I gotta put my 2 sense on this topic because I’ve been DJ’in for 28 years and there really is no science to it. So much talk about DJ’s who use controllers, sync buttons or stand there and turn knobs. Blah, blah blah. 1st off, a good producer doesn’t mean you’re a good DJ and vise versa. Being a DJ is an art form in itself, if you’re standing on stage pumping your fist for an entire show telling people to “Put their F-ing hands up” or are surfing the crowd and throwing cakes at people, YOU ARE NOT A DJ. You are a performer, an artist, a producer, a showman but you are not a DJ. From my experience this is what I feel are the 5 basics to DJ’ing, this will start you off in the right direction. Turning the knobs, playing with frequencies, pitch controlling, those are all important but here is what I feel is key and what will make you a better DJ all around. 1.) Don’t fake it! If your fingers are on a knob, make sure you are doing something and not putting your fingers there because you need to look busy. If you have nothing to do, dance to the music with the crowd because you feel it and you enjoy it and you’re in the moment. 2.) Don’t be a genre queen! Stop thinking that because you make Bass House you need to play or listen to Bass House or because Jauz is your favorite DJ you should only be playing music in that genre. One of the things the greats like Laidback Luke and Carl Cox have is the ability to read a crowd and that’s goes into my next point. 3.) Adapt to your surroundings! Work on your ability to read a crowd. I would always show up for my set early to listen to the other DJ’s to see what they played and studied the crowd or sometimes I would go to clubs I was booked at in the weeks to come prior and study the crowd that went to the event to see their reactions to what was being played. If you’re not booked anywhere, you can work on this skill by attending events and focus on the crowd instead of the guy behind the decks playing with the knobs and pumping his fist. 4.) Listen to EVERYTHING!!!!! If you hate it, listen to it, if you love it listen to it, if you never heard it, listen to it. A true lover of music will be inspired from everything they’ve heard, everything they’ve seen and everyone they’ve listened to. Don’t put yourself in a music bubble. I guarantee you Skrillex was not listening to Dubstep in his car or at home when he was chillin’. GET INSPIRED AND GET INSPIRED OFTEN. 5.) Mix, don’t let the controller or CDJ’s do it for you, stay away from the naughty Sync button. You may be tempted but STOP! The feeling you get when you create that perfect blend and did it on your own is a feeling like no other and you will see that the crowd can feel it too because you’re in the moment together. This goes back to step 1. If your mix is off beat, at least it was real, at least it was you. If your in the moment and you develop the skills to take the crowd there with you, no one is going to care that you were offbeat except for the DJ Mag 100 guy in the crowd and he’s an a**hole anyway because he just doesn’t understand what a DJ is in the first place. Sorry if this comment was too long but I wanted to share my input.

Laidbackluke is the Bruce Lee of djing!

People forget that in order to stay relevant, you sometimes have to follow trends. As long as you stay true to yourself and your art, nothing else matters.

Huge Fan. Please do more vlogs on this please. I'm 37 yrs old and just starting out.

I don't understand how Your videos how so little views. You are giving away priceless stuff for free! Thank You so much! Lithuania loves You! :)

Thanks Luke I definitely hope you continue these! You’re really opening this world up to me and it’s dope! Always wanted to get into it for the thrill and love of music. Good luck tonight in NYC!

ive also found using mixed in key with the harmonic wheel is a great help - thanks guys

Always love your vlog, not just inspiring but helpful.

Please do more of these! As a young and aspiring DJ this video helped alot! Keep doing you Luke!

Thanks so much for this video! I’ve been interested in getting into DJing and this channel is a great start! Looking forward to learning a lot

Love your Vlogs so much. Keep up the work. Thank you for being true and DJ live.

Thanks for the intro! I just picked up up DJing last month after years of producing, and it's so much fun. I'd love to see more videos like this, progressing into intermediate and advanced tutorials eventually!

DJ tips help a lot and it's very useful

PLEASE DO MORE OF SUCH VLOGS. SUPER HELPFUL. THANK YOU.

Thank you for all the tuttorial that makes all the beginners to understand the art of djing 🤘

Yes please please do more!!!! It is very helpful! 🙌🏻And PLEASE do one of equipment recommendation for beginners. Please. ⭐️🙌🏻⭐️🙌🏻

Love your snapbacks

Yaaaaas!!!! Production tips!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDDDD I LOVE YOUUUU

Loved going back to the basics!

Hey Luc. Love your vlogs and everything you do and share. We want a in my mind video. Much love!

Great tutorial. I’ve been DJing since 1991 and when I teach new DJs to beatmatch I always get them to practice with some house beat loops , firstly using the same loop then using various loops at various BPMs. Seems to work well. Loving the Denon set up too 👍

This is the video I needed thanks so much!!

wow. one of the best videos Ive ever seen. thank you!!!

