Laptop Dj's Take Note

[Disco24-7 0]

Asked by a 'wouldbe' punter whether I used CD decks/Turntables or a Laptop? And the reason? The guy expected a discount if I was using a Laptop...I kid you not, although I do not use a laptop. Just good old Technics turntables/Numark CD players.

 

ME thinks even Joe Public has sussed out just how easy a Laptop DJ stint can be? It's all that 'idiot proof' software!

[Dream Catchers 0]

ME thinks even Joe Public has sussed out just how easy a Laptop DJ stint can be? It's all that 'idiot proof' software!

That's a very negative statement.

Laptop DJs tend to carry more music and are also able to lacate a song in seconds. Laptops don't skip either.

 

Jim

[kerrgreg 0]

Laptops don't skip either.

 

Since when? a nock on the table when using a cheap hard drive will make the music skip, pause, or to stop completly

 

and if the software crashs that can make the music skip.

 

Greg

 

 

[4zzz 0]

Laptop Cd Vinyl

 

Why would it matter.

 

It's the mix that comes out of the speakers that matters.

 

Someone may look cool spinning vinyl and have it beaixed to perfection

but if what he's playing is ar$e, and what nobody wants to listen to everyone will go home

[Swingcats 0]

People are always trying to get an angle to get you to lower your price. Does a laptop come with a swivel....He could always sit on it!! :protest:

[Jimbo55 0]

Asked by a 'wouldbe' punter whether I used CD decks/Turntables or a Laptop? And the reason? The guy expected a discount if I was using a Laptop...I kid you not, although I do not use a laptop. Just good old Technics turntables/Numark CD players.

 

ME thinks even Joe Public has sussed out just how easy a Laptop DJ stint can be? It's all that 'idiot proof' software!

 

 

Perhaps I'll just push play and leave it to the software to decide how to read the floor. Even better I can pay a person minimal wage, run 4 shows a night at £100 a gig. £2,800 a week With running costs include, I'll still make over £1000 a week profit.

 

Thanks for the idea.

[DJH 0]

Asked by a 'wouldbe' punter whether I used CD decks/Turntables or a Laptop? And the reason? The guy expected a discount if I was using a Laptop...I kid you not, although I do not use a laptop. Just good old Technics turntables/Numark CD players.

 

ME thinks even Joe Public has sussed out just how easy a Laptop DJ stint can be? It's all that 'idiot proof' software!

 

 

what a load of cods whallop, never been asked anything like that, my laptop is used purely for the hard to find songs, may play about a dozen a night off it, otherwise its cd`s, very rarely can you see my laptop from the floor anyway for them to know i use one,

[NRG Roadshow 0]

Well I now use an mp3 controller for mixing my tunes off a laptop......not really any different or less skillfull than mixing with cds......just means you dont have the bother of puttin the next cd in the oposite deck or faffing around looking through a big box of cds for that request.

I believe using a laptop makes me more efficiant so I should be charging more not less!

[eazy 0]

its all a matter of image if you are using a controler thats great if you look like your actully doing something even better but the public now alot of them have there own vdj software in the house and know you can make it beat match and auto crossfade etc and worst of all is the dj SITTING DOWN with only a laptop and a mouse just dosent look good add a suit to this senario and you've got a civil servant or something out of the office

Edited December 13, 2007 by eazy

[Reverandfunk 0]

Personally I have used my laptop for a couple of years and never had as problem

 

Finding track in about 2 seconds or trawling through my cd's thinking i've got it somewhere...plus my back isnt bent over a table for 3/4 of the night I'm watching the dancefloor and keeping an eye on the punters.

 

To me it doesnt matter if you use decks, cd or laptop the key is knowing what music to play, I've seen a "DJ" in my local pub, with decks, cd's and mp3's who has no musical knowledge whatsover and it shows. R&B one track heavy metal the next reggae the next etc etc.

 

Any half decent DJ can look at his audience and have a good idea of what to play and thats where most of the skill is.

 

I'll get me coat....lol

[Award Entertainment 0]

This one's too good to ignore!

 

Would that same 'punter' ask a mechanic what brand of spanner he uses and expect a discount if they use air tools instead of slow, manual tools? Of course not.

 

If we continue to sell ourselves as 'music' and 'gear', this is what we'll train the public to ask about too. How about selling the unique set of skills, intellect, experience, knowledge, practice, preparation, interactivity and ability that we have as individual DJs instead?

 

That's the sort of thing that pricing really varies on. I've used a laptop for many years. The advantages for me FAR outweigh any potential negative 'perception' and I've never once had a negative comment from a guest at an event, only from other DJs (who incidentally earn a fraction of my per-event fee).

 

That speaks volumes to me. Don't worry about it. Work on the other things that you can do with the extra time and reliability that a laptop affords you when you are at a job. Be more than just a human jukebox with music programming and crowd-reading skills.

[deejaymitch 0]

People are idiots.

[rictic 0]

i have just come off the loo as i was wetting myself at this guys comments.

