Professional Documents
Culture Documents
THE DJ TEST
DISCOVER YOUR DJ SCORE
and find out exactly how you can become a better DJ
CONGRATULATIONS ON
TAKING THE DJ TEST.
OVERALL SCORE
88%
YOUR SCORE YOUR SCORE YOUR SCORE YOUR SCORE YOUR SCORE
9 10 9 9 8
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Through our work at Digital DJ Tips training over 27,000 DJs since 2010, we have realised there are
just three broad types of DJs:
1. Bedroom DJs
These people are just starting out as DJs and are developing their skills. They are usually
inspired by a DJ they’ve seen and particularly admired, but are unaware of the hard work to
come.
2. Semi-pro DJs
These people are skilled at the particular type of DJing they do but often go unrecognised
and unrewarded. Often their enthusiasm starts to diminish as they spend years trying to get
recognition (though they still keep getting drawn back to DJing...).
3. Great DJs
They earn more money, have more fun and get the best gigs. They are seen as highly credible in
their towns and cities. They have a sense of vitality because they are always the ones involved in
high-value DJ events and getting their “names in lights”.
With focus, you can become a GREAT DJ in your town or city much faster than you think. We
know this because since 2010, we’ve worked with over 27,000 DJs in 63 countries to accelerate
their results.
GEAR
The ability to understand, set up, and troubleshoot all types of DJ and associated gear
from a technical standpoint.
MUSIC
The ability to systematically discover, shortlist, organise and play the very best music
out there for your audiences.
TECHNIQUES
The ability to express yourself through turning what’s “in your head” into tight,
professional DJ mixes using any DJ gear.
PLAYING OUT
The ability to “put on a show”, read a crowd, and programme exceptional DJ sets in all
types of venues and for all types of audiences.
PROMOTING YOURSELF
The ability to establish a highly visible online presence, build a genuine fanbase, and
fruitfully network with people who can help your career.
As you develop in these five areas, you can become more successful as a DJ. Your DJing success
will depend upon a few additional factors:
OVERALL SCORE
88%
- High Strength
- Medium Strength
- Low Strength
GEAR
Gear describes your competency around different types of equipment and software you’ll
encounter as a DJ. Not only does it mean how well you understand the equipment you
actually use, but how proficient you are in understanding all types of DJ gear. Past that,
it encompasses working knowledge of PA systems, lighting, cables and basic electrical
training, so you can troubleshoot and solve problems in critical performance situations.
YOUR SCORE:
9/10
Not understanding the technical side of a modern DJ set-up - and that includes
the software and audio file technicalities as well as hardware - to a greater or
lesser extent hinders the majority of today’s DJs. Not you, though! You’re well
versed and feel competent faced with most DJ systems and situations, from the
point of view of understanding how things work.
One thing that never stops though is technology, and there are always new things to learn -
things that could help you to push your DJing to the next level, be the first to do something cool
on a new piece of technology that everybody else is still somewhat mystified about, or just fix
issues that have others scratching their heads.
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MUSIC
A DJ is only as good as his or her music - period. And the way Great DJs approach their
music collections is fundamentally different to the approach of your typical music fan.
Ruthless with his or her library, the smart DJ knows exactly why every individual track
is in there. Great DJs have tactics for hearing more music than the average person, and
reliable systems for choosing, curating and “packing” that music for DJ sets.
YOUR SCORE:
10/10
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A DJ is only as good as the music in his or her collection, and you’re pretty
much on top of this part of your DJing, already being somewhat of an
expert. You fully understand the importance of sourcing, shortlisting,
buying and organising your music, and are adept at thinking about what
to play at any given gig. You are confident in your ability to find the “right
tune for right now”, and feel like you know your collection well.
In our advanced training, we teach DJs how to move past just having the best tunes into the realm
where their sets become truly special, and we do this by concentrating on two areas: Getting
music nobody else has got, and being able to playing the kind of sets that deliver big genre, BPM
and style shifts, sets that delight audiences for their ambition, but still hold together really well.
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TECHNIQUES
The core skills of DJing are what allow the DJ to rise above any particular DJ set-up and
perform effectively. Once a DJ understands how tracks are constructed, how to structure
a set, how to beatmix, how to use a mixer, how to manipulate music with platters and
jogwheels, how to cleanly move between tracks, and how to add flavour with scratching
and other tricks, his or her sets quickly become more than the sum of their parts.
