Want to learn how to DJ

[exzackly]

Hello everyone, like you can see in the title i want to learn how to dj and where to start. currently my issue is no lindens so seeing the whole thing about, you need lindens or money to use X service is a no right now. hopefully that changes if i can start making some.

so what im looking for is first the basics on how i should get started. uploading music and programs that will be able to stream it to second life. i do have a large music libary that i can use so the music shouldnt be an issue. its the programs and services for free (to start out) is my issue. 
what is commonly used? i know im seeing showcast name pop up a lot. as well as other program names but i dont want to use something that clubs or places wont work with?
after the programs are explain (please in detail but simply. just listing programs wont work for me. ill leave an example below) then i need to know the inner workings. once im in world and find a place to dj at what steps do i need to take to 1. get to know how to set things up and 2. what i should be doing before each set? like avg time to chose music and such 

after all that the last info id like to have is how much does djing normal make? i know it might depend on the place but avg for a busy? moderately  busy? not busy at all? 
any tips? pros cons? anything i should do during a set? 

also in terms of equipment on my end. laptop (newish) and headset w/mic.


Example:
streaming music into sl
Shoutcast: it allows you to do XY and Z and cost X ammount of lindens. how you use it is like this....

setting up music for streaming program
generic music program name: this does xyz.. yada yada yoda. 

(just sperated by what the programs do or are for. explanation on what they do. cost, and how to use them) (also ive seen this be said "to much for bandwith to stream from your computer itself" i understand what its saying but would like to also know how to go about trying it out)

[Sim Myoo]

For the record I copy and pasted this from another post I did here on the forum a week ago. Hey exzackly DJing in SL is a blast the 3 main programs to use would be Sam's, Virtual DJ, or Winamp. IMO those are the 3 best for me I use Virtual DJ because I like how easy it is. Now I've done this professionally and in SL for a long time. RL DJing is nothing like SL DJing, In RL you do not want to here the DJ you just want music going to grind with some hot babe Grins. In SL Djing is more like working in Radio you have to be an Announcer. I've worked at radio stations where I never played or picked the music an intern did that for me I was getting paid to talk on the mic. SL is sort of the same way but you pick the music. I've had clubs ask for my play list and that's another thing I never do in SL is set up a play list, pick your music on the fly pick your music based on what's being talked about in chat pick your music based on current events don't just give me some play list you made 2 days ago its not relevant anymore. Also never say ummm on the mic never it shows you don't know what your getting ready to talk about and never start a sentence with the word "well" that's how you feel or something that holds water its not a word for starting a sentence. If you download music from y@#tube make sure you get good clean songs not songs from video's and make sure to change the name of the song so it looks right when it comes up in chat. That's just a bit of what I know about DJing in SL its fun and there's not much pay but hey you might hook up with some hot AVI. grins

[Kayla Whittaker]

I'm going to weigh in on this topic.  As for programs to use...  Virtual DJ, SAM4 are good.  Don't use Winamp.  Personally, I don't use either, I use Serato with Denon 3900's and Technic 1200s with my live mixing.  

The mistake that most SL DJs make is trying to sound like the radio.  There are a lot of empty clubs in SL with DJs sounding like the radio.  Fast beat song, slower beat song, back to a faster beat song... That is NOT DJ'ING.  Un-like Sim Myoo says.  RL DJ'ing does work here.  I have been a professional RL Club DJ for nearly 20 years and a SL DJ for 12 years.  But I'm not a one trick style of DJ.  I live mix all types of genres of music, mixing remixes from every era of music... 60s, 70's, 80's, 90's, 2k's, dance, club, pop, RnB, soul, funk, hiphop, trance, rock, etc.    And people love what I do, and I even take request and live mixing it also.  Most live mixing DJ's are too programmed on their sets and if they take a request, they can't mix it.  

BUT!!  Lets get to the "Playlist" type of DJ's that use SAM4 or programs of that type.  What you hear on the radio... Just toss it out the window.  But together a playlist like if you are going to DJ a "Happy Hour Bar" in RL.  Putting together your songs in segments.  2 to 4 slower beat song  100 BPM or slower, pick up the tempo, 2 to 4 100 to 115 BPM sone, then 2 to 4 songs that are above to 115 BPM. Then drop back down to med or slower beat range, and also you can fill in with any request from customers.   I have done this also for years in SL and one thing I hear a lot, is on how well my music is put together. 

Just food for thought on putting together a playlist.

[Talligurl]

On 6/13/2017 at 11:24 PM, Sim Myoo said:

you might hook up with some hot AVI. grins

Every time I try to hook up with a DJ he says he is to busy

[Kayla Whittaker]

6 minutes ago, Talligurl said:

Every time I try to hook up with a DJ he says he is to busy

LOL!  This true... A male DJ friend of mine here in SL, great live mixer also, a voice that makes you swoon (if you get my drift).  Before he gave up DJ'ing in SL, had women all over him, women fighting over him, and he was just not interested in any of them.  He just wanted to DJ and that was it.  He left SL because of women.

