Happy New Year! 2013 is upon us – but we’re taking one more day to look back at 2012 and remember the best articles of the past year. It’s often easy to forget some of the incredible tutorials, techniques, and editorials that have come and gone – let’s strap on our time machine and remember the most popular articles on the blog. Happy New Year!
TOP ARTICLES
To make sure that the top list is interesting, we’ve collected the top ten most heavily read articles – and listed the author, type of article, and a brief summary in case you need a refresher. Think that an article that you liked didn’t get enough love? Let us know in the comments and discuss!
Art of Prep: 5 Principles Every DJ Should Know
Author: Ean Golden
Description: Ean crafted a careful assessment of the process of DJ preparation, one of the most important jobs that DJs have. Boiling prep work down to five principles made it a great resource for new DJs to discover what they need to do to be successful – but also allowed experienced DJs to assess how well they’re doing at these five areas.
Read The Comments For: Discussion of how well/not well iTunes works for DJs.
5 Free VSTs That Every DJ Needs
Author: Meatman
Description: 2012’s first article was one of the most successful – it’s a simple breakdown of five VST devices that work great for DJing purposes, but sometimes the simplest of resources can be a great resources. We think this one deserves an update for 2013!
Read The Comments For: Despair about lack of VST support in Traktor and Serato.
DJing With A Computer Keyboard
Author: Chris Cartledge
Description: Most DJs these days start out with literally zero equipment aside from their computer – so learning how to use their keyboard as a controller is a great first foray into controllerism. It’s also a smart backup skill to have if your traditional control surface dies!
Read The Comments For: DJTT users sharing their keyboard mappings.
Hacker Projects Unlock Traktor’s Remix Decks
Author: Dan White
Description: When it became clear that Traktor 2.5’s Remix decks weren’t going to be mappable to MIDI controllers, readers and community members immediately took NI up the challenge of building DIY solutions. This article was the first to lay out some of the first attempts to get around the software/hardware lockdown, including a preview of Midi Fighter 3D firmware.
What We’re Still Wondering: Wasn’t NI supposed to eventually open up Remix Decks to all controllers?
Tinnitus: A Real Problem For Every DJ
Author: Ean Golden
Description: Ears! They’re what DJs absolutely need in order to rock the house. But what happens when our most critical of kit start to deteriorate? Tinnitus is no joke – so Ean took the time to lay out exactly what it is and how DJs should best avoid it. If you’ve ever had a ringing in your ears after a set, it’s time to read this article.
Read The Comments For: More stories from readers on how they avoid tinnitus, or have started to lose their hearing as a result of DJing.
Bedroom DJ Woes: Why You’re Not Getting Booked
Author: Nick Mineri
Description: Nick originally published this article on his blog, but we loved it so much we asked him to republish it at DJTT so the whole world could see it. Getting gigs isn’t easy – and Nick breaks down exactly why DJs might not be landing the epic shows that we all dream of.
Biggest DJ To Share This Article: DJ Craze, on Twitter!
How To Pick A Great DJ Name
Author: Ean Golden
Description: While coming up with a nom de plume isn’t the most important activity for new DJs, it can be one of the more fun and creative activities. There’s no rulebook for DJ names, but this article takes a closer look at some of the names out there and the decision-making process behind them. Real name or fake name? One word or two?
Read The Comments For: An absurd DJ name that’s sure to offend.
Must-Watch DJ Movies You Haven’t Seen
Author: Dan White
Description: Finding great documentaries on DJing isn’t hard – but finding documentaries that not everyone who has ever fancied a life behind the wheels of steel has seen is much more of a challenge. Collected in this article are some of the best DJ movies that you can watch right now online – for free.
See Also: Part Two and Part Three in the same series.
Is Planning A DJ Set Cheating?
Author: Ean Golden
Description: Interesting that a second article about DJ planning makes it on this list. This one’s an editorial in which Ean explores the idea of over-planning as a potential shortcut in the DJ world. How much planning is too much planning, or is there even such a thing?
Also In This Article: Insightful words by Will. I. Am. Did you know he uses a Traktor S4 to DJ with?
Building A Digital DJ Emergency Kit
Author: Dan White
Description: Your hard drive crashes. Can you DJ with just what’s on your person and in your DJ bag? If you answered no, it’s time to read this popular DJTT article from last year about how to turn a simple USB drive on your keychain into a helpful tool in your backup DJ arsenal.
See Also: The Musician’s Survival Kit on the DJTT webstore for a hardware version of this idea.
Want to check out more of the best of 2012? Here’s the best DJTT artist interviews of 2012.
