Mark Sparrow

Senior Contributor

Technology journalist specializing in audio, computing and photography.

Technics has joined forces with Lamborghini, the Italian automobile marque, to produce the … [+]TECHNICS

Have you ever fancied taking a Lamborghini for a spin? Well, you’re probably not on your own and now you can if you buy the latest product from Technics. The classic Japanese audio brand has joined forces with Lamborghini, the Italian automobile marque, to produce the SL-1200M7B, a special-edition turntable based on the Technics SL-1200MK7/SL-1210MK7 DJ models.

Since the launch of the original SL-1200 turntable, Technics has sold more than 3.5 million units of these robust turntables which have become a design classic. And despite coming from completely different markets, looking back on their approximately 60-year history, both Automobili Lamborghini and Technics believe they have more in common than you might think in terms of their approach to technology and innovation.

Although the SL-1200M7B is based on the SL-1200MK7/SL-1210MK7 models, its design is influenced by Lamborghini’s iconic Y-shape. The three colors used on the turntable are inspired by three iconic Lamborghini colors: Arancio Apodis, Verde Shock and Giallo Athon.

Anyone buying the SL-1200M7B will also receive an exclusive gift of a vinyl record featuring the powerful engine and driving sounds of five flagship V12 Lamborghinis, recorded specially for the project. The vinyl is also a picture disc with an image of a tire from Lamborghini’s latest model, the Revuelto.

The SL-1200M7B features a coreless direct drive motor with stable rotation that’s free of cogging and with a powerful torque. The turntable’s highly sensitive tonearm accurately tracks the signal engraved into the record’s groove. Meanwhile, the platter is a two-layer structure with improved vibration and damping performance.

The rigid cabinet of the SL-1200M7B also has a damping insulator to isolate vibrations, even when it’s used under harsh operating conditions. There is also an adjustment for the turntable’s starting torque and braking speed. Pitch control enables accurate and stable pitch adjustment, while the reverse play function makes the turntable ideal for DJ use. Finally, the stylus is illuminated with a long-life LED that has high-brightness levels.

House music is a form of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago in the early 1980s and quickly expanded to American cities like New York City and Detroit as well as international music hubs like London and Paris. House music and its many subgenres are characterized by a steady pulse (typically a 4/4 time signature) played around 120 beats per minute (bpm).

A Brief History of House Music

Since emerging in Chicago in the 1980s, house music has become a global phenomenon.

• Early days and pioneers: House emerged as a new music genre in Chicago in the early 1980s. Its pioneers were a group of Black American DJs who were well versed in disco and hip hop subcultures, and who embraced emerging synthesizer technology from brands like Roland and Korg. Some of the most prominent producers and DJs of early house music include Chicagoans Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, Mr. Lee, Jesse Saunders, J.M. Silk (aka Jack Master Silk) Chip E., Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, Marshall Jefferson, and Larry Heard (aka Mr. Fingers). New Yorkers like Larry Levan also figured prominently in early house music.
• Chicago roots: Music historians typically trace house music to a nightclub called the Warehouse, located in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. There, DJ Frankie Knuckles—sometimes called the “godfather of house”—created continuous dance grooves by splicing together records with a steady four-on-the-floor pulse and tempos ranging from 120 to 130 beats per minute. House tracks often use the Roland TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines; the term “house music” comes from the fact that these machines allowed DJs to create tracks at home without the use of an expensive studio.
• Emergence of acid house: One of the first offshoots of house music was acid house, characterized by heavy use of the Roland TB-303 Bass Line synthesizer. The subgenre is named for the song “Acid Tracks” by Phuture, a Chicago collective featuring Herbert “Herb J” Jackson, Nathan “DJ Pierre” Jones, and Earl “Spanky” Smith Jr.
• House music’s global influence: House music quickly spread beyond Chicago, becoming the soundtrack to raves in London, Sheffield, and the Spanish island of Ibiza. In Detroit, it inspired a closely related genre called Detroit techno. A collective led by Juan Atkins called the Belleville Three began combining Chicago house with electro-pop from German groups like Kraftwerk. Meanwhile, in New York and New Jersey, a prominent house scene sprung up at the Paradise Garage nightclub in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. Led by DJ Larry Levan, this version of house music became a lynchpin of the region’s gay culture, particularly for Black and Latin American men.
• House music today: House music has remained a steady presence at raves and on dance playlists, and it has also cracked the Top 40 at various points. French house groups like Daft Punk and St. Germain have released platinum records featuring their version of house. The genre also appears in contemporary hip-hop and pop.

4 Characteristics of House Music

House music covers many subgenres, but a few characteristics provide a throughline.

• 1. Steady, propulsive beats: House is known for its 4/4 time and four-on-the-floor kick drum pulse. Off-beat hi-hat patterns and hand claps help give the music a funky edge.
• 2. Dance tempos: Nearly all house music falls between 120 and 130 beats per minute, which makes it easy to dance to.
• 3. Emphasis on early synthesizers: House artists frequently compose their music with 1980s synthesizers such as the Roland TR-808, the Roland TR-909, the Korg Poly-61, and the Roland TB-303 Bass Line. You can hear these instruments on the seminal house track “On and On” by Jesse Saunders.
• 4. Disco and soul influences: House emerged from the soul and disco era, and while it does not use the live instruments of those genres, it often embraces their funky, soulful style. This is particularly true of early house music such as the 1986 song, “Can You Feel It?” by Mr. Fingers.

11 House Music Subgenres

The house music genre includes multiple subgenres.

• 1. Acid house: Acid house is famous for the synth basslines of the Roland TB-303 synthesizer.
• 2. Chicago house: Chicago house music is rooted in the early techniques and equipment of 1980s Chicago producers.
• 3. Electro house: A slightly faster form of house, electro house music is famous for its buzzing basslines and sawtooth synths.
• 4. Deep house: Deep house is a subgenre characterized by heavy beats from a Roland TR-909 drum machine and flourishes of 1970s funk.
• 5. Funky house: Funky house music remixes samples from 1970s R&B and funk music.
• 6. Tropical house: Tropical house music incorporates Caribbean styles like dancehall, and it tends to have a slower tempo.
• 7. Latin house: Latin house music is built on Latin rhythms derived from salsa and other popular dance genres.
• 8. UK hard house: UK hard house is a British house sound known for its off-beat bass accents and faster tempos.
• 9. Tech house: The tech house subgenre was built on the minimalist harmonies and grinding electronic drumbeats of techno music.
• 10. Progressive house: Also known as prog house, this genre adds elements of progressive rock music to standard house.
• 11. Detroit techno: Detroit techno shares many elements with house music—including a greater emphasis on harmonic shifts compared to most techno.

DJS MUST DECLARE EARNINGS FROM STREAMING WEBSITE TWITCH, CEO CONFIRMS

• WORDS: GEMMA ROSS | PHOTO: ALENA DARMEL
• 11 APRIL 2024

There have never been more ways to make money as a DJ.
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Here’s a curated playlist of money-making moves that can boost your bank account on and off the decks:

• Event Promotion: Start hosting and promoting your own events. It’s not just about the music; it’s about creating unforgettable experiences that resonate with your audience.
• Custom Mixes: Whether it’s a high-energy gym session, a classy restaurant ambience, or the thrill of a basketball game, reach out to businesses & business owners to create bespoke mixes.
• DJ Drops and Freelance Gigs: Platforms like Fiverr offer a stage to sell unique DJ drops or custom soundtracks. You can see what’s working for others and build a service that will sell.
• Dive into music production. You don’t have to be Calvin Harris to make money from music production. You can make music for up-and-coming DJs or artists. Create royalty-free music & sound and license your sounds.
• Teach: Share your skills through tutorials or classes. Whether it’s 1-1 lessons or creating a Youtube channel, teaching can be just as profitable as entertainment.
• Gear Rental: Got extra equipment? Rent it out. Your idle gear could be someone else’s treasure, especially for those just starting their DJ journey or for DJs wanting to hire equipment for a private gig.
• Sell your vinyl: Flip old records for new revenue. Collect, curate, and cash in on your old collection.
• Digital Tips: Build a following on platforms like Mixcloud, where fans can tip you directly or pay a subscription to your exclusic
• Sell your mixes on USB drives. These can include exclusive DJ edits with intros and outros or unique mashups.
• Streaming: Live-stream your sessions on Twitch or TikTok to capture a wider audience and unlock sponsorship and collaboration opportunities

Click on picture above for more information from Crossfader

It was a few weeks back, late at night, I’m in bed, and my phone started pinging,” explains Robin S, the powerhouse vocalist behind Show Me Love, one of the most successful house records ever made. “I stayed half asleep. Then very early in the morning, my son called. I said: ‘Son, I love you but why are you calling me at this time?’ He said: ‘Mom, you’ve got to answer your phone, you’ve got to look at the news – you’re trending all over the place.’”

