NDAMIXX: Dee Jaying 101

NDAMIXX: Dee Jaying 101
IF IT AIN'T NDAMIXX IT AIN'T SHIT!

Dee Jay Basics
So you wanna be the next FunkMaster Flex? Or Kid Capri? Well I feel you but first you need a mixer and of course the ones and twos. If you read those paper wasting label azz kissing magazines, I know you have seen the ads for the complete DJ packages for $400 or $500 or less. Forget about it. First let us start with the basics: a DJ mixes from one record to the next, keeping the beat constant and steady. This is accomplished by playing two records at the same time and altering between them with a mixer, using the mixer's crossfader. The crossfader smoothly blends the volumes of the two channels into one another. How smoothly, of course, depends on the skillz of the DJ in question.

Dee Jay Basics

So you wanna be the next FunkMaster Flex? Or Kid Capri? Well I feel you but first you need a mixer and of course the ones and twos. If you read those paper wasting label azz kissing magazines, I know you have seen the ads for the complete DJ packages for $400 or $500 or less. Forget about it.

First let us start with the basics: a DJ mixes from one record to the next, keeping the beat constant and steady. This is accomplished by playing two records at the same time and altering between them with a mixer, using the mixer's crossfader. The crossfader smoothly blends the volumes of the two channels into one another. How smoothly, of course, depends on the skillz of the DJ in question.

Ones & Twos
To be the best you have to use the best and right now the best for 30 plus years have been and remain Da Technics SL-1200 MK2s or 1200s. 1200s are professionally designed turntables made for DJing with direct drive, great balance, smooth pitch change, and high torque.Torque being the most important element because it allows quick pitch changes and immediate starts and stops. 1200s will cost you between $500 to $750 each depending on where you buy them. There are cheaper belt-driven models (read the ads again) but none of the turntables will match the precision of the 1200s.

Ones & Twos

To be the best you have to use the best and right now the best for 30 plus years have been and remain Da Technics SL-1200 MK2s or 1200s. 1200s are professionally designed turntables made for DJing with direct drive, great balance, smooth pitch change, and high torque.Torque being the most important element because it allows quick pitch changes and immediate starts and stops. 1200s will cost you between $500 to $750 each depending on where you buy them. There are cheaper belt-driven models (read the ads again) but none of the turntables will match the precision of the 1200s.

Mixers
Mixers come with all sorts of features, from sound effects to EQ to tweakable crossfade parameters to samplers. Which one is right for depends on two things: what kind of DJing you want to do, and how much money you have to spend on one. If your thing is skratching, then you should focus on a mixer designed for battle DJing. Battle mixers have fewer input channels for your decks, with more emphasis on the mixer's crossfader -- the most important feature for skratchers. Dance music DJs will want a more all-around mixer, one with a smooth crossfade. You could always run down to Radioshack and get some wack thing to save some money. But you are what you use. Check out the DJ mixers from manufacturers like Stanton, Numark, and Vestax. Do your research. Try out different models, flick the crossfaders, handle the EQ pots, whatever. This thing is going to be a major conduit for your creativity -- make sure it's what you like.

Mixers

Mixers come with all sorts of features, from sound effects to EQ to tweakable crossfade parameters to samplers. Which one is right for depends on two things: what kind of DJing you want to do, and how much money you have to spend on one. If your thing is skratching, then you should focus on a mixer designed for battle DJing. Battle mixers have fewer input channels for your decks, with more emphasis on the mixer's crossfader -- the most important feature for skratchers. Dance music DJs will want a more all-around mixer, one with a smooth crossfade.

You could always run down to Radioshack and get some wack thing to save some money. But you are what you use. Check out the DJ mixers from manufacturers like Stanton, Numark, and Vestax. Do your research. Try out different models, flick the crossfaders, handle the EQ pots, whatever. This thing is going to be a major conduit for your creativity -- make sure it's what you like.

