Basic Digital DJ Tips | DJ TechTools

Basic Digital DJ Tips - 190 posts

Using Traktor's Cuepoints For Refer...
Disciplined preparation creates amazing performances. If you believe in this statement, then having a robust cue point strategy is a great way to start prepping for success. Often...

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Mixing In Key: When And How To Chan...
Mixing in key is one of the best ways to create a smooth mix that resonates from track to track, increasing or decreasing energy in a...

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Podcasting 101: Get Your DJ Podcast...
Many DJs think they need to be a celebrity, have a label, or major backing to get their music onto iTunes. Not so! Even though some...

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Moving A DJ Library From Serato Int...
We're constantly being asked by Serato DJs who have recently discovered Traktor and want to give it a shot about the best way to easily move...

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How To Create A Memorable Live DJ S...
There are more DJs than ever before. Technology and the advent of the digital age has made it easier than ever before to begin a career...

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Value-Added Mixing: When To DJ More...
With the emergence of Sync, the DJs workload dropped by at least 50% - freeing up a lot of time to do other things. "Great!" everyone...

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Will Producers Make DJs Obsolete?
A lot of discussion has been circling DJ communities about the differences between DJs and music producers. Do producers make better DJs? Do DJs make better...

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Mixing Techniques for DJs: 5 Creati...
Have you ever wanted to mix in a greater variety of tempos into a set but were to afraid to screw up the mix? That is...

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Save Your Hearing While DJing in 3 ...
Have you ever heard ringing in your ears after a gig? If the answer is yes, then you suffered from temporary hearing loss. Chances are that...

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7 Essential Books For DJs and Produ...
Festival season is just around the corner, which means significantly more downtime for DJs and and music fans alike while en route to the show. When...

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How To Pack a (Digital) DJ Bag
Ever spent weeks preparing for a big gig, only to arrive at the venue and realize that you've forgotten a necessary adapter, cable, or worse. As...

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Beats To Cue: Using Traktor's Count...
Many DJs find themselves counting in their heads when mixing - but do you ever find yourself counting backwards? Today we're featuring a guest video tip...

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Habits of Highly Mediocre DJs + How...
There's no doubt that the DJ industry has become more saturated in the last five years, with more aspiring DJs eager to share their passion for...

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Visualizers For DJs: 3 Simple DIY S...
One of the most common questions we get from DJs nearly every week at DJTT has to do with adding an element of music visualization into...

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Ergonomics, Organization, & Experim...
One sign of a great live performer - DJs included - is that they are constantly looking to improve in as many areas within their skillset...

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Building Traktor Remix Decks Into Y...
A few weeks ago we read a post on the DJTT forums asking how to get the most of Traktor’s Remix Decks: “I am considering selling...

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Productivity Hacks and Time Managem...
Everyone has a unique way of spending their time in the studio. It could be practicing a new technique, tapping out a fresh beat, digging for...

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Original Documentaries for Producer...
By popular request, we're back with another article that shares some of the latest, most essential DJ and producer video content from around the web. As...

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How To Avoid Serato Face: Solving D...
As laptops grew to be commonplace in the DJ booth over the last decade, many DJs have become screen-locked throughout their performance. As a famous Tumblr...

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Emergency DJ Set: Using Traktor's C...
A lot of DJs who are gigging regularly need to step away from the DJ booth - from making sure the bridal party is ready for...

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The DJ Jesus Pose: A Joke, Or A Sec...
A casual glance up on stage at a major festival or reviewing photos from last night's DJ gigs will reveal a much reviled trend in DJing:...

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Quick Collection of New Year's Eve ...
It's New Year's Eve again, and it seems like it just a few months ago that DJ Angelo was handing out some very practical advice for...

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Building Great TouchOSC DJ Mappings...
Great performances come from artists with great control over their tools. Finding the right way to interact with your music is as important as the music...

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Getting Kicked Off The Decks + 5 Ti...
Over the weekend, the internet blew up with video and heated discussion about turntablism prodigy DJ Shadow getting kicked off the decks in Miami for playing music...

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Inside DJTT Member Arkaei's Champio...
Earlier this week, we learned that one of our members, Arkaei, had not only held down his third winning title in the German International DJ Association...

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DIY Autosave In Traktor
Have you recently lost work in Traktor due to program crashes or unkind acts of computer gods? Have you become depressed, despondent or bummed out from...

