DJ Turntables - A Bluffer's Guide

Phil Morse is live from the Digital DJ Tips studio with another free DJing lesson. What are the important functions found on most DJ turntables? If you want to spin records or use turntables for DVS, then today's lesson lists all the features you need to know. Tune in!

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[djsubculture]

Started out on SL1200 MK2s, then moved onto CDJs (Denon DN-S1000s, then DN-S3500s and lastly HS-5500s), then went all in on Traktor Pro (stated with version 1.2.7) with various controllers over the years.
Now I'm using DVS with SL1210GRs and a rotary mixer.
Never going back to controllers.
No matter how many bells & whistles controllers and CDJs have, I always prefer the feel of mixing on turntables.

[mrbigstuff]

Taught myself on sound lab belt drives and a Tandy realistic mixer circa 1993.

[ezedjay]

My 1210 mk2's are in an attic somewhere 🙈
When I eventually get them be amazed if the platters can be removed. I scratched on them for years and then stored them in an attic. Hope they still work.

[lustforlow-end]

Re the ashtray/record playing backwards: you said the dj had the record in perfect time. Would this effect how the pitch control behaves as well? I mean would you move the pitch slider towards the minus numbers to speed it up & vice versa? 🤷‍♂️ Most likely a silly question but I’m quite confused about it! Nice shirt by the way Phil!

[djsubculture]

Legend has it that DJ Ron Hardy was the first to play his tracks backwards using the trick that you mentioned.

[brymills]

I went back to turntables during lockdown. Trouble is, the cupboard full of vinyl from the 90’s to early 00’s is all knackered from years of being thrown around in the back of a van!

[chrismurray]

I have a set of vestax pdx a1s and a ddj800. I mix between classic house and all the new house music out there. I also buy classics I couldn’t get hold of back in the day from discogs.

[atypical_blk_guy]

I'm looking to get my first mixer and turntable but it seems like there's a lot of bits that you need to buy. Are there any scratch turntables that come with a stylus and head shell? I'm not going to be spinning records but I really love the Reloop rp8000mk2. Based on everything I need to get started, it seems that a used Rane 12 would be a better purchase for my first setup. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[djtone]

I still play and buy vinyl. I still feel it’s the most authentic way of DJing. I had the time code with traktor and loved that way rather then jog wheels. Hopefully can pick up a interface for the ddj1000 and use rekordbox timecode soon.

[llewellyn]

Great video. But i still play real records. Still do today i buy new pressings. Im old school. No computer.

[iijamesiii]

Started on soundlabs, moved to my 1210s 30 years ago this year, they have been battered and abused uaed live they still 100%, used to be a vinyl snob, then started with DVS and i was sold, i run traktor kontrol s8 with 2 turntables and i loveee the workflow, keeps me away from the lappie and i dont need lug 2 flight cases and a reckord bag to gigs ne more, for me its all about the pitch control i dont like digital pitch sliders, the step is brutal

[johnbianchet]

My personal opinion, Vinyl will and always has been best.

[ItsWesSmithYo]

Still amazing that the original 1200 had a pitch control yet wasn’t meant for DJs…the rest is history 😅

[vonantesberg]

3:50 DnB DJs would like to have a word with you

[samesser]

I prefer vinyl because it plays digital reads vinyl plays all of my records are actually instruments in their own right

[RC]

Although I have a few hundred vinyls from the old days, most techno, I’m not gonna buy new ones. I love to play some vinyl now and then but I’m not such a nostalgic guy who thinks vinyl is the best. The past decade I’m totally into digital. It’s good for my back and there is already enough plastic in the world😉.

[FOTTONI]

Why no translations and no caption????

[robertschnobert]

I love records, but many DJs who prefer them are self-centered and arrogant. Being a DJ should be about satisfying the crowd. Also I wish people would stop calling records vinyl. 🌈

[funkybreaksouljah]

"no one plays w/ turntables & 45's", a few days later technics was launching the mk7 and the dj's playing 45's, "now no one makes/sells vinyl"... i bought 2 Sleaford Mods lp's, besides the 150€ every month on records... and you guys playing with new tamagoshis every 6months🤔.

[michaels]

Let's dig in...First, if you learned on turntables and records, it's logical to keep them and use them home and even if you stream live. You can even use CDJ or a controller with them if you need more going on or have others you are spinning with. You are NOT going to get even 1/10 of your money back by selling you records, so if you have the space, keep them. All that Blabber about the 'new stuff is only that, and I bought records en masse by folks suckered into getting rid of their records. The only records that will bring you high prices are signed vinyl, limited, and special sets, for the most part...Next, when you use a phone to dj that is using a computer because that's what smartphones are. They are NOT actual phones, they are portable computers and digital communication devices, yet if you need to know the details, just look it up. My Note 20 has more power than NASA did when they launched ships into space, and through DEX, syncs up with desktops/laptops in real time..Anyway, I can use Serato or CDJs yet my 20k+ collection stays, because Vinyl has no equal to it's collective sound..