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My friend's 21st is this August, and he asked me if I could play a set there. I obviously said yes. However, I've only ever produced stuff and haven't played out, but I will dammit! I'm dedicating this summer to acquiring the skills/equipment needed to play a decently entertaining set. I just have a couple questions (BTW I used the Google thing, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted)

1)What kind of controller should I get? I don't like "scratchy" DJs, I just want to mix music like a lot of producers do. Are CDJ's still important, or would it be more effective to get a launchpad and launch tracks and loops, and some faders/knobs for effects and maintaining levels.

2)I'm using Live 8. Any good tutorials on settings, technique, etc? Live is pretty potent for production, and when play live I'd like to do more than just fade one track into the next.

Sorry if these are stupid questions. Like I said I'm not really a "DJ", I just like producing stuff and want to play it live.

EDIT: Also, are there any legal complications I should know about before playing other people's stuff?

If you're using Live then there's tonnes of controllers out there dude!

APC40 is a very popular one because it's designed for Live, has plenty of faders, knobs and buttons, plus it's super easy to customise to how you want it.
It has a cross fader as well, which is good for most DJs.

Just don't do what I did - spend most of your time thinking of configurations and ways of using it rather than just practicing with a basic setup - you'll get further, and quicker.
The reality is that a good set is about track selection and tracks that work with eachother - the crazy FX being slapped across everything don't translate into good party vibes very often. Use them sparingly I would say!

Some of the best DJ sets involve super basic mixing so don't over complicate things in your head. There are DJs that are all about the crazy beat juggling, live remixing and general awesome skills, but it's all about why your doing and what vibe you want to get out of it.

Launchpad would be good to launch clips and do momentary FX etc, although you'll probably want faders and ting so APC40 might better as it covers all bases.

I realise I have banged on about the APC, but I'm biased - there are loads of good controllers.

Oh, and learn how to warp track properly - tonnes of youtube tutorials on this subject and it's pretty easy

The APC is the posterchild for Ableton controller flexibility. I don't own one. I have an MPD24.
My DJ set up is my MPD24 and a Numark Mixtrack. I've been learning to DJ so I can't give much advice there. I also use Traktor to DJ. I have the Mixtrack for my turntables and basics and a few eefects and my MPD24 is used to launch clips, which I find often ruins a song, but I'm still learning.

Speakig as a fan of music:The main thing to remember is you want people to have a good time and if you start doing crazy effects that throw off the beat, the response will be bad. Use effects sparingly; it can change a good producers son into your choppy playout. Especially since dubstep usually has many changes, you can really ruin a song for someone dancing by doing somethin too crazy. Just be careful and don't forget, DJ's can make a good night into an amazing one, it's the same the other way too. A bad DJ can make a good night bad. So practice, practice, practice.

Good luck!

apc family is master race for performance, I wouldn't set up anything more than a few EQs and minimal effects though, like maybe a looping effect or something. do a your edits outside of performance in your DAW if you really wanna get flashy with effects, then play it out as a bootleg or something.

If its a house party just play on some cdjs. your not doing a musical performance or show. people going to a 21st are there to dance. if you start messing with effects and performing you'll kill the party even if it is really good.

Also id advice playing disco, garage, 90s house classics or reggae/dub/dancehall.
No one wants to go to a 21st and dance to marcell dettman or digital mystickz

I use a Launchpad and a custom ipad template.

I run 2 channels as virtual decks in ableton, each getting their own stereo out from my soundcard. The stereo outs go into my DJ mixer and all eqing/volume/crossfading is handled by my dj mixer in the analog world.

I use the launchpad to launch clips/songs and my ipad is mapped to control my dj effects rack i have on each virtual deck in ableton. I run a limiter on each virtual deck in ableton just in case something goes awfuly wrong (no gain boost) just making sure i dont peak out and send garbage signal out.

I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. method for about everything in my life. Keep It Stupid Simple! I hate when people make things harder than they have to be or over engineer a solution.. just drives me bonkers.