Robin’s phone was buzzing because Beyoncé had dropped her song Break My Soul at midnight, and it sounded a lot like Show Me Love (Beyoncé credited Show Me Love’s writers Allen George and Fred McFarlane as co-writers). That was just the beginning: it turned out her entire album Renaissance would be an homage to classic vocalists such as Robin , as well as queer cultural highlights (the ballroom scene), produced in collaboration with such dance stars as DJ Honey Dijon and the Chicago producer Green Velvet. Once again, it was the summer of house – only this time it had gone from global dance subculture to the sound of the mainstream.

When house first broke, nearly 40 years ago, the genre seemed to offer a temporary release, rather than longer-term liberation. Yet today it’s clear that the music, which used affordable technology to rework disco, provided a much longer lasting voice to queer, Black and marginalised musicians, DJs and club goers, first in the big cities of the American midwest, then across the world.

From Chicago to New York, Manchester, London, Tokyo, Paris and Berlin, house seeded local scenes and reshaped pop. UK garage, Dutch trance, the Afrobeats of Ghana and Nigeria, Psy-era K-Pop, and Brazilian brega funk all demonstrate how the legacy of house music lives on.

House’s accompanying club culture also changed social orders and leisure spaces, turning parking garages, warehouses, bus depots and department store basements into desirable weekend destinations, while elevating young suburban tearaways from Hayes, Cheadle Hulme, Long Island, Newark and the Jersey Shore to positions of high cultural and social influence.

Now even music’s biggest stars have paid tribute to house music pioneers. As well as Beyoncé Drake’s seventh album, Honestly, Nevermind, draws on contemporary dance music sub-genres such as Jersey club, Baltimore club and South African amapiano; and Kanye West’s eleventh LP, Donda 2, draws on the genre in a more veiled manner. Then there’s Lizzo’s single About Damn Time, which sounds like an early 2000s French touch house cut; Megan Thee Stallion’s track Her, from the album Traumazine, which could pass for a dark, late 90s garage beat; and in the wings, we have Frank Ocean, who’s rumoured to have drawn upon house and techno for his forthcoming album.

What do house’s founders think about these new occupants? We spoke to some of its stars, including Jesse Saunders, the creator of the first commercially released house record; the Ten City pioneers Byron Stingily and Marshall Jefferson; and some of the genre’s biggest vocalists, Robin S and Ultra Nate. Here they recall how they made those early records, reflect on their own legacy and this latest resurgence, and (largely) welcome these prominent new figures into the house they built.

Robin S: ‘People say your song saved my life’

Robin S is the vocalist on the early 1990s house anthem Show Me Love, which Beyoncé interpolated on her single Break My Soul.

I used to love to dance music. I grew up in Queens and I used to go to clubs there and in the city. I was a big fan of Adeva, and I loved that song Big Fun. If it comes on, to this day, I’m on the floor.

When I first heard Show Me Love, I almost turned it down; I didn’t feel like the right person to handle the song. I hadn’t really sung that much dance music before that point. The closest I had come was singing covers of Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough and Donna Summer’s Last Dance; I really didn’t have a point of reference.

They [the songwriters Allen George and Fred McFarlane] asked me to listen to the song again, so I went home, put my kids to sleep and made myself pay attention to the words. “Heartbreaks and promises, I’ve had more than my share?” Of course, everyone has experienced that. I realised the song is about real love.

“On the day we recorded it, I had the flu. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was very sick. I didn’t want to renege on my promise to sing, but I really wanted to get it over with.

I improvised that long opening note on the spot. It was not part of the song, but I felt like the song needed an opener.

It wasn’t until the song was out that I learned to love it. I’ve had women come to me, particularly full-figured women – because I’ve always been full-figured – and say “Your song has saved my life. I didn’t think I had anything to offer anyone. You spoke to me and it gave me meaning.” I’ve had LGBTQ [kids] come to me and say ‘I came out on your song. I didn’t have to explain anything to anyone.’

At that point it didn’t matter what the song did or didn’t mean to me. I knew the song was bigger than who I am. I’m the messenger and I had to give the message in the best way I can.

I love the people that I perform in front of. There’s generations! It’s not only people my age, there are kids age five and they’re mouthing the entire song. That’s powerful. I’m just really thankful and grateful.

Beyonce’s Break My Soul is a wonderful homage. Mostly, when people want to pay tribute to your songs, you’re no longer on this earth, you’re gone. I’m thankful that I got my flowers while I’m still alive.

In fact, Beyoncé sent me some real flowers – white roses, and all kinds of other white flowers. The message in the card was beautiful too, about being an inspiration. I don’t know if you can get better than that? Well, maybe being onstage with her, but that’s her decision. Still, never say never?

Jesse Saunders: ‘House music offered a safe space for Black and gay people’

The DJ and producer is widely credited with creating the first commercially released house record, On And On, in 1984. He also produced Love Can’t Turn Around with Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk

It’s interesting when people talk about a sudden, renewed interest in house, because millions of people all over the world enjoy house, and have for a long time!

A friend sent me Drake’s album and I was like “Why? I don’t listen to Drake.” My initial reaction to that record was not very good, but I got into the later tracks a little more, they’re really well produced.

Then I heard Beyoncé’s track. It’s nice that she’s trying to do something in that genre.

Some people were being quite critical, but I see myself as more of an ambassador. One of the things I’ve always tried to stress is that house music offered a safe place for Blacks, gays, and people who were different. We are tolerant and we must remain tolerant. Everyone is welcome in our house – we’re not going to kick Beyoncé out for trying to do something that we love so much. That’s the whole idea of what house music is; it’s love and understanding. That’s the theme of every house record with a vocal on it.

Chicago was pretty segregated back then. New York people mixed and mingled, Chicago people didn’t so much. The Playground [the early Chicago house club Saunders ran] was one of the first places in the city where you’d get straight kids, the gay crowd, all these people came together in one place, and it was really interesting.

That said, most of our crowd were straight kids from well-to-do families. And house music was a Black thing. It’s really weird that people come up to me who say “I didn’t know Black people like house music” because that’s how it began.

When I made the first house record, [On and On], I was really trying to replace a record stolen from me at the Playground. I have no idea who stole my records.

The record I really missed [Funky Mix / On And On by MACH]became my signature record. When it went missing, I made my own version. I think that was the spark that lit the fire. People would say: “Hey, Jesse is a DJ and he made a record; I’m a DJ, maybe I can make a record.”

A couple of years later, when Love Can’t Turn Around [with Farley “Jackmaster” Funk] came out, we did a 16-date tour of the UK. It was incredible. We played the London Hippodrome, and to a huge crowd on Barry Island in Wales, which reminded me of Woodstock or something. I had never been to the UK before, and seeing the enthusiasm was great. I wish I could go back to that time.

The best thing about house in the early days was when people finally got it, when they realised they didn’t have to listen to the radio and commercial music any more.

Byron Stingily: ‘House music broke down barriers’

Byron Stingily is a singer-songwriter and lead vocalist in the seminal Chicago house group Ten City

There was a time when disco had ended, but people still loved to dance. Kids were going to these underground parties. They started to call it house, because it was the music that Frankie [Knuckles] played at the Warehouse, but some people called themselves box-heads because of the music [the DJ and house pioneer] Ron Hardy was playing at the Music Box.

I played in a lot of New Wave bands; we liked Yazoo, and people were trying to dress up like A Flock of Seagulls. It was a fun time to be a teenager.

I remember Jesse Saunders said: “You’re always playing in bands, you can sing – we need to take this house music to the next level.”

At the time, I loved the music, but I thought club music was faceless. It didn’t offer me the potential to reach the masses with a big hit.

However, I was also working at a record distributor and I could see we shipped house records to Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. I started to realise those places had a scene. Then stores in England such as [the London record shop] Black Market would call and ask for Chicago records, and we started to move a lot of records to the UK.

Then two records, Love Can’t Turn Around and Jack Your Body, went top 10 in England; then it was like: “OK, we’ve got something here.”

