Do any wedding DJ's here just DJ with a mixer and a computer?

[rocket's ass]

I'm looking at everyone's setups and almost all of them have a lot of advanced looking equipment. Turntables and things that look like they simulate turntables...etc etc.
How much of that is needed for party style dj-ing?
I've DJed for 12 years...country bars...gay top 40 dance bars...strip bars. For awhile (like many on here I'm sure), I used cds and then transitioned out of that into using a laptop. PCDJ...now Virtual DJ. I don't specialize in a lot of beat matching...it's never really been needed with what I've been involved with. When needed, I can synch (I know...dirty word!) and it gets the job done.

I guest djed one time with someone who had a laptop running a program and then also had two external turntable type devices that were somehow hooked up to the laptop but records weren't being played on them. It looked similar to some of the setups I've seen on here. Keep in mind, this was another top 40 dance situation...mix of gay and straight listening to a lot of 80's and other party songs. Full dancefloor and beat matching more obscure mixes didn't seem to be what was on the menu. He gave me quick crash course and said that after I selected a song and loaded it into one of the players on the screen, I had to do something with the turntable devices before hitting play on the computer. If I didn't, the song wouldn't play. It seemed really strange because it didn't seem to help anything. This was like 4 years ago so I can't remember any details. It just seemed like another thing to do for no reason. I asked him why I had to do that and he didn't know.

I'm looking to get into dj-ing weddings and dances and other events...your standard mobile DJing I would think. Mainstream top 40 stuff for the most part. These setups seem so intimi******. For what I'm doing, do I really need the fancier mixers and such?

[Lost Connection]

I'd say controllers, like the Native Instruments S4 and Pioneers DDJ-S1 or T1, are a good choice for mobile DJs. Also midi capable mixers like A&H Xone 4D and denon dnx1600 are a solid option. These are of course from the higher and more expensive end. You don't need anything too fancy to be a DJ. It's not that much about the gear, it's more about you.

[Lost Connection]

Oh yeah, if you want to do weddings etc. You better know what you're doing... And have a lot of records, since the requests can include various different genres and era's etc. The thing about you not beatmatching or smthing made me say this. Weddings are an important part of peoples lives, and a thing to remember forever so you can't screw it up. Though 12 years of experience is like 6 times mine so I think you know this stuff

[Dix]

I'll take a stab at your question. First, I'd like to ask your age.

In short, depending on what music you play, & I would think that since your not using fancy equipment now, your probably not going to need it in the future. However, again, it depends on what crowds your going to play to & the choice of music you play for them... or should I say "style" of music.
I play mostly Country, Pop, Hip Hop, Classic Rock etc. I don't play Rap, "gangsta" music which requires you to "scratch" etc. As well, I don't "mix" as most DJ's do today. I play my sets just as you hear them on the radio. I play songs all the way thru & then start the next song. As one song is ending, I start the other.

Now, on to answer your question... If your playing the sets like I am, the answer is no, you don't need all the fancy equipment. Here is my setup:
Laptop into external sound card,
then into 4 channel mixer,
into an amp,
into speakers.

I use a cheap, simple software that works well for me, is dependable & has not given me any problems or crashed ...ever in 10 years. You can get it online for $15 I think & comes with support & lifetime updates. Its called DJMIXPRO.

I will probably take a lot of heat for this post but most people here know I use a basic setup & for what I do. I don't need the more modern equipment etc because I don't do that stuff that requires it.... Most people have already given me their heat & now that they know me, know I am not just a fly by night guy here & know, that I know what I am doing. While they may not approve or understand my setup but they respect the fact that it works for me & what I do.

While most people here will tell you that you must have the more modern equipment & play the music by "beat matching" & "mixing", it depends on what you plan on doing & more so, how much business your willing to say no to & a lot of it depends on the area you live in. If its a large metropolitan area where its common, you may have problems getting gigs if you don't know the music or style (which I don't). If you live in a small rural area with more basic music & styles, you may be ok. Since I don't know where "Oh Hell No" is, I wont be able to help you with your area.

On another note, style has noting to do with "QUALITY" equipment. Don't get me wrong, get good quality equipment regardless of what style music you play. Equipment brands tho, is for another thread.

Good luck

[bumpyjonas]

I use a setup with CDJ’s and a DVS system. CDJ’s have been part of my setup for some time and when Serato became popular merged both and never looked back. However every now and then I play strictly with cd’s and no laptop and dvs system.

Now I know quite a few DJ’s who use just a mixer, laptop, soundcard and speakers, similar to Dixie’s setup and it works well for them. I have a friend who strictly uses the Rane TTM57sl mixer (Serato is built in) with his laptop, and Serato running internal mode for his setup. He uses this setup for all events formal and non-formal.

[Mystic]

I don't use turntable style controllers. I've thought about it but never saw the point when I don't do that kind of style DJing. I can beatmatch inside VDJ.

[Silver Man]

The good thing about weddings is that it is not so much about the best equipment, but it is more about how you put everything together and present yourself. The bad thing about weddings is that is not so much about the best equipment, but is is more about how you put everything together and present yourself.

That said, I have been DJing for 22 years and I specialize in weddings. A lot of what was stated above is true, you do not need the expensive controllers, but you do need to know how to make a wedding go smoothly. For me, this took years of practice and studying to get it the way I have it now. So, if your first several don't go well, hang in there and keep at it. The best is if you can find a wedding DJ in your area and shadow him a little, it will give you a big boost in your own show.

