Thinking of making a mega beginners thread

[KLH]

I'm thinking of making a mega beginners thread. It'll (hopefully) be a sticky that calls out to other threads so that we don't need to have 13,042 stickied threads and all beginners can go to ONE thread for what they need to begin.

Here are topics that I scribbled down. Am I missing anything? Are there other suggestions?

Remember that this is targetting ONLY beginners and really focused on what beginners need to know to BEGIN learning how to DJ:

Concepts to know before beginning
* RANT ON PIRACY
* DJ Ethos (Practicing, skills > tools, respect other djs, etc.)
* DJ Names
* A brief opinion on the need for sound quality
* Where to go for help (DJF, DJ Tutor, DJTT, NI, Serato, etc.)
* Essential basic skills (BPM determinating, Beat-matching, Phrase-matching, transitioning)
* Recording mixes, listening, and evaluating
* MacOS versus Windows
* DJing versus Production
* Digital audio software types (DVS, DJ app, Production app, DAE, DAW)
* Types of DJs (Club, Mobile, Radio, and MC)

Starting out:
* RANT ON PIRACY
* Where to get legal music
* Budgeting
* Starting equipment recommendations
* Essential DJ non-mixing equipment (headphones, speakers, table, etc.)
* Essential DJ mixing equipment (TTs, CDJs, controllers)

-KLH

[Clayton]

I would love this!

[John Veselsky]

This is a great idea KLH. Might be a good idea to link some good blogs and articles as well after the type up.

[Smallz]

I believe there should be at least 20 page bitchfests on each topic before we combine it into one thread.

[silentsounds]

Good idea Ken.

Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk

[xsonixs]

Honestly, I think you should make a little eBook/PDF and put it up for sale and all proceeds go to DJF. Nothing big....like 99c or something. Like Smallz put it, its going to be a ridiculously long thread! Ridiculously long LOL. This sounds like a good idea to get some income into DJF. And for 99c, its not that big of an investment. Maybe make some teaser threads and include a butload of info in the PDF.

Just my 2c.

[Quentin Legend]

Rant on Piracy?

Do noobs REALLY listen to that part?

That part is a waste of time and resources IMO.

[Marc S]

^^ this, but the rest, good idea.

[KLH]

Good feedback. Keep it coming, everyone.

So nobody wants to hear me bitch about not pirating, huh. I just wanted to say this on piracy:

Don't f*cking do it. Ever.

You'd think that I was striking a Jesus pose.

-KLH

[xsonixs]

If you make an ebook, the cover should be of you striking a Jesus pose ;)

[Andrew B]

Sounds great! Keep the anti-piracy rant, though.

[DJNR]

If you make an ebook, the cover should be of you striking a Jesus pose ;)

KLH's Guide to DJing Divinity

[xsonixs]

KLH's Guide to DJing Divinity

KLH's Guide to DJing while Walking on Water.

[TheFrenchWay]

I like that idea.

Maybe to ease the anti-piracy part, suggest sites where to easily access and download music legally. Purchase and Free Downloads.

Downloading off torrents and what not easily becomes a habit. Break the habit before it happens.

[DJArmani]

this would cut these "what do i need/ what should i get" threads in half !

[DougMore]

I like how you included Radio DJs in there....FM is going to have to start becoming less "by the charts" if stations hope to survive iPhones.



...I want to work at SiriusXM

[mostapha]

I would love to see that, and I'll gladly help you out. I know we agree on some things and disagree on others, and there are probably different topics that each of us care/know more/less about than others. PM me for email/chat and we'll talk.

[DJNR]

If you need help with some of the sections, I am more than willing to help you write it. Like mostapha said, we might not agree on the same things, but we can talk them over or whatever.

[Ferryman]

Sounds like it has all the makings of a sticky.

[Wakka]

very good idea! be sure to include inside the BPM determining section that one does not learn to beatmatch by pushing sync or reading the displays on the CDJ. They gotta learn the real thing. :tup:

Besides that this will probably be a great guide!

[djcaru]

How about the mp3 vs wav debate?

[KLH]

^ I'll be sure to add that. Keep the suggestions coming...

-KLH

[djcaru]

Ignore - was going to suggest list of legal music download sites but already mentioned.

[mostapha]

How about the mp3 vs wav debate?

There's a debate? The people I know who can ABX the difference all just listen to wav or flac…mp3s are only used by people who can't hear the difference.

[ElectroManiac]

Great idea KLH :tup:

Don't forget the what to do when a hoocker offers you tits to play her request guide.

[Ferryman]

very good idea! be sure to include inside the BPM determining section that one does not learn to beatmatch by pushing sync or reading the displays on the CDJ. They gotta learn the real thing. :tup:

Besides that this will probably be a great guide!

THIS.

I'm afraid to say, I know quite a few DJ's that look at me blank when I put them in front of a pair of 1210's and expect them to mix :squint:

[KLH]

The MEGA thread (http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?2721-The-Official-DJF-Beginners-MEGA-Thread!) has been posted in the Beginners section.

I wound up combining several original sections to make the content a little more comprehensive. I'm not done though. Here's content that I'd like to add:

* WAV versus MP3
* ONLY Depend on your ear (probably add this to the DJ Ethos section)

Anything else that needs to be said?

-KLH

[mostapha]

I disagree with only depending on your ear as opposed to not depending on anything else too much, but whatever.

A discussion of gain staging might be cool, but there are a lot of working pros who don't seem to understand that. At the very least, something about how to run a mixer would be good. Plus, if Marc still has his beginner beat matching, looping, and scratching tutorials…they'd be cool to re post. They helped me a lot in the beginning.

[XxTheZombiezxX]

Only thing your missing as far as I would think, is a faq for all the questions that you don't cover in the mega thread, but are asked a lot so you just edit under a faq area so other's don't keep asking the same question. And have an answer right there for them, well us, I'm a noob also. :D

[thehadgi]

I like the budgeting one, I'm probably not the only one on here that's wasted an inordinate amount of money because I had no idea how to budget and what I should be buying at the beginning.

[KLH]

I like how you included Radio DJs in there....


I would love to see that, and I'll gladly help you out.
I haven't discussed the types of DJs in there yet... is that something anyone is still interested in?

Anything else that people have questions on?

-KLH