In May 1987, I went to New York with Marshall Jefferson when he performed Move Your Body at the Paradise Garage. The crowd went completely insane. We were leaving, and we heard Move Your Body on the radio in New York – not even in the mix, on regular radio. I said, “Let’s call up major labels, this could be something really big.” In the end we got a deal for me and CeCe Rogers and I didn’t even have a demo. Atlantic Records said they’d sign the next record we did, and the next record we did was Devotion.

Marshall wanted to call the group Intensity, but I thought that was corny. I said, “Let’s take the ‘in’ off, and call it Ten City … and it’s going to be this perfect city, where everyone comes together in love and harmony.”

You see, Chicago is perhaps the most segregated city in the world. I grew up in a Black neighbourhood; all you saw was Black people. But Chicago has an Italian neighbourhood, a Lithuanian neighbourhood, an Indian neighbourhood, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican neighbourhood.

But when you went to a house club you saw everyone. House music broke down a lot of barriers.

I think if Drake and Beyoncé are making house, this is going to make the music more popular with the kids. So maybe Migos or Cardi B might say: “I want to do a house record.” Then, for someone like me, who has hundreds of songs published, it might increase the value of my catalogue.

ULTRA NATÉ: ‘It was escapism’

Ultra Naté is a singer-songwriter and DJ who in 1997 scored a UK top fiveand Billboard Hot Dance Club number one with Free. This July, she performed at the Women’s Euro 2022 Final at Wembley

I absolutely remember the first place where I heard house music. I was still in high school, and I went to a club in Baltimore, where I lived, called Odell’s – its tagline was “You know if you belong” – and it had this amazing sound system. You would feel it in your body because the sound system was so thunderous, warm and resonant. It was a communal experience, a place where people went to escape the struggles of their daily life or be accepted by a group that was inclusive of everyone. A sanctuary at the weekend. It was escapism. It was freedom. It was our church.

You would hear R&B, disco and things that went beyond that too, into the alt-rock and new wave sounds at the time. But there was also the burgeoning sound of what was the beginning of house music, which was kind of an amalgam of all this music but done in a very minimal style. Technology was coming in that allowed new, young DJs to start putting beats, samples and ideas together on basic four-track recorders. In New York, Chicago and Baltimore, it was just our own world, but we were creating this storm. Suddenly, the rest of the world – and mainly the UK – started looking at what was happening in this underground scene and embraced it fully, giving it a commercial platform.

On my first trip to the UK after signing my first record deal, I remember landing at Heathrow and there were billboards of Adeva everywhere. She was one of the divas of our underground and there would never have been posters of her [in the US]. I just said to myself: “Dorothy, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore!”

This year is the 25th anniversary of the release of Free but I’ve just released my 10th album. I still believe in this music, in this scene. I still believe that any moment, anything can happen. I’ve heard bits and pieces of the Beyoncé album. In the music scene, there’s always a cycle. Something always comes in vogue again. The next generation will suddenly pick up things and repackage it and resell it to a new community of people. When it comes to Beyoncé, it’s so polarising when you hear people talk about the album. And I get both sides of that coin.

The album is built on the familiarity of samples, stories and sounds that we grew up on and created in those early days. Beyoncé is a huge machine. She can make any album she wants, and it’s already going to be winning. No one’s in love with the idea that she’s saving house music or whatever.

But I get that it’s opening ears to those who have had no relationship with this culture and these sounds. Just like the day I stepped into a club and heard it for the first time, which changed the trajectory of my life, maybe hearing Beyoncé will be a catalyst for others. The trickledown effect could create opportunities for people to open themselves up to other artists who are genuinely, certifiably, from the [house music] scene.

MARSHALL JEFFERSON: ‘None of the gangsters would come to house music parties’

The legendary Chicago house producer created one of house music’s most influential records, Move Your Body. He tours the world today as a DJ

The first time I remember hearing house music was at the Music Box in Chicago [in the early 1980s]. The Music Box was like being in a totally different world. It was heaven for me.

‘House’ music at that time meant stuff from Philadelphia, New York, even Italian stuff. There was a lot of European influences. Everything was played on the one dancefloor. The Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams was huge. I even remember The Look Of Love by ABC being played by Ron Hardy.

In the beginning it was Black music [being played], but a lot of New Wave too. You’d have 5,000 Black kids on the dancefloor dancing to Rock Lobster by the B-52s and music by Liaisons Dangereuses [the avant-garde German electronic act]. The weirder, the better, because the purpose of house music at that time was to keep the gangsters out of the clubs. We found out early on that if we said it was a house music party, none of the gangsters would come because they thought it was a gay party, as Frankie Knuckles DJed at the Warehouse – and that was a gay club.

When Jesse Saunders came out and made On and On, everybody said: “I can make a record, too.” That was the thing that set me off. I was working at the post office, so I could afford equipment. There was a music store called the Guitar Center in Chicago. The salesman there told me: “This is a Yamaha QX-1. With this, you can play keyboards like Stevie Wonder, even if you don’t know how to play.” I said: “Wow!” They gave me a $10,000 credit line. When I took all this equipment home, my friends were laughing at me. But I wrote my first song two days after, and a year and a half later I put Move Your Body out – and DJs soon began hiring keyboard players to play piano like Marshall Jefferson.

I’ve got no problem with people like Drake and Beyoncé making house records because every time somebody does something like that, it eventually comes around to people like me – the experts. A lot more high-profile artists are now reaching out. You want to get it done right? You want it authentic? See me.

We need to think about how we document dance music culture. It may seem odd saying this when there are so many magazines, podcasts, and websites dedicated to it, but this is only a recent phenomenon. For much of the 50 or so years dance music has existed, there was little or no accurate documentation of DJs, clubs, dancers, or the music that made them all move.

“One of the reasons Frank [Broughton] and myself wrote Last Night A DJ Saved My Life was because we felt the culture had been so badly documented,” Bill Brewster says, of their definitive 1999 book. “I read so many times that the Paradise Garage was based in New Jersey rather than New York City. In the British press, it moved around more than a mobile disco.”

Brewster was one of the UK’s first dance music journalists, building on the work of youth culture writers Sheryl Garratt, Editor of The Face from 1989-95, and i-D’s Matthew Collin and John Godfrey. Aside from those running black music magazines like Blues & Soul, and acid house era fanzines like Boy’s Own, Boomtown, and Freaky Dancing, they were lone operatives working with publications that gave limited space for club reporting.

“Our aim was that if you were coming from Mars and wanted to know what young people were interested, then we’d give you a snapshot of it in The Face,” Garratt says. “There was never any sense of, ‘This month we must find a club to cover’. If we didn’t have a club story, we did fashion. If we didn’t do fashion, then we did something else.”

While some more established youth culture journalists periodically took an interest (Jon Savage included some of his musings on acid house in his 1996 anthology, Time Travel), Garratt was one of the few club culture specialists in the UK at the time, along with Sherman, Jack Barron, and Helen Mead at the NME, among others. “Because I was seen as being in the middle of it, there would be an annual call from a national newspaper asking me to write a piece about dance music,” she says. “It was like I was supposed to feel honoured.”

When clubbing turned from a niche pursuit into a national hobby in the early ’90s, Garratt and her colleagues were at the forefront of chronicling it. Some of them later wrote vital early histories, mixing their lived experience and collected knowledge with quotes from vast numbers of interviews.

1998 saw the publication of three foundational tomes. Garratt’s Adventures in Wonderland paid particular attention to Chicago house (a scene she’d experienced first-hand in 1986) and the rise of acid house in the UK. Matthew Collin’s Altered State chronicled MDMA’s impact and the British DJs and clubs that popularised it, and Simon Reynolds’s Energy Flash focused on the music, introducing the concept of the “hardcore continuum” to explain the bass-heavy pulse of British clubs.

Their significance (and of 1999’s Last Night A DJ Saved My Life) lies not in their obvious quality, or the fact that they were amongst the first to attempt to make sense of dance music in the UK, but in the way that they set in stone interpretations of events that persist to this day.

The weight of significance that a small selection of books published over 20 years ago gave to certain clubs and people has inadvertently led to a widespread and contemporary acceptance of reductive narratives, only telling a fraction of British dance music’s complex story.

“Some areas of this history have undoubtedly been more documented in books than any other,” Matthew Collin admits. “There are two books focusing exclusively on the Hacienda in Manchester, by Jon Savage and Peter Hook respectively, but no books about dance music culture in Scotland or Wales. Was a person dancing at the Hacienda more historically important than another person dancing at Slam in Glasgow or Pure in Edinburgh?”

