DJ TUTORIAL: The Basics - Equipment (Part 1)

Equipment for getting started as a DJ

Part 1
Author: DJ Neon C

Subject: Equipment

For: The Perspective DJ

You are going to need gear!

So you want to be a DJ? You are going to need gear! Getting the equipment for learning to DJ is much easier and less expensive now than it was when I started in the 90s... But there are a many more choices you must make. When I started you needed 4 very expensive things. Two Direct drive turntables (Technics if you didn't want to get made fun of), a mixer, and a collection of vinyl. There are so many more choices and I have experimented with them all!

What is in this tutorial?

• Media
• Digital
• MP3
• MP4
• FLAC
• WMA
• WAV
• CD
• Vinyl

Media

Your choice of medium is an important one. You are going to invest a whole lot of time and money on your music. Choose wisely!

Digital File:

-Digital files that contain music come in all shapes and sizes. Here is the info that you need to know to make your choice.

-The MP3 is the standard music format of the web! In general it sounds good, it's relatively small, can contain info about the track, is supported by most devices and software, is easy to create, easy to share, easy to get and is the overwhelming choice for digital DJs. The MP3 does have it's drawbacks. It is lossy, meaning that the more compressed it is the lower the quality of the sound. It's not free. The MP3 standard is owned by the Mpeg. This means that in order to get the rights to encode an MP3 you have to pay for them. However there are some open source apps that can get around this.
- The MP4 is an updated version of MP3 and used mainly by Apple. It has better sound quality than MP3, you can embed video, and it's a bit smaller. The biggest draw back to MP4 is that it isn't supported by very many devices.
- FLAC is the standard for lossless audio. It can produce almost perfect sound. It takes a whole lot of processing power to run and supported by almost no devices or software.
- WMA is the Windows Media Audio format. It sounds just about as good as an MP3 and takes up about the same amount of space but is supported bu fewer devices and programs.
- WAV is completely uncompressed audio. Almost anything can play it and it sounds great but it takes up huge amounts of storage

CD:

- CDs are not as bad as everyone says. They hold a a good amount of music and can be used to hold both audio and data. Just about every gig you will every spinn anymore will have a set of CD Decks ready for you. Modern CD players have instant start, looping, cue and scratching features making them even more flexible than the vinyl days. Sense CD Burners are now standard features on just about all computers converting your MP3 collection over to CD is super easy as well. Disadvantage is you have to carry around a big case of CDs and know how to find your tracks on them. Still though, it weighs less than vinyl.

Vinyl:

- There was a once a time when you had to use vinyl. The technology for CDs and Digital files was not up to the point that you could get the flexibility and warm sound that you could get from vinyl. Those days seem to have passed us by but there are still pureists out there. There was once a day when every club and party gig had a pair of SL1200 MKII turn tables, but now it seems you will have to bring your own. Carying a crate of vinyl around is heavy and beware of heat lest you warp your precious platters.

That's all for part 1... Join me on the 16th for Part 2 - Equipment Options and Requirements