[Talligurl]

It is those guys, the ones not interested in sex, but who come here for something else, DJing, flying, building, whatever, that we find most irresistible. 

[Kayla Whittaker]

36 minutes ago, Talligurl said:

It is those guys, the ones not interested in sex, but who come here for something else, DJing, flying, building, whatever, that we find most irresistible. 

He is married in his RL, and even said on his profile on both 2nd & 1st Life tabs.  But women didn't care about that... They just wanted to have sex with the DJ. 

[Crim Mip]

You're going to need some streaming software. I use MIXXX which is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is open source and free. It is sort of like a light version of Virtual DJ and does everything I need it to reliably.  Setting it up has a few weirdnesses that can be frustrating if you aren't ready for them. The first is you have to download and install the LAME library separately (this enables MP3 encoding) due to licensing issues. The second is you have to assign a sound device to the master output. The program won't start without this. This would be the pre-encoded monitor output. I prefer to monitor what's actually playing inworld so I just assigned this to an unused SPIDF output and it was happy with that.

Next, you'll need a streaming server to use. Some clubs may have them available, if you have friends who DJ, they might be willing to let you use theirs as long as they don't have a gig at the same time. Ultimately, you're going to want to rent your own. I use I-Shout which costs 125L/week. You should make enough in tips your first time or two to pay for a month and it will open up a lot more possible venues. A lot of places won't take you seriously if you don't have your own stream server.

A decent headset is the minimum to DJ. You can get fancier with separate headphones and a higher quality mic. A relatively quiet room is also necessary. You don't want a fan or air conditioner blowing right at you or an open window with traffic, train, or aircraft sounds regularly being audible. Oh and be prepared to actually talk on the mic. This can be uncomfortable at first.You don't have to talk for 5 minutes between songs and don't talk over every song. You do want people to know there's a live person and not just an automated playlist running.

Music you say you have. Hopefully it's in MP3 format as that's the easiest to deal with.

Be aware that playing music for an audience and getting tips or even paid by the club is actually not legal for 99.9% of the DJ's in SL. Unless you are paying ASCAP and BMI license fees and sticking to their catalogs you are breaking the law. It makes zero difference if you paid I-tunes for a song. Tthat doesn't buy the right to play it for an audience. As far as I know, nobody has gotten in any trouble over this because the actual amount of money is so low that it's not worth the RIAA's time to pursue it. Thus, if you're going to do it, zipping over to Youtube to grab a requested song you don't already have isn't any more illegal than playing one you paid for. 

Finally, the bottom line. At a decent club, you should earn between 1000-3000 in tips for a two hour session. Do not count on the club paying you. That is relatively uncommon. Some may even take a percentage of your tips. 10% is fair. You'll need to to a bit of searching to find good places to play, especially at first. Look for larger established clubs that do tryouts. You may not get hired, but at least you have a chance at some tips to pay for things like a stream server and a few decent tip jars. Do your best and if you get hired, be reliable and be willing to fill-in for those who aren't. You'll earn a reputation and will eventually get other gigs because of it. 

One big trap to avoid runs as follows "Hey my friend is opening a new club and is looking for DJ's. I'm sure they'd hire you." That new club is likely to be horribly set up and opening night it'll have 6 people including the friend to told you about it, the owner, their host, and maybe a couple friends who they guilted into showing up. My standard answer is "I'd be glad to provided they give me a 1200L guarantee offset by any tips." In other words if they actually pack the place and I get 1200 or more in tips from their guests, they owe me nothing, if it's the first scenario, they pay any difference to make sure I leave with 1200L. I have yet to have one of these actually accept those terms and I'm happy to avoid playing for the crickets. In EVERY case where this happened, the club was gone within a month.

I hope this helps.

[greek Wingtips]

First of all I like to say that if your on a budget that winamp is ok to use, I am a RL and do not use sam or Virtual DJ although i have tried them, for a beginner Winamp is fine it's free and legal to use, I would say that 99% of sam users are illegal downloads.

With Win amp you can get free plugins, these range from song to song fades to an enhancement of the sound, enable mix on your windows with giving the option of Mic\Music with fade.

another good tool to use is a database of mp3 this you can help you find music requests fast,

 

As for playlists for your sets, if you playing at a club that has a specific genre then try and stick to it, if you get a request that is total opposite to your genre politely decline it.

If you playing blues, then a rap request will kill the crowd and you. go and hear other dj's 

What I do I create a template of my 2hr set days before, I listen to it offline make the changes, then use that as a basis, you change on the flow to the crowd live.

If you can converse with your crowd, I hate when I see dj's leave it all the host,  try not to do that, interact with the crowd, 

 

If you need to ask me anything, feel free to IM inworld   greek wingtips