We need Laidback Luke Merch! :)

Please more of this Kind of videos it really help. Also some useful tips and tricks

Happy to now al these things already😃

Great video! and I can not wait to see the video about the different of mashup/edit ...of the music. Is that be the next video? :)

You're really great at demystifying what DJ's actually do and what its all about

Hey Luke, love your vids your the best teacher everyone could have Love from Italy

Hey LBL (L's up!!) keep up the great work, you're the best channel on YT. Here's my Q: Would you say that for the bar/club scene it's more about who you know, rather than skill, to get gigs??

Yes it help me aaa lot if you continue these Basics me as learner I can learn from you

Great video

Super useful this! Especially for beginners 🔥👍

Love the Content.. Laat maar komen Big Legend!

Nice video, LL SUPER..simple and effective (y)

Bringing the bass out and in on your incoming track is a nice tip. Thanx. I like playing a lot of my songs in duplicate though. So I am looping one while while minimally manipulating the original track. Still working on an easier way to get them playing and mixed in smoothly.

Can you do an England tour I would love to see you!!!!

Don’t forget to manage your library and set cue points, so you can pick a perfect song for the crowd as quick as possible and get flexible with it

2:08 djing for million years 👏😍

I loved your set at ministry of sound last night I came all the way from Grimsby just to see you, I had the best time of my life

Hey LaidbackLuke, great stuff as usual, wanted to know if you have a video teaching the difference between a Moblie DJ, Club Dj, etc.? If not it would be great to see!

This was exactly what I needed! Very helpful! Thank you for this breakdown! Esp the bars and mixing and kick drum sync :) 🙌🏻Can you please tell me what would be the best beginning equipment for beginners? Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and DJ LIFE with all us!

Are you releasing your remix of Armin Van Buuren - Sex, Love & Water? Can’t get enough of your twisted house mix!

Thanks for the techniques

The man with the plan 🙏

Yes beening w8in for a producer vlog. 👍 Can't w8

Do more!

Great video always exciting to see your energy ....question have you ever been to South Africa or are there plans for you to come...Love to see you perform live ..stay blessed

Come to San Diego !! Love your video great content come for a greet and meet !!!

hahaha just slaughtered the Chainsmokers out of nowhere

i would have said "know your music" (bpm is part of that, obviously) - spinnin since 1972

Man !!! you are the best..Love from Bangladesh !!!

Well I’m into techno and I've also released some stuff on good labels but listening to your lives inspire me to produce house music. I love your vlogs your music and your sets. Also you are the proof that “mainstream” dj do not need to jump on the booth to make people dance. I’ll send something original and fresh ASAP and I’ll drop that on your Twitter. Thanks man

Hey your vlogs are great . It gives a great insight of djing and producing . Can you please make a video on making a intro for a drop . In my case it happens many times that I come up with nice drop but I lack in intro and eventually I end up with unfinished track . And I think that a great intro is very essential for the drop to be effective.

Dude LL, one of my favorite things about your sets is the fact that you “don’t use the mic”! I love and prefer your “L’s Up” and cool dance moves! #letthemusicspeak

That “We Are One” song tho 👌. Can’t wait for it to be released

Just what i wanted

Always great advice. Now you just need one on scratching:)

Thank you for a great vlog series. The new moving platter Denon player is awesome, but what is you thoughts about the dj style of Richie Hawtin and Dubfire and their setup? They using «cheap» Traktor players without jogwheels and mixing with analog mixers as Analog1 and Xone92 and extend their set with gears like Ableton Push 2 etc. Would love to see your creativity on a setup like that. How about recording a in my mind set based on their type of gear?

Can you make a video on how do you sort and organize your library?

Hey Luke your the best dj in the industry right now , regards from Peru! I am a music producer for years I have seen tutorials on the internet You could make a video of what to do after having good songs, where to publish or study for dj or producer, thanks you are the best !!

Hey Luke. Love the vids. Keep up the great work. A question or idea. You could do a video for someone who wants to get into djing and give your thoughts on where to start. Controller or CDJ? Serato or rekordbox?

when the remix of rocking with the best will be released ? I love it so mush !

So a few things: Great basic start. Certainly better then a lot I’ve seen. I don’t agree with giving it a year until you’ll hear if a beats out. If you spend a few hours every single day you’ll pick it up in a few months. I definitely think you should do more of these Luke. Next one could be intermediate tricks like your TED Talk walk through. Counting and hearing the right time for dropping a-cappella’s and things.

now i know sure what dj headphones are for!

Damn! At least you know you have close fans Luke! Haha, we are all pretty savage but at the end of the day i'm sure we all still trust you to deliver great tunes and to keep the dance music scene alive. Don't forget guys, commercial is cool too, however Yin needs it's Yang and vice-versa. My personal choice would be the darker, more SHM - Antidote stuff, similar to what Luke makes at times.. But hey, a Martin Garrix song isn't too bad either

#6. Learn to monitor the final mix in headphones so you're always confident it sounds good on every sound system. You can always bring your own headphones, but every sound system can be very different.

Right in time, having my first festival in 24 hours, thanks luke

Your lessons are priceless, why did you decide to teach so confidently by your experience?)))