 

you should have asked him if he still used an abacus and how long it took him to calculate pi to 200 places, then asked if he charged more for it.

 

what a dork, a laptop increases efficiency for all the reasons stated above.

if it seems easier thats only because the person using it knows his stuff. thats what clients are paying for. anyone worth his salt makes his own area of expertise look easy, that is the experience you are paying for.

 

to use the mechanic analogy again, if he didnt know how to remove a wheel properly would you let him fix your brakes? me thinks not.

 

 

[davemoody 0]

To turn it round slightly.

 

As some have said it is easier to read the crowd becasue you are not bent over trying to find a particular CD and you can use a database on the laptop for quicker searching but..........

 

I saw a DJ the other night who was just using a laptop. PCDJ.

 

The reason people got fed up with him was he was just pressing the button and just staring in to space. More or less standing to attention waiting for the next cued track to kick in. No atmosphere, no interaction, dead pan expression. He looked like he was working in a call centre.

 

First time he used the mike, I kid you not was half an hour in when he said "This is Abba" then off he went for another pre mixed half an hour.

 

It's alright using a laptop but you still have to make it look as you are working. I prefer to use the laptop and cd's still. Let's not make it personal and you have to agree that laptops do make it easier to cue songs up and you don't have to struggle as much to find records but you still have to look like you are doing something. Not just standing there like a manequin

 

So I can see both sides of the argument, to be honest.

[Reverandfunk 0]

I always "look busy" and most of the time will dance behind my laptop or on the dancefloor, putting silly wigs or costumes on etc. As far as mic work goes I never say "that was so and so a hit in 1974", people know without you telling them, I use it for requests and having a laugh with the audience.

 

 

[Dream Catchers 0]

The reason people got fed up with him was he was just pressing the button and just staring in to space. More or less standing to attention waiting for the next cued track to kick in. No atmosphere, no interaction, dead pan expression. He looked like he was working in a call centre.

He could have just as easily been using decks and MasterMix CDs.

Using decks doesn't give you personality or music knowledge or the ability to inter react with the crowd.

I use 3 computers with my disco.

A laptop for the laser software.

One for the lighting, music database and clients playlists.

And the final one for the music itself.

 

I must be 3 times worse than somebody who uses decks :bouncy:

 

Jim

[Reverandfunk 0]

3 computers?

 

I'd end up with ebay on one, something dodgy and tetris on the other 2 lol

[dj.silver 0]

To turn it round slightly.

 

As some have said it is easier to read the crowd becasue you are not bent over trying to find a particular CD and you can use a database on the laptop for quicker searching but..........

 

I saw a DJ the other night who was just using a laptop. PCDJ.

 

The reason people got fed up with him was he was just pressing the button and just staring in to space. More or less standing to attention waiting for the next cued track to kick in. No atmosphere, no interaction, dead pan expression. He looked like he was working in a call centre.

 

First time he used the mike, I kid you not was half an hour in when he said "This is Abba" then off he went for another pre mixed half an hour.

 

It's alright using a laptop but you still have to make it look as you are working. I prefer to use the laptop and cd's still. Let's not make it personal and you have to agree that laptops do make it easier to cue songs up and you don't have to struggle as much to find records but you still have to look like you are doing something. Not just standing there like a manequin

 

So I can see both sides of the argument, to be honest.

 

I do a residency in a pub that I took over from a 'dj' and I use that term loosely, who used decks. He would start at 9, finish at 11.30 SITTING DOWN all the time, apart from loo breaks, with his mate having a beer and NEVER EVER did he say a word. He was asked by the pub manager to announce last orders, his reply was "No, they all know what time it is!". He said and did nothing, he was there for between 2 and 3 years.

 

I went in with my laptop, used the mic alot, plus I was able to chat on a one to one with customers, because I'd got the time as I didn't have my nose in a cd case looking for some obscure track. I dance about, play the air guitar (badly) http://planetsmilies.net/music-smiley-7536.gif, take the urine out of people I know I can, generally just have a laugh.

 

There's was also another dj who was sacked from another local pub for not saying a word, just standing behind his decks staring into space, hitting either eject, start, a deck, b deck or using a fader. Oh yeh and going out constantly for a fag break. Which personally I find most unprofessional but that's another topic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[milhouse 0]

My experience of laptop Djing

 

As someone who works in several bars and nightclubs throughout the week, I have always used CDs. I take my CDJ tabletop decks to most gigs, and 3 Caselogics full of CDs.

 

When bar managers have hired other DJs for nights I'm not there, they have often been met with a DJ who turns up just with their laptop and very little else.

 

Comments I have got from managers have been along the lines of "it looks bad" and "I can do better by choosing some songs off the inhouse computer system"

 

I suppose from their point of view it looks as though the DJ is just standing (or sitting, in some cases) and picking songs off a laptop. They probably don't realise what else is involved (ie mixing), and think I appear to be doing more by flitting though my many CDs looking for tracks and using CDJs.

