How to start DJing drum and bass without spending a fortune

Drum and bass has a reputation as a technical style to mix, and it is true that its pace leaves little room for sloppy transitions. It is also one of the most welcoming scenes for bedroom DJs, because the music is available, the tempo range is narrow and the culture rewards practice over gear. Here is how to start without overspending.

Start with what you can afford

A small two channel controller with jog wheels and a built in sound card is enough to learn on. Add a decent pair of headphones with a closed back so you can hear the beat in a noisy room. If you can borrow or buy second hand club standard players, such as the CDJ style decks found in most venues, you will learn the layout that you will meet on a night out. But a controller is perfectly valid for a first year.

Build a small library

Choose fifty tracks you love and know well. Keep them organised by tempo and feel, so that you can find two records that mix without searching. Buy or download them legally, since lossless or high quality files sound far better on a loud system than low bitrate copies. The labels and artists that make this music depend on those sales.

Learn beatmatching by ear

Sync buttons are tempting, but Wikipedia describes beatmatching as the core technique of electronic DJing, and the way to learn it is to practise matching tempos yourself: start a second record in your headphones, line it up, listen for drift and nudge the pitch until the beats lock. Spend your first month on this alone. When it feels natural you can add effects and loops.

Think in phrases

Dance music is built in blocks of bars, usually eight, sixteen or thirty two. A good mix brings a new tune in at the start of a phrase and takes the old one out at the end of one. Count along to your tracks until you can feel where a drop will come. In drum and bass the arrival of a drop is the highlight of the track, so landing it correctly matters.

Record every practice session

Record your sets and listen back. Mark the places where the mix went wrong and think about why. Over weeks, your recording becomes a diary of improvement and a demo for promoters. Share it with a friend whose taste you trust, and ask for specific feedback.

Take your first gig seriously

When someone offers you a slot, whether at a local night or a small bar, treat it like a headline. Practise the actual set, bring a backup on a spare USB stick, arrive early and check the monitors. Be kind to the sound engineer and the promoter.

Most of all, be patient. Everyone who plays on a big system started in a bedroom with a pair of headphones and a stack of tunes that did not quite mix. The difference between them and everyone else is that they kept going.