Hey man I was just wondering. I havent been djing that long and I have gotten a few paid gigs here and there but i was just wondering if you would be able to put out a video just talking about how you got started getting solid gigs as a dj. Did you play free gigs? Did you play wherever you could? What did you do to get noticed as a dj. Not a producer, but a dj. Because i know its about marketing yourself and stuff but best ways to do that? I feel if people had someone directly telling them what to do and how to do it as people just starting out or getting in to the scene little by little it would definitely help to get some more gigs with guidance.

Nice tutorial mate! I often check your vlogs but forget to interact and show support! Thumbs up! About the acapellas or tracks that start with vocals (no beat in background), I personally find these easier to mix with a house beat (even if they don't line up exactly). Its like doing a mashup and you can play with effects as well. Cheers! PS: I released an album, "Inside Your Mind", a month ago. Would like to send you a couple of tracks but don't know the best way to reach out. I believe you get hundreds of demos each day...

The video hasn't even started and already hit that like button!!!

Eager for the producer vlog

Great video Luke, do you have any tips for best matching in loud club environment? Some gigs I do I am in a spot in the room where either the reflections are out of time or it’s jsuf too damn loud, do u just rely on headphones in that situation, any other tips for this?

Sir pls a scratching vlog 😍😍😭😭😭😍

Adding on to this vlog (which is great btw!), how would you mix with hip hop, pop, etc.? I've found that the bass swap method usually only works well in general for EDM. Either that or I just need a lot more practice with my mixing outside of EDM...

This vlog would've helped me so much 5 years ago, my first time trying to dj in VDJ without even knowing what bpm was.

OMG! He just said Chainsmokers are a sell out. Cant stop laughing xD

I have a question that could be a little boring and perhaps even a Pandora’s box of a question, but I was curious what kind of prep work is done to your library before performances i.e. setting cue points, beat grids, auto loops, memory cues, notes, etc?

Hello... Can You Make One Video On Your Studio Like Which Equipments GEARS You Are Using For Music Production And Some Of The Tips For Home Studio For Beginner Producers

help LBL 🙏 before I ask my question I wanted to say great great videos. keep it up, they are very clear, informative and fun to watch. I'm getting myself in this game/world of DJing, as I am reading to some comments here and there, I don't get why the negative comments 🤷‍♀️ this is about music = love peace happiness. I guess you can't win them all like at my work. back to my question, I got inspired there for a second lol, like I said I'm new about to start mixing and I'm waiting for black Friday or boxing day to buy my DJ mixer. what do you recommend to buy for a beginner? Denon DJ SC 5000 or DJ MCX 8000 🤔 my goal is to play in the clubs one day. what's your take? thanks.

can you please do a vlog discussing rave drugs and your perspective on it. One im really curious for your perspective and two its a huge problem ive personally lost many friends AT shows.

Yes I would a much longer through tutorial

When the beat goes ENS ENS ENS ENS

I don't like that many basic tutorials limit the basics of DJing to the techniques. Actually it's more important to select good fitting music than being able to beatmatch or fade nicely. The latter can only add to the experience but never rescue a bad selection.

Disclaimer: I hit like to my own comment:) So, my beatmatch/sync method is when time comes to start second track I let it to be a half beat behind the current playing track. There is a trainwreck going in my headphones. Then I start nudging the wheel forward until trainwreck goes away. Tracks synced. Good method for starter djs

Can you make a beatmatching tutorial! (:

Just watched his techno mix. Damn, he got skills! Should get back in the techno scene

I really want to be in your vlog!

When are you releasing ID3 from Mixmash Radio 243?!?!?

Hii Laidback Luke i love your vlog.You should be a Teacher and teach children who wants to become a dj. Love you from INDIA.

Laidback Luke being a dedicated dad in this vlog by doing dad jokes @4:10! 😂🤣

Lesson learned on dj-ing never ever rely on the sync button sometimes it works but sometimes it goes off beat like you would hear snares on the 1 and 3 on the beat instead of 2 and 4 on the beat.

Exactly what i need because I never mixing or producing music. Music are my biggest hobby \o/

Luke i love your vlogs , as a music producer i wanna ask how to choose the right genre to produce music to hit the top 100 especially the music genres hits switching each 4 years or so ? thanks in advance ;)

How long do you usally play songs? Is it breakdown to outro were u mix the other song or is it breakdown to next breakdown and mix to other song?

Can your please teach us how to use effect/echo and show us the BPM on the mixer that u need to set basically in need to show us how to use echo/effect please

Arigato ! Laidback Luke senpai Ummm . . . Do more if you can please.

Hey Laidback Luck hope you doing well...I'm new in this and i like what you do in your channel ...but i have a question, and is it about: can you do a mix or mashup with the genre called "cumbia"? greetings from the south of america... and sorry if you don't know it (the genre).

One of my friend actually mix abit different, he first beat match then he close all the frequencies of the upcoming track then after 8 bars of the playing track he opens the high frequency then he mix the mid and the low. Do you think it’s a good way too? I actually mix the same way you do!