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Taking DJ Gigs Outside Of Your Norm...
We all too often see DJs on our forums and other online DJ communities asking for advice for an upcoming gig in a brand new genre...

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Bedroom DJ Woes: Why You're Not Get...
It's an all-too-familiar story: a DJ of any experience level with plenty of mixing skills, fancy DJ gear, and the latest killer tracks, but no gigs...

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Even More Documentaries for Produce...
In what's starting to become a reoccurring Friday column here at DJ Techtools, we're highlighting seven more fantastic documentaries and videos we've found around the web....

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Backing Up Your Digital DJ Data
As DJs and producers, the amount of time that we put into finding, organizing, and preparing tracks is often drastically higher than the amount of time...

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Kontrol Z2 Innofaders: The Inside S...
Just over a week and a half ago, Native Instruments announced the forthcoming Kontrol Z2 mixer, and many of our readers were excited to discover that...

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A DJ's Guide to Audio Files and Bit...
As Serato's DJ software programs gained FLAC support on Monday, we decided it's time to write an article that discusses the best options of the variety...

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Play Nice With Others: How to DJ Wi...
The time will come in your career, if it hasn't already, when you want to join forces with another DJ - either as a dynamic production...

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Recording DJ Mixes: How To Do It Ri...
You might be one of the top rising DJs in your town, but if you don't have a portfolio of professional-sounding mixes, you're just not going...

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How To Practice Finger Drumming and...
Many of you have seen plenty of videos featuring artists and DJs banging away on pads and buttons creating near perfect musical jams virtually from thin...

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How To: Sample Any Sound From The I...
In today's video tutorial, Mad Zach teaches how to capture any sound from a number of creative sources and use those sounds in a playable Drum...

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DJ Name Drops In 2012: Cheese Or Ch...
In the past we've covered how to make DJ name drops and IDs, and at the request of a number of emails we're revisiting the topic...

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Traktor's Secret Update: Resizable ...
Just a quick news item that will make Mapping enthusiasts very, very happy: when the brand new update to Traktor Pro 2 (version 2.5.1) came out...

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What Controller Is Right For You? A...
Whether you're buying your very first DJ controller or getting a new one, the question "Should I go modular or all-in-one?" will come up. Deciding between...

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Kontrol S2 and Kontrol S4 Track Pre...
Preparing tracks to DJ with is one of the most time-consuming processes for DJs downloading new tracks everyday. Since there isn't yet a mobile app to...

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Building A Digital DJ Emergency Kit
Most digital DJs don't have to worry about scratched records or broken needles, but that doesn't mean that the modern DJ can't prepare for the worst....

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How To Pick A Great DJ Name
Ironically, most of us pick our DJ name on a lark before thinking anything will ever come of it, and then after are stuck with largely...

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DJTT Interviews: Armin Van Buuren
One of the few DJs in the world who needs nearly no introduction, Armin Van Buuren is one of the most successful, highest praised, and experienced...

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How To Make a Great DJ Performance ...
YouTube has become the easiest way to share your DJ creativity with others online, but most people aren't exactly born with the knowledge of how to...

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Your First Controllerism Routine - ...
In today's tutorial video I go deep into the basics of building a basic controllerism technique through cue point juggling that anyone can learn. With a...

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Where to Promote Your DJ Web Presen...
As a digital DJ or electronic music producer, a well-curated internet presence can seal the deal when booking gigs, getting fans and friends out to your...

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DJing in Ableton: How To Warp Track...
In the first part of our series on how to get started DJing in Ableton Live, we took a look at the possibilities opened up by...

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Tinnitus: A Real Problem For Every ...
About five years ago, I hit an unexpected wall that no creative person should ever have to go through. Imagine this - you are at the...

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How To Return To DJing After A Long...
There was a time when DJs performed using turntables, a two channel mixer, a pair of headphones and a box of records. DJs lived and died...

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6 Clever Ways To Easily Transition ...
Have you ever found yourself trying to switch between two DJs that are sharing the same USB mixer, sound card or DVS interface? It's a common...

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Perfecting Traktor Beatgrids: Ean's...
In today's advanced Traktor Tips video, Ean shows off his favorite method of making sure that the beatgrids on his tracks are perfect, every single time....