The way the Hacienda has been documented is a particularly good example of how misleading narratives can take root. Popular culture coverage of the club tends to focus on one specific phase of its story — the “Madchester” era of 1988-90 — and ignores the fact that it was mostly serious black dancers from the North’s jazz-funk and electro all-dayer scenes who initially populated it.

There is evidence to support this — it’s extensively covered in Mark ‘Snowboy’ Cotgrove’s brilliant book, From Jazz-Funk & Fusion To Acid Jazz: The History of The UK Jazz Dance Scene, and explored in my recent book, Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass music — but it’s a story rarely told.

“If you look at the people who were into house music early on in the North of England, well over half of those were black, and overwhelmingly black in places like Manchester and Sheffield,” Brewster says. “The nuanced version of house music history in the UK, where there’s loads of black kids into it before Ecstasy arrived, is not as compelling to documentary makers and some writers, even though it’s more accurate.”

What remains compelling, to documentary makers at least, is the infamous “Ibiza origin” story — that much-repeated tale of four friends (DJs Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling, Johnny Walker, and Nicky Holloway) who had a life-changing Ecstasy experience at Amnesia in the summer of 1987. According to this story, it was the clubs they promoted on their return — Shoom (Rampling), Spectrum and Future (Oakenfold, Walker), and the Trip (Holloway) — that brought acid house to the masses.

According to Collin’s Altered State, this take on how acid house fever spread first appeared in i-D in May 1988. The article describes the enthusiasts as “Amnesiacs”, features pictures of wide-eyed British dancers in Ibiza wearing what would become standard “Balearic” dress (dungarees, shorts, baggy t-shirts, paisley shirts), and profiles the London clubs that were pushing the sound.

A month later, Garratt penned her own piece on Shoom, briefly pointing out that the capital had finally discovered house, “a year after the Midlands and North”. This is a crucial point that tends to get overlooked when the Ibiza origin story is trotted out in books and documentaries: parties raged in London, on Clink Street near London Bridge and the Dungeons on Lea Bridge Road, blasting dirty acid sounds.

While some London DJs and soundsystem crews played house prior to Oakenfold and company — most notably Kid Bachelor, Jazzy M, and Mark Moore — there were far more clubs and DJs further North that were incorporating house into their sets from late 1985 onwards.

This was because the black dancers that populated their clubs demanded it (some Manchester jazz dancers were even given free passes to the Hacienda in its troubled early days) — as did the provincial working class football hooligans who spent their summers robbing Europe’s designer clothes stores and dancing in Ibiza. In fact, it was these ‘casuals’, including a Sheffielder called Tony Canetti, who shaped acid house fashion.

“Those boys from Sheffield brought what we now know as the Balearic look to the island,” Homobloc co-founder Luke Unabomber told me in an interview last year. “This was years before acid house exploded in the UK. There was also a corner of Amnesia’s dancefloor named after one of the members of the Sheffield United hooligan firm. A whole corner!”

These characters, and their counterparts from Manchester and the Midlands, were also allegedly responsible for importing the first wave of Ecstasy pills to hit parts of the UK (they had been available in limited amounts in London since the early ’80s). So why is their story, and the role played by DJs in Sheffield, Nottingham, and Manchester in championing house, left out of the popular narrative?

“It’s much easier to tell a story through four people’s eyes than it is to try to track down all of the British kids that were in Ibiza in the three or four years before,” Garratt says in defence. “Rampling and Oakenfold were pivotal in how the culture exploded. They also made themselves available for interviews.”

There was another issue that made accurate reporting difficult at the time: the criminality of some of those involved. “There are people with completely legitimate business empires now that were founded on money from selling drugs,” Garratt says. “There were times during interviews when an interviewee would look at me aghast and say, ‘If you print any of that, you’ll get someone killed.’”

Every era of British dance music has its myths and over-simplified narratives — hell, even little known local scenes have urban legends. When I began work on Join The Future I thought that bleep techno began in Sheffield, but I discovered that the style first emerged from Leeds and Bradford.

It took years of research to find people (notably Leeds lynchpin DJ Martin, the original third member of LFO), make sense of the story, and work out the chronology. This is another key point: people remember things differently, with interviewees giving sincere but conflicting versions of the same events.

Regardless, it is the duty of documentarians to challenge misleading or over-simplified narratives when research shows that what we’re told is either incorrect or partially true. It’s our responsibility to counter myths and offer our interpretation of the established facts, even if this means rewriting history.

That’s what artist Jeremy Deller did with his 2019 film, Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984-95. In it, Deller chose to either ignore or play down many of the most often mentioned clubs, in some cases placing equal prominence to illegal raves and warehouse parties that happened outside of London and the South East.

“The driving motivation was not to make a documentary that featured a bunch of 50 or 60 year-old DJs telling the rest of the world how great pills were in 1987,” says Ed Gillett, who worked as the senior researcher on Deller’s film. “The Shoom, Ibiza, and London tastemaker perspective is valid — it was integral to the popularity of the music and culture — but it’s not the only point that this movement evolved from.”

The handling of Shoom, which was given the briefest of mentions, is particularly telling, with Deller choosing to focus on how the club’s strict and exclusive door policy inspired some clubbers to start their own events on a grand scale.

“People like Tony Colston-Hayter, the promoter of the Sunrise raves, took something that was exclusive and popularised it,” Gillett says. “There definitely was a certain amount of looking down on people who weren’t ‘with it’ by those early London tastemakers. The next generation of the movement — the rave scene — really democratised acid house.”

While the film was well received, Deller’s unorthodox narrative framing resulted in some predictable grumbling on social media, mostly by those whose lived experiences matched the mythologised version of events. “I do think that there is an issue with the way in which these myths are allowed to get entrenched,” Gillett says.

“There are very few accepted narratives about mainstream British music that are located in working class or black communities. Generally the myths that get headlines tend to be white and middle class, and are more palatable to white, middle class opinion.”

Gillett points out that there is arguably one recent exception to this rule: grime. “The narratives around grime are really interesting,” he says. “Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, the Three Flats, and pirate radio are all ideas that have become a huge part of popular culture in the UK over the last 10 or 20 years, but are genuinely rooted in black working class experience.”

It’s true that the documentation of dance music culture in the UK has tended to be selective. Things are improving though. The past two years have seen the publication of works such as Dan Hancox’s Inner City Pressure: The Story of Grime, Joe Muggs’ oral history of UK soundsystem culture, Bass, Mids, Tops, and Caspar Melville’s forensic examination of London’s musical landscape in the ’80s and early ’90s, It’s A London Thing.

But there are still infinitely more books and documentaries focused purely on the acid house and rave era than anything else — or at least the best-known aspects of it. This matters because the acid house nostalgia industry is now big business, and the Ibiza origin story is at the heart of it. We live in a time where classical concerts featuring orchestral versions of vintage dance tunes are all the rage, and you can attend an “immersive theatrical experience” based on the mediocre ’90s rave film Human Traffic. There’s also a thriving market for books and articles on the “second summer of love”.

This nostalgia largely ignores the genuinely revolutionary events happening within British dance music: the birth of genres with black and working class roots, like bleep techno, happy hardcore, and jungle; or those popularised in LGBT clubs, like hard house. Bassline, a sound forged by black working class DJs and producers in the North and Midlands, received virtually no press coverage.

The treatment of jungle and drum & bass music and culture in their early years goes deeper — arguably, it was structural racism in action. As it emerged in the early ’90s, jungle was often demonised or ignored by venue owners, club promoters, and the music press. “This is a very complex story because the backlash against breakbeat became quite convoluted,” admits Martin James, author of 1997’s soon to be republished State of Bass: Jungle — The Story So Far.

“The mainstream dance music press rejected happy hardcore and breakbeat in favour of progressive house clubs, and these clubs had a bit of a dress code that excluded ravers and junglists. It wasn’t explicitly racist, but it was institutionally racist: we saw a media populated by educated white middle class kids promoting music being made by people like them, and played out in clubs where they felt safe.”

James noted that there are a number of stories relating to junglists being turned away from certain London clubs, “but not all junglists were black, so it is quite complex,” he says. “Often the only blackness in the room would be the DJ and the doormen. It is also important to note that this scene then pushed ‘pure DJ culture’ and dispensed with the MC — the clearest link to a black music diaspora.”

