Vinyl Only DJing....

[Class]

Sup guys i love the art of being able to mix and dj with oldschool vinyl instead of digital files.

Where do i begin learning the skill of being a all vinyl DJ. I see it all the time on YouTube and its all just preference in having a physical copy that i like. Couple questions though.

What should i learn first?

Since i dont have the ability to see what is in the same key do i have to simply train my ears for it?

What are some ways you organize or label your vinyl records so you know what is what or what energy level it has?

Thanks

[Daniel S]

Well, I don't really play vinyl any longer but I did play it for the first 20 years of my DJing career.
Like with any DJing, start with the basics. Beatmatching is definitely a good place to start, which is the case for any format you choose. I don't really think there's much difference in what format you choose, you have to learn the basics anyway. Even if there now are apps and computer programs to tell you what key a track is in and to do the beatmatching for you, you have to know how it works anyway, since the software doesn't get it right every time. When the software is wrong, you need to know how to correct the situation.

Regarding organizing your records, that's very personal how you do it. The most common way is to order your records by genre and then by tempo within each genre. For other info such as energy levels and such you could put a sticker on the record. However, when I was DJing on vinyl, although I did buy quite a lot of records it wasn't more than I could keep track of in my head, so no labels or stickers needed. Let's say I bought 15 records a week back then. These 15 records would go on repeat that week so I could learn them inside and out.

It's way different now when going digital when you can download an almost infinite number of tracks per week and just end up playing a few of them. With vinyl, I bougth only the tracks I really liked, or the ones that were the best floorfillers, since I didn't have the Money or the space to get an insane amount of records. That made it a lot easier to keep track of the music in my crates. I'm pretty sure it's the same today for somebody going the vinyl route.

[Class]

Well, I don't really play vinyl any longer but I did play it for the first 20 years of my DJing career.
Like with any DJing, start with the basics. Beatmatching is definitely a good place to start, which is the case for any format you choose. I don't really think there's much difference in what format you choose, you have to learn the basics anyway. Even if there now are apps and computer programs to tell you what key a track is in and to do the beatmatching for you, you have to know how it works anyway, since the software doesn't get it right every time. When the software is wrong, you need to know how to correct the situation.

Regarding organizing your records, that's very personal how you do it. The most common way is to order your records by genre and then by tempo within each genre. For other info such as energy levels and such you could put a sticker on the record. However, when I was DJing on vinyl, although I did buy quite a lot of records it wasn't more than I could keep track of in my head, so no labels or stickers needed. Let's say I bought 15 records a week back then. These 15 records would go on repeat that week so I could learn them inside and out.

It's way different now when going digital when you can download an almost infinite number of tracks per week and just end up playing a few of them. With vinyl, I bougth only the tracks I really liked, or the ones that were the best floorfillers, since I didn't have the Money or the space to get an insane amount of records. That made it a lot easier to keep track of the music in my crates. I'm pretty sure it's the same today for somebody going the vinyl route.

Sweet man, Thanks for the advice. Yeah ive been watching some videos and noticed that most of the vinyl DJ's would master the crate of records they had and learn them inside and out. I think that is some fundamentally different things that i notice with digital DJ's for vinyl DJs sets. Seems like the vinyl DJ has more passion behind his music he is playing and has the ability to play with them more. Seem like the digital world has become soooo easy that people really dont care that much about the music they are playing as much which ive notice makes a difference in the normal regular DJ verse the professional. Buying vinyl now is still expensive. Discogs can be pricey at times but it gives me more passion and connection with the music for some reason rather then with digital i dont have that much investment or interest in it. Weird how that is

Not sure what your thoughts are...

[dlove]

Sweet man, Thanks for the advice. Yeah ive been watching some videos and noticed that most of the vinyl DJ's would master the crate of records they had and learn them inside and out. I think that is some fundamentally different things that i notice with digital DJ's for vinyl DJs sets. Seems like the vinyl DJ has more passion behind his music he is playing and has the ability to play with them more. Seem like the digital world has become soooo easy that people really dont care that much about the music they are playing as much which ive notice makes a difference in the normal regular DJ verse the professional. Buying vinyl now is still expensive. Discogs can be pricey at times but it gives me more passion and connection with the music for some reason rather then with digital i dont have that much investment or interest in it. Weird how that is

Not sure what your thoughts are...

