Takhu Production Resource

There’s a LOT of software out there. All with varying levels of features, compatability and styles. We will approroach this tutorial with a beginners’ perspective. This usually means FREE!

What do I need?

First and foremost, you need a music collection. Ideally, you want to be able to access the music files, so any program with encryption or storing the files in some weird way won’t work.

Choice of Software

Once you have a music collection, it’s time to find DJ software to mix the music together. The majority of apps have free demo’s so you can try them out. There are only a handful of ‘big name’ software packages out there, most with an expensive price tag, even still – trying these apps out will help you decide if they are worth it.

FREE

Mixxx - COMPLETELY FREE! (Link)

With time stretch, beat looping, dual decks, fx, hot cues, independent sample deck and much more, it makes Mixxx a force to be reckoned with. Check it out - http://www.Mixxx.org

Virtual DJ home FREE - link

Well known software with a strong following. There isn’t much this dj software can do that the full price dj software can. Excellent starting software with all the major features – beat match, fx, sampler etc. the only limitation is that with the free version, no external controllers are enabled. If you we’re going to jut mix using the on screen controls, get this software right now while you can!

PAID

If you don’t mind paying a relatively small fee for DJ software, you really do have a great selection to choose from. Each has it’s own strengths so choose carefully. An important factor for DJ Software is the compatability with hardware controllers. If you plan on using a specific dj controller, be sure to check it works with the software before you buy.

Paid software demos (try before you buy)

A whole host of companies are releasing pay-for DJ software. PCDJ, Pioneer, ProDJ, Gemini are all big players in DJ Software. It would be too hard for us to recommend one single software, as they all have different features, different techniques and different styles. Just like all DJ equipment, what works for one DJ may not for the next.

Check out this comparison table for more info!

Start your own radio for under $10 a month

whittle.dan@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 03:48:19 +0000

Really. If you have ever shopped for webhosting, you’ll appreciate how much choice is available. Only within the last 5 years Shoutcast – one of the most popular streaming “systems” – has taken off. It’s never been easier to start your own radio station and I’ll walk you through it right now. I think i’ll even number it, just to be professoinal about this….

1. The first thing you must have is buckets full of MOTIVATION and a few more buckets full of DEDICATION. If you don’t have a dream that you can clearly envisage without any hesitation, your shoutcast project is likely to fail. You have to WANT this to work, for it to work. It won’t happen overnight, but will probably happen in a week…. lol. Just have the perseverance and drive to pull this off and stick with it.

2. Find the right Shoutcast server host. There are so many choices available today that it really is a “buyers market”. Here are a few Shoutcast hosts and their pricing…

As you can see, you can pay only a few dollars to $15 to $29.99. A lot of times with Shoutcast server hosts, you do actually get what you pay for. There are gems out there – genuinely good hosts – but if you sell hosting CHEAP eventually you will have too many customers using more bandwidth or server space than have, which costs you money to increase. If your costs are higher than your revenue, eventually you’ll got out of business OR you reduce service to your customers. Usually the customer will be impacted, experience “lag” or buffering in streams, SLOW upload speeds if you have an autoDJ, site outages and more. Take a look again at the pricing…

If I were looking for a shoutcast server host, I’d do a simple google search and punch in their company name. There are so many message boards and help forums that will most likely have something written about the server host. It may be a complaint a review or even help with a shoutcast script (Now playing etc – we’ll get to that on another post). Research research! There’s no reason to make a bad choice when it comes to Shoutcast Server hosts, a lot of a “30 day money back guarantee” – be weary of these, but I have personal experience that some companies truly want you to try their product.

3. Once you have your host, download the shoutcast plugin for winamp. You should also have received instructions from the host with the IP address of the server, your login user and password and port. Enter these details into shoutcast (which uses winamp).

4.Hit connect and enjoy the airwaves! Be sure to post a link on our message boards of where we can hear you!