Ignorance has angered some would-be documentarians enough to spur them into action. One of them was Brian Belle-Fortune, author of 1999’s All Crews: Journeys Through Jungle/Drum & Bass Culture. Belle-Fortune was a jungle evangelist — an intensive care nurse who was so irritated about the lack of coverage given to the music he loved that he wrote to BBC Radio 1, pitching a show about it. To his astonishment, he was given a job producing the show he proposed, 1 In The Jungle, in 1995.

During the first few weeks the show was on air, Belle-Fortune convinced the producer of Woman’s Hour on Radio 4 to interview DJ Rap. “What followed was absolutely horrendous, though I should have seen it coming,” he sighs. “The producer kept asking me for clips of tracks with very specific gangster-type lyrics. When it came to the show, Jenni Murray’s first question to Rap was, ‘How can you be involved in this scene with all the sexist and violent lyrics?’ I couldn’t believe that someone could be so unprofessional and racist.”

Belle-Fortune continued to encounter these kinds of misconceptions and racist stereotypes when he moved into TV production. “When I was at MTV Europe I was hauled into the executive producer’s office because I’d chosen to do a video diary on a white, female DJ called Wildchild,” Belle-Fortune says.

“They thought that jungle was just a scene for young black men. It ended up in the biggest row I’ve ever had in a professional capacity. When I got home I started writing an email trying to explain what the jungle scene was. In the end, I never sent it — I started work on the book instead.”

Belle-Fortune devoted years of his spare time to interviewing junglists not because he was a journalist looking to add a book to his CV, but because he was a passionate raver who believed it was important to do so. “I did get the impression as I was interviewing people that there was a sense of relief that they could finally tell their stories,” he says. “There was a feeling that there were too many misconceptions about our culture that needed putting right.”

All Crews is still arguably the best book about the sound primarily because its partial oral history format allows those who shaped the movement to have their say — even when their stories contradict. If you take anything away from this article, it should be this: you don’t have to be a trained professional to document culture — just someone immersed in a scene with an eye for detail and a passion for making sure important stories are told.

Today’s music documentarians benefit from tools developed by knowledgeable enthusiasts that can help with research — Discogs being one, fine example — and it’s possible to track down almost anyone, however obscure, using search engines and social media. Even if you’re not an authority on something, by doing enough work you can become one.

“The link between authority and authorship is really important,” says Emma Warren, a veteran UK music journalist. Warren is passionate about demystifying the process of documentation. Her brilliant 2019 book, Make Some Space, tells the story of key London DIY venue Total Refreshment Centre, and includes a coda explaining how she researched, wrote, financed, and self-published it. She’s also run workshops on the process.

“I really appreciate people who pull back the curtain or make it possible to see how something is done,” she says. “I think by encouraging people and by giving them the facts on how you did it, it makes it possible for them to do it too.” For Warren, that means admitting past mistakes when “carving a narrative further into stone” (she cites her own contribution to reinforcing the Ibiza origin story), and doing as much work as is needed to find and interview those figures whose contributions have been overlooked.

“I recognise that those of us who author a story should have some authority. We gain that either through lived experience or by our commitment. I’ve written a lot about culture that I didn’t experience first hand,” Warren continues. “But I hope that I have earned the right to author it by my commitment to being there on the dancefloor, and my commitment to understanding racial politics and the structures that underpins a lot of it. Whether or not I have earned the right to authorship, I’m on a constant quest to make sure that I have.”

If the story’s wrong or has yet to be documented, do it yourself. For the benefit of future generations and those that came before us, we need more dance music documentarians. After all, history doesn’t write itself.

Nobody can agree on who invented the blues or birthed rock & roll, but there is no question that house music came from Frankie Knuckles, who died Monday afternoon of as-yet-undisclosed causes at age 59. One of the Eighties and Nineties’ most prolific house music producers and remixers, Knuckles is, hands down, one of the dozen most important DJs of all time. At his Chicago clubs the Warehouse (1977-82) and Power Plant (1983-85), Knuckles’ marathon sets, typically featuring his own extended edits of a wide selection of tracks from disco to post-punk, R&B to synth-heavy Eurodisco, laid the groundwork for electronic dance music culture—all of it.
Frankie Knuckles: 5 defining tracks from the Chicago house pioneer
Knuckles made an abundant number of dance classics, including early Jamie Principle collaborations “Your Love”(1986) and “Baby Wants to Ride”(1987); “Tears”(1989), with Satoshi Tomiiee and Robert Owens; “The Whistle Song”(1991); and his remixes of Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody”(1989), Sounds of Blackness’s “The Pressure” (1992), and Hercules and Love Affair’s “Blind” (2008).

Born Francis Nicholls in the Bronx on January 18, 1955, Knuckles began hitting New York’s after-hours spots such as the Loft, the Sanctuary, Better Days, and Tamburlaine—the clubs where disco was born—as a teenager, along with his best friend, Larry Philpot. By the mid-Seventies, both of them were DJs themselves, and Philpot had changed his surname to Levan. The duo worked together at two of the most important early discos: the Gallery (presided over by Nicky Siano, whose smooth on-beat mixing style was enormously influential) and the Continental Baths, a multi-room gay bathhouse on Manhattan’s West Seventy-fourth Street. (Two other entertainers got their start there: Bette Midler and her pianist, Barry Manilow.)

By 1977, both started their own clubs in difference cities. While Levan (who died in 1992) helmed the Paradise Garage in Soho, Knuckles moved to Chicago, where Robert Williams, an old friend of both, was opening what became the Warehouse. A narrow building with oblong windows at 206 South Jefferson St. (today it’s a law office), the Warehouse was where Knuckles began honing his sound and style—”a wide cross-section of music,” as he told The Guardian in 2011. His mélange of disco classics, weird indie-label soul curiosities, the occasional rock track, European synth-disco and all manner of rarities would eventually be codified (at Importes, Etc., the record shop where Knuckles bought much of his music) as “House Music”—short, of course, for the Warehouse. (In 2004, the block where the Warehouse stood was renamed Honorary Frankie Knuckles Way.)

At a time when Saturday Night Fever had cranked up disco’s profile till it blanketed pop culture, Knuckles favored the music’s weirdoes and rebels. He spun tracks on independent labels like Salsoul and cheesy-exotic synth-disco from Italy. He liked things floridly dramatic and stark (First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder,” Black Ivory’s “Mainline”); he liked party conviviality (Positive Choice’s wonderfully loose “We Got the Funk”); he liked genuine strangeness (Two Man Sound’s heavily phased “Que Tal America”). Working with reel-to-reel tape, he’d re-edit his favorite tracks to extend the grooves for his dance floor. “It wasn’t traditional disco like Donna Summer,” Jesse Saunders, another Chicago DJ of the time, said in 1995. “It was really R&B.”
It was also enormously influential. Chicago was a DJ town, with local radio broadcasting several mix shows starting in the late Seventies, and nearly every jock in the city bowed to Frankie. One of the city’s most popular jocks was Farley Keith Williams—then “Funkin’” Farley Keith of WBMX-FM’s Hot Mix 5 DJ team, and later a Chicago house hit-maker as Farley “Jackmaster” Funk. “Honestly, when I started, I didn’t go out buying new records,” Farley said in 2008. “I went out and regurgitated what Frankie Knuckles would play.”
Knuckles was so popular that the Warehouse—initially a members-only club for largely black gay men—began attracting straighter, whiter crowds, leading its owner, Robert Williams, to eschew memberships. Knuckles left in November 1982, opening the Power Plant a few months later. Not long after that, a fast-talking young DJ from Detroit named Derrick May, who’d recently been knocked flat after hearing Knuckles for the first time, sold Frankie a drum machine to further enhance his mixes—something several DJs in Chicago (and Detroit) were already doing.

That combination of bare, insistent drum machine pulse and an overlay of cult disco classics just about defines the sound of early Chicago house music—a sound many young local producers were beginning to mimic in the studio by 1985. That year, Knuckles made his first recordings with an ethereal-voiced, Prince-obsessed singer-songwriter named Byron Walford, a.k.a. Jamie Principle. The pair’s early tracks were recorded in the Power Plant DJ booth, but they soon graduated to local studios. Several of their songs together wound up released by the local label Trax Records—without the artists’ permission, as both Knuckles and Principle later insisted; it’s just one example of the cutthroat business practices at the dark heart of early house music.

