The Mobile DJ Handbook: How to Start & Run a Profitable Mobile Disc Jockey Service

The Mobile DJ Handbook, 2nd Edition by Stacy Zemon

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The Mobile DJ Handbook, Second Edition continues to be an excellent guide for novice and experienced DJs looking to build a successful career as the owner-operator of a mobile disc jockey service. Complete with practical tips, expert advice, and creative strategies, this book serves as the perfect guide on how to market and sell your services as well as develop and expand The Mobile DJ Handbook, Second Edition continues to be an excellent guide for novice and experienced DJs looking to build a successful career as the owner-operator of a mobile disc jockey service.

Complete with practical tips, expert advice, and creative strategies, this book serves as the perfect guide on how to market and sell your services as well as develop and expand your business. This book contains information on becoming a professional, securing bookings, buying equipment and music, and running party dances, contests, and games. Included within the text are sample contracts, an advertisement and brochure, and resource information.

The Mobile DJ Handbook is an essential reference guide which offers readers all the knowledge and inspiration needed to run a profitable enterprise. Paperback , pages. Published December 22nd by Routledge first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book.

2nd Edition

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Michael Maine rated it really liked it Aug 13, Brian rated it did not like it Aug 10, S J Wallace rated it it was amazing Oct 15, Michael B Sanders rated it liked it Apr 06, Ken rated it it was amazing Aug 25, Gunstar rated it really liked it Jan 13, Eric rated it really liked it Aug 08, Michael added it Jun 24, Caiti Casey Spiess marked it as to-read Dec 29, Benjamin marked it as to-read May 01, Jamie Pickstone added it Feb 25, Most DJ mixers have far fewer channels than a mixer used by a record producer or audio engineer ; whereas standard live sound mixers in small venues have 12 to 24 channels, and standard recording studio mixers have even more as many as 72 on large boards , basic DJ mixers may have only two channels.

While DJ mixers have many of the same features found on larger mixers faders, equalization knobs, gain knobs, effects units , etc. The crossfader is a type of fader that is mounted horizontally. DJs used the crossfader to mix two or more sound sources. The far left side of the crossfader provides only the channel A sound source. The far right side provides only the channel B sound source e.

Positions in between the two extremes provide different mixes of the two channels. DJs generally use higher quality headphones than those designed for music consumers. Replaceable cables enables DJs to buy new cables if a cable becomes frayed, worn, or damaged, or if a cable is accidentally cut. Closed-back headphones are highly recommended for DJs to block outside noise as the environment of DJ usually tend to be very noisy.

Standard headphones have 3. Most of specialized DJ Headphones have an adapter to switch between 3.

The Mobile DJ Handbook: How to Start & Run a Profitable Mobile Disc Jockey Service

Detachable coiled cables are perfect for DJ Headphones. DJs have changed their equipment as new technologies are introduced. The earliest DJs in pop music, in s discos, used record turntables , vinyl records and audio consoles.

In the s, DJs would have to lug heavy direct drive turntables and crates of records to clubs and shows. In the s, many DJs transitioned to compact cassettes. As technological advances made it practical to store large collections of digital music files on a laptop computer, DJ software was developed so DJs could use a laptop as a source of music instead of transporting CDs or vinyl records to gigs.

Unlike most music player software designed for regular consumers , DJ software can play at least two audio files simultaneously, display the waveforms of the files on screen and enable the DJ to listen to either source. The waveforms allow the DJ see what is coming next in the music and how the playback of different files is aligned.

The software analyzes music files to identify their tempo and where the beats are. The analyzed information can be used by the DJ to help manually beatmatch like with vinyl records or the software can automatically synchronize the beats. Digital signal processing algorithms in software allow DJs to adjust the tempo of recordings independently of their pitch and musical key , a feature known as "keylock".

Some software analyzes the loudness of the music for automatic normalization with ReplayGain and detects the musical key. Additionally, DJ software can store cue points, set loops, and apply effects. As tablet computers and smartphones became widespread, DJ software was written to run on these devices in addition to laptops.

DJ software requires specialized hardware in addition to a computer to fully take advantage of its features. The consumer grade, regular sound card integrated into most computer motherboards can only output two channels one stereo pair. However, DJs need to be able to output at least four channels two stereo pairs, thus Left and Right for input 1 and Left and Right for input 2 , either unmixed signals to send to a DJ mixer or a main output plus a headphone output. Additionally, DJ sound cards output higher quality signals than the sound cards built into consumer-grade computer motherboards.

These vinyl records do not have music recordings pressed on to them. Instead, they are pressed with a special signal, referred to as "timecode", to control DJ software. The DJ software interprets changes in the playback speed, direction, and position of the timecode signal and manipulates the digital files it is playing in the same way that the turntable manipulates the timecode record. This requires a specialized DJ sound card with at least 4 channels 2 stereo pairs of inputs and outputs.

With this setup, the DJ software typically outputs unmixed signals from the music files to an external hardware DJ mixer. Some DJ mixers have integrated USB sound cards that allow DJ software to connect directly to the mixer without requiring a separate sound card. DJ software can be used to mix audio files on the computer instead of a separate hardware mixer. Many DJ controllers have an integrated sound card with 4 output channels 2 stereo pairs that allows the DJ to use headphones to preview music before playing it on the main output. Several techniques are used by DJs as a means to better mix and blend recorded music.