Honestly if you r not planning to play out alot, i would not spend to much money on this stuff type of equipment ( i have spent to much money on thigns i didnt need or thought would work but in the end are jsut collecting dust in my studio). If you have a soundcard with 2 stereo outs and a dj mixer you probably have everything you need to rage that bday party (minus a PA system). To me my goal at this party would be, keeping the ladies dancing as much as possible. DOnt let them get away from you, if you do lose the ladies your night will be on its down swing for sure. Guys dont want to just dance with other guys lol.

I have an APC40 with two tracks acting as my decks, EQs, and FX. Youll want to concentrate on mixing the meat of the tracks into eachother and using the drops to transition rather than intros and outros. The effects I have work really well with a looper so the builds can be really fun. Grab a friend thats into music two sets of hands on an apc40 with the right setup is a wonderful thing. Plus youll be able to take piss breaks and groupie breaks without a gap in womps.

brainsaw wrote:I have an APC40 with two tracks acting as my decks, EQs, and FX. Youll want to concentrate on mixing the meat of the tracks into eachother and using the drops to transition rather than intros and outros. The effects I have work really well with a looper so the builds can be really fun. Grab a friend thats into music two sets of hands on an apc40 with the right setup is a wonderful thing. Plus youll be able to take piss breaks and groupie breaks without a gap in womps.

wow

blinx wrote:I use a Launchpad and a custom ipad template.

I run 2 channels as virtual decks in ableton, each getting their own stereo out from my soundcard. The stereo outs go into my DJ mixer and all eqing/volume/crossfading is handled by my dj mixer in the analog world.

I use the launchpad to launch clips/songs and my ipad is mapped to control my dj effects rack i have on each virtual deck in ableton. I run a limiter on each virtual deck in ableton just in case something goes awfuly wrong (no gain boost) just making sure i dont peak out and send garbage signal out.

I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. method for about everything in my life. Keep It Stupid Simple! I hate when people make things harder than they have to be or over engineer a solution.. just drives me bonkers.

Honestly if you r not planning to play out alot, i would not spend to much money on this stuff type of equipment ( i have spent to much money on thigns i didnt need or thought would work but in the end are jsut collecting dust in my studio). If you have a soundcard with 2 stereo outs and a dj mixer you probably have everything you need to rage that bday party (minus a PA system). To me my goal at this party would be, keeping the ladies dancing as much as possible. DOnt let them get away from you, if you do lose the ladies your night will be on its down swing for sure. Guys dont want to just dance with other guys lol.

For clip launching, are you using the default session page on the Launchpad? Do you alternate deck assignment for each column?

djredi2step wrote:If its a house party just play on some cdjs. your not doing a musical performance or show. people going to a 21st are there to dance. if you start messing with effects and performing you'll kill the party even if it is really good.

Also id advice playing disco, garage, 90s house classics or reggae/dub/dancehall.
No one wants to go to a 21st and dance to marcell dettman or digital mystickz

If you really cant. get bloody VDJ and a mixtrack, its more or less the simplest thing you can get.

Mr 50 wrote:

blinx wrote:I use a Launchpad and a custom ipad template.

I run 2 channels as virtual decks in ableton, each getting their own stereo out from my soundcard. The stereo outs go into my DJ mixer and all eqing/volume/crossfading is handled by my dj mixer in the analog world.

I use the launchpad to launch clips/songs and my ipad is mapped to control my dj effects rack i have on each virtual deck in ableton. I run a limiter on each virtual deck in ableton just in case something goes awfuly wrong (no gain boost) just making sure i dont peak out and send garbage signal out.

I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. method for about everything in my life. Keep It Stupid Simple! I hate when people make things harder than they have to be or over engineer a solution.. just drives me bonkers.

Honestly if you r not planning to play out alot, i would not spend to much money on this stuff type of equipment ( i have spent to much money on thigns i didnt need or thought would work but in the end are jsut collecting dust in my studio). If you have a soundcard with 2 stereo outs and a dj mixer you probably have everything you need to rage that bday party (minus a PA system). To me my goal at this party would be, keeping the ladies dancing as much as possible. DOnt let them get away from you, if you do lose the ladies your night will be on its down swing for sure. Guys dont want to just dance with other guys lol.