Frankie Knuckles – WBMX Friday Night Jams 1986 by Sarah Davies on Mixcloud
But the music wasn’t just popular in the city’s clubs or party-rental spaces. Chicago house blew up in England in 1986, with Farley “Jackmaster” Funk and Daryl Pandy’s “Love Can’t Turn Around,” hitting the U.K. Top Ten and J.M. Silk’s “Jack Your Body” going to Number One in January 1987. “I remember being interviewed by a journalist in ’86,” Knuckles told Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton in The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries. “And I remember telling her this music’s gonna be around for a while. It’s gonna take it a long time for it to get to where it needs to be at, but it’ll be around for a long time.”
Though the dance charts were about as far as most Chicago house titles went in their home country, house music—as well as Detroit techno, the style Derrick May was helping pioneer—not only yielded actual chart hits overseas, they fueled a new style of clubbing. In the summer of 1987, a group of English DJs—including Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling—traveled to the Mediterranean island of Ibiza and were turned on to both a more expansive playlist than usual, thanks to DJ Alfredo of the open-air club Amnesia, and a new drug: MDMA, or Ecstasy. Bringing that combo back to England, Rampling’s Shoom club, followed by Oakenfold’s Spectrum, birthed what the Brits called “raves”: enormous gatherings, usually in warehouses or open fields, of kids wearing smiley-face T-shirts while dancing all night, often on Ecstasy, to house and techno.

Knuckles wasn’t interested. In 1988, he returned home to New York and took on a series of club residencies—the World, the Roxy, the Sound Factory, and Sound Factory Bar (a different venue) among them—and teamed up with manager Judy Weinstein and fellow DJ David Morales (who’d filled in for Levan at the Paradise Garage) to form Def Mix Productions, a studio umbrella that altered the job description of a club remixer. Rather than simply change the arrangement or even grafting a new track onto an existing song, Knuckles and Morales would remake the source material from the ground up, even bringing the artist back in to cut a new vocal. Eric Kupper, a keyboardist and producer who worked on many of Knuckles’ great Nineties recordings, said that Frankie’s work “had a little more of an arrangement going on” than Morales’.

“[When] you’ve got someone as big as Luther Vandross and Michael Jackson sitting there saying, ‘Whatever you want, however you want it, I’ll stay here as long as you need me,’ that’s the reward right there,” Knuckles said in 2011. “All the programmers I worked with were all classically trained musicians . . . I was teaching them a different side of what it is they do. Infusing certain ideas like Debussy-esque piano over a very thick house track or bass line is something that blew their minds. It blew mine, too, but it’s something they never imagined and/or heard of before . . . We didn’t know if it would work or not, but it did.”
Though Knuckles kept up a heavy DJ schedule throughout his career, health problems, as well as the waning popularity of his type of traditionalist house music, led to his quieting down on the production front in the 2000s. In July 2008, Knuckles’ right foot was amputated: He’d broken it during a 2000 snowboarding accident in Switzerland, leading to a bone disease exacerbated by late-breaking diabetes.
But that year, Knuckles’ profile got a significant bump. For one thing, younger DJs and producers were discovering vintage Chicago house music, from Knuckles’ tracks to mid-Nineties “ghetto house” on labels like Dance Mania. For another, Knuckles released his remix of Hercules and Love Affair’s “Blind” that year—a deeply moving version that tops an already great original. Knuckles was “considered a huge risk” to work on the track, DFA co-head Jonathan Galkin said in 2011: “Is he gonna get it? He’s a main room remixer a lot of times . . . So going to that guy for our indie leftfield disco record? He knocked it out of the park.”

More recently, Knuckles was regularly hitting the global club and (occasionally) festival circuit—and regularly converting kids who’d never heard of the Warehouse. Exhibit A: His sizzling Boiler Room session from April 2013. “When he was defining house music, all of us were running around the Christmas tree with a fucking toy drum,” went the introduction. “So show some love, show some respect—throw yourself in the dirt for Frankie!”

DJ Equipment
Building your first professional DJ setup can be a daunting task, especially if you are simply starting out as a DJ. To start on your journey to great beat mixes, it is important to consider numerous components before making any gear purchases.

With so many options for DJ equipment and software platforms nowadays, making informed decisions on which equipment to spend your hard-earned money on is a key step to building a professional DJ setup fit for your budget and skills. In this guide we walk you through what equipment you’ll need for your dj setup so you can feel confident in your purchases.

What are Different Types of DJ Setups?
There are several types of DJ setups you can choose from when first starting out. Some are streamlined and require less equipment than others. For the smallest possible setup, you can get started with just a laptop and the right software. Other simple options include using only two turntables (vinyl or CD) and a mixer.

You can upgrade either of those setups by adding a laptop with a DJ interface package for additional effects and options. For even greater flexibility, consider adding a DJ controller to your kit for built-in turntables, sliders, pads, and other controls. If you plan to work from MP3s rather than CDs or vinyl, you can get away with a small kit that features a laptop, a controller, an audio interface, and software.

What Types of Equipment Do You Need for Your DJ Setup
While the choice of equipment combinations differ among DJs, an essential setup for every DJ usually includes

Monitor speakers
Mixer
Turntables
Headphones
Vinyl records or a laptop computer
DJ software
One setup may not fit a certain style, so it is important to mix and match gear to find what works best for your musical selection and DJing style.

The amount of DJ equipment options can be somewhat overwhelming for a beginner, especially since choosing the equipment is crucial to creating quality sounds. There are however a number of essential gear that a DJ needs to make killer playlists and provide your audience with enjoyment.

Pioneer Electronics PL-30-K Audiophile Stereo Turntable with Dual-Layered Chassis and Built-In Phono Equalizer

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1. Input devices
Putting tunes together requires at least two input devices, which can either be turntables or CD decks. You can choose from a wide range of input devices that will allow you to mix tunes and mashup tracks without a pause in music.

Pros and Cons of Turntables
Vinyl turntables are the classic choice for a DJ setup, letting you incorporate plenty of classic tracks and achieve that authentic scratch sound. But vinyl is bulky and more expensive than the other options.

Pros and Cons of CD Decks
Most DJs already have plenty of CDs in their collection. Using CD decks can be a less expensive option, though you’ll lose the authentic scratch effect.

Best Input Devices for Beginner DJs
Stanton T.92 M2 USB Direct-Drive S-Arm USB Turntable ($299.00) is a professional-quality turntable that features a direct-drive motor and built-in USB connectivity. The turntable’s USB port allows for easy transferring of vinyl recordings to your Mac or PC. With features such as Pitch Control Fader with DSP Key Lock, you can control tempo without affecting pitch.

Another advanced feature of this turntable is its S-Shaped tone arm, which lowers distortion and reduces record wear.

Other recommended products:

Audio-Technica AT-LP60 Fully Automatic Stereo Turntable System ($99.00)
Numark TT250USB Professional DJ Direct Drive Turntable ($299.00)
Reloop RP-8000 Advanced Hybrid Torque Turntable with MIDI Control ($699.00)
Pioneer Electronics DJM-S9 2 Channel Battle Mixer for Serato DJ, Black

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2. Mixer
The mixer is the core part of any professional DJ setup. It is a type of audio mixing console that allows DJs to perform different effects and tricks. DJs use the mixer to make smooth transitions between different recordings while they are spinning a set. It can also be used to play record players.

The Pioneer Electronics DJM-2000 ($2,499.00) is a four-channel DJ mixer that features built-in instrument effects including Noise, Jet, Zip, Crush, HPF and LPF. It has a 5.8″ LCD touchscreen display that allows you to create new track slices through the mixer’s Beat Slice function.

Best Mixers for Beginner DJs
The mixer has four channels located on the sides of the center LCD which you can use to connect your turntables to other analog players. Each channel features a fader that allows you to adjust the channel volume, a trim control to adjust input level, and a CUE button dedicated to the pre-listen function in your headphones. The unit also features Delay, Multi-Tap Delay, Roll, Reverse Roll, and Filter and Phaser effects.

Other recommended products:

Pioneer Electronics DJM-S9 2 Channel Battle Mixer for Serato ($1,699.00)
Behringer DDM4000 Ultimate 5-Channel Digital DJ Mixer ($349.99)
Allen & Heath High Performance 2+2 Channel DJ Mixer ($299.00)
Sennheiser HD 25 Plus Closed-Back Monitor Headphones with Set of Ear Cushions

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3. Headphones
High-quality headphones allow DJs to listen, cue, and mix tunes with precision. It is one of the most important tools for determining the right timing to play songs rhythmically. The equipment you use is based on your preference, but it is important to consider comfort as one of the main factors in choosing your headphones. You’re going to be wearing headphones for hours on end, so you want to use a pair that not only reproduces sounds accurately, but is also comfortable to wear.