YOUR SCORE:
9/10
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I want to focus in on that last point with you, though: How technical skills can widen the range of
music you can play in a DJ set. This is actually work that is never done, because the more technical
skills you can add to your DJing repertoire, the more breathtaking your genre, BPM and style
shifts can be in a set, and so ultimately, the wider your scope as a DJ can become.
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1. SCRATCHING - Ask your grandmother to mime 4. CUE JUGGLING AND TONE PLAY - Kind of like the
a DJ, she’ll probably pretend to hold some controllerism version of scratching, cue juggling
headphones on one ear with her left hand, and and tone play refer to using your cue buttons or
pretend to scratch with her right hand! That’s pads almost like musical instruments, “playing”
how ubiquitous scratching is in DJing. Used then as you’d play a keyboard. Chopping up
judiciously, scratching can enhance any DJ set. well known riffs is a devastating way to use this
technique.
2. LIVE REMIXING - While you can make re-edits
and unique versions of tracks beforehand and 5. USING EXTRA DECKS - Your third and fourth
simply play your efforts back at gigs, equally, decks aren’t just for keeping “what if” tracks
you can remix tracks live as you DJ, in order to cued up on. They contain interesting percussion
come up with versions unique to the crowd in tracks, acapellas and “doubles” of what’s
front of you, right now. currently playing, all of which can be used for
more adventurous mixing.
3. BIG BPM & GENRE SWITCHES - Using techniques
like post-fader delay, double/half-speed
beatmixing, and loop tempo changes, you can
enact huge BPM and genre changes in your
DJ sets, while taking all your dancefloor with
you, and considerably broadening the music
available to you to play.
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PLAYING OUT
DJing is done in public, and playing out is very different to practising at home. From
understanding what the people who book you really require of you, to being able to
control the mood in a room, to conquering DJ nerves and learning to really perform
in front of a crowd, playing out is where you prove yourself. You need to be able to
programme DJ sets, read crowds, and deal with the unexpected, all the time staying cool
and confident.
YOUR SCORE:
9/10
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You’re clearly comfortable playing gigs out, and you’ve got a lot of experience
of different types of gig, whether in your case that happens to be mobile,
club - whatever. You’re already a seasoned pro! You know how to plan a DJ
set, how to read a crowd, how to deal with everyone from the public to venue
management to other DJs, and are in control of your own nerves and moods,
able to portray a friendly, fun-loving attitude to your crowd, no matter how
you may feel on the “inside” during that particular event.
But one thing we know for sure from our own careers and from teaching DJs on our courses here
at Digital DJ Tips is that we never stop learning, and nowhere is this more true than when we’re
talking about playing out. After all, no two crowds are ever the same, so no two gigs present quite
the same challenge to the DJ - and that goes if you’ve played one gig or one thousand.
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1. LOOKING BACK THROUGH YOUR SET HISTORY 4. USING “PERFORMANCE” TRICKS - This is the
- Most DJ systems have a “set history” feature. stuff you wouldn’t do on a mixtape. Knocking
Like a sports team analysing a performance, the bass out for a while, just for the buzz when
looking back through what you played will jog you kick it in again. Co-ordinating with the
your memory as to what worked and what lighting guy on big breakdowns. Killing the music
didn’t, and is a valuable formal process for for half a minute, in darkness, before dropping
improving performance. into something huge. Be bold. Try this stuff.
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Since your training, I’ve taken a big step forward and, most
importantly, it’s in the proper direction. I have a structured web
presence in social networks, my website, and a fanbase. I have regular
gigs in different clubs. I have huge network among DJs, promoters,
club owners in a few countries. I organise my own parties and invite
leading DJs from other countries. Now I can think about the next step
- producing my own tracks. I feel like I’ll be in this business for many
years to come and I am enjoying my music more than ever.”
Leo Hazree, Baku, Azerbaijan
PROMOTING
YOURSELF
PROMOTING
YOURSELF
In order to get the number of bookings you want, you need to deeply understand how
this works, and it doesn’t work by randomly giving out mixtapes. From having a great
online profile (including mastering social media), to building a valuable network of people
who can help you face-to-face in your town or city, to knowing how to ask for - and get
paid for - work, knowing how to promoting yourself is the glue that will hold everything
else together.