 

Last night a colleague of mine turned up to his bar gig with his laptop and his software played up. It was un-usable. He had no CD backup and had to play songs off Itunes. The result was no mixing and he was literally stood there whilst Itunes played a playlist.

 

I don't think I would ever convert to laptop djing. I love flicking through my collection for inspiration of tracks and love the actual physical interaction you have with your music collection. Maybe its just me

Edited December 13, 2007 by JonWhittaker

[dj.silver 0]

My experience of laptop Djing

 

As someone who works in several bars and nightclubs throughout the week, I have always used CDs. I take my CDJ tabletop decks to most gigs, and 3 Caselogics full of CDs.

 

When bar managers have hired other DJs for nights I'm not there, they have often been met with a DJ who turns up just with their laptop and very little else.

 

Comments I have got from managers have been along the lines of "it looks bad" and "I can do better by choosing some songs off the inhouse computer system"

 

I suppose from their point of view it looks as though the DJ is just standing (or sitting, in some cases) and picking songs off a laptop. They probably don't realise what else is involved (ie mixing), and think I appear to be doing more by flitting though my many CDs looking for tracks and using CDJs.

 

Last night a colleague of mine turned up to his bar gig with his laptop and his software played up. It was un-usable. He had no CD backup and had to play songs off Itunes. The result was no mixing and he was literally stood there whilst Itunes played a playlist.

 

I don't think I would ever convert to laptop djing. I love flicking through my collection for inspiration of tracks and love the actual physical interaction you have with your music collection. Maybe its just me

 

The problem of software/laptop packing up is surely no different than that of a set of decks packing up, it happens! I've had decks go dead on me (Numark). What is important though, for both types of dj's is what back up you have. I use Ots Av as my primary software choice, mixmeister as first back up and Traktor if that also fails. I have three duplicate external hard drives, I carry a second Toshiba laptop with all the above three programmes on and a spare M audio sound card.

 

Now I would suggest I have substantially more back up resources than the vast majority of deck dj's.

 

Ots Av for two licenses cost me approx £370, Traktor cost around £200 and Mixmeister was circa £150, so I carry quite a few quids worth of emergency equipment. Oh yeah, I know it's a tad http://planetsmilies.net/sign-smiley-7040.gif but I have 4138 tracks on my hard drives with ALL the original cd's at home.

 

Jon, I fully respect your choice to stay on the decks, if you're happy then fine. I first dj'd in 1969 with vinyl moved onto cd's and am now using a laptop. I've carried fruit juice boxes of vinyl around, cases and cases of cd's., I can hand on heart say I would never go back. The flexibilty and fun I have with my laptop is fabulous but that's just me. http://planetsmilies.net/sign-smiley-6882.gif

[Reverandfunk 0]

Fairplay Silver :Thumbup:

 

I've never worked with decks and dont mix so playing off CD was hardly rocket science for me, find a cd, find the track and cue it. Whats important to me is your collection, the years its been built up over, the feel you have what people want to hear.

 

My laptop gives me inspiration and more than once a punter has said have got XXX, I bring it up on the laptop and say yes i've got these 20 which is your favourite...

 

 

[milhouse 0]

I totally understand what you're saying. There have been times CDs have stopped, skipped, and I've thought to myself "a laptop wouldn't do that" and if a deck did pack up - I would be goosed unless I had a backup (often the bar has its own CD decks that I just don't use).

 

It is horses for courses and whatever works for you at the end of the day :)

[eazy 0]

do none of the pc dj's ever have problems with windows ???

 

i used to bring a laptop along with cd's it was handy for writing down requests and for searching for the tracks quickly and i only carried 1 cd box with the most common or recent stuff . now maybe its just my pc isnt the best in the world but i found windows very unreliable it always has loads of background programs eating your memory and it would freeze up on me on occasions if i maybe tryed something too quick .

 

now dont think im anti pc or mp3 l loved using mp3's and now have DN-HD2500 conrtoler as IT WAS EASIER & quicker to find tracks but as said that just gave you more time to talk or interact with the punters so its win win as long as thats what you use your time for

 

as someone pointed out earlier in this thread some ( nobody get offended ) but some people do use this time as more time for them to play solitaire and stand outside having a smoke , it boils down to if you are a professinal type of person you act you will remain professinal weather you use vinyl cd of laptop / HD controller

[Reverandfunk 0]

Eazy - i've posted a few times that I have used a laptop for 2 years without a single problem, the only music program I run is media player the most bulk standard player you can get.

 

Why do I need anything else? its free, easy to use, virtually bomb proof and now Ive found the cross fade facility even better lol

 

I have no other programs on it and use it to surf the net. i have a 40gig hard drive and 256mb of ram so not massive by any means, I have about 5000 tracks on it with room for a few thousand more which in my opinion is plenty.

[dj.silver 0]

do none of the pc dj's ever have problems with windows ???

 

 

None, in the five years I've been using a laptop.