<p>well i'm pretty good with Ableton Live and know good dance music. lately, i have been considering DJ'ing in college to make some money. just curious if anyone on here DJ's at parties and stuff, how much money do you make off of it?</p>
<p>To be honest, very few parties I've ever been to (even really big ones) have had DJ's. It's mostly, someone hooks up a sound system with a multi-CD changer, pops in some mixed CDs (or alternatively, hooks up their Ipod to a sound system) and voila. Insta-music. I'd say of all the parties I've been to in college, only 3 or 4 had DJs and I've been to alot.</p>
<p>you will never make money off dj'ing, sorry. the only way you can cover the cost of your gear and tracks is if you get gigs at major clubs, and that requires tons of music, high-quality equipment, and real dj skills (expert beatmatching, beatramping, crowd control etc.) clubs are where people spend a ton of money and so it's worth it to pay for a good dj.</p>
<p>unfortunately, people who are throwing parties in college probably aren't going to want to pay for a dj. as AUlostchick said, it's so easy to shuffle tracks on iTunes that it's good enough for most parties. i dj my friends' parties but the most i ever get, or ask for, is free beer. </p>
<p>on an unrelated note, try to get off the ableton live. much more impressive when you can beat-match and jog tracks without a computer doing everything for you :-) once you get good at it manually, then you can incorporate ableton for higher dj'ing powers. you using wax, cd's or digital?</p>
<p>DJs are relatively prevalent at Dartmouth (i.e. regular hang out nights at frats are probably going to entail an iTunes playlist, but the actual dance parties that frats hold semi-regularly often have student DJs at them). Anyway, the Arts section of The Dartmouth did a section on DJs in their previous issue. I don't know helpful it will be, as I doubt that it goes into details like how much money you can give (I didn't read the whole thing) but it can probably give you an interesting glimpse. Here it is:</p>
<p>jack4640:
all i use is a laptop and Ableton Live.</p>
<p>before you can dj parties, at the very least you need a control surface (i use the evolution uc-33e, highly recommend it) and a usb interface with audio out (the headphone out on a laptop doesn't put out enough power to feed into a PA). since you're djing make sure that the interface has multiple outputs or at least a discrete headphone jack so you can preview and cue tracks on your phones. a mixer wouldn't hurt either (since your only options in Ableton are the crappy built-in EQs) but it's not necessary.</p>
<p>yea... i not too into the tech side i just like making mash ups and "remixes" (in quotes cuz they aren't very good yet :P.)</p>
<p>I DJ parties. I use Torq w/ xponent. I use to use turn tables back in the day (when I spun hip hop). I spin house, mostly. Not playing clubs yet, but I would really, really like to.</p>
<p>Anyhow, I'm not trying to make money at it. Its the wrong reason to pursue any art. And I believe DJing is an art if you're really good. </p>
<p>I will say, it impresses girls.</p>
<p>I'm lucky in that I live in a hip city. Unless you live in NYC, Montreal, San Fransisco, etc. it's gonna be hard to get a good audience for real DJing, as your average frat dudes think underground house is "gay"...</p>
<p>^^^
[quote]
I will say, it impresses girls.
[/quote]
i visited Harvard and played some of my mash ups and the girls were definitely impressed :D.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Anyhow, I'm not trying to make money at it. Its the wrong reason to pursue any art. And I believe DJing is an art if you're really good.
[/quote]
it's a mainly a hobby for me. i was just wondering if I could make a good sum of money while doing something i like.</p>
<p>i've done a few parties and gigs at bars/side rooms in clubs as part of a student group. we've made some money, but none of that goes toward any personal costs. </p>
<p>i actually started losing money once i began to play out a lot, mainly from having to buy new tracks every month.</p>
<p>yeah i think beatport gets more of my money than the grocery store does... and now there's freaking beatsource</p>
<p>
[quote]
I use Torq w/ xponent.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what package did you get? Did you end up swapping out the mixer? Also, what tables do you use?</p>
<p>maybe i'm spoiled but many of my friends from the san francisco bay spin records. some are out of college, some are still in college, but either way, it's more of a hobby of the rich. meaning, you don't get rich FROM it, you have to be rich to DO it. i mean, not terribly loaded, but buying vinyl gets expensive after a while.</p>
<p>the best way i would suggest to start is by throwing your own parties and then going ahead and playing the music, too. ppl will inevitably be more impressed by actual vinyl, but even if you're using a computer, it'll still be more fun (as compared to just sticking the end of a cord into an ipod and hitting shuffle). then get crowd (meaning: friend) feedback.</p>
<p>yeah. bigger cities = more fan-base for DJ'ing, but even playing at a house party in a small town can be a unique (and often welcome) change for ppl. ...and huh, well, yes, i suppose your name will carry a lil more with the ladies, then too.</p>
<p>The majority of the parties I've been to have actually had DJ's, but I don't think you're gonna make too much from it.</p>
<p>Pretty much all the parties I go to have DJs (but I go to an art school in a large city)...you will not make much off of it. I would seriously walk off if someone expected me to dance to their ihome system.</p>
<p>^^^ dance to an iHome system... haha :)</p>
<p>to be honest whether or not i make money from it doesn't matter i guess. i think it'd just be fun to be the DJ :P</p>
<p>well, if you think you're musically inclined, then give it a shot. on the other hand, if you think paris hilton makes good music, then i'd think about another hobby if i were you. :)</p>
<p>no, seriously, if you put time in and practice, you can have alot (ALOT) of fun!</p>
<p>I play Beatmania IIDX :P</p>
<p>I use Serato dj and have a numark mix track pro II, i have been a dj since a very long time and in many different parties, but never been able to make a profit out of it mainly because of what the other members are saying that a dj in a party is not something you necessarily need to have. Although parties are getting bigger and bigger and the dj earns popularity/recognition and more requests to dj in other parties, and the beer is always free which is definitely a plus!</p>
<p>Why on earth are you commenting on a nearly 6 year old thread?</p>