Now to the equipment part, I personally use a system that is all self contained. I have a 2U short rack computer with multiple hard drives for redundancy. I then added a fold down monitor on the top of the rack. For a controller, I use the Denon HC-4500. You do not need a controller, but it does make things a lot easier. This is a small 3U controller that sits on top. I also have 2 Wireless mic receivers in my rack as well. This was all designed so I can show up at a place, that the top lid off, lift up the monitor, take the back cover off, plug in speakers and power, and take the front off and turn on power and I am done. Real fast and easy. I can have sound up and running in 15 minutes. In any case, here is a picture of my setup:

[Windows 95]

In any case, here is a picture of my setup:

What's the laptop for, lighting?

[DJ LEVLHED]

Denon HC-4500 and Gizmo Labs RPM for your standard mobile DJ work. You don't need a controller, but even a very basic one makes life a lot easier.

[ampnation]

I'm looking to get into dj-ing weddings and dances and other events...your standard mobile DJing I would think. Mainstream top 40 stuff for the most part. These setups seem so intimi******. For what I'm doing, do I really need the fancier mixers and such?

Short answer is, no, you don't need them. The term for the "turntable type devices" generically is decks and can be applied to a variety of devices which play CD's, USB thumb drives, vinyl (real records or time code vinyl used to simulate a real record so you can scratch computer based music), or music directly from the computer. Unless you're taking advantage of functions like loops, scratching with the platters, or sound effects, the only reason to have them is the ability to play media like CD's directly. If your computer died, you could still continue with a USB thumbdrive and a pair of CDJ's for instance.

I'm currently using as my primary setup a rackmount Denon X500 mixer with a dual CD player/controller, the Denon HD2500, without a computer. I can see myself eventually using a computer based system, but when I do, I would want decks of some sort as a backup. The HD2500 can do that with a connected USB flash drive. I can have my entire music collection on USB using one of these.. http://www.amazon.com/Lexar-Backup-F.../dp/B004TPPWUA and both channels of the controller can access the same USB drive. The HD2500 is discontinued but similar devices exist.

For me, it's all about stability and redundancy.

I did have a pair of Pioneer CDJ400 decks hooked up to my computer using VDJ (trial) and an analog mixer (Ecler Nuo 3) and while using that I did experience a little of what you describe... I would go to the incoming song only to find it wasn't "there." but I really didn't use that system for long. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take long for the process to be 2nd nature.

Now here's the thing regarding weddings. I've shadowed another DJ and only done one wedding myself but I do know that with weddings, having a backup for every piece is highly preferred. At worst, you want to be able to "get by" if any single item goes down. e.g. you could lose a subwoofer and still get by using just the tops.

I got to learn all about the value of redundancy during this one wedding I've done. I did it for a friend even though I hadn't started marketing myself as a wedding DJ yet. I had 6 weeks to get ready. One of my CDJ's had died. For some reason they don't like having juice spilled on them. The other one had problems from day one (open box from Guitar Center) so I returned it. So I was left without a setup. In order to go forward I needed new hardware and possibly to purchase my DJ program. After getting advice here, I shadowed a local DJ with years of experience. I liked his setup and decided to go with something similar which led to the above system. I also didn't really have my music ready to go. I made a crucial mistake at this point... I decided to "upgrade" my CD encoding on iTunes which I use to rip CD's to mp3. That same encoding affects AAC purchases converted to mp3. The problem was, the 48kHz sample rate I went with isn't supported by the dual CD drive that was connected to the HD2500. Most of the new songs I purchased specifically for the wedding, like the grand entrance songs, father/daughter dance song, etc. were burned to CD as mp3s. During my dry runs, I did experience the "not supported" message a couple of times, but things worked out such that I was able to get songs to play after that and never put 2 and 2 together about what the problem was. By this time I had already gone through another rig which failed miserably (a pair of used iCDX CDJ's also from Guitar Center which were basically DOA) so I didn't have time to go for yet another setup.

Of course, when I got setup at the venue, this being my first time on my own, I was running close on my timeline but got everything setup with time to spare... except the first song I tried to play, didn't play. "Not supported" grrrr I ended up bypassing my DJ mixer and player altogether and hooking up my laptop to my other mixer for the rest of the night and playing from iTunes. The sad thing is, if I had realized the problem, I could have gone forward with what I had by using the audio CD's (had my entire collection with me) and by changing the mp3 settings on iTunes and re-ripping the songs I needed. That said, I didn't know what the problem was and since I had made the contingency plan of using the laptop, I was able to pull off the gig even if I did get started a tad late.

Now to the equipment part, I personally use a system that is all self contained. I have a 2U short rack computer with multiple hard drives for redundancy. I then added a fold down monitor on the top of the rack. For a controller, I use the Denon HC-4500. You do not need a controller, but it does make things a lot easier. This is a small 3U controller that sits on top. I also have 2 Wireless mic receivers in my rack as well. This was all designed so I can show up at a place, that the top lid off, lift up the monitor, take the back cover off, plug in speakers and power, and take the front off and turn on power and I am done. Real fast and easy. I can have sound up and running in 15 minutes. In any case, here is a picture of my setup:

Silverman, I was just brainstorming and almost posted a question about anyone who uses a rackmount computer vs. laptop. I think that would have many advantages. Since I use a rolling slant top rack anyway, and have a trailer with a ramp door for loading and unloading, I was thinking I don't care that it is bigger and heavier and it seems more secure to me.

So my questions are...

Are you using RAID? which level? which OS? I know Windows server editions vs. home, have more extensive RAID options supported but DJ software probably won't run on the server editions.

Where did you find a rackmount monitor that can fold down?

Is the rack ATX form factor? or do you need 3u to do that?