Taking The Plunge

[Jonny Boy]

Well: here goes. Deep breath in.
I've bought my ProDub in anticipation (and so I can start using MP3 player as backup alongside increasingly skippy CDs!)

Tonight I shall purchase Virtual DJ....
The maya44 usb soundcard will have to wait - I have my eye on one which comes with Cubase LE free, which will be useful for recording new demos and live shows, but they're out of stock.

So wish me luck, boffins! ;) I have a feeling I'll be back asking multitudinous newbie questions and experimenting at home LOTS before I dare take it live on the road!

A question in the interim: when you changed from CDs to laptop, what was the biggest change/challenge you encountered and how did you deal with it? Did it change your "approach" or mind-set to shows, and how?

(Sorry if this is covering old ground!)

[Ryu]

I've been purely laptop, but my old man, who used CDs beforehand said the biggest change was the speed in which he could cue up a track...he said he missed trying to read CD cases in dim light! :D

[Shaun]

When moving away from CD, the biggest plus for me was how quickly I could find requested tracks. Not having to lug countless cases of CDs around with me was a definite bonus too.

[rob1963]

A question in the interim: when you changed from CDs to laptop, what was the biggest change/challenge you encountered and how did you deal with it? Did it change your "approach" or mind-set to shows, and how?

Hi Jonny Boy.

Firstly, best of luck with your new venture...and there are plenty of people on this forum to help you along.

My biggest challenge involved in the change from CDs to digital was ripping all the CDs to my hard drive & correcting all the tagging errors. A very long & boring job, but thankfully one you only have to do once.

Apart from that, I agree with Ryu about the speed with which you can find & cue up a track. It's just a case of pressing a few buttons on a keyboard, rather than finding the CD you want, taking it out the case, opening the CD player, putting it in the CD player, waiting for it to read the TOC & cue up at track 1, then skipping through to the track you want to play. What a hassle!

I've noticed this a number of times when I've had a track cued up, but then changed my mind & swapped it for something else with only 10 or 15 seconds of the existing track to go...that's completely impossible when using CDs.

[PropellerHeadCase]

Jonny Boy - having just done this I can tell you that something about my laptop (Sony Vaio) has meant that it is useless for DJing (chronic noise from USB soundcard due to USB configuration on that laptop)... am now using a Small Form Factor desktop (not quite as convenient), but works very, very well. (Especially now that I've found out that the Ground Loop Isolator I was using was actually the source of some of my noise problems!)

Hardest thing to get used to was not having to do anything after starting the next track (my hands kept wanting to take the previous CD out and grab the next one).

I played last night on a combination of VirtualDJ and MP3 CDs.

[Excalibur]

I've been purely laptop, but my old man, who used CDs beforehand said the biggest change was the speed in which he could cue up a track...he said he missed trying to read CD cases in dim light! :D

I :Censored: well don't. ;) :D Since going digital, the specs stay in the van. :D

When moving away from CD, the biggest plus for me was how quickly I could find requested tracks. Not having to lug countless cases of CDs around with me was a definite bonus too.

Bonus? Try revelation, unburdening, liberation, or perhaps even life changing moment. ;) :D

Downside, not having CD cases to browse through for inspiration. That's why I have the lappy with MM running for exactly that purpose.

[Ryu]

I :Censored: well don't. ;) :D Since going digital, the specs stay in the van. :D


Bonus? Try revelation, unburdening, liberation, or perhaps even life changing moment. ;) :D

Downside, not having CD cases to browse through for inspiration. That's why I have the lappy with MM running for exactly that purpose.

Its funny you say that about inspiration...that was the other thing my dad found hardest...He was so used to certain combinations of CDs and using the tracklistings as "reminders" for whats next. It took a long while of organising the tracks on the laptop in such a way to make that transition easier...which I guess leads to my other bit of advice...

Spend time thinking about how you select tracks from certain CDs, and try and structure your folders on your laptop in a similar way, if possible.
I reckon thats probably the most time consuming, but ultimately most beneficial thing to spend time on when changing from CD's to Laptops!

[rob1963]

Compared to using CDs, digital DJing really is a piece of :Censored:

I hardly even have to use my keyboard, as I get the clients requests & make up a playlist in advance.

