But the truth is that the market is dominated by four big names, with a couple of notable “others”. There are lots of DJ software platforms to choose from, which can make it a confusing game. And if that sounds like a marriage, it’s because it kind of is. Your gear can change throughout your DJ career, but your software is hopefully for life. That’s why we recommend you choose your software first of all. So it stands to reason that your choice of DJ software is not only important – it’s crucial. (It’s worth pointing out here that DJ gear also contains the circuitry to let your headphones and speakers work how they should – but that’s not going to concern us today, and anyway, it’s still the software that tells that circuitry what to do in most cases.) Controllers tend to be black and look cooler than computer keyboards, too, which helps. Think of DJ hardware as just like a “computer keyboard for DJing”, but as well as having lots of keys (ie buttons), a DJ controller also has sliders, knobs, flashing lights and things that spin. In laptop set-ups, the hardware is just a dumb box or set of dumb boxes. If you want to control your lights, link up with Ableton Live for DJ/production hybrid DJing, or any of a myriad other things too, software is what lets you do it. It lets you work with your music library, and contains your “decks” and often your “mixer” too, including all those snazzy effects and features such as video and live remixing. Whatever hardware you then add, the software is the “beating heart” of your DJ set-up.
TRAKTOR SCRATCH SOFTWARE ONLY PRO
Many pro DJs don’t even use a laptop and DJ software to play… but if you want to have the most fun DJing, we thoroughly recommend that you do!īut if you want to do all the cool things software lets you do, things that DJing “the old way” like this doesn’t allow you to do, then you need to DJ using a laptop – and of course that laptop needs DJ software on it. Even some “new” pro DJs (many of whom can be more accurately described as “producer/DJs” – hit song producers who have to go out and DJ to earn money) are doing it the “old” way like this. Indeed, many still use CDs (I know, I know). They play from USB drives on equipment designed to let them do that without a laptop in sight. And if you DJ from USB sticks, you also don’t need DJ software – although again, software to help you prepare your music can make your life easier. If you DJ using DJ CD decks playing from CDs, you don’t need DJ software (although if you buy your music online, you will probably want music library software, and definitely need software to help you burn the CDs you will be DJing with). If you DJ on old-fashioned turntables with vinyl, you don’t need DJ software. Watch this replay of our Facebook Live where we talked more about the material covered by this article…
By the end of it you should be clear what is right for you – and if not, at least know what to do next to get closer to that decision.
While there’s clearly no one answer that’s right for everyone, in this article we’ll look at the big players and give you some firm ideas. Probably more than any other question, this is the one we get asked over and over by beginners.