DJ Kirollus recently shared 5 tips on his Instagram for DJs who want to play vinyl, and I couldn’t agree more. If you dedicate time to these 5 recommendations, you’ll become a better DJ.
Tip 1
Build up your collection with the cheap bins – a lot of the records I play out I’ve found for £5 or less. Go to used record shops and listen to as much music as you can. Even if you don’t buy anything you’ll sharpen your digging skills and your ears. If you prefer finding records online look for a record you want to buy and and then dig through the rest of the sellers inventory using the filters like year and genre.
Tip 2
Practice mixing without headphones. This will help you to you learn how to ride the pitch which is a skill not many DJs have. It will give you more creative freedom with mixing difficult styles of music like 70s disco and between other genres. If it helps mark the BPMs on stickers on the sleeves using a live BPM detector app. When you first get your record use small stickers to remind you which tracks you want to play so you don’t have to check them again.
Tip 3
Record all your practice sessions and listen back to the transitions and the flow of the set. Study other DJs mixes and listen to what makes their transitions sound good. Don’t stick to only doing one style of mix like long blends, try cutting tracks, leaving them to play till the end but utilising outros and intros and my preference of quick transitions which can give more impact. Don’t follow the ‘rules’ and just experiment and see what hypes you up, chances are it’ll hype up your crowd too.
Tip 4
Blend songs together that have a connecting link like a drum sound or pattern, chord stab progression or maybe you want to totally switch it up after a few similar sounding tracks. When you do this aim for a strong record to create excitement and not lower the energy levels.
Tip 5
Look up at your crowd and see what is causing people to react and watch their faces just as much as their bodies. Smiles are the best indicator that you’re doing great. No hands in the air but people are still on the dancefloor doesn’t mean the song selection isn’t working maybe it’s just a bit deeper and so people are lost in the music and just vibing. In an industry full of bangers it can be good to play some more soulful records in your sets that have lots of feeling and passion.