That way, at the gig I can just dump the playlist into the crate, use the up & down arrows to scroll through everything & simply highlight the track I want & press the "To A" or "To B" button to send it to the appropriate player.

[Excalibur]

Compared to using CDs, digital DJing really is a piece of :Censored:

I hardly even have to use my keyboard, as I get the clients requests & make up a playlist in advance.

That way, at the gig I can just dump the playlist into the crate, use the up & down arrows to scroll through everything & simply highlight the track I want & press the "To A" or "To B" button to send it to the appropriate player.

Jukebox with flashing lights anyone? :confused:

[Ryu]

Compared to using CDs, digital DJing really is a piece of :Censored:

I hardly even have to use my keyboard, as I get the clients requests & make up a playlist in advance.

That way, at the gig I can just dump the playlist into the crate, use the up & down arrows to scroll through everything & simply highlight the track I want & press the "To A" or "To B" button to send it to the appropriate player.

Yeah, but surely there must be times when you need to stray from the playlist...?

[welby]

Well: here goes. Deep breath in.
I've bought my ProDub in anticipation (and so I can start using MP3 player as backup alongside increasingly skippy CDs!)

Tonight I shall purchase Virtual DJ....
The maya44 usb soundcard will have to wait - I have my eye on one which comes with Cubase LE free, which will be useful for recording new demos and live shows, but they're out of stock.

So wish me luck, boffins! ;) I have a feeling I'll be back asking multitudinous newbie questions and experimenting at home LOTS before I dare take it live on the road!

A question in the interim: when you changed from CDs to laptop, what was the biggest change/challenge you encountered and how did you deal with it? Did it change your "approach" or mind-set to shows, and how?

(Sorry if this is covering old ground!)

Nice one Johnny Boy - you may want to consider purchasing a couple of ground loop isolators if you get some hum from your laptop.

They are available for a few quid on an auction site.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Nice one Johnny Boy - you may want to consider purchasing a couple of ground loop isolators if you get some hum from your laptop.

They are available for a few quid on an auction site.

But do wait and try the lappy first. I had this problem for years with different laptops, but using Sony Vaios and the HC4500 gives me no noise at all.

[PropellerHeadCase]

Whereas my Sony VAIO is as noisy as all hell get out (only with the mains lead in, admittedly - but I can't run a whole gig without mains power), but the Ground Loop Isolator turned out to be noisy too :eek:

[rob1963]

I hardly even have to use my keyboard, as I get the clients requests & make up a playlist in advance.


Jukebox with flashing lights anyone? :confused:

Of course not.

What's the point of taking a piece of paper containing the client's list of requests to the gig, then manually searching for each one & crossing it off the piece of paper when I've played it (especially in the dark conditions of a gig situation)? In my opinion, that's crazy when you can do most of the work beforehand.

I don't know about anyone else, but my main reason for going digital was to make things EASIER for myself.

:shrug:


Yeah, but surely there must be times when you need to stray from the playlist...?

Of course there are, such as when people come up with requests or when I think of a song that would work well at a particular time...and that's when I use the keyboard.

[CRAZY K]

What's the point of taking a piece of paper containing the client's list of requests to the gig, then manually searching for each one & crossing it off the piece of paper when I've played it (especially in the dark conditions of a gig situation)? In my opinion, that's crazy when you can do most of the work beforehand.





Do you have the clients playlist on your back up equipment as well Rob?

I take the request list on a piece of paper for a very good reason--punter requests.

My first move is to show them the list and ask if they would like anything played off that ---a sensible start.

Theres always far too many as you know--although must play tracks need to be included.



CRAZY K

[CRAZY K]

[QUOTE=rob1963;363065]
What's the point of taking a piece of paper containing the client's list of requests to the gig, then manually searching for each one & crossing it off the piece of paper when I've played it (especially in the dark conditions of a gig situation)? In my opinion, that's crazy when you can do most of the work beforehand.


QUOTE]


Do you have the clients playlist on your back up equipment as well Rob?

I take the request list on a piece of paper for a very good reason--punter requests.

My first move is to show them the list and ask if they would like anything played off that ---a sensible start.

Theres always far too many as you know--although must play tracks need to be included.



CRAZY K

PS Sorry three late nights--time for bed!!!!!

