~everything i know about how to DJ. i offer lessons 🙂
Music management
Discovery
- YT Music, Spotify, Bandcamp, Beatport, Soundeo
- How to tune the algorithm so it gives you better recommendations
- Exploration: Artist Averager, Music Galaxy, Musicroamer, Every Noise At Once
- Key / BPM / style search: Tunebat Advanced, songdata.io
Organization
- How to get the music downloaded on your actual computer and which file formats
- Building a system for categorizing your music
- Tooling: One Tagger, Mp3tag
- Limitations when tagging & importing to Traktor
Tech setup
- Your options for gear and software
- How to plug it all in, at home and at an event
DJing in Traktor
I learned how to DJ in Traktor almost entirely from YouTube. There’s tons out there! Club Ready DJ School, DJ Carlo, BPM Supreme, Crossfader are all great channels.
- Music theory 101: tempo, key, frequencies, counting and phrasing
- The arc of a set: genres, textures, rough BPMs, volume
- But wait: should you just use Spotify’s mix feature?
Traktor basics
- Decks, tempo, key
- Importing your tracks
- Playlists, search & sort
- Useful things in the settings
- How to use your controller
Transitions
- Beatmatching with sync
- Knowledge gap: beatmatching by hand (fuck the snobs, you don’t need this)
- Mixing in key and phrase
- Where to transition
- Cue points & loops
- Transitioning across large BPM gaps
- Filter & filter modes
- Low switch
- Other EQ techniques
Traktor next steps
- Stems
- Gain, autogain, the limiter
- The grid, and how to fix it when it’s wrong
- Smartlists
- Snap & quant
- FX
Hosting an event
Logistics
- What gear should I buy?
- How to find space (see: spaces)
- What to pack and bring to the space
- Knowledge gap: club DJ systems: exporting your tracks / sets, using their gear
Running the event
- What to get your crew to do
- How to set up
- Basics of facilitating / guiding on the mic