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How To Start DJing In Ableton (Part...
For the past several years, we've seen Ableton Live establish itself as a popular and powerful DJ tool, with many top DJs routinely using the software...

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The Art Of Prep - 5 Principles Ever...
Casual observers of the musical arts assume that most of the creative process happens on stage. While it may be true that inspiration and improvisation create...

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5 Free Max for Live Objects For Abl...
One of the things that really sets Ableton Live 8 in a league of its own is the ability to create your own effects, instruments, and...

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Ean's Tips: 5 Traktor Preferences Y...
For many who wade into the mysterious waters of the Traktor Preferences window, chances are they left you confused and wondering what half of the functions actually...

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Is Planning a DJ Set Cheating?
Several people have asked me an important question in the past month. "How do you plan your DJ sets? Is planning my DJ sets cheating?" There's...

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EQ Mixing: Critical Techniques and ...
EQ mixing is a cornerstone of solid DJing, a great tool that can add the final polish to a great DJ set. Learning the fundamentals behind...

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DJing With A Computer Keyboard
Digital DJing and controllerism has come a long way from simply "laptop DJing" (say it with contempt for full effect), but for most digital DJs the...

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Featured User Mapping: Kontrol X1 P...
Mappings are one of the greatest things about the community that surrounds DJ TechTools, so we've decided to start featuring one of our favorite user-created mappings...

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DJ Toolbox: Finding New Music Onlin...
You've got all the gear you need to tear up the club, and you've mastered every transition tutorial you've found online- but here's a dirty little...

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Online DJ Scratch Schools Compariso...
An awesome DJ set rarely comes down to which equipment you use - it’s singularly about the sound you deliver. That is, unless you want to...

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Protecting Your DJ Gear: The Ultima...
The great irony of DJ equipment protection is that one of the most dangerous places to take your gear is to the exact place that you...

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One Path to DJ Happiness
This article will not help you get famous or lead to gigs in front of 10,000 people. It will not help you do more amazing technical...

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Digging's Not Dead: Expand Your Uni...
One of the fondest memories of DJs who’ve been around since the pre-digital watershed is finding new music. When vinyl was still king it was an...

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A DJ's Guide To An Awesome New Year...
To wrap up the year, we've brought on venerable DJ Angelo from the UK to give us his tips and tricks on surviving and rocking a...

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DJ Software Options for Beginners: ...
Last week we published a video for kids that will help them explain digital DJing. A number of our readers suggested that we should instead show...

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Filter VS EQ: Which, When, Why?
Okay, if one was better than the other, top flight mixers would only have one – right? Yet it tends to be the cream of the...

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Getting Creative With Serato Scratc...
We tend to focus a lot on Traktor in our controllerism articles because of its simpler and more flexible controller mapping capabilities, but there are a...

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How to Fix Unwanted Jog Wheel Vibra...
One rarely known but sometimes serious side effect of using controllers in clubs is jog wheel vibration. Without a motorized platter, some jog wheels can start...

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Track or Treat: Halloween Tools for...
While Halloween is predominantly celebrated in the US, many of our readers enjoy the Mexican equivalent, Día de los Muertos, and many European countries get into the fun...

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Looking into SYNC - Power Functions...
SYNC is a highly debated but often miss-understood function. Many people get the general concept but fail to understand exactly what sync actually does and how to customize...

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Ableton Live: Drum Racks?
On the surface, Ableton Live’s drum racks seem to be surplus to a DJ’s requirements with clips being able to deal with everything we need. Look...

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How to Land a DJ Sponsorship
Have you always dreamed of having boxes of gear shipped to your front door? Your first sponsorship is within reach if you put your best foot...

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Invisibl Skratch Piklz on Practice ...
We dropped into the Thud Rumble labs recently and linked up with three members of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz: Qbert, ShortKut, and D-Styles. These three guys...

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Controllerism Essentials - Basic Be...
Many of the topics we cover on this site end up touching on controllerism, or the musical manipulation of music with controllers. It seemed strange then,...

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Optimizing Windows for DJing - Part...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey-YiiXpwoM What's it going to be? Mac or PC? One is the toast of the creative industry with each unit being delicately hand crafted on a...

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Create a Great DJ Website, in Minut...
In the landscape of promotion, there are now unlimited sites on which you can place material on about your work as a DJ. So when someone...