[amplified]

The big advantage i found when changing over to laptop was the searching of tracks thats already been mentioned.

Not only that but i know with VDJ you can see the structure of the track so its handy seeing the the low and basey parts of the track

nether the less i still connect my soundcard to a channel on mixer with my cd's so i have the best of both worlds:p

[rob1963]

Do you have the clients playlist on your back up equipment as well Rob?

Of course.

The playlist goes onto all three of my main ipods, but not onto the 4th one, as that's only a 2gb nano which only has room for a few hundred of my most played songs.


I take the request list on a piece of paper for a very good reason--punter requests.

I have a note pad which I use to write customers requests on.


Theres always far too many as you know--although must play tracks need to be included.

When the client gives me more requests than I'll have time to play, I always let them know & say that I will get through as many of their requests as possible in the time available.

[Vectis]

My first move is to show them the list and ask if they would like anything played off that ---a sensible start.


It's also a great "get-out-of-jail-free" card when the all-too-familiar "what are you playing this :Censored: for?" question comes up :)

I also prepare a folder with all the client requests for each gig. I then make two copies onto two 4GB USB memory sticks - one for the main playout deck and one for the backup/laptop/whatever. In themselves they offer redundancy.

But the printed list also goes with me so I can check tracks off as I go. I'll also draw linkage lines between tracks I might want to mix or segue.

[DeckstarDeluxe]

going digital best move you can make!

[rob1963]

I also prepare a folder with all the client requests for each gig.

Great minds... :D


But the printed list also goes with me so I can check tracks off as I go. I'll also draw linkage lines between tracks I might want to mix or segue.

I also take their printed list with me to gigs.

I'm not too sure why, because in most cases I dont even look at it.

However, there are some occasions when I DO need to refer to it...such as those times where certain requests are to be played for particular people & the details are on the request sheet.

[CRAZY K]

It's also a great "get-out-of-jail-free" card when the all-too-familiar "what are you playing this :Censored: for?" question comes up :)



EXACTLY;)

I dont take prepared playlists of music-- just the list.

Its not as though it takes long to find any track;)

CRAZY K

[Jonny Boy]

Wow - Thanks guys for all your responses and comments so far - keep 'em coming! A thank you to Danno also who also kindly spent some time chatting with me and allaying come other 'concerns' I had!

I WAS kinda looking for negatives - ie things to be prepared for: from the response it seems that although there are some things to be aware of, the secret to an easy transition is in the preparation. The positives seem to vastly outnumber any "negatives"....
I'm definately going to spend time sorting tracks into playlists... and songs can therefore be in several at the same time, right? So - for a song like Calle Ocho (Pitbull) it can be in "Party Dances" AND "Latino" AND "RnB"

This might also overcome my greatest concern - someone else here mentioned their dad found this an issue - that the CD cases themselves inspire new tunes into the set, or prompt a new direction. I also have Sharpie'd notes all over the plastic case with cue points (moot with V-DJ, I know) and mix-to suggestions. Although, again spending time with the prep, I can display the notes column in VDJ and set reminders/suggestions in there also.
(The lappy has a 17" widescreen, so there should be space.)

The last-second change-of-track point is a good one: this for me will be be a huge boon. I suppose if I have a "rolling" playlist of floor fillers (much like my "emergency backup" playlist on stand-alone MP3 player) I can add to/reshuffle ad-hoc. Is this how many of you guys operate the show?

I am going to have to go through everything I ripped to make sure the track is labelled correctly...thanks for pointing that out, whoever it was! (For example, I noticed the ripping software had labelled my M. Jackson Greatest witht he US track-listing, not UK... all needs a QA methinks.)

Another "problem" I have is that many tracks I downloaded for myself 'back in the day' (ie when I knew jack ****) were downloaded at 128kbps.
Under advice I have ripped all the CDs used for work at 320 kbps... but now I plan to add the tracks from my personal collection to the work collection (I now have produb) will the sound-quality difference be noticeable mixing from a 320kbps track to a 128kbps track?
If so, is there some way to "upscale" the 128's quality? (Don't really want to have to re-purchase all the ones I had in "my" collection...)

