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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: The real uses of VDJ

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I purchased VDJ the other day and I absolutely love it. I haven't bought any hardware equipment, though I am looking at an RMX controller, for when I can possibly get serious. My brother uses serato scratch, and I could use his hardware equip if needed.

But now I'm looking at all of these house music dj's at parties I dance at, and I don't see most of them actually using any programs at all. It's generally two CD decks, mixer, and any other trimmings.

Now I have always heard that you should mix by ear anyway, as the visuals can be misleading and distracting. so now the real question is:

Is there really a need for VDJ? I was reading a thread here about cell phones and how much of that isn't really even needed. Can we make the same argument here? I mean, dj's have been working with two turntales and a microphone forever.

Like I said, I love this program. But is there a true advantage of this program? or is it just extra fluff in the grand scheme of things?
 
Posted Wed 21 Jul 10 @ 10:37 am
By all means carry round your music collection.

Personally I still mix by ear, but doing commercial gigs software means that I can carry a mass of cross-genre tunes without actually having to kill my back carrying them, and don't have to thumb through cd sleeves/record boxes to find them ;)
 
SBDJ wrote :
By all means carry round your music collection.

Personally I still mix by ear, but doing commercial gigs software means that I can carry a mass of cross-genre tunes without actually having to kill my back carrying them, and don't have to thumb through cd sleeves/record boxes to find them ;)


+1....You can make the software function and react just like the real thing. Now, instead of crate after crate of heavy vinyl/cd's, you can still have the same songs (plus LOADS of extra stuff) all stored in your laptop bag.
 
If you get into video try comparing VDJ 300 USD cost vs 5,000 USD of 2 Pioneer's DVJs-1000 to mix DVDs. Plus, carry, organize and locate at the gig all the videos in the DVDs, it would be a very innefective cost solution going the 2 video "turntable" way.
I once opened, like 3 years ago, a 80's party at a very big 2000 people capacity club (I don't do clubs, this was an exception for my brother's party) to fill the space for the very top shot named DJ that was coming. He came with 2 DVJ's and a big box of white envelope DVDs. When he saw me mixing with a Shuttle PC (very small) and VDJ, mixing video and rocking the house with oldies 100% in video having all the people requesting videos while he was setting up, I could tell he was angry and did not like me being there. I was no treat to this guy, I am not a club DJ, I have no abilities for that. What I have is a massive collection of original videos that I started collecting 11 years ago and the fact that I do love to play music videos for people. Still, he felt very treated because he was coming to do the big show, the wow factor since he had all this equipment even a Pioneer video mixer and I had been playing 2 and a half hours of videos that he knew he could not do better that what I had with Virtual DJ. So the 300 USD of VDJ could at least keep up to pace with his 6,000 USD video mixer and his 5,000 USD DVJs, and it did not help him that he had to look in his little envelopes for the DVDs and the videos and that I had all instantly displayed in my VDJ directory.

Regards.
 
I presently have 4 terabytes of video and audio. I have my own modem, so have access to millions of audio and video tracks online at every gig. Now this is the kicker, I don't have to look for anything. I can find every version, instantly. But wait, there's more. If you order in the next ten minutes, you only need one copy of a song, and can play it in both players, at the same time. Wait a minute, did I mention that I have a three channel sound card, so can play a sample of that same song, in a loop, at the same time? Did somebody say video? No wait, pictures? Are you telling me, I can take your memory card, and display the pictures that you just took, onto the big screen? With text? Scrolling text? In her favorite color? Get out of here. Wait, live camera feed? What is that? I have a pan, tilt, zoom camera that can capture the biggest breast in the party, put them on the big screen, and scroll text under them that says, "What, I am looking you in the eye". Then again, maybe I don't need all that versatility at my finger tips.
 
DJing, using your own gear is still hard on your back but it's better now that the CD's/Records aren't an issue.

If you ever DJ'd abroad using records then you'll know how much it used to cost in excess luggage, half the ticket again!!! and the hassle of carting them around with you after your gig if you'd been djing in a club n didn't go home straight afterwards.
 
I dont really understand why you'd ask this question when you said your brother uses Serato ??? Just seems a little odd to me...........just sayin. Does he not use timecodes or a MIDI controller of some sort???
 
Charlie Wilson wrote :
If you ever DJ'd abroad using records then you'll know how much it used to cost in excess luggage


I must have been lucky taking mine on as hand luggage, but that was a fair few years ago now!
 
beatbreaker1 wrote :
I dont really understand why you'd ask this question when you said your brother uses Serato ??? Just seems a little odd to me...........just sayin. Does he not use timecodes or a MIDI controller of some sort???


Yeah, my brother uses Serato, and he has time code vinyls. And personally I like VDJ more than I like his serato.

However, I wasn't talking about him, he's small time. It seems like all of the bigger house music DJ's in NJ seem to be still using CD's in CD decks. Personally, that's what made me wonder.

Generally the bigger Dj's I see and know seem to have no Virtual system. And the other guys with a smaller following tend to use cd decks, but with a virtual system

Like I said, I like VDJ, and I've been making Mix Cd's with it. but I just wanted to know all of the avenues.
 
If a DJ knows exactly what he is going to play (doesn't plan to adapt to the crowd) and doesn't do anything but play (and mix) music, then a pair of CD players and a handful of CD's is probably all that he needs.
But as Man and His Music explains, there is so much more expansion available on a software based system.