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A Guide to Making a Multitracked Mi...
Mixtapes are still one of the best ways to hone your DJing skills and promote yourself. This guide will hold your hand through the process and...

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Sorting Your DJ Music Library: The ...
These days, it seems like every DJ is using a laptop but they feel like a double edged sword, providing opportunity and creating new obstacles to...

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Classic Signs of DJ Culture
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Weekend Warrior Project! Create a C...
I've got an entire box full of audio cables in my closet but not one wire in this tangled mess meets my needs? Am I really...

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Great Ways to Discover New Music
At the end of the day, DJing is truly about collecting and curating new music. With today's remarkably connected Internet there are dozens of great tools...

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Improving Your DJing With Free Impr...
Improvisation. The knack of feeling a crowd and adjusting the music intuitively is one of the few things that elevates the DJ above an iTunes playlist....

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Latency - A Brief Guide
Latency is, put as simply as possible, the delay between something happening and it becoming apparent that it has happened. In the audio world, it’s the...

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Ableton Tips: How to Create A Dub D...
Written By: Freddy F Traditional DJs using vinyl decks or CDJs can now achieve a number of amazing tricks but there are a few techniques which...

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Create Amazing Build-Ups: Pt 2 Echo
Several weeks ago I showed you how to create compelling build-ups using the beatmasher. This week, we follow up with a technique that does not require DJ...

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How to #Win at SoundCloud
SoundCloud is quickly becoming the hip new community for audio creators, especially electronic artists. Even though they recently started cracking down on copyright violations, the site...

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Create Amazing Build Ups (Part One:...
Today we kick off a two part series on creating amazing build ups with effects. In the video above I cover four different ways to use...

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Porter Robinson - What's In Your DJ...
Porter Robinson is an 18 year old from North Carolina who is concurrently finishing his senior year of high school, and touring the world with famous...

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Mix Techniques: Blending Swings
Today we follow up last month's successful article on dancing with a more in-depth look at mixing various types of rhythmic styles together. In the video above, I go into detail...

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Stuff We Like - Great Traktor Tutor...
Here at DJ TechTools we have a deep treasure trove of Traktor articles but with only 24 hours in the day, it's impossible to cover everything....

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Dancing: A DJ's Secret Skill
My first exposure to "dance music culture" still feels like it was yesterday. Every Saturday night, my mom would drive me to disco skate night at...

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Custom Edits of Classic Tracks in A...
Modern DJ software has nearly every feature you could ever want, but very few (other than Torq) offer the ability to warp songs. More specificaly, they can't...

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Battle of the 1s and 0s. Traktor Vs...
It’s tough to compare digital DJ equipment nowadays – wildly different feature sets, approaches and, of course, price tags, mean that one man’s trash really can...

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Digital Insurance For Your DJ Set
What would happen if your computer crashed or got stolen today? How many songs, cue points, beat grids, and other data would be lost forever? Now...

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Richie Hawtin Interview - 10th Anni...
On Saturday, we bumped into the prolific Mr. Hawtin, a digital DJ pioneer and the guy who originally paved a road for much of our work...

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New Years Tips and DJ Countdowns
It's become an annual tradition that DJ TechTools provides all of our readers with Tips and Tools for up coming New Years Eve gigs. This year...

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The Top Posts of 2010
As we are nearing the end of the 2010, it's appropriate to reflect back on the fantastic year Dj TT had. We broke a lot of...

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4 Ways to Set Up Controllers in a C...
Setting up your controller rig at home is usually smooth as butter and seems to work perfectly every time. Confident in your set-up, you decide to...

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Three Tips for Winning the Crowd Wi...
Marilyn Monroe once said, “If I’m a star, then the people made me a star.” While not every DJ aspires to become a star, you have to...

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New Controller- Hercules "DJ Consol...
Today Hercules announced that the "Dj Console 4-MX" will be the replacement to their popular "Dj Console RMX" controller. This is an all in-one controller priced...

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Deckadance 1.73- Ready to Rock?
As a long time music producer who began looking at alternatives to Ableton for digital DJing, I came across DJTechTools.com about 6 months ago and instantly...

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Extend Your Laptop's Battery Life
You get to the club with plenty of time, carefully set up all your equipment and, with just five minutes before start time, realize the worst:...

