Your thoughts on this video...

[fusion]

I'd recommend getting some old belt-drive turntables and a mixer and a handful of records; if you can get to grips with that and still enjoy it you're going to have an absolute blast when you move to controllers!

Just wondering, what turntables would you recommend?
Cheers

[Lantau]

Just wondering, what turntables would you recommend?

Anything really from manufacturers such as Gemini, Numark, Vestax... as a starter package I wouldn't worry about the quality of anything, as long as the mixer has at least a 2-band eq and the turntables are either decent-ish belt-drives (hard to tell without playing them) or direct drive (I started out on very crap Gemini direct drives, but they did the job)

I guess I'd say buy anything in a package deal from somewhere like eBay; if you're just going to be test-driving the whole DJing thing no point buying new until you're sure what you want to get

Before anyone wonders why I always say to get the most basic kit, it's to save people spending money on gear they won't use and sell on because they had a bad experience and want their money back. The way I'd figure how to decide what you want after trying out turntables:

* If you like the feel of vinyl and enjoy collecting them, stick with it!
* If you like the feel of vinyl, but wish it were easier to obtain and manage your tunes, go with DVS
* If you like the control over beatmatching, and would prefer choons that are easier to carry around, go with CDJs
* If you're not bothered by beatmatching but enjoying EQing and playing with FX, then go with controllers

That's a very rough list, but should sort of explain why I recommend dipping your toe in the water first (rather than diving in at the deep end)

Just remember that it doesn't matter what you mix on, as long as you enjoy yourself

[BentoSan]

Id say get a VCI-100 like many of the new people around here and learn to rock that out, if you like mixing enough want to learn turntables or cdjs down the track then you can buy them down the track.

[belchman]

aye @bento i agree dude. i'm gna have to say @lantau man, i'm not rollin with you on that.

when i started i thought it would be a good idea to start on turntables, and now they just sit around looking pretty. it didn't take me long to realise that and move on either.

for someone just starting out, i think the best advice is to pick a route and pursue it. as bento says, you can always buy TTs if you want to scratch or use them, but at the moment, the more important thing is a) the music and b) the performance. knowing how to beatmatch is all well and good, but you can achieve that on Traktor too, and for the time being, your priority IMO is to experiment with mixing music, rather than the techniques of turntablism...

Just an opinion (but it's served me well )

[dodge]

Havent really read any of the responses to this post so sorry if I'm saying something that anyone disagrees with and I didnt watch the entire video. But personally I think that video is bullshit. How ever you want to make a sound, do it. What ever you have to make sound with, no matter how basic, you're going to use what ever your environment is to the best you can. Say you only have a pair of old cassette decks and thats all you have, you adapt, you find a way of making it work the best you can. It's the same with anything, what ever you can physically use, use it to the best you can. Its your choice.
If you want to put on a show in a club you can use what ever you want, its your show. If you're rocking the place with what ever equipment you use what does it matter what the format is? Its your thing, and you need to decide what you want to use, no one else can decide that for you.
If you want to use a midi set up do it. If you want to use vinyl do it. If you want to hit tin cans with a wooden stick do it.
There's no rules. The only issue is making sure the crowd is happy. If your thing is to hit tin cans with a wooden stick and you have a big following and a big fan base, and people want to come and see you play and are happy to pay to see you play, its highly unlikely a club owner is going to say "sorry, no tin cans, you have to use CDJ's".
I've seen some mad personal set-ups in clubs, from reel to reel tape machines, tape delays, circuit bent kids toys, all kinds of percussion, full midi set-ups, iphones hooked up via bluetooth, the list goes on.
One argument is you said you want to be a "DJ", technically a DJ uses some form of disc, hence the name Disc Jockey. But we've evolved from that, nowadays anything goes, DJ's can be controllerists now. You basically need to decide what you want to do/use, and learn to use it as best you can and rock the shit out of it.

On the flip side, if you just want to be a straight up club DJ using CDJ's or the alike, you need to start writing your own tracks or be prepared to not really earn very much money. Basically you need to offer something no on else can in order to make a decent living out of it.

So yeah, DJ, controllerist, what ever, just practice til you're ready to put on a live gig. I'd be happy to go to a club where any of this shit was going on;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=088AWsTtTFU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f17Yr0EsrUY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2McDeSKiOU