B
Bernard9
New member
Hello everyone! My name is Bernard and its nice to meet you!
Before I'll go in to questions let me introduce myself. I am living in London (for almost 2 years) and recently started thinking about a career in music. I have studied graphic design and after 1st year I realised that was not my path to follow. I am from a small country in east Europe called Lithuania. I came to London simply because it was close enough to my home and yet it has massive selection of jobs and opportunities to catch. Yet the problem was I had no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life, haha. Then I realised that the best job is one that I could do for free and still feel good about it. That's when I started to think about music career. I LOVE music and I could spend hours and hours analysing superstar DJ's tracks and never get bored. I've read hundreds of reviews and finally decided on the systems I should get (midi controllers, keyboard, headphones and so on) to start Dj'ing and producing music. Good systems and quality products are quite expensive and I want to know everything before I jump right in the industry. What is more if I will start with this I will have to move out of my flat (neighbours..) and to find a music friendly house where people wouldn't be concerned with noise. I was also considering to quit my prestigious restaurant and to move to Ministry Of Sound or Fabric (basically any kind of quality club that plays lots of Trance and Progressive House and constantly has great Dj's and producers around) to work behind the bar and to start building connections.
Now you see - its quite a lot of action to take and I want to know as much as I can before I start taking action. That's exactly where you - experts come in. I don't know anyone who's good enough to give me advice. Some people said I should study sound engineering or music production (not that easy because I have never paid attention to music therefore my grades are.. not too good). More importantly I have a feeling that I can get all the practical information through internet and connections and everything that courses would teach me is well written and captured in books (I have been reading music theory for a month now).
Since you understand my frustration I will ask for your guidance on a few topics. First one - Money. I know there's no such thing as a standard salary for a music producer/dj to earn yet my question is how much can an average Producer/Dj make (I know it might take months and maybe even years to perfect your style in my case it would be Trance/House/Progressive House and to start making any impact in the industry to get some financial rewards) per month, or a year. Its not the numbers that concern me but I have heard that Dj's are poorly paid and most of them have to have another job to support themselves. If a person is an average Producer and a Dj could he expect to do it full-time or it is not really possible unless you land a job in the studio or start making hits that will bring you fortune?
Second question would be education. As I mentioned before I have a feeling it is possible to learn everything on your own but what would be your opinion?
Third, I have a feeling if you'll want to use your laptop and a MIDI controller (f.ex. Traktor s2 + Traktor Pro) on your gigs in clubs or any venues other Dj's would not respect you, False or True? Its not because I don't want to use high-end professional Pioneers but this kind of tech is quite pricey. Especially when you're starting out - MIDI controllers look very attractive.
Fourth, if you would be in my shoes what would you do?
To finalise, I have not found any similar topics to this and I believe there are quite a few other newbies just like me considering to break in to music industry. If you're still reading I want to thank you and hopefully you'll spend some time guiding me and possibly others, cheers!
P.s. If any of you are living in London, please feel free to let me know, drinks on me, haha.
Before I'll go in to questions let me introduce myself. I am living in London (for almost 2 years) and recently started thinking about a career in music. I have studied graphic design and after 1st year I realised that was not my path to follow. I am from a small country in east Europe called Lithuania. I came to London simply because it was close enough to my home and yet it has massive selection of jobs and opportunities to catch. Yet the problem was I had no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life, haha. Then I realised that the best job is one that I could do for free and still feel good about it. That's when I started to think about music career. I LOVE music and I could spend hours and hours analysing superstar DJ's tracks and never get bored. I've read hundreds of reviews and finally decided on the systems I should get (midi controllers, keyboard, headphones and so on) to start Dj'ing and producing music. Good systems and quality products are quite expensive and I want to know everything before I jump right in the industry. What is more if I will start with this I will have to move out of my flat (neighbours..) and to find a music friendly house where people wouldn't be concerned with noise. I was also considering to quit my prestigious restaurant and to move to Ministry Of Sound or Fabric (basically any kind of quality club that plays lots of Trance and Progressive House and constantly has great Dj's and producers around) to work behind the bar and to start building connections.
Now you see - its quite a lot of action to take and I want to know as much as I can before I start taking action. That's exactly where you - experts come in. I don't know anyone who's good enough to give me advice. Some people said I should study sound engineering or music production (not that easy because I have never paid attention to music therefore my grades are.. not too good). More importantly I have a feeling that I can get all the practical information through internet and connections and everything that courses would teach me is well written and captured in books (I have been reading music theory for a month now).
Since you understand my frustration I will ask for your guidance on a few topics. First one - Money. I know there's no such thing as a standard salary for a music producer/dj to earn yet my question is how much can an average Producer/Dj make (I know it might take months and maybe even years to perfect your style in my case it would be Trance/House/Progressive House and to start making any impact in the industry to get some financial rewards) per month, or a year. Its not the numbers that concern me but I have heard that Dj's are poorly paid and most of them have to have another job to support themselves. If a person is an average Producer and a Dj could he expect to do it full-time or it is not really possible unless you land a job in the studio or start making hits that will bring you fortune?
Second question would be education. As I mentioned before I have a feeling it is possible to learn everything on your own but what would be your opinion?
Third, I have a feeling if you'll want to use your laptop and a MIDI controller (f.ex. Traktor s2 + Traktor Pro) on your gigs in clubs or any venues other Dj's would not respect you, False or True? Its not because I don't want to use high-end professional Pioneers but this kind of tech is quite pricey. Especially when you're starting out - MIDI controllers look very attractive.
Fourth, if you would be in my shoes what would you do?
To finalise, I have not found any similar topics to this and I believe there are quite a few other newbies just like me considering to break in to music industry. If you're still reading I want to thank you and hopefully you'll spend some time guiding me and possibly others, cheers!
P.s. If any of you are living in London, please feel free to let me know, drinks on me, haha.
