This question is geared more towards up-and-coming DJs based in metropolitan areas.

I'm very focused on networking right now and getting more involved in my local scene. What I've been doing up to this point is to meet as many local DJs and promoters as I can. But I am sort of sensing a divide in the community and I'm not sure whether I'm able to be accepted by everyone.

--

On one side, we have the electronic music people who live and breathe house, techno and bass, and they are pretty boxed in to those genres only. These DJs play off USBs and nightclubs, festivals and renegade events are the spaces they inhabit.

Then you have the mainstream people. These DJs play the popular clubs and bars, spinning top 40, hip-hop, and basically whatever's trending on TikTok. They are laptop DJs, scratch a little and take requests. Their dancefloors are more of the college crowd and non-sceney people. They're more than happy to play weddings and functions.

On another side, you have the more "hip" DJs. They often spin older music - funk, soul, disco, reggae, new wave, indie, yacht rock, rare groove, and more obscure sounds. They play the more chill spots, lounges, wine bars, listening bars, places that may or may not have a dancefloor. Events they play typically have the words "All Vinyl" / "Strictly Vinyl" / "Vinyl Only" on the flyers.

--

As a DJ, I don't fit neatly into any of these, and I fear it's why I haven't felt embraced by any of the crews I've met. I mostly enjoy playing the "hip" music, but put me in a club and I can rip a modern tech house set if I wanted to.

What's a problem is I'll do a different genre for every gig. Saturday afternoon I'm playing disco at a rooftop pool. Saturday night I'm playing a house and techno event in a nightclub. I think when I announce that I'm playing a vinyl gig at a chill spot, the electronic people are put off by it. When I announce that I'm playing a house set, the vinyl people are put off by it.

The other problem is my preference for digital. My USB has the perfect vibes for any occasion. But the events for the music I like to play are strictly vinyl. For this reason, I've had no choice but to start collecting vinyl. Now half my gigs are vinyl, and those are typically the better paying ones. But I absolutely HATE playing vinyl. Lugging around heavy crates, pulling out records and dusting them off and dropping a needle, having to play on those stupid rotary mixers with no FX, not to mention how expensive records can be, it's all just a huge pain in the ass. The music does NOT sound better than a 320 mp3 - vinyl you can hear a bit of crackle and the needle can skip sometimes. My mp3s always sound crystal clear and never skip. I can set loops, jump around with hot cues, see waveforms, play special edits I made that aren't available on vinyl, mixers usually have beat FX and color FX that I can use to make for cleaner transitions - digital is just so much better.

--

Because the scene is divided, I fear I won't be fully embraced by any DJ crews. I'm not sure what to do. I feel pressured to pick a lane and purely focus on becoming somebody in one corner of the community.

Any thoughts or advice?

(Just a small disclaimer this might be a stupid question)

As a beginner, it can be a bit confusing watching DJs mix on social media where I see a lot of different “EQ mixing” styles being used during transitions. Some only swap the Lows without touching the other knobs, some adjust both Highs and Lows of the two tracks, and some basically adjust all the 3 EQ’s continuously during transitions.

Question for the more experienced DJs: Do you have a fixed (default) way of mixing with the EQ’s? Or do you vary the way in which you swap EQs depending on the e.g. the incoming track ?

Hi everybody! I’m sorry if this post is against the rules but I need somewhere to vent about my learning curve. I will delete it if needed.

I’ve been learning DJ-ing for a year (7-8 months consistently) but I feel like I still suck. Whether my transitions are too abrupt (especially when mixing out), phrasing is off or I’m mixing out too soon. I also feel like my transitions are boring as I like long blends and don’t use many fx, rather try to play with EQ. For context I usually like to play hypnotic or dub techno with a splash of hardgroove.

I do have better days where it seems that it has finally clicked but I feel like by now I should be more skilled than I am. In my head I know what to do, but my hands just don’t cooperate with my brain and it’s driving me crazy at this point.

I’ve been going to open deck nights at my local venue and my friends (and other random people) have been very supportive. But when I record at home and listen to it afterwards, it just doesn’t sound quite right to me.