YOUR SCORE:
8/10
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Well done! You’re doing many of the right things when it comes to promoting
yourself. You have taken the time to network in your town or city, you’re
aware of the “reach” of your online presence (ie how much you “own” Google
for your DJ name), and you’re building up a following. Your mixes and/or
own productions and re-edits get listened to, liked and shared, and you’re
comfortable talking confidently to people about what you do.
However, if you still feel you need to do that “special something” that’ll finally help you land
the gigs you really want and get paid what you think you’re really worth, apart from “stick with
it”, the best advice we can give you is to offer a list of ideas taken from our high-level training
programmes here at Digital DJ Tips. What follows is a list of things our top students do that are
helping them to get to the next level.
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1. GET A WEBSITE - It’s not good enough to have 4. GROW AN EMAIL LIST - Collect email addresses
multiple social media presences. You need a of fans, both offline and online. Get their
website, a place to call “home”. Here you can permission to email to them, and send them a
brand yourself exactly how you want. Here quick note when you have gigs, a new mixtape, a
you can link to all your social media accounts, new post in your website - whatever. Even in this
binding everything together. All good DJs have a social media age, email is still the most valuable
website. Get one if you haven’t. way of communicating with people.
2. MAKE AN ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT (EPK) 5. OWN PAGE ONE OF GOOGLE - By signing up
INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY - under your DJ name to as many social media
On the website you’ve got (or will shortly build), networks as you can, and having mix service
make sure you include a place where people can accounts, and your own site, you can dominate
see your DJ biography, mix list / discography, gig Google for your name. Don’t forget to post
summary, and get good pictures of you. Make it plenty of pictures tagged with your name, to
downloadable. dominate Google Images, too.
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SCORE
The overall score reflects your ability to get the gigs you want, get paid what you think you’re
worth (if that’s what’s important to you), but most importantly, to get the enjoyment you’re
looking for from your DJing.
It is a measure of your connection to the music, your love of making people dance, and the
respect you’re getting from those who matter to you in the venues where you play, your town or
city, and the DJing community at large.
The overall score will improve as you land better gigs, earn more from your DJing, and start to
plan longer term - and start to believe in this process!
Of course, DJing doesn’t have to be about money (and it certainly doesn’t need to be about fame),
but recompense and recognition do have an impact on your happiness, satisfaction and long-term
ability to succeed as a DJ.
People who feel they’re constantly going unrewarded and unrecognised often derail themselves
as a result of blindly “chasing the dream” and burning out. It’s important to work on the right
things, and take this test regularly to see how you’re progressing!
TAKING TIME “OUT” FROM YOUR DJING TO WORK “ON” YOUR DJING
INSTEAD OF “IN” YOUR DJING (FINDING NEW SOURCES OF MUSIC, LEARNING
HOW A NEW PIECE OF GEAR WORKS, MASTERING A NEW SKILL, GETTING
GOOD AT PLAYING A DIFFERENT TYPE OF GIG, MASTERING A NEW SOCIAL
MEDIA NETWORK) WILL PUSH YOU FORWARD FASTER THAN ALWAYS DOING
THE SAME THING.
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We want to see more music lovers performing the music they love, not just playing it passively.
We think every music fan has it in them to be a DJ, and we do not subscribe to elitism or “one size
fits all” philosophies of how DJing should be done. The dancefloor is always right, and we know
that music can change lives - we want as many people as possible to share the joy we’ve had filling
dancefloors and changing lives ourselves.
Since 2010, we’ve helped over 27,000 people to learn to DJ, via our website, books, seminars and
video courses, based around our philosophy of teaching gear, music, techniques, playing out and
promoting yourself as interlinking parts of what the modern DJ has to do to achieve success.
We believe that you have a huge passion for music and you have a burning desire to share that
music with other people. If you completed this test, clearly you are open to ways of improving
your skills and success as a DJ or DJ/producer.
This PDF was prepared for you personally to help you identify areas in your DJing to work on, and
the materials we emailed/will email to you in the week following you taking the DJ Test will also
help guide you in the right direction.
And when you’re ready, we’d love to have you as a student on one of our courses. Whether you
want to learn to DJ, scratch, produce, run an event business, make mixtapes, livestream, or one
of many more topics and subjects, we will definitely have the course for you among the online DJ
and production training we offer.
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STAY IN TOUCH
www.facebook.com/digitaldjtips www.twitter.com/digitaldjtips
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