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The Assembly Line - Music Productio...
As music creation tools become more accessible and powerful it has never been easier to make great records without emptying your wallet. You may not realize...

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Digital DJ Essentials: Button Techn...
Check out part 2. of this series... Read more

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Self-Promotion Tools for DJs: Faceb...
One of the dirtiest jobs in the DJ business is marketing and promotion. If you already have a big following, you could probably hire a publicist...

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The Frugal DJ – Laptops
In these times of economic crisis it’s getting harder to get by and even harder to rationalize purchasing high-end DJ gear. To help those with a...

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Keep DJing Fun
I have a confession to make. Ever since I stopped DJing full-time to focus on building TechTools, the gigs I now play are significantly more fun....

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The Time-Line of a Dance Floor
Djing is not just picking the next song, but planning how your songs will flow for the entire night. There are 2 critical time-lines we will...

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MacBook USB Port Inequality
An audio issue is every DJ's worst nightmare, after all audio is our art! For digital DJs, there are two sets of audio to worry about:...

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Traktor VS Itch
For years Traktor was the only game in town if you wanted professional dj software that accommodated controller DJs. Now with two years under it’s belt,...

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Blast from the Past- TechTools Clas...
The Dj TechTools staff has been working 14 hour days on the new Midi-fighter launch and next weeks epic 20 minute mix video. To be totally...

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Good Sources for Acapellas
Sometimes DJ mixes can sound really dry if nothing but instrumentals are used all night long, but fortunately DJs have access to a very cool tool...

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Five Tips for a Glitch-Free Laptop ...
As artists who depend on computers, we put a lot of faith into delicate technology that's prone to mid-gig problems -- especially in a hot club with sweaty...

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Dj Essentials- Trust the Levels
Last month we wrote a DJ Essentials on etiquette explaining some of the core principles to keep in mind when dealing with club owners, DJs and...

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Tiefschwarz Interview: The Death of...
The brothers that make up the electro-house duo, Tiefschwarz ("deep black" in German), Ali and Basti Schwarz, started DJing in Stuttgart, Germany in the early '90s....

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The Power of a Name
Original Illustration by: Frank Sassone Picking a dj name is probably not high on the list of priorities when your starting out, but its something that...

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Dj Intervention
Its a sunny friday and a short hop to spring so in lieu of anything that requires too much brain power, here is a classic dj...

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New to Serato?...
Being a Dj, event producer and, most recently, a contributing writer to this fine blog, I run into djs on all different levels of experience and...

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Cable Pizza
My imaginary friend once told me: “setting up DJ gear is like making a pizza; you have the base and the topping.” I thought he was...

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When Good Ears Go Bad--It's All Gon...
You just left a gig and you're dialing the number you got halfway through your set. As you lift the phone, you notice two kinds of...

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TO KEY OR NOT TO KEY
Some DJs do it all the time, while others do it only occasionally. Some DJs never do it and have no intention of doing it. We...

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Classic TechTools "Travel and DJ"
Its time to bring back another techtool classic from the vaults. This week its my article on paying your travel expenses by djing. Most djs think...

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DJ Essentials- 5 Mix Techniques
There are at least a dozen ways to blend from one track to the other and we still use just a few in our sets. To...

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Music Discovery Tips
Even though many DJs have an insatiable desire for new music, the Internet is so awash with listening and downloading options that without direction, you could...

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Mix Master MacGyver
Has this ever happened to you? You're ready to drop the set of your life to an eager audience when a technical issue threatens to spoil...

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DJ Essentials - Button Timing Exerc...
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Bored with Serato? Well don't be.
For those who can't wait to try out some new stuff in Serato Scratch Live, the 2.0 release (which is now in public beta) may seem like...

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Please, Remember the Turntables Too...
While I too am a digital DJ and love controllers like the next guy, it pains me when I see controllerists set up their gear directly atop...

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Digital Record Pool Round-up
Whether you’re looking for the latest tracks and acapellas or searching for new avenues to expose your own productions, digital record pools are a great dj...

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USB Hubs De-Mystified
Chances are you have more digital dj gear than you have available USB ports. Between controllers, sound cards, USB lights and ipods- every controllerist needs a...

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DJ Z-Trip - What's In Your DJ Bag?
NAMM is great place to see the latest gear but its also the only spot where you can rub shoulders with a lot of world class...