Another important factor to consider is flexibility. A good pair of DJ headphones does not easily break even when bended in different positions.

Best Headphones for DJs
Sennheiser HD 25 Plus Closed-Back Monitor Headphones ($199.95) is a lightweight headphone that provides high-quality audio. Its closed back design provides effective noise cancellation, making it ideal for use even in loud environments. It also features a rotatable ear cup for single-ear listening. The HD 25 Plus is capable of handling high sound pressure levels of up to 120 decibels, which allows it to perform well in loud environments.

Other recommended products:

Sony MDR-Z7 High-Resolution Stereo Closed Dynamic Headphones ($699.99)
Sennheiser HD 600 Audiophile Dynamic Hi-Fi Professional Stereo Headphone ($288.00)
Samson SR850 Professional Studio Reference Headphones ($49.99)
JBL 2x 305P MkII Powered 5 Dual 41W Two-Way Studio Monitor W:2x 8mm XLR Cable

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4. Sound system
Using studio monitor speakers is a great way for beginner DJs to hear their mixes with clarity. While Hi-Fi speakers produce high-quality sounds compared with inexpensive audio equipment, they also amplify certain frequencies that can make it difficult for beginner DJs to hear what the mix actually sounds like.

Keep in mind, however, that this is an optional element of the ideal basic DJ setup. When you start playing gigs, you’ll find that most venues will have their own sound system that you can use. However, if you’re still learning and you want a good sound system for your home DJ setup, go ahead and invest in your own.

Best Sound System for your DJ Setup
Mackie CR4 4″ Woofer Creative Reference Multimedia Monitor ($149.99) delivers studio-quality audio performance ideal for multimedia creation and entertainment. It features 50 watts of articulate stereo sound, as well as premium and high-performing components such as sound-enhancing waveguide system.

The Mackie CR4 features a front panel volume knob, and auxiliary input for easier access.

Other recommended products:

KRK Rokit 5 G3 5″ Two-Way Active Studio Monitor Speaker ($149.50)
JBL 5″ Two-Way Powered Studio Monitor ($149.00)
Behringer MS16 2-Way Active Nearfield Multimedia Monitor System ($79.99)
Roland DJ-202 2-Channel 4-Deck Serato DJ Controller W:Behringer Headphones:Cable

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5. Controller
Most modern DJs opt for a simpler (and easier) digital setup composed of a controller and a laptop. If you no longer use vinyl records or CDs, then purchasing a controller is really the only step you need to take to create a viable DJ setup.

Controllers essentially mimic the function of turntables and mixers. They allow for easier manipulation of their chosen DJ software. It allows you to mix music through the software with the use of knobs, encoders, jog wheels, faders, assignable backlit buttons, touch strips, and other control components.

The Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 DJ Controller ($599.00) is a portable, all-in-one option for digital DJs who want high functionality and usability along with ease of use. Its components include silicone-damped jog wheels with premium aluminum plates, a built-in 24 bit/96 kHz soundcard, two customizable FX units with over 30 DJ effects, brightly colored RGB triggers, and a 4-channel mixer with faders, Flux Mode, and Loop Recorder controls. It also comes with the Traktor Pro 2 software.

Other recommended products:

Pioneer Electronics DDJ-SX2 4-Channel Performance Serato DJ Controller ($997.00)
Numark Mixtrack Pro 3 DJ Controller ($199.99)
Novation Dicer Cue Point & Looping Digital DJ Controller ($99.99)
How Much Does a Beginner DJ Setup Cost?
The cost of beginner DJ setups can range from just a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars. The price of your kit depends on the type of equipment you choose. If you already own a laptop and plan to use a simplified computer-based setup, you can get away with purchasing only a basic controller and some headphones for less than $500. If you start from scratch, prepare to spend a bit more to build out your kit.

Check out some of the preferred equipment below for a specific idea of how much you can expect to spend.

Sample DJ Setups For Beginners Based on Cost
Setups vary widely among DJs. The equipment comprising a complete setup depends on each DJ’s personal preference and musical style.

Here is a sample setup for beginners who want the classic turntable setup:

Two turntables (with built-in slipmats)
DJ mixer
Headphones
USB/audio interface (optional)
Monitor speakers (optional)
1. Numark PT01USB Turntable ($99.00)
The Numark PT01USB is a portable, AC or battery-powered turntable that converts vinyl to WAV or MP3. It makes recording and importing audio simple through the EZ Vinyl Converter 2 for PC and Audio Converter for Mac software that is included in the turntable.

Features:

USB connection and USB cable
Belt-drive motor
Protective dust cover with carrying handle
AC adapter
Built-in speaker
RCA connector and headphone jacks
45 RPM adapter
DJ cartridges
2. Behringer DJX750 Professional 5-Channel DJ Mixer ($199.99)
With its fairly affordable price point, the Behringer DJX-750 is an attractive option for beginners who are building their first DJ setups. But don’t let the price fool you—this 5-channel mixer has the features and functions required to serve the needs of professionals as well.

Features:

24-Bit effects processor
Tactile effects control
Two automatic BPM counters with time and beat sync display
45mm VCA-controlled crossfader
3-way frequency kill switches
Adjustable XPQ stereo surround effect
3. Sennheiser HD 600 ($288.00)
The Sennheiser HD 600 is an audiophile-grade headphone that features a dynamic design. It is one of the best headphones for DJs (and even professional sound engineers) as it features advanced technology that allows it to reproduce accurate, high-quality sound, allowing you to hear notes in perfect clarity.

Features:

Open metal mesh grilles
Magnet systems that reduce harmonic and intermodulation distortion
Lightweight aluminum voice coils
Neodymium magnet material for excellent dynamic response
Oxygen-free copper cable
Detachable headphone cord
Rent or Buy?
Renting a wide range of DJ equipment is the best option for DJs who do not have the budget to purchase all the gear they need. This is particularly advantageous for those who are just starting out in developing their skills as a DJ and may not want to invest a large amount on professional equipment until they feel more confident in their skills and are ready to start booking gigs.

Aside from saving on the cost of purchasing new gear, you won’t have to worry about performing regular maintenance on the equipment. Another advantage of renting is that you will be able to try out different brands (for a fraction of the cost) and see which ones you like best before taking the plunge and buying the gear you want.

On the other hand, buying brand new decks and mixers has its advantages. Aside from allowing you to create a fully customized DJ setup that suits your needs, most equipment usually come with manufacturer’s warranties. The obvious downside is the price, but if you are serious about your craft, it is definitely a worthwhile investment.

Greek philosophers and medieval theorists defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies, and vertically as harmonies.

If painting can be viewed as a visual art form, music can be viewed as an auditory art form.

The broadest definition of music is organized sound. There are observable patterns to what is broadly labeled music, and while there are understandable cultural variations, the properties of music are the properties of sound as perceived and processed by humans and animals (birds and insects also make music).

Music is formulated or organized sound. Although it cannot contain emotions, it is sometimes designed to manipulate and transform the emotion of the listener/listeners. Music created for movies is a good example of its use to manipulate emotions.

Music theory, within this realm, is studied with the pre-supposition that music is orderly and often pleasant to hear. However, in the 20th century, composers challenged the notion that music had to be pleasant by creating music that explored harsher, darker timbres. The existence of some modern-day genres such as grindcore and noise music, which enjoy an extensive underground following, indicate that even the crudest noises can be considered music if the listener is so inclined.

20th century composer John Cage disagreed with the notion that music must consist of pleasant, discernible melodies, and he challenged the notion that it can communicate anything. Instead, he argued that any sounds we can hear can be music, saying, for example, “There is no noise, only sound,”[3]. According to musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez (1990 p.47-8,55): “The border between music and noise is always culturally defined–which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus…. By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.”

The majority of musicians allow their fears to ruin their chances for succeeding in music. Some of these fears are understood consciously while others are only identifiable to someone who is looking for them.
Unfortunately, whether you are aware of them or not, your fears can be very devastating to your music career. As one who mentors musicians on how to build a successful music career, I’ve observed this endless times.

