After accumulating years of experience and insider knowledge, Guest Editors The Aston Shuffle are well poised to advise on all things DJ. Being the selfless lads that they are, the duo have kindly compiled a list of five tips for aspiring DJs and producers. So if you dream of a future behind the turntables, pay close attention to these pearls of beat-dropping wisdom. After all, DJing is harder than it looks – just ask Royer Adams.

1. Pick a limited set of tools and learn them inside out

The production software market is absolutely flooded with a million tools that are all positioned to budding producers as the “secret weapon” that will make you a better producer. The reality is that, by-and-large, most tools are incredibly similar and there’s not a whole lot to differentiate them, especially for the beginner producer. The best piece of advice we can give to budding producers is to pick a very limited number of simple tools and learn those inside out – one fairly basic synth plug-in, one fairly basic EQ/compressor/reverb/delay, one sequencer, and so on. If you can make a track sound really good with a really small number of plug-ins, you’re well on your way to developing your skills.

2. Develop your own sound

There’s always going to be a genre-of-the-moment, but if all you ever play is what everyone else is playing, you’ll never stand out from the crowd. To build a reputation as a DJ you need to focus on doing things in a unique way – both in terms of the records you’re playing and how you’re playing them. Standing out is the aim of the game.

3. Listen widely

This is a great way to develop your own sound, but it’s also about being in touch with what’s happening in music overall. You might really be into one particular style of music, but the idea is to understand music in general – not just dance music, or even one particular genre. It’ll make you a better DJ and a better producer.

4. Play long sets (6+ hours)

One of the best ways to learn about DJing inside and out is to play really long sets. It’s mostly bars that provide the forum for 6+ hour sets rather than night clubs, and that’s actually part of the equation – you can’t really get away with playing dance records for 6 whole hours at your average bar, so you need to start somewhere else and end up at dance music if the vibe suits. You’ll learn a lot about the full range of DJing skills: how to read a crowd, take the energy up & down, how to start a night and how to finish a night, not just how to play a 90 minute peak time set full of hits.

5. Put on parties and be prepared to lose money

This is a bit of a rite of passage for a DJ. It’s one thing to be a great DJ, but DJs operate in the broader context of the industry, and putting on your own parties is the best way to learn about the industry. Just be prepared to lose money – it’s a risky and fickle business so it’s bound to happen. To a degree, it also acts as a kind of natural selection – the desire to put on your own parties despite the overwhelming risk of losing money is usually the sign of a DJ who is passionate and enough to make it despite all the knocks this industry is sure to bring your way.