These techniques primarily include the cueing , equalization and audio mixing of two or more sound sources. The complexity and frequency of special techniques depends largely on the setting in which a DJ is working. Radio DJs are less likely to focus on advanced music-mixing procedures than club DJs, who rely on a smooth transition between songs using a range of techniques. However, some radio DJs are experienced club DJs, so they use the same sophisticated mixing techniques. Club DJ turntable techniques include beatmatching , phrasing and slip-cueing to preserve energy on a dance floor.

Turntablism embodies the art of cutting, beat juggling , scratching , needle drops , phase shifting , back spinning and more to perform the transitions and overdubs of samples in a more creative manner although turntablism is often considered a use of the turntable as a musical instrument rather than a tool for blending recorded music. Professional DJs may use harmonic mixing to choose songs that are in compatible musical keys. Recent advances in technology in both DJ hardware and software can provide assisted or automatic completion of some traditional DJ techniques and skills.

Examples include phrasing and beatmatching , which can be partially or completely automated by utilizing DJ software that performs automatic synchronization of sound recordings, a feature commonly labelled "sync". Most DJ mixers now include a beat-counter which analyzes the tempo of an incoming sound source and displays its tempo in beats per minute BPM , which may assist with beatmatching analog sound sources. In the past, being a DJ has largely been a self-taught craft but with the complexities of new technologies and the convergence with music production methods, there are a growing number of schools and organizations that offer instruction on the techniques.

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In DJ culture, miming refers to the practice of DJ's pantomiming the actions of live-mixing a set on stage while a pre-recorded mix plays over the sound system. The photograph sparked accusations that Justice's live sets were faked. Disclosure's Guy Lawrence said they did not deliberately intend to mislead their audience, and cited miming by other DJs such as David Guetta.

The term "disc jockey" was ostensibly coined by radio gossip commentator Walter Winchell in , and the phrase first appeared in print in a Variety magazine, used to describe radio personalities who introduced phonograph records on the air. Savile is also credited as the first to present music in continuous play by using multiple turntables. In the s, Jamaican sound system culture emerged, with Jamaican deejays such as King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry pioneering dub music in the late s.

DJ turntablism has origins in the invention of direct-drive turntables. Early belt-drive turntables were unsuitable for turntablism and mixing, since they had a slow start-up time, and they were prone to wear-and-tear and breakage, [36] as the belt would break from backspinning or scratching. In , Technics started making their SL turntable , which became the most popular turntable for DJs due to its high torque direct drive design.

Hip hop DJs began using the Technics SLs as musical instruments to manipulate records with turntablism techniques such as scratching and beat juggling rather than merely mixing records. These techniques were developed in the s by DJ Kool Herc , Grand Wizard Theodore , and Afrika Bambaataa , as they experimented with Technics direct-drive decks, finding that the motor would continue to spin at the correct RPM even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter.

Yellow Magic Orchestra 's use of the instrument in influenced hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, after which the TR would be widely adopted by hip hop DJs, with sounds remaining central to hip hop music ever since. In , the Compact Disc CD format was released, popularizing digital audio. While it would take sometime for this novel concept to catch on with the "die hard Vinyl DJs", This would soon become the first step in the new Digital DJ revolution. Manufacturers joined with computer DJing pioneers to offer professional endorsements, the first being Professor Jam a.

Rader , who went on to develop the industry's first dedicated computer DJ convention and learning program, the "CPS Computerized Performance System DJ Summit", to help spread the word about the advantages of this emerging technology. As the s progressed, laptop computers became more powerful and affordable. DJ software was written to run on these more portable devices instead of laptops, although laptops remain the more common type of computer for DJing.

In Western popular music , women musicians have achieved great success in singing and songwriting roles, however, there are relatively few women DJs or turntablists. Part of this may stem from a general low percentage of women in audio technology-related jobs.

The Mobile DJ Handbook: How to Start & Run a Profitable Mobile Disc Jockey Service by Stacy Zemon

A Sound on Sound article stated that there are " In hip hop music , the low percentage of women DJs and turntablists may stem from the overall male domination of the entire hip hop music industry. Most of the top rappers, MCs, DJs, record producers and music executives are men. There are a small number of high-profile women, but they are rare.

Gender and the DJ Battle," stated that "very few women [do turntablism] battle[s]; the matter has been a topic of conversation among hip-hop DJs for years. An equally challenging question is why and how boys have come to love things technical, how boys have historically been socialized as technophiles. Lucy Green has focused on gender in relation to musical performers and creators, and specifically on educational frameworks as they relate to both. There are various projects dedicated to the promotion and support of these practices such as Female DJs London.

Tom Cosm at the decks at the Rainbow Serpent Festival in DJ Dougal and Gammer. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For a person who verbalizes with music in the Jamaican style, see Deejay Jamaican. For other uses, see DJ disambiguation and DJs disambiguation. The Mobile DJ Handbook: Playing with Something that Runs: Retrieved 25 January Retrieved 29 December Archived from the original on 15 August Wesleyan University Press; 10 July A Digital DJ Masterclass.

CRC Press; 25 January

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