Warnings How to Be a Dance Music DJ Using CDs

• If you value your hearing, invest in earplugs! There are companies that will custom mold ear plugs to fit your ear, and these block out all harmful frequencies from entering your ears and damaging the hairs inside. Music playing at loud volumes can and will damage your hearing if it is beyond your hearing threshold! After all, a good DJ is one who is not deaf.
• If you value your equipment, keep the volume down. Most speaker system amplifiers have built-in overrides that set a maximum on the volume. However, this doesn't mean you can just keep turning up the volume, as that will cause an increasing amount of distortion, and your set will sound horrible.
• Actually own the music you'll be playing, or, at least, have the rights to play it publicly. The RIAA may not be making quite as big of a fuss over Internet music downloading as they once were, but if you get caught playing illegally copied music, you could lose your job, your reputation, your equipment, your music, and any chance at getting any of that back. Even legally copied music played without appropriate license is a copyright violation. Just play it safe.
  • Note: If you are playing a commercial venue such as a night club you must have a performance license for your music or music that is sold to DJs as "promo only" or with an included performance license. CDs you bought from the CD store in the mall are not allowed to be used for performance purposes.
• Don't buy a boxed "DJ package" endorsed by some big-name DJ. The stuff in there is most-likely top-notch junk. Look for package deals at music stores ("Buy 2 Numark Axis 9s, get one Numark DM-10 2-channel DJ Mixer at half-price!"...or something like that).
• Make sure the volume of your tracks is leveled. If it is not, the volume level of the music will be different on each song, and it will make you look like a bad DJ, and you will constantly get complaints about it not being loud enough, or being too loud.
  • Use the gain knobs on the mixer to adjust the individual track levels with finer precision. That is what they're for.
• Be careful where you place your drink. Always set your drink away from your DJ equipment to avoid any damage caused by spilling. WIKIHOW.COM