Tbh at this point I’m embarrassed to play outside of home and feel like I should just give up. Especially after seeing how someone learned for two months and already got to perform at proper gigs. Or comments how DJ-ing just isn’t for everyone…

It makes me sad that I might be one of those who just don’t have what it takes to become a DJ, because I’m a long time raver and started this whole journey because I have so many good tracks in my playlists I want to share with people and take them on a journey.

TLDR: I’m on a verge of giving up learning as I feel like I should be better than I am after almost a year trying. :(

Edit: oh wow, thank you so much for kind and honest words! I guess that’s what I needed to hear, I’ll try to push through

https://youtu.be/rAp7v3ZcTuU?is=GpM4Q6_fGMalOOJu

Hi I am very (very) beginner DJ, and I'm DJing my high school's Homecoming, I brought that up in class and my classmates including some pretty popular football players said I should throw the after party. I'm wondering if you guys have any tips on how to have two separate set lists. For the actual homecoming dance I'm thinking of playing more pop and house, and for the after party I'm thinking of playing rap and RNB, any recommendations of artists I should look into? I live in the American south with a majority, black, white, and Hispanic population in case you guys are wondering what my demographic would be.

hi! im super new to mixing (have only had about 3-4 sessions in my bedroom) and im still learning what the buttons do on my controller every time. sometimes i watch youtube mixes with people screen recording their software. i noticed a lot of people have a song playing in cue and they have a part looped for a while before they decide to transition it in. i’ve just been pressing play at hot cues and then just pressing play but what they’re doing looks way more practical for live mixing especially. this might be a stupid question but could anyone explain how this works or link a video explaining it ? thanks!

EDIT: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE IN-DEPTH RESPONSES THIS SUBREDDIT IS AWESOME

So first of all, i want to apologize if this may be redundant for this sub. I have quite a few beginner questions and would love some guidance.

1. I just got started getting into DJ’ing and watched quite a bit of youtube videos. I am really terrible and trying to improve day by day with practice. I am currently using Spotify in serato lite and was wondering if there was any way to record my sets so i can re listen to my flow.

2. If i have no intent of ‘’commercializing my mixes’’ what should i look for to have playback material, is it more hardware or software ? (Im using MacBook air)

3. I find myself to have terrible musical ears. How did you improve counting the beats, phrasing and so on ? Any tools you recommend to practice this ?

Looking into getting new headphones, currently have my eyes set on Aiaiai. Just wondering if they are any good for DJing and producing ? I was thinking over PU leather but not sure which speaker units. Can any of them be used for both Djing and production, or should I just buy two different sets of units.

Hello there, just a few “quick” questions for you.

Context: I love digging for new music on SoundCloud & co., so it happened that I kind of lost track of my library.

1. How do you organize your library in Rekordbox, Serato, etc.? Do you delete all the songs you don’t like anymore, or do you put them in a separate playlist instead?

2. Do you give your tracks star ratings or use colors based on their energy level? If you tag your songs - which tags do you usually use?

Canopy and permit to play outside is still being worked on.

Gear that would need to be powered.... DJ controller Laptop

Two (or maybe only one?) JBL Partybox 310 or JBL PartyBox Stage 320 (still working out the budget) will already be powered by it's battery.

I don't want to use a gas powered generator. My laptop is old and even when fully charged it drains quickly.

My question...........Any recommendations (make and model) to supply power?

Thanks.

What is the absolute most budget way to get into scratching?

I'm in a metal band and did edm production for years, worked in studios across the US, etc,.

We want to incorporate scratching into our band, and I don't know where to start. Google summary b.s. is pointing me at $1,000 in gear but like I just need what, a mixer and two jog wheels? I'm disabled (hEDS, Dysautonomia, Fibro, all the bs disorders that I thought were fake a few years ago) so I can't afford to drop massive amounts on this. I'm wanting to keep it below $300 if possible but I just want to be able to scratch and record it specifically for nu-metal.

I do all programming, mixing, mastering, bass, and our guitarist does symphonics, stringed instruments (also bass), etc,. We don't play live (our band is digital, Germany, The United States, and a new guy from Slovenia?) So I can program the drums for now, hence getting the gear for scratching before a drum machine.

Is this crazy to think I could do it for less than $300? I can go over if I use zzounds but I'm wanting a drum machine next year so I'd prefer not super over.

