how to dj

This is a tutorial video that looks at how to DJ with Ableton Live, demonstrated with Tom Cosm’s free DJ Megaset 1.0.

It’s a deep tutorial that should offer something for just about anyone learning DJing with Ableton Live.

See Tom Cosm’s site for more of his videos.

Anthony Pappa demonstrates hotkey functions that he uses when he DJs.

Surya Buchwald, aka Momo the Monster of VJ Kung Fu takes a look at structuring a VJ performance:

So much of Visual Performance is improv – anticipating where things are going and reacting in interesting ways. I was thinking about this recently, and about how I’m always winging it when it comes to preparing for a show (unless it’s one where I’ve gotten to really practice with the Audio artist). I remembered how much easier it was to practice improv comedy through the use of games – with real structure.

With a head full of nostalgia (and a healthy dose of MVC and Framework research I’ve been doing recently for work), I set out to create a structure for my performances.

He goes on to outline a four layer approach:

1. Background – Scene-setting clips.
2. Playground – Video Instruments (Quartz Composer)
3. Foreground – Elements on black, textures.
4. Overlay – Logos, text.

Give the video a view and let me know what you think.

The worlds of DJing and VJing are getting blurred, and Buchwald offers an interesting approach to laying down a foundation for audiovisual improvisation.

via Peter Kirn at CDM