Hi Class, it's great that you want to get into vinyl DJ'ing, but word of advice: don't diss the other formats, as everyone has reasons for using the formats they do, and it's no way a reflection of 'how much they're into the music'. Yes, digital can be 'instant', yet by the same token, I've had soundsystems travelling to the gig, making bespoke versions of their own music to play specifically on that night. Now, unless you're Rodigan or Shaka, that's pretty much impossible to do with vinyl.
Also, when DJ's have a collection with records costing anywhere in the region of a month's wages (or more!), they're not going to cart them about unless it's for a very special occasion; if ever. In these situations, DJ's record their vinyl, and play the recording.
All the best!

[Class]

Hi Class, it's great that you want to get into vinyl DJ'ing, but word of advice: don't diss the other formats, as everyone has reasons for using the formats they do, and it's no way a reflection of 'how much they're into the music'. Yes, digital can be 'instant', yet by the same token, I've had soundsystems travelling to the gig, making bespoke versions of their own music to play specifically on that night. Now, unless you're Rodigan or Shaka, that's pretty much impossible to do with vinyl.
Also, when DJ's have a collection with records costing anywhere in the region of a month's wages (or more!), they're not going to cart them about unless it's for a very special occasion; if ever. In these situations, DJ's record their vinyl, and play the recording.
All the best!

Thanks for the input. Yeah what i meant by saying that is im less committed to the song when i buy on digital verse buying on vinyl. Just personal experience.

[mitchiemasha]

Practice cueing, rubbing the 1st beat of 1 track over the beat of the other. Once you can do that perfectly, try releasing it so that the first beat is in time. Don't worry if it isn't. Do this over and over again. Only when you can perfect this move on to the pitch. Stick with songs very similar BPM.

Being able to cue perfectly takes a huge load of from the learning curve of adjusting the pitch. The problem with an unperfect cue is you first have to correct your cue, then the mismatched BPM. All you'll hear is noise, you won't be able to distinguish the 2, yet. If the first few beats are intime, a perfect cue, you can ride this with bending the vinyl, nudging tapping, and the pitch fader. You should always be incontrol of where the track is at, right from where you start it.

If the first few beats are in, a perfect cue and it starts to drift, go out of time, if you push the record and it goes more out of time, STOP, start again. Recue but this time tap.

Once you're getting this right, you don't need to recue and everything falls into place. You subconsciously learn the change, wur, in pitch to if you've over/under tapped or over/under pushed, this is when you become a master, you'll know before hearing the next beat. Once you're performing, waiting to hear if the next beat is a bit out is already too late.

Edit: obviously when you go live... you don't want people to be hearing you bend the tune, especially songs that have pads in.

[Class]

Practice cueing, rubbing the 1st beat of 1 track over the beat of the other. Once you can do that perfectly, try releasing it so that the first beat is in time. Don't worry if it isn't. Do this over and over again. Only when you can perfect this move on to the pitch. Stick with songs very similar BPM.

Being able to cue perfectly takes a huge load of from the learning curve of adjusting the pitch. The problem with an unperfect cue is you first have to correct your cue, then the mismatched BPM. All you'll hear is noise, you won't be able to distinguish the 2, yet. If the first few beats are intime, a perfect cue, you can ride this with bending the vinyl, nudging tapping, and the pitch fader. You should always be incontrol of where the track is at, right from where you start it.

If the first few beats are in, a perfect cue and it starts to drift, go out of time, if you push the record and it goes more out of time, STOP, start again. Recue but this time tap.

Once you're getting this right, you don't need to recue and everything falls into place. You subconsciously learn the change, wur, in pitch to if you've over/under tapped or over/under pushed, this is when you become a master, you'll know before hearing the next beat. Once you're performing, waiting to hear if the next beat is a bit out is already too late.

Edit: obviously when you go live... you don't want people to be hearing you bend the tune, especially songs that have pads in.

This is awesome advice thank you!