Alot of the REALLY big names (in house music at least) actually do use computers, but may be using the CD decks as controllers. Try looking closer and I bet you will see a laptop, possibly off to the side.

Hardcore, competitive turntablists (or wannabees) seem to be the only ones who really won't use a computer, but they don't play house music either, and they don't need to bring an extensive music collection with them, just a backpack full of records.

... some people refused to switch to color TV too, but they eventually gave in or died.
 
Welcome!
 
krazykilroy wrote :
But is there a true advantage of this program? or is it just extra fluff in the grand scheme of things?


If DON'T USE samples, or turntables, or videos, and your entire set is preplanned and can fit on 10 CDR's, and you don't take requests...

then no... there is no true advantage to using a computer..
 
Understood.

I was asking because I was feeling a little funny when I've been looking at some DJ's lately.

let me explain:

Here in Newark, NJ, they have outdoor concerts every thursday in the summer with a live DJ before, after, and in-between band sets. Jerseyans and New yorkers who come were so receptive, they opened up a DJ series for every wed during every Wednesday.

Now I've been looking at these DJ's, and it seems like most of them flip through CD cases to get their cuts. It's a big step from vinyl crates (I still have a bunch of those), but not as good as hard drives. Now a few of them have been using a laptop, but those guys didn't seem to be as good as the ones using just decks and a mixer.

Now like I said, VDJ was like a dream to me. It really took away a lot of the guesswork when it came to mixing my tracks for house music. I find myself mixing so much better than when it was just two turntables back in the 80's-90's.

But I just wanted to know if there was a real advantage to this. because I don't see a lot of house music dj's using it, and I don't want this to end up being a 'crutch' of sorts, which makes me never able to use equipment again if I can't use a comp for some odd reason.....
 
Funny, Not more than two hours ago, I posted this answer in the topic about what dj equipment we have.

Well, these are my toys in action without any software aid. I've always loved to spin with CD, and with virtual Dj it makes it a lot easier for me to mix with CD's since, not only does it give me the key note, for harmonic mixing, but it organizes my songs into a play list which I then I burn into CD's and mixing becomes much more interesting.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/video/video.php?v=1548072588862&ref=mf
 
The House DJ's use CD's because of the sound quality. DJ iing house music is alot easier than mixing everything like latin, hip Hop, R&b, Reggaeton, etc. I use a laptop for the purpose of not walking around with crates or too many cd books. I play everything and the world of music fits in my small HD. I dont need to be looking at BPM's or anything because i learned to mix by ear. I can also mix in my mind and know what songs goes with what before i even play it.

DJ software was really created to hook up your turntables & CDJ decks but the past few years, its gotten out of hand. Too many easy features. Now its easier to be a dj.
 
I agree with the last part of your comment. However, a much better statement should be, anyone can call themselves Dj's.

The fact that you have two turn tables, or in some cases two CDJ's plus the software does not automatically makes you a Dj. I have seen many so called Dj's using X software to mix, and for the most part, they scratch the hell out of the music to go from side A to side B, and they think they are awesome because they are at X club mixing.

Truth of the matter is, to be a real Dj, you must understand the music, feel the music, learn to beat match by ear, and the one thing that should be above all, is the passion for the art of being a DJ.

I started with turntables, and I really sucked at it, but as technology progressed, so did I, and in no time, I had my first Numark dual cd player deck with a Gemini mixer. It took me a while to be able to beat match by ear, mainly, because I had no understanding of the music. I had no idea what the word "TEMPO" referred to, nor did I understood the whole fundamentals of mixing by ear.

Technology progressed even more, and as such, I had to be on top of it as a Dj, otherwise I would be an old school Dj with a close mind. I have seen the amazing benefits of using software to spin, and at the same time, I have seen how detrimental the software can be, because some people will use it just to label themselves as DJ when in reality they are nothing but bottom feeders (I apologize if this phrase offends anyone).

Bottom line is, what ever type of Dj you would like to be known as, or what ever parties you decide to spin at; just be the best at what you are going to be. use the software as an aid, not as something that will do everything for you. Look around and see what type of CDJ's you feel more comfortable with, both in price and styles. try to learn beat-matching by ear, and you decide whether it's more convenient for you to be carrying around a case full of cd's or simply an external hard drive with all of your music in it.

I wish you the best, and remember that we are here to assist you, and in some cases guide you in the right path on becoming a Dj.

Saludos,

Dj Ho.
 
just do a search on youtube for "Benny Benassi Ultra Music Festiva 2010l"....or just about all of the DJ's that were there this year. 99% of them were using laptops. CDJ's only would be great if you, like previously stated, did nothing but mix and didn't need the features of VDJ like effects, samples etc. and just stick to mixing. Maybe if you were just playing your own mixes at a performance or something that would be ok as well. But that is just my view on things. I love VDJ it gives me so much more versatility in my mixes and the ability to do things I couldn't really do with just tables.








Michael
 
I started with records, then moved on to cds, and then VDJ came into my life and I've never looked back at the OLD technology.

The creative ability that you can have with VDJ are endless! Forget about saving your back, I've been a Mobile DJ for more than 20 years and my equipment is heavier today than it was years ago. Maybe I must be getting older. LOL

The fact is that VDJ has changed the way DJs are perceived, but to put it bluntly TALENT is something you're born with, not something you can buy. What is talent? I'm not going to give a definition. Talent knows talent and I will put my talent and VDJ against anyone in this world.

Tools are just what talented people use to create an exciting atmosphere. Thanks VDJ for allowing me to share my talent with my audiences.
 


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