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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:43 am
by nightfall
I'm not too sure if this is the right area to ask this, but I figure it's worth a shot. I want to start producing dubstep within the very near future, but I've always been intrigued by the DJ aspect of it all. What is a good way to get started in learning how to DJ, with regards to equipment and things of that nature? And like I said, sorry if this isn't the proper area to ask this. One love!

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:48 am
by psyolopher
I used to do only vinyl, moved on to CD.....since there isnt much of the styles im playin on vinyl......Otherwise, if i get the chance to i mix both!
(and i rarey play digital...)

yes

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:51 am
by freqone
yes

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 3:35 am
by abZ
Did the vinyls for a good 10 years. I finally gave it up. Was half digi half vinyl for a while but the digital took over. I miss vinyl already but I wouldn't go back. I have a family to support now. Vinyl just doesn't fit into the budget.

Besides the obvious advantages to digital. Thanks to it, artists can now make a little bit of change from their music. With vinyl only the top sellers could make money. If you really care about the music/artists you should be enthusiastically supporting digital IMO.

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:23 am
by taal mala
dubplates + vinyl only...

I did the digital/mp3/ableton/serato thing for a little bit, but mp3's sound like shit most of the time when compared to vinyl. I found even with a $1000 soundcard and playing back a track I produced at 24bit/48Khz .wav, a dubplate of the same track compared A/B sounds WAY WAY WAY fucking better. Especially if you're on a 20KW rig, the quality difference is night & day. And... on top of that, buying vinyl supports the dubstep scene worldwide and allows the producers who are making records to make MORE records. Cutting dubs allows the dubplate culture, that has been prominent throughout the history of bass music, continue to thrive as it should. CD's aren't really an option either... the digital quality is there if you're playing your own tracks, or getting .wavs directly from producers, but the tactile feel of vinyl isn't there, and neither is the support of the scene (when was the last time you saw a legitmate dubstep single released on CD?). Serato has the vinyl feel without the quality. The D/A converters in those boxes are pretty lo budget. You really can't win with digital, if you care about your sound. Digital has it's obvious advantages of being able to nick the new tracks off of unnamed members only torrent sites for free, and play them out before you're mate's records come in the post, but if your playing something that sounds like a watered down version of a sick track, then wot's the point? Unless you're playing it to yourself in your bedroom off your bookshelf stereo, and couldn't tell the difference anyway.

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:22 pm
by aporia1
i use Traktor Scratch so mostly all digi these days...was a time when i was all vinyl and i still try to throw in some vinyl since u can use them with Traktor Scratch...it just doesn't read vinyl the same way :)

i guess with digital files its nice bc u can buy just the tracks u want out of an EP or LP...especially an LP

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:18 pm
by fused_forces
Sines wrote:I play both.
Try to play more vinyl tho when poss :wink: cant beat abit of wax.

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:41 pm
by efa
TeReKeTe wrote:serato/vinyl/dubplates

varying levels of commitment.

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 4:21 am
by hd4000
serato (although i usually buy wav's)
2 tech 1210m5g's
rane ttm-56

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 7:24 am
by wascal
80% digital here, only buy stuff I have no hope of seeing on legit MP3 like recent DMZ, white labels etc. Most of it gets recorded digitally then into my hard drive within an hour or 2 of purchase then hardly every played from vinyl again.

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 7:49 am
by misk
erm. synths and samplers? grooveboxes... all hardware.

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 8:50 am
by whut
wascal wrote:80% digital here, only buy stuff I have no hope of seeing on legit MP3 like recent DMZ, white labels etc. Most of it gets recorded digitally then into my hard drive within an hour or 2 of purchase then hardly every played from vinyl again.
x2

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:22 am
by maximus
Sines wrote:I play both.
when i'm not broke i get dubs cut

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:16 pm
by gl!tch
After spending loads of cash on dnb vinyl for 5 years I picked up final scratch in 2004. I still buy dnb vinyl, but I can't possibly afford to buy all of the tracks I want from multiple genres on vinyl. All my dubstep is digital. I would definately prefer to have every sound I own on vinyl, but I got a mortgage pending, the bank would have my legs broke.

Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:56 am
by whighzeguy
Both.
I def like to dig through my old Hip-Hop CDs and see what I can work in to keep things fresh. I was just f'ing with some old MC Eiht, Spice 1, & 2 Live Crew. I've been forced to scoop a lot of Dubstep on the digital tip as of late too since the job market is sucking ass over here.

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:37 am
by pure
Big up the laptop crew

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:45 am
by dirty
Pure wrote:Big up the laptop crew
I do like vinyl, but its not always feasible when trying to push fresh material. Either use torq or serato but never cdj's. never really got my head round them.

Added advantage is you always have your entire music library with you

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:26 pm
by dubstepper
DJ VK - SNAKEBITE ENT. wrote:I hate all this bollocks that oh you're some sort of less skilled DJ if you use any format that isn't vinyl.

Fuck that bollocks, I'll use what I want. As long as I use my ears for mixing, drop big tunes and mix flawlessly, I'm just as a good DJ as the one that uses pure vinyl.

I'm a Serato user at the moment, however, I've been using vinyl since I started mixing (in 2001/2002). I still buy vinyl and use it alongside Serato.

I will never get rid of me 1210's!

I'm even thinking of buying 1 CDJ purely for the sick spinbacks!


:evil:
Init bro, if you chose to use vinyl cd or both its all good, like yourself i started to mix in 2001. Allways been a vinyl dj till recently i got pc dj scratch v2. So now i use that and vinyl. Allso want to get a cdj for the exact same reason as you. But i like using pcdj scratch as aposed to cds, because you don't have to use a single cd, and you mix the mp3s on your vinyl decks using blank vinyl. So i can now do a whole set without using a single vinyl or any cds :D Another benefit of pcdj scratch is that i can beat juggle every tune i have without having to have 2 copys of the tune. Is sereto like pcdj scratch where you use blank vinyl to mix mp3s from pc. Or do you mix your mp3s on your pc with a deck and mixer that plugs into the pc mabe?

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 3:13 pm
by ashley
I play and mix all my tunes from Youtube.

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:15 pm
by skrewface
"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."