Quite a few newbie DJ's around so I thought it might be a good idea tohave a thread where the more experienced members can share theirexpertise with beginner DJ's

Here is some of the advice I would like to offer - please guys shareyours too. Even if you are only recently mixing let us know what youhave learnt or good advice that you have been given.

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Beatmatching: Some may argue but I think its is critically important.It's such a shame for a DJ to be playing great tunes only to have itsound like a heard of stampeding elephants every 5 minutes. Practice!Practice! Practice! Seriously practise beatmatching for no other reasonthat beatmatching. Be fanatical. Start with some basic tunes - techhouse, minimal etc - you do not want too much melody to confuse you atthe start.

DO NOT bring a new track into the mix until you are sure they arecorrectly beatmatched - you need to concentrate on the mix itself andnot have to worry about keeping the beats aligned. Be Patient. The twotracks should be able to play for at least 20 seconds without going outof sync - that way you know it will only need a little nudge at themost during the mix.

If it is going out and you are not sure which one, hit cue, bring itback to the beginning and start again. Only change the pitch of the newsong, not the one already playing (unless a big change of pitch isneeded - but try to avoid this generally). After practice you'll knowhow much of a nudge to give it depending on how long it takes for thebeats to go out. If using CDJ's do not 'spin' the platter. Very gentlyand slowly slide it around.

Mixing: Start off by trying to do really slow blend mixes. Pickingtunes that will mix well is half of it. The best DJ in the world cannotmix two totally different tracks. Look into "Harmonic Mixing" - just toget an idea of why some mixes sound great and natural, and others soundhorrible. Don't rush it. You can have two tracks overlapping for 2-3minutes sometimes. Try to be smooth and start by just getting thetracks to fade together nicely. Ideally it should not be obvious to thelistener when one track ends and the other begins etc. When you getbetter you can work towards 'layering' your tracks. When you get moreexperienced you can then 'bang them in' - however don't fcuk about toomuch until you know what you are doing - crap dj's always seem to playwith effects, chopping, looping etc and it just sounds sh!t unless youare competent. Stick to mastering the basics until you go any further.

Music: Obviously track selection is the most important thing overallfor DJ's. You really need to know your music well. Know when thebreakdowns are coming and how long into a track the beat kicks in.Ideally you want the beat kicking in when the current track starts tofade down. But do not leave it too late otherwise you kind of loose theenergy. Spend as much time as possible listening to other DJ's - reallive sets not CD's which are studio made. Study their mixing and eventry to replicate it as practice.

Spend time categorising your music. When mixing or practising, don'tjust play any track - a DJ set is like a musical journey - so thinkabout where the next track you want to play is going to take thatlistener on that journey. Plan ahead. You might want to start offrelaxed and funky, get get a bit deeper and darker, slowly getting morechunky and thumping. But don't jump around too much. Think about whattype of tracks suit the start, middle and end of the mix. Try not tovary your music style too much tune to tune.

Watch video's on youtube and watch people's different styles. There isno one right way, everyone is different and every mix is different. Payattention to how much treble the two tracks have. If the one playinghas loads of 'high hats' going on, but the new track has none, you'llneed to bring them down so it sounds natural, and not hanging aroundwhen it's down to 20% volume. Try 'swaping basslines' - cut one out andbring the new one in at the same time.

Don't be afraid to stand by the DJ booth for half the night and justwatch - you can learn a lot. If you know anyone who's been mixing awhile ask them to watch you mix and give you tips. Don't be afraid toask for help.

I'm nackered so I'll stop there but I'll try to write some more later.IN the meantime please post yours too and make this a good thread wecan refer newbies to form now on.