The world of DJing can sometimes be a cruel one. When the entirety of your set hinges on a single press of a button and you miss the timing ever-so-slightly, it can be pretty frustrating; this, however, is far from the end of the world (there’s a good chance that most of the audience won’t have even noticed). The common DJ mistakes we’re going to be talking about are of a different vein, ones that are common, yet pretty easy to fix.
Buying Budget Gear
As is the case with most things in life, you get what you paid for; this counts doubly for DJ gear. Unfortunately, DJing is a pretty expensive hobby and if you want to learn to DJ at any level past amateur, you’re probably going to need to invest in some high-quality DJ mixers and other equipment. Of course, it doesn’t need to be stated that if you start DJing at live venues or events you’re probably going to need to invest in some top-shelf gear.
Sticking to One Genre
Say you’re really passionate about a single genre: you might know absolutely lots of artists, all the best tunes, you might even have perfectly memorised all the drops, beats and tempos. There’s nothing wrong with a specialism and this might even help you carve out a niche in the market or build a unique brand for yourself. People do tend to get oversaturated with music quite quickly though, especially when they might not be as big a fan of the genre as you are. There’s nothing wrong with adding a bit of variety to your set and its likely that your audience will appreciate it.
Running With the Mainstream
One of the main reasons we love music so much is due to how varied it is. Music comes in all shapes and sizes and you never have to look far to find something truly unique. Even though it’s so simple to find something different, there are many DJs who still choose to curate sets with exactly the same songs. The mainstream is the mainstream for a reason and picking the number 1 trending song is a sure-fire way to get the audience on-side, but at the same time this shuffles you in with the hundreds – if not thousands – of DJs who are also doing exactly the same. Why not take the chance on a different genre or style of music to really set yourself apart.
Not Understanding Your Equipment
Ever walked into a venue to find that all of the equipment for a set has already been set up? Yep, no problem. Then you take a look at the actual equipment and realise that you’ve got absolutely no idea what any of the nobs or switches do. There’s no cheat code for learning to mix on every piece of equipment out there, but by staying vigilant of new releases in terms of equipment and gaining experience using a wide range of systems makes it far more likely that the venue you walk into will have something you can use already set up.
Not Looking After Your Gear
DJ equipment is delicate and should be taken care of with thought to this. When talking about taking care of your gear, it doesn’t just come down to cleaning and updating software but also testing all the features and even opening up some of the equipment to check the hardware is in good condition.
Get in Touch With 4DJ
Contact Us today for more information on the high-quality DJ Equipment that we provide to meet your music production needs. Alternatively, phone our Birmingham City Centre store on 0121 693 1941.