Spinning 101 What I Learnt The Hard Way

I found this topic in the new members section. It’s by one of our newest members, DJMurda, it is a really interesting topic so I thought I’d post it here for all of you to read.

*Edited 16/09/2006* It has been bought to our attention that the original author of this article was actually DJ Scary G and can be forn
Any previous confusion about where it originall came from is sincerely regretted. djmurda is actually not the author of the original artical. *End Of Edit*

[quote quote="djmurda":swantm1q]

This post was originally written by Dj Scary G. and posted

OK, I am about to tell all of you closet mixmasters out there all of the things that no one would tell me when I got started at this thing we call spinning.
At the time, I was hungry for a little insight from someone who has been there and done that.
So, I am going to be that guy for whoever cares now…
I had been making mixtapes(edits) in my bedroom(using Scotch tapes and razor blades, I did’nt have a mixer) and playing house parties for friends throughout high school and my only means of listening to other people mix at that time was by listening to the live broadcasts from Cowboys every Friday night on KTUX, or by listening to DJ Darrell and Chico throw down on KDKS. They always blew me away! I was hungry to learn how these guys managed to mix those songs that well.
Later that year, I turned 18 and I gained access to these clubs and began watching guys like Jerry Tickner,Fabor Robison, Steve Worachek, Danny Miles and "The Reverend" Chuck Davis spin.
I soon got up enough courage to approach these guys and ask them how they do it.
I walked in with a good idea of what songs should go together, but I hadn’t a clue as to how they got those turntables to sync up like that.
No one would help me.
They acted like they had some secret power endowed to them that they would lose if they shared their knowledge with anyone who dared asked for it.
Until one night, Chuck Davis looked at me and
asked " Do you REALLY want to do this?" I eagerly agreed, "YES!".
He then gave me the best advice anyone ever gave me…
He said "Shut up and pay attention."
He expected me to use my intuition and intelligence to figure the rest out for my self.
That is exactly what I had to do.