The following are some of the frequent fears that devastate musicians’ chances for becoming successful and how to overcome them so that you can quickly move your music career forward:

Musician Fear #1: Fear Of Not Making Any Money

Anytime you have told your friends or family that you want to become a professional musician, what have they told you? Probably something like this:

*”You’ve got to get a safe job first in order to have a solid backup plan for your music career.”

*”Musicians can’t make a good living”

*”All musicians have to play street corners for change just to get by”

In most cases you are told these things out of the best intentions… However, these ideas are highly misguided. Truth is, it’s not as hard as you might think to earn a good living in the music industry if you know specifically what to do to make money as a pro musician (and actually DO it). With this in mind, it’s exactly because the above false beliefs about the music industry are so wide spread, that they cause many musicians to fear not being able to make money. They then do things that lead to the exact OPPOSITE of what is needed to earn a good living.

The following is how trying ‘not’ to run into financial struggles in the music industry causes you to have difficulty making good money as a musician:

*You never make the effort to earn a lot more money in your music career. The worst thing you can possibly do is expect that you’ll struggle to make money as a musician. It’s certain that when you do this, you begin to live into the world you’ve created for yourself in your mind.

*You take your music career in the WRONG direction. By expecting failure in terms of making good money, many musicians start thinking they’ll be better off going to college to get a degree in a non-musical field, working at a “secure” job and THEN going after their music career dreams in their spare time. In the end, they almost always end up failing with this approach.

*You eat the goose that lays golden eggs. Note: What is written below could seem like “self-promotion,” since I mention how I mentor musicians as an illustration of a critical point. Of course, there is a very important lesson for you to learn here, and my words are true regardless of whether I am selling something or not. The lesson for you here illustrates how merely being AFRAID of becoming broke causes you to forever remain broke as a musician, until you make a significant change.

I occasionally receive messages from musicians who initially hesitated to join my music career training program or attend my music career money making event (where I show musicians how to easily make tons of money), because they are under the impression that they “cannot afford it.” Even after I take them through the overwhelming proof for how my programs have given HUGE results to the musicians I’ve worked with, they still remain skeptical and fearful. This skepticism comes from the same false narratives described above – that all musicians will inevitably become broke and struggle, so there is no point in pursuing a music career. Ironically, by attempting to “save” a few bucks in the moment and passing on the training (that is PROVEN to get results) on how to develop a lucrative music career, you are ensuring that you will never make a big income with music. This is referred to as “eating the goose that lays golden eggs” because you decide to eat the goose now rather than wait for golden eggs to appear later. Rather than learning how to earn money in your music career and building toward the future, you give in to your fear… guaranteeing that you will never make progress to move your career to a higher level.

How To Keep This Fear From De-railing Your Music Career:

1. Know that the belief that all musicians struggle to make money isn’t true and it certainly does not have to be your reality. This realization alone will keep you from letting fear steer your music career away from the things you really want.

2. Instead of being preoccupied with thoughts of how hard it will be to make money in music, take action to learn more about how to BECOME financially successful as a musician. There is a clear (and rudimentary) difference between these 2 mindsets and the ends that each one leads to are complete opposites.

Musician Fear #2: Fear Of Not Succeeding In Your Music Career

Too many musicians mess up their music careers by fearing that:

*They aren’t young enough to have a music career

*They don’t have enough talent to make it in music

*They don’t live in a big enough music city

*They don’t have a university degree in a musical field

*Their musical style is not well known where they live

*There are not enough serious musicians where they live who they can work with

*If they fail, they will look dumb in front of all the people who they told about their musical dreams (friends, family, etc.)

Besides the numerous reasons why these fears are irrational, know the following:

1. What you believe becomes your reality. If you think you have a good excuse for why you simply can’t become a successful musician (such as any of the things above), you will rationalize it and use it as a way to avoid advancing your music career. When you do this, you are GUARANTEED to fail at breaking into the music business. The other side of the coin is also true: if you believe that you are definitely going to become successful, and you are the master of your destiny, you will find a way to do whatever needs to get done to reach your goals. It’s clear that the latter mindset has a massively higher rate of success (both in the music business and in everyday life).

2. If you don’t even attempt to grow a successful music career – you have failed. Even worse than this guarantee of 100% failure, is you are going to regret not taking action to do what you dreamed of with music when you look back at all the opportunities you missed.

Musician Fear #3: Fear Of Becoming Successful In Your Music Career

Does it sound ridiculous to be afraid of becoming successful? It’s not. While the above fear of “failure” is a frequent occurrence for musicians who are new to the music industry, the fear of “becoming successful” is common for more seasoned musicians who are close to making a major breakthrough in their music careers.

These musicians can easily self-destruct by worrying about how their lives will be different when they become successful, how others will view them, how difficult it will be to continue their success or believing below the surface that they do not truly “deserve” to be successful. This causes many musicians begin to intentionally sabotage themselves by NOT doing things they know are in their own best interest (such as joining bands, going on tour or getting the training that they know they need that will build their career).

How To Not Let Fear Of Failure (Or Success) De-rail Your Music Career:

1. Understand that all the things you tell yourself about why you can’t have a music career in your specific scenario are just stories you make up. You have MASSIVE potential for success as a musician (much more than you realize), regardless of how old you are, what your current musical background is or the location where you live.

2. Think like highly successful musicians think. As I explained already, there is a basic difference between “playing to WIN” (in your music career) vs. playing “not to lose”. Successful musicians play to win and they do not focus on “avoiding fear” – they focus on “achieving success”… and this is what you must do as well.

3. Stack the deck of cards in your favor. You will drastically raise your odds of success in the music business (and beat your fear of failure), once you begin navigating the music industry without a blindfold on. Instead, quickly make progress by getting trained by a music career success mentor who has already helped many musicians achieve success in their music careers.

Musician Fear #4: Fear Of Being Treated Unfairly By Music Companies, Promoters And Other Industry Executives

The music industry is filled with long winded stories from (failed) musicians who claim that someone in the music industry has lead them to fail because they forced them to sign a bad contract, refused to pay them enough money or “screwed” them in some other way. Stories like this make many musicians afraid of getting into any business deals in the music industry and sometimes keep them from even trying to pursue a music career.

Here is a big music industry secret that no one will tell you that will turn this fear into potential for achieving success:

It’s the COMPANIES who should have a fear of being taken advantage of by the MUSICIANS they work with. Fact is, most music companies are NOT out there to screw the musicians they work with. Instead, they are really HUNGRY for new talent, for “everyone wins” partnerships and for ways to best use their resources (with the help of musicians they hire) to help everyone involved prosper.

At the same time, these companies are also afraid of spending MASSIVE sums of money into musicians who:

*Are emotionally or mentally unstable

*Feel “entitled” to receive the company’s money and resources simply because they may be good musicians

*Are lazy and can’t be depended upon

*Do not help the company earn money in a way that is mutually beneficial

… and a long list of other factors.

Truth is, music companies invest tons of time, money and other resources into the musicians they work with. They have a lot more at stake than most of the musicians they work with do, so they have to be very careful about doing business with the right musicians. They are inclined to refuse to act against their own best interest by working with musicians who seem risky (as investments) or who ask for more money than they have earned.

How To Not Let This Fear De-rail Your Music Career:

Know that what you just learned is a huge inside tip into how the music business actually works and will make all the difference between success and failure. Rather than being afraid that music companies are out to screw musicians, understand that you have a great opportunity to put yourself light years ahead of the competition in the music industry. Here is what you need to do:

*Know EXACTLY what people in the music industry look for in you (this extends way beyond your musical skills).

*Gather the pieces of value you require to make yourself the best choice for the greatest music career opportunities.

*Clearly display your value to the companies you want to work with by developing a rock-solid reputation for yourself as a risk-free musician who adds value for others.

By doing this, music companies will actively seek you out to give you the opportunities that other musicians never dreamed of.

Now that you have a good understanding of what fears hold so many musicians back from developing their music careers, take mental note of your thoughts and beliefs around working in the music industry. Once you become aware of the fears that are keeping YOU back, take action to transform your mindset (utilizing the resources and tools mentioned throughout this article). When you do this, you will find that your fears dissolve away as your music career starts quickly going in the right direction.

To quickly begin building a successful music career, find a music career success mentor.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is an electric guitar teacher online and a music career mentor. Tom also trains musicians on how to succeed in the music business. On his professional musician website tomhess.net you can read many more articles about making a living with a music career.