For clip launching, are you using the default session page on the Launchpad? Do you alternate deck assignment for each column?

Yes i just utlize the default session view to launch the tracks/song segments, i have played around with alternate LP programming but at the end of the day i just wan to abuse flashing plya/stop midi controller (makes me look cooler with gear that lights up lol ). My sets are unplanned, but before i start ill make a decision on the first 2-4 tracks that i want to start off with. Ill load them up so song 1 and 3 are in slots 1 and 2 of deck/column A and songs 2 and 4 will be in slots 1 and 2 of deck/column B. I watch where my green LED is for what is the active clip. Sometimes if i know that i will be doing hard tempo cuts lill segragate a clip to its own row, and use the luanch scene trick to jump tempo automaticaly when i launch the new clip/scene (tho most tempo changes i just do by hand and have a knob on my ipad control page to rev things up while i mix tracks in/out of each other). I generally try to keep a empty cell for each deck/column on my LP grid so i have an easy Stop/kill button at my finger tips.

djredi2step wrote:

brainsaw wrote:I have an APC40 with two tracks acting as my decks, EQs, and FX. Youll want to concentrate on mixing the meat of the tracks into eachother and using the drops to transition rather than intros and outros. The effects I have work really well with a looper so the builds can be really fun. Grab a friend thats into music two sets of hands on an apc40 with the right setup is a wonderful thing. Plus youll be able to take piss breaks and groupie breaks without a gap in womps.

wow

talkin shit with your garbage ass mix lmao

Just buy some CDjs and learn to mix, able ton mixes are boring. You'll have a lot more fun beat matching then just pressing play. If you can't afford CDjs go for a mix track or something similar just don't use the sync

from my experience using vdj i can confirm that

If you're going to start taking this seriously tho, learn all platforms, CDJ, ableton, vinyl, whatever. Then pick whichever you think fits the occasion or the type of music you're trying to play (CDJ for all around versatility, ableton for more heavily produced or musical approach, vinyl to look good for pretentious people, etc.) then just have fun

brainsaw wrote:I have an APC40 with two tracks acting as my decks, EQs, and FX. Youll want to concentrate on mixing the meat of the tracks into eachother and using the drops to transition rather than intros and outros. The effects I have work really well with a looper so the builds can be really fun. Grab a friend thats into music two sets of hands on an apc40 with the right setup is a wonderful thing. Plus youll be able to take piss breaks and groupie breaks without a gap in womps.

learn to mix on cdjs before you fanny around with apcs and shit, because there'll come a time when your playing at a proper night and your laptop setup fucks up, and you'll look very silly when you say 'oh i can't mix with cds i dont know how'

Cheeky wrote:learn to mix on cdjs before you fanny around with apcs and shit, because there'll come a time when your playing at a proper night and your laptop setup fucks up, and you'll look very silly when you say 'oh i can't mix with cds i dont know how'

Whilst you're right and it would be a very good idea to have a backup plan, I doubt that many people can go ahead and purchase a set of pioneer CDJs and a mixer to practice on, for a 'just in case' situation?

blinx wrote: Yes i just utlize the default session view to launch the tracks/song segments, i have played around with alternate LP programming but at the end of the day i just wan to abuse flashing plya/stop midi controller (makes me look cooler with gear that lights up lol ). My sets are unplanned, but before i start ill make a decision on the first 2-4 tracks that i want to start off with. Ill load them up so song 1 and 3 are in slots 1 and 2 of deck/column A and songs 2 and 4 will be in slots 1 and 2 of deck/column B. I watch where my green LED is for what is the active clip. Sometimes if i know that i will be doing hard tempo cuts lill segragate a clip to its own row, and use the luanch scene trick to jump tempo automaticaly when i launch the new clip/scene (tho most tempo changes i just do by hand and have a knob on my ipad control page to rev things up while i mix tracks in/out of each other). I generally try to keep a empty cell for each deck/column on my LP grid so i have an easy Stop/kill button at my finger tips.

I've spent a bit of time this weekend working out a Launchpad and Xone:K2 setup, and I'm definitely going to go ahead and develop it - super compact but tonnes of options available to me. The Xone:K2 really is a useful little puppy.