Here are a few simple guidelines for anay upcoming DJ to spin by…

1.Ignore the trends. Play what makes you TRULY happy. If you are not enjoying the music, your audience won’t either!
2.NEVER trust a club owner or promoter.
3.NEVER play for beer and other buzzes when others are going to profit from your efforts.This excludes charity events and house parties for your freinds.
4.Buy the best equipment available to you. The rest is cr*p.(trust me on this, I have thrown away more equipment than I own right now!)
5.ALL dance music is based on 32 beat segments. If you can count to 32, you can mix.
6.record EVERYTHING! even when you are just goofing off on the decks, that is when your best ideas will be born.
7.After you have produced a mix tape that rocks all of your friends worlds, give copies out to clubs and rave promoters and other kids. That is the ONLY way you are going to recoup the thousands of dollars you will have to invest in records,equipment and noise pollution tickets!
8.IGNORE THE TRENDS. BE YOURSELF, even if you spin polka, be yourself and never let people pressure you into playing music you don’t like.
9. Play something! If you can play an instrument,even if is banging two sticks together in time, you will be a lot further along than most of the DJ’s I know.
10.Find a mentor. Learn from HIS/HER mistakes so you won’t make the same ones! And more importantly, let them guide you onto the musical path that is right for you.
You never know, you could be a misguided guitar player or pianist. No one is an island unto themselves, don’t fool yourself by thinking otherwise.
11. Dance, until you can’t. If you aren’t dancing, you don’t feel the music. If you don’t feel it, don’t spin!
12.If you are going to play two records simultaniuosly, listen to the mix in your headphones for AT LEAST 16 beats before you pan that crossfader over! There a lot of highly paid DJ’s in Shreveport who haven’t figured that out yet! TRAINWRECKS WILL KILL YOUR VIBE! Avoid them at all costs!
13.Buy all of the records you can, they are woth their weight in gold.
14.TAKE CARE OF THEM! GRUV-Glide is best and it is available at http://www.pssl.com
15.DO NOT TAKE REQUESTS. YOU ARE IN CONTROL!
IF THEY WANT TO HEAR STROKIN’, LET THEM PLAY IT AT THEIR PARTY!
16.People that are not dancing need to be drinking.If you ever get to play a club, your performance will ultimately be judged by the amount of liqour sold that night.
17.NEVER TRUST A CLUB OWNER OR MANAGER. GET A CONTRACT AND USE IT! IF THEY WON’T SIGN IT, THEY DON"T DESERVE TO HAVE YOU THERE!
18. LISTEN TO PORTISHEAD!
19.DRUGS WILL NOT MAKE YOU A BETTER DJ!
20.ALCOHOL WON’T EITHER.
21.Clean you equipment regularly, A clean fader is a happy one.
22.The Technics SL 1200 mkII & mkIII are the ONLY turntables to buy! Anything else is a waste of money!
23. Stay away from Gemini and other cheap brands, they are cr*p.
24.Sony and AKG studio headphones are the way to go, you will have them forever and they sound better than any of the club systems you will be tortured with.
25.The best entry-level DJ cartidge in the world is available at Radio Shack for $35
RS-500 DJ
it is actually a Stanton Cart. and it will do you just fine until you can justify the expense of Ortofons.
26.NEVER pay more than $250 for a used 1200.
A 20 year old 1200 is every bit as good as a brand new one. REALLY.
27. Replace your tonearms every ten years. The contacts in the unit have a tendacy to oxidize and the repair is well worth the cost!
28.Fix your own gear. If you do not know how, ask someone that can help you! If you break it, it is usually a good idea to fix it yourself.
29.Protect your ears, loud music is cool and all, but it’s much cooler if you can hear it!
keep your booth monitors turned down at a discrete level. Your ears will thank you for it later! There is no cure for "Club’s Disease"!
30.Yes, you will get the attention of girls.
31.Make the girls happy, you will never go wrong doing that!
32.If a woofer makes ANY sound besides a "woof" or a "boom", turn it down!(Don Teach never told me that when I was buying all of those replacement baskets)
33.Peavey sucks.
34.JBL rules.
35.Never take advise from older DJ’s, you’ll never know what kind of bullshit we are throwing at you…
36.Never let this s**t go to your head. But never let people try to belittle you either.
Psychological warfare is a lot of fun, but it doesn’t sell records for very long…
37.If you are insistant upon learning to scratch, do it at home, not the club. After you can do a couple of tricks do them at the club.
38.I never had them available to me, but there are MANY good learning guides and videos available today, Ignore those too. Be yourself.
39.if you really suck,or aren’t interested in on the job training, go to http://www.pssl.com and order one or two. Who knows, they might actually teach you something.
40. You are only as good as the occupacy of your dancefloor, watch it closely.
If it is empty, try playing something else.
41.A 32 ounce Crown & Coke will ruin most DJ mixers.Numarks are survivors.
42.It may also seriously impare your ability to mix well.
43.Be freindly, spinning for 8 hours at a stretch can be an incredibly stressful endeavor. And people who approach you during that time will pick up on the bad vibes eminating from you and take them back to room. If someone keeps bugging you to play something stupid,it is usually better to ignore them by looking incredibly busy than turning around and getting pissed off at them. Remember, these people are usually drunk and they think that it is your job to appease them by playing whatever songs will pave the yellow brick road of their wildest disco fantasies. It is, but you are the engineer, they are meerly travellers. Make it look easy!
44.DO NOT USE THAT FU@&ING MICROPHONE UNLESS THE PLACE IS BURNING DOWN AND YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM TO GET THE FU@K OUT! The world’s best DJ’s never turn on a mic.
NO s**t! They don’t have to, they are good enough to let the songs do all of the talking for them.
45.There is not a single square foot of retail floorspace in shreveport dedicated to selling NEW dance music. Go to Dallas.46.After you are sick of buying other peoples’ music,save all of that money, buy a Kurzweil and make your own.
47.call your mother. she is worried about you. (She had better be anyway.)
48."Pro" Dj C.D. players usually die a miserable death (usually when you are in public, mixing). If you insist upon playing those abominations of media, get a Pioneer or NEW Denon player. The rest are cr*p. So are the older Denons.
49.If you let someone else pay your dues for you, they WILL come back to collect them from you. Don’t sell out.
50.The most successful DJ’s/producers in the world are in their late 40’s and early 50’s.
Don’t be in a hurry. You will have to pay the same dues. Unless you sell out.
51. NEVER TRUST A CLUB OWNER! THAT RAISE WILL NOT REFLECT THE INCREASE IN REVENUE YOU GOT HIM/HER![/quote:swantm1q]

Didn’t think this was a tutorial. Soz boss