I thought there would be a market for like, just controllers with no live DJing? I see Traktor stuff and the mx2 which YouTube seems to be glazing but people here (edit: DJ sub) said it was awful? I'm not expecting to be scratching like Abilities over night but I do want something decent enough to grow with and I can manipulate bad skill in the studio within reason so as long as it CAN give me dj lethal/craze/abilities sounds to use I'm happy. I have loved scratching since I grew up on it but idk more than rudimentary methods to do it so I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I'm open to sketchy DIY solutions fwiw.

Added: I am not worried about playing the full section, I will chop and edit the scratches piecemeal like modern guitar production, I pick stuff up quickly and play several different instruments already, we don't play live and never will, it's mostly music for the sake of music, I'm disabled and work in Healthcare, other guy also works in Healthcare, and third guy is a high up IT guy so we're never going to get together and tour, it's more like a fun hobby for people who can no longer do the dedicated band thing. It takes us months to get a song finished, usually a full day of working on a track every two weeks and then every third or fourth demo we decide to polish further (and then drop). Nothing released just some 30+ guys making the music they used to love after leaving bigger bands for various reasons. We are looking for a vocalist singer and I would love to pass scratching and some production off to someone else but most people want to get famous and tour, not hang out for free on a discord server sending wips and stems back and forth, so I'm just doing it my self.

I have a flx4 and for some reason I’ve made looping way harder than it needs to be.

How do you set loops quickly? What’s your workflow? Do you do it while the cued track is playing? Or while it’s stopped? What buttons/functions do you use?

I generally understand the idea but it just feels really clunky when I do it.

I’m a beginner DJ looking to purchase my first controller ever, I’ve done a fair amount of research and narrowed the selection down to these two controllers between the Pioneer DDJ-FLX 4 vs Numark Mixtrack Platinum FX. I’m looking to become an open format dj. The only type of music I’m uninterested in playing is probably den/techno. I’m leaning towards Serato due to the better stems but I’m open to learning Rekordbox as well. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Hey every body, I’m fairly new too DJing and I understand most of the basics but I really struggle to mix dance music or “white girl” music well. Does anyone have any good recommendations for maybe a YouTube video which can well explain how to mix dance music with a short/no intro? When I go to clubs I’ve heard some decent mixes, a couple are bad to be honest depending where I go but I also noticed the djs play a lot of mashups as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you!

I noticed when I practice a mix for the first time and love it and come back to it a couple days later to redo it it sounds terrible or I notice things like highs clashing or it just didn’t hit like it did the first time. Is it my software acting up or just me? Do you guys also experience this? If so how do you overcome it. Thank you.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for an affordable pedal to add some decent reverb and delay to my Allen & Heath Xone:92 setup, mainly for home use.
I previously tried a Behringer DR600, but honestly I didn’t like the sound very much, so I sold it.
I noticed that Oscar Mulero uses (or used) a Zoom MS-70CDR, although I’m not sure if he mainly used it for delay, reverb, or both. It seems interesting, but I’d love to hear what other Xone users or DJs are using.
I’m not looking to spend €400+ on something like a Strymon BlueSky, since this would mostly be for bedroom/home DJing.
What affordable pedals or effects units would you recommend for good-quality delay and reverb with a Xone:92? Thanks!

How do these two stack up against each other in 2026? I am aware of the basic differences- one is standalone, another is not, DDJ has better jog wheels, XDJ has limited hardware effects.

Help me compare the two.

Volunteered to play the music at our local university soccer games. Not sure what some good songs/routes would be to go for this Agee group?

Thanks

I’ve been mixing digitally as a hobby for about five years. I have two old denon S1200s that only take cds and I bought a direct drive turntable. It is a bit humbling how much harder it is to use this equipment compared to digital mixing. Any tips on how to structure my practice sessions to get better at beat matching? Any advice would be appreciated!

Hello everyone! I'm looking to upgrade from my Pioneer DDJ-200. Would the XDJ-XZ be a good choice? If not, what would you recommend and why? thanks y’all in advance (I don’t want to use a laptop anymore)

I've been planning to 3D print new knobs in different colors but when I've tried to remove the knobs it seems like it would take more force than expected. Does anyone have any recommendations for removing them without damaging the controller?