[rob1963]

I am going to have to go through everything I ripped to make sure the track is labelled correctly...thanks for pointing that out, whoever it was!

:whistle:

[Ryu]

Another "problem" I have is that many tracks I downloaded for myself 'back in the day' (ie when I knew jack ****) were downloaded at 128kbps.
Under advice I have ripped all the CDs used for work at 320 kbps... but now I plan to add the tracks from my personal collection to the work collection (I now have produb) will the sound-quality difference be noticeable mixing from a 320kbps track to a 128kbps track?
If so, is there some way to "upscale" the 128's quality? (Don't really want to have to re-purchase all the ones I had in "my" collection...)

Short answer - No you can't upscale MP3 Bitrates. Regrettably, these tracks will have to be repurchased or re-ripped at a better level, and yes there is a definite difference in quality/volume on the track. Its not an unfixable situation...to the naked ear, you can get round it with clever fader control, but it would save time, effort and a number of other things, except money, to get them at the best possible bit rate you can.

As for organising tracks, I've stayed with a similar format for a while now, but could do with rejigging...I think my folders (from memory) are

Standard - Contains everything from Valerie to Hi Ho Silver Lining, to Happy Birthday to Rock DJ. The Go-To Folder for your most played regular party tracks
50's Rock and Roll/Big Band/Swing
60's
70's
80's
90's
00's
08-09 (Split into Subfolders for Rnb/Hip Hop, Dance, Indie/Alternative and Pop)
Chart (Split with the same subfolders as above)
Then some Genre folders containing tracks which I deem to be more representative of the genre than the time it was released (For example...Paranoid, Black Sabbath is in the Rock Heavy Metal folder, not the 70's folder)

Indie/Punk/Alternative
Hip Hop/RnB/Reggae/Ska
Rock/Heavy Metal
Dance/Rave/Ibiza (With a 90's Dance Subfolder...been playing a lot recently)
Background/Ballroom/Country and Western
Novelty
Sound FX


and like Rob and numerous others, create a folder with any playlist tracks when required.

[Excalibur]

Of course not.

What's the point of taking a piece of paper containing the client's list of requests to the gig, then manually searching for each one & crossing it off the piece of paper when I've played it (especially in the dark conditions of a gig situation)? In my opinion, that's crazy when you can do most of the work beforehand.

I don't know about anyone else, but my main reason for going digital was to make things EASIER for myself.

.

And Excalibur said "Let there be light", and behold, there was light


I have a note pad which I use to write customers requests on.
.

Note pad? Write? :confused: :confused: Don't you have a laptop? :confused:

[rob1963]

Note pad? Write? :confused: :confused: Don't you have a laptop? :confused:

Laptop?

I have no need for one.

It would certainly be a very expensive notepad!

I think I'll stick to the ones which only cost me 99p!

:D :D :D

[Excalibur]

Laptop?

I have no need for one.

It would certainly be a very expensive notepad!

I think I'll stick to the ones which only cost me 99p!

:D :D :D

But does your pen and paper allow you to download urgently needed tracks, or play Word Association on here? I think not. :p :D :D

[rob1963]

But does your pen and paper allow you to download urgently needed tracks, or play Word Association on here? I think not. :p :D :D

Correct.

Does having a laptop mean you always have internet access & can always download urgently needed tracks?

I also think not!

:p :D :D

Please tell me you're not one of those discos that promise clients instant access to over 3 millions songs.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Correct.

Does having a laptop mean you always have internet access & can always download urgently needed tracks?

I also think not!


Think again. Ever heard of a dongle?

[rob1963]

Think again. Ever heard of a dongle?

Indeed I have, but are they 100% reliable?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Indeed I have, but are they 100% reliable?

I have no idea, but that wasn't the question was it?

[rob1963]

I have no idea, but that wasn't the question was it?

Indeed it wasn't.

[Excalibur]

Give over sparring you two. :p We've had the "Dongle Debate" before, with varying customer satisfaction. The network I use has lots of holes in it. At a place I work in the day job, moving 100 yds changes no signal into strong signal. Just like the old days with mobile phones. :D

Rob, always have access, no. Since I'm more often in a rural environment than some, I wouldn't even say usually, I'd say often. Tell you what though, you miss it when you haven't got it. ( When you've been used to having it ).