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Reading Wave Forms
Digital djing provides a wide set of tools that make your job better but one of the clearest benefits is the ability to see each songs...

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DJ Etiquette
I am going to turn 30 in a few weeks, which means these ears have had nearly 14 years of DJing. Hindsight is 20/20, and I...

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DJ Essentials- Gig Bag Check List
You hit the street, passed out your demos, talked to everyone you know and now its finally paid off with a few gigs. Most djs spend...

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Digital Vs. Analog Mixing. Which is...
There has been a great debate taking place in forums around the digital DJ web. What is the best way to mix songs while DJing: externally...

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How To Be a Successful DJ Part 3: P...
Part One of this series covered setting goals and deciding on the direction of your DJing career, and the second installment helped you secure your first...

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Tempo Anchors in M-Audio Torq 1.5
M-Audio Torq 1.5 introduced Tempo Anchors, its method for reining in songs that fluctuate in tempo. Inconsistencies in tempo can occur for a number of reasons, but...

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How to Be a Successful DJ Pt. 1
First, I need you to answer 2 very important questions. 1) Do you really want to be a successful dj? (think hard about this) 2) Are...

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My Quest for Good DJ Headphones...
by Mike Charles In the digital age of DJing, the gear we use evolves and changes at an ever accelerating pace. Mixers are now also sound-cards...

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How to set up Traktor Pro
This video will walk new djs through the steps required to get going with Traktor Pro and a midi controller including setting up a sound card...

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Streamline Your Mac
A few weeks ago Monika.mhz wrote an excellent article called "Streamline Your Windows Laptop", and it inspired me to write something similar for the mac. Windows PCs can...

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Inside Timecode- Understanding the ...
The better you understand the technology we dj with, the more empowered you are to fix problems and improve performance. Last week we published an article...

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DJ Discrimination
This past weekend I asked a rhetorical question to a friend of mine (that happens to be a girl). " I wonder if I was a...

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Save your Laptop
***News flash**** Laptops are not designed for use in dj booths. There are many things that can go wrong with your laptop and chances are if...

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Handle a Crash the Sullenberger Way
By: DjNvidia Being a digital Dj has its definite advantages. The equipment is smaller, cheaper and most importantly, more powerful than conventional turntables. With today's massive hard-drives,...

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Messe Fever
The fever is coming a little early this year. Wednesday is looking like it will be a fun day to keep an eye out as a...

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Create Great BeatGrids in Traktor P...
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Digital Dj Fundamentals- Sonic Mixi...
Digital and analog DJing may employ very different tools, but they all are aimed at the same goal: blending finished songs together into a continuous mix....

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Track Shopping Just Got Easier
Its a great time to be a digital dj, with your sources for good quality mp3s and digital dance tracks increasing every day. Not that long...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Basic Smart Knobs in Traktor
Continuing our Traktor Centric week of next level tips, here are 2 easy ways you can enable smart knob functionality inside Traktor Pro without using midi...

Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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Phrasing The Perfect Mix
One of your main challenges as you mix music is figuring out how to take two totally different songs and make them sound as if they...

Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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Build your DJ Career: Designing a L...
In the DJ world it's all about the name. If club owners, booking agents and the public recognize your name, then a successful career is not...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Enable Creativity
Two men sit side by side on a dock, their lines drifting in the sea while each waits for a catch. One nimbly works with an...

Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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New Years Tips and Tools
New Years Eve, in American at least, is a cash grab for djs. The chance to try and make up for all the money spent on...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Get more Controls- Modifier basics
Every knob, button and fader on your controller has a function assigned but there are still more things you need control over! What to lose? How...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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iTunes Power Tips For DJs: Part 1
by Mike Charles In the “old days” I would head over to my record shelves, pull down 60 to 80 pieces of vinyl, toss em in...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Chick Magnet
It’s assumed by the female species that most djs do nothing but search for music and take girls home from the club. While there are those...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Get Paid to Travel and DJ
Ah, the mysterious and appealing life of a jet-setting DJ. Who has not seen a show featuring the latest out-of-towner and wondered: How did this punter...

Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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Techno Fabulous
I hail from San Francisco aka "the bay" which has birthed many excellent ghetto fabulous trends including Ghost riding the whip, Whistle tips, Hyphy, e 40,...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Bust out your video Gear
There is only 2 weeks left in our digital dj contest so its time to brush off the camera and upload a video to YouTube. Not...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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how do I work this thing?
We are getting emails and even phones calls left and right from people asking about using Traktor Pro. for those of you that downloaded the demo...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Tag your Songs
Today is Friday, October 31st so that means its time for tricks and treats in digital dj domain. Here is the letter of the week: I...

Ableton Live Tips

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beat match multiple Loops
You may have noticed that native instruments recently uploaded a series of interesting videos with Ritchie Hawtin explaining his work flow with Traktor. Mr. Hawtin was...

Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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Traktor Pro Tour
Native instruments has announced the newest release in their dj line today. It is called Traktor Pro and will replace Traktor 3 and Traktor Scratch with...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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What Sound Card do we Reccomend?
I get a lot of mail from people every week asking different questions about digital djing. Even though its impossible to answer each and every question...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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How to get gigs in Hard times
Regardless of how America’s financial crisis pans out in the coming months or years, its safe to say that people will be cutting back big time...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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National Nintendo Week
Who amongst us has not had their love of buttons forged in the fires of Super Mario land? None, I surmise, none. There-fore its not surprising...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Dont Crash the Plane- Follow these ...
When djing, your essentially a pilot manning the helm of a plane. While there are many obvious things your in charge of during the flight, there...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Phase + Filter = Essential FX Trick
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Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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Got Headroom?
I hate to revive this old argument about mixing inside software or outside but it came up again last night while I was spinning at a...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Point of no return
We have jumped far into the deep end of the digital pool. There is no lifeguard, no floaties on your arms and no grab holds in...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Phasing - Old school beatmatching f...
There is currently a heated debate about the use of the Sync button. Some say it's cheating, some say: as long as it sounds good for...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Some freewares I can't live without...
You need a lot of little tools to setup, play, organize your various musical activities. Here are some of my favorites, they are all great pieces...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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To Sync or not to Sync
One of our readers here at DJ TT mentioned that he had recently sat down with Felix the HouseCat in the studio and demonstrated the benefits...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Smart Mixing Traktor into Ableton -...
Last month BentoSan posted a great tutorial about routing Traktor audio into Live in Windows. It's here and I recommend you at least skim his article...

Ableton Live Tips

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FX Fundamentals- Filters
In response to the handy feedback icon you see on your left hand side of this site I will be starting a "FX Fundamentals" series and...

Advanced Digital DJ Tips

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Find the next Tune
The moment frequently pops up when you must come up with the next song in a hurry. The clock is ticking backwards and you find your...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Quickly set up Perfect Beat Grids
Here is my method to easily beat grid your tracks by setting up a set of simple hot-keys. The best way to figure out the precise...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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How to Set Up in a Club
Many of you out there are new to the game and starting to get gigs with your digital dj equipment. As a few readers have pointed...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Microwave DJs
A few months ago I wrote a piece on the term "Microwave DJ". This negative description is used by a lot of different people to easily...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Itunes Cracked and Dj Busted
Two noteworthy dj stories popped up on the BBC radar today. In the first, English drum and bass dj Grooverider was arrested on his way to...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Setting up gear in the club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeevazoXGMg After many questions and some confusion about how I actually set up my gear and play in clubs I put together this video to show...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Headphone cuing 101
This is the first of many posts that will go into all aspects of djing. Techniques, theories and applications that will take you from your first...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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DJ back pack?
The market is flooded with all types of bags that may or may not work to carry your digital dj gear. Rather than gamble with $80,...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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How to keep your laptop safe
As a kid, my ultimate fears used to be about giant, purple polka-dotted monsters under the bed or accidentally showing up to school without pants on....

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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What sound card do you need for the...
As a result of our videos a ton of people seem to be very interested in the VCI-100 but remain confused about how it works. Every...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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Dont go deaf- change your headphone...
Waking up after a long gig you find a tiny mosquito has taken up residence in your ear. You can try to get it out, but...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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How to pick a DJ needle for Serato
No matter what DJ software you use, there is one common variable that vinyl-emulation systems all rely on: needles. Normally, needles are the last things on...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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"Where to Buy Digital Dance Tracks...
At the end of the day, no matter what any company tries to sell you, the songs you play make or break the dancefloor. All the...

Basic Digital DJ Tips

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