Needles
You have your mixer and your one twos now lets talk needles. Like your mixer choices, the needles you buy are going to depend on what kind of DJing you plan on doing. There are needles for basic back cueing (moving the record back and forth in the groove to find the beat), and neeles for scratching. Again, you are what you play so do not expect to pay any less than $100 for a cartridge (housing plus needle) -- you're going to need two of them plus back ups. There's a tendency to skimp when it comes to needles, because it seems like such a little thing. It's not.

Needles

You have your mixer and your one twos now lets talk needles. Like your mixer choices, the needles you buy are going to depend on what kind of DJing you plan on doing. There are needles for basic back cueing (moving the record back and forth in the groove to find the beat), and neeles for scratching. Again, you are what you play so do not expect to pay any less than $100 for a cartridge (housing plus needle) -- you're going to need two of them plus back ups. There's a tendency to skimp when it comes to needles, because it seems like such a little thing. It's not.

Mixing
Mixing is not skratching. Every DJ has their own skratching style. Listen to your favorite DJs and imitate their technics then develop your own signature skratch technics through practice. Like skratching DJs can develop their own signature mixing technic like the late DJ Screw who was known for his slow speed screw mixes. RIP DJ Screw. Basic mixing 101: play a record on turntable one out loud (crossfade to extreme left or right). Cue a record on turntable two, but don't play it through the main system, listen to it through your headphones (cuing) . Find the first beat of the song and then hold the record at that point. Move the record back and forth over that first beat so you familiarize yourself with it (basic skratching). Then, when you're ready, and record one reaches a comparable beat, push off record two so the beats match. This push off takes a lot of practice to do right. You need to be able to do it so the record slots in right on time -- not too fast, not too slow. Now you have to keep the records synced. This can be done a few different ways. The most obvious way is by adjusting the pitch control slider. Here's where good torque comes in. If the torque is slack, you're going to be constantly over adjusting the pitch while the motor catches up. Other ways to modify the pitch slightly include manually spinning the spindle forward, or pinching it to slow it down. You can also light spin the record forward on the label with your finger, or apply light pressure to the side of the platter to slow it down. Experiment with all of these and you'll find the one that works best for you. Once the two records are moving at the same tempo, back the second record up to the start point ands release it again in time. Now move the crossfader so both channels are audible. Congratulations, you're mixing records. Mix out of the first record and do it all over again. With practice and experience comes skill and style. You'll soon be able to mix your records without the in-headphone practice mix first. By listening to your records carefully, you'll be able to know where exactly to start the next record to make it sound right.

Mixing

Mixing is not skratching. Every DJ has their own skratching style. Listen to your favorite DJs and imitate their technics then develop your own signature skratch technics through practice.

Like skratching DJs can develop their own signature mixing technic like the late DJ Screw who was known for his slow speed screw mixes. RIP DJ Screw.
Basic mixing 101: play a record on turntable one out loud (crossfade to extreme left or right). Cue a record on turntable two, but don't play it through the main system, listen to it through your headphones (cuing) . Find the first beat of the song and then hold the record at that point. Move the record back and forth over that first beat so you familiarize yourself with it (basic skratching). Then, when you're ready, and record one reaches a comparable beat, push off record two so the beats match. This push off takes a lot of practice to do right. You need to be able to do it so the record slots in right on time -- not too fast, not too slow.

Now you have to keep the records synced. This can be done a few different ways. The most obvious way is by adjusting the pitch control slider. Here's where good torque comes in. If the torque is slack, you're going to be constantly over adjusting the pitch while the motor catches up. Other ways to modify the pitch slightly include manually spinning the spindle forward, or pinching it to slow it down. You can also light spin the record forward on the label with your finger, or apply light pressure to the side of the platter to slow it down. Experiment with all of these and you'll find the one that works best for you.

Once the two records are moving at the same tempo, back the second record up to the start point ands release it again in time. Now move the crossfader so both channels are audible. Congratulations, you're mixing records. Mix out of the first record and do it all over again.
With practice and experience comes skill and style. You'll soon be able to mix your records without the in-headphone practice mix first. By listening to your records carefully, you'll be able to know where exactly to start the next record to make it sound right.