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I was always wondering, how should I approach playing at gigs. I'm producing tunes for an little EDM project in which my two mates are involved.
Unlike me, they aren't focusing much on production, until we all get to meet up and live in one place, setup an studio ect. ect. (we are from different cities).
After some discussions, they have chosen to learn DJing first. That was some time ago, and now they got their gear and are starting to practice.
But if my local club would want me to play an gig (because of my music project), how should I approach that? Let's say, I have choice to get something cheap to practice on (controller).
Do clubs usually have their own dj equipment (turntables/cdjs/mixers)? If so, getting an controller would be an good idea? I don't have enough money to buy myself an real DJ equip, but it's enough for stuff for my 'bedroom studio' and dj controller. The dubstep/dnb scene is recognised in my region, but there is nobody that plays it, and NOBODY that does produce.

tl;dr i'm an producer, i haven't got any dj gear, i know the theory but i want to play some gigs in future (+3 years). how should i approach that?

thanks in advance!

Clubs almost always have their own gear set up, usually CDJ's and a mixer from my experience. Controller is certainly a good idea, as long as you don't rely on sync for beatmatching and stuff...
Usually you can even take your controller to the club you want to play at and just set it up there. That way you don't have to double up your music collection on CDs. (of course you should have a back up plan in case your controller/laptop fails but hey.. )

For actually getting a gig you should try and talk to other DJs that have the club you want to play, or try and get in contact with the manager and give him a mixtape of yourself. Make a good first impression and don't push him/her too much, just wait for a reply and if you don't get one maybe ask him/her once or twice about it but leave it after that.

Also searchbutton

I've found that mixtrack is the controller that would suit me the best, but should I get the PRO version?
I'm going to buy an audio interface (sinn7 status 24|96) anyway. And I guess that status is better at handling latency and stuff than this built in I/O.

I play out with the mixtrack pro, does the job and I get paid... winning

Its probably better to invest in a better controller. Traktor kontrol s2 is sturdy and it comes with traktor pro 2. It won't look good if you are using the cheapest controller possible.

See, this where I am irked.


If you're just going to mix tracks on a controller and not do anything special with it - you're wasting money really; you might as well bring a laptop with virtual DJ and use your touch pad to cue and press arrow keys to move the cross fader. Controller DJs spend 90% of their time looking at the screen of their laptop anyways so no one will notice the difference.

If you're going to invest significant money into learning how to DJ with a controller but are a producer; use that to your advantage, build live sets with ableton and do something interesting and niche which will help your bookings in your local circuit too! I know every local night around here will book a act whom does live shows - it just looks cool on the flyer hahah!

legend4ry wrote:If you're going to invest significant money into learning how to DJ with a controller but are a producer; use that to your advantage, build live sets with ableton and do something interesting and niche which will help your bookings in your local circuit too! I know every local night around here will book a act whom does live shows - it just looks cool on the flyer hahah!

this.

legend4ry wrote:See, this where I am irked.


If you're just going to mix tracks on a controller and not do anything special with it - you're wasting money really; you might as well bring a laptop with virtual DJ and use your touch pad to cue and press arrow keys to move the cross fader. Controller DJs spend 90% of their time looking at the screen of their laptop anyways so no one will notice the difference.

If you're going to invest significant money into learning how to DJ with a controller but are a producer; use that to your advantage, build live sets with ableton and do something interesting and niche which will help your bookings in your local circuit too! I know every local night around here will book a act whom does live shows - it just looks cool on the flyer hahah!

Well this sums me up, I am working on performing. I am in process of building my own live controller with arduino, (I would build DJ one too, but it isn't worth the money and effort, i've calculated that it's better to buy one...) but no one really gives a fuck if you do live performances or just mix songs in my country . Guys just want to have an great party. And an cheap controller would be great at start for this.

I thought that controllerism would be good at first, I want to start with something as I don't have any access to DJ gear and there are no EDM promoters in my city (or they just suck). Eastern europe, you see. I talked to an club manager, and he said it would be nice to have an electronic music party, that isn't focused on house and trance (as I said, there is no one who plays bass music on regular basis in my country), and they would sure let me play there. So this was the idea, to start with an controller, and some gigs later, I would sure have a bit of money to spend on something serious.

just use virtual dj

I just use a LP and BCR2000, which i use in produciton too.

I have a dj tempalte in ableton with my effects premapped and it works well for me.

My advice is dont over think it, and the frist 10 shows just go and DJ. Play some of your tracks in the set, but get used to the stage/atmosphere and reality of the siuation at hand.

Your probalby dj/giging in a relativley small club wiht minimal exposure. Just have some fun with it. Dont make the mistake i did and over invest in equipment/projects that are not going to actually pan out or be worth it in the long run.

legend4ry hit the nail on the head. do that until you can afford some turntables or cdjs.