mins if he would give me a chance.

The amount I have learned in these ~3 weeks so far is insane. I'm not saying I'm a pro DJ or anything close but I have so far managed to prepare a set for the night that I am proud of which I can switch up depending on how the crowd reacts to the tunes. I have also practiced just mixing random tunes together in case shit really goes bad and none of the tunes I want to play go down well (and because I want this skill anyway). Currently I am editing all the tracks I will have with me to make sure there is no long silences at the beginning or end of them, writing down how many bars the intros and outros are and I think next I will add multiple cue points to each of the tracks in my main set of places that are easy to mix in and out of in case nerves get the best of me when I play.

Making a complete idiot out of myself on stage does not sound appealing to me so I have put a lot of work into it and it feels good.

Mad EP wrote: Practice your ass off - record your practices, listen to em back objectively, find your faults, and try to fix em next time through.

Sorry for the double post but this is easily the best advice you have been given in the whole thread, it helped me more than anything else. Record your practice session then listen to it while browsing the web, playing games, going to the shop, sitting on the bus or whatever you normally do while listening to music. Whenever you hear something that sounds wrong take note of what it was and fix it the next time round.