How To DJ On A Laptop

This is a continuation from the last post about DJ Steve Angello fake DJ mixing. Its a post about how to DJ if you’re going to DJ with just software.

Lets face it, as DJ technology progresses so too does the ability for new DJs like us to learn how to DJ mix quickly and put together some sweet mixes. It also allows you to auto-beatmatch so you can chat up that really cute and slightly-tipsy girl thats been hanging around the DJ booth giving you the f*ck me eyes. Like most advancements in technology there are improvements. DJing is no different.

This means that more and more DJs are switching over to laptop based systems using Traktor DJ Studio, Serato Scratch Live, Ableton and more.

The challenge with this is that DJs are now even more boring to watch. Lots were fixated on the mixer and the decks to begin with. While this was boring itself its not as boring as watching someone click a mouse on their laptop. At least with CDJs and turntables even the non-flamboyent DJs had the classic DJ cueing up a record arm movement and the hedphones around the neck.

I remember I went to see DJ Sasha a few years ago in Vancouver and I was completely disappointed. The whole time it looked like he was just checking his email. I could have sworn that if the music wans’t playing he could have been in a library, not the DJ booth.

So my point here is this: if you’re going to DJ on a laptop or digital controller, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to perform as a DJ. Learning how to DJ isn’t just about DJ mixing, its about about entertaining!

Take the guy in the clip above for example! He has his laptop out but he looks like he’s having a blast! Sure he might be DJing a wedding but everyone is loving it. You can hear them reacting to his dancing while he’s DJing.

I tell you what there is nothing more exciting when you’re on the dance floor than watching a DJ lose it even harder than you are. I saw DJ Steven Angello play with the Swedish House Mafia at the Amsterdam Dance Event back in 2007 and this was the first time I had seen a solid DJ performance. The DJs had air-horns, people were spilling fire from the stage and Steve Angello stood up on the DJ booth and started FREAKING OUT. The energy in the room was electric.

So take notes from Steve’s past awesome performances and his current screw up. Watch the DJ in this video freak out. Develop your own style of entertaining but you have to do something!