My Dirty Little DJ Secret - An Adaptive DJ Life Hack (ADL)... And Some Of You Will HATE It

[@Unite_the_Kingdom_Sean]

Just do whatever is more comfortable for you Never worry about others opinions. Keep up the great work buddy an smash them tunes out 💯

[@dannyperez1973]

Hey Brian, I’ve been following you for years and realized I’ve never taken the time to leave a comment, so I wanted to change that today. I remember when you and Jonathan were collaborating on “Practice and Enjoy.” I’m based in South Florida, and when you had your stroke, I remember telling my wife how strange it felt-here’s a guy in Wisconsin who I’ve never met, yet it felt like a close friend was going through something difficult. It’s hard to explain, but your work and the way you’ve shared your knowledge have had a real impact on me. When I first started DJing, it was just a hobby, but over time it started paying for itself. Your videos gave me so much insight-both on the technical side of things and, more importantly, on the sociological aspects of the job. You taught me how to read a crowd, work a wedding, and most of all, focus on the bigger picture: creating emotional connections. Those lessons have stayed with me long after my DJing days. The tech side was always fun, too-because, who doesn’t love toys? But your focus on the emotional and human side of DJing, and how it translates to other areas of life, is something that still resonates with me today. Although I’m no longer DJing regularly (though I’ll still MC from time to time), I continue to watch your videos because your energy, positivity, and perspective are something I truly admire. I’m glad to see you’re still going strong, and I just wanted to say thank you for all the guidance and inspiration you’ve provided over the years. Keep doing what you’re doing!

[@DayNNyteDJs]

Could not have said it better myself.

[@edwardoetken2431]

This ❤

[@iHeart_Disco]

Never about the tool but the skill of the craftsman 👍

[@djflashback80s]

We all have a "secret" to our sucess. You've mastered the one that works for you, and that my friend is awesome and inspiring. Much respect.

[@JamesMesidor]

Inspirational bro

[@edwardoetken2431]

Brian, we had the conversation similar to this many years ago. I am an occupational therapist IRL who also DJs and I have always admired your ability and drive to keep going and adapt life to you and your needs, because the status quo doesn’t work for you since your stroke. This is what stoke recovery is all about. Finding ways to “do life” instead of settling for “can’t do”. It doesn’t matter what other “average” people think about your modifications because obviously it hasn’t impacted your ability to deliver the goods where it counts. The haters gonna hate, and we know why.

[@briansredd]

It's funny how the obstacle goal post keeps moving. At first, people are amazed that you can wiggle your big toe because they expect nothing from you. Over time, although not realizing anywhere near full physical, or mental recovery, you come up with all of these adaptive methods to live your life pretty much how you did before stroke. There are little tweaks & tools you use to get you there. After a while, nobody even notices your shortcomings & you are seen & treated as "normal". That's great, until you are with a group of people who say something like "the restaurant is only like a mile up the road, so we can just walk it". It becomes this whole thing where although I appreciate the vote of confidence & am indeed capable of walking a mile, that does not mean I'll have the energy to function once I get there. If you lose the battle to get that Uber & hoof it, everybody seems surprised that your body & brain (not to mention tolerance & reason) isn't operating at that perceived 100% anymore. I ran into this situation a while back where a fellow DJ broke his leg & wanted help at an event because he couldn't stand behind the booth all night. Sure, I'm not a very good roadie anymore, but I can take over when you need to go sit down for a while. With that verbally understood, I agree & of course, he's annoyed because I can't load in & set up his system. He figured because I can set up my adaptive system, why couldn't I set his up? Can I work it out? Sure, and I did. Can I perform after that? Not very well, because my battery is now dead to the point where I can't even get words out, let alone complete sentences or MC an event. It's very much a double edged sward sometimes :P

[@edwardoetken2431]

@@briansredd I honestly think the descriptor of “normal” does not apply. Normal for you is now different. Normal is individualized. What is now normal for you is not necessarily what is normal for the guy you helped out. The important thing to remember is that “normal” is based on individual experience. Again I admire you for your perseverance and adaptation. That comes from working with many stroke patients that either get that they have to adapt or they don’t get it. The odds are in your favor because you make that effort to overcome. Don’t let those who don’t have the understanding of your situation rule your situation.

[@edwardoetken2431]

And happy Thanksgiving friend

[@briansredd]

@@edwardoetken2431 Oh I'm never too worried about what others think. Sometimes, like in the instance of this video, I'm fine with what I'm doing. I feel like I've made good educated adaptive choices & there's no pressure to do anything else. Because I'm probably a bit more visible than most DJs, sometimes I just don't want to deal with the "But Why" comments. It's never persuasive or discouraging, but it is a distraction from more interesting or constructive conversations we could be having. "But why" or "why don't you just" gets old REAL fast. I know they are not being as empathetic to my situation as I'd like them to be & I'd just rather not burn any more mental energy than I have to trying to explain myself to others. Although I'm annoyed by it, I'm quite tenacious as well :P

[@djrickysmith]

I was a Master at using Mixmeister 7.4.4 I would mix up live shows on the radio with it, live from the club. always laughed when other DJ's would stop by the both to meet me and saw I was just using a laptop, a mouse, and a second soundcard (card one was the output, card 2 was my monitor to mix the show 4 or 5 songs ahead. Made life easy when you had to run to the restroom. Great software

[@namron8299]

Much respect for what and how you are doing it. Learned a lot from you. Greetings from Germany

[@dopefreshness4122]

Hey, thanks for making the video. I didn't know there was that program that could be used that way with your mixer. big respect

[@CrossfireDJ73]

I applaud you for this. Still get to do what you love. That is the main thing.

[@Burnt-ve8bv]

FYI on ebay they there's the mice by dj tech. The mouse is designed as a dj mouse thats half normal mouse and half dj controller. It even has a jogwheel that can do scratching.

[@Burnt-ve8bv]

And they're priced low.

[@Chalid4Yankees]

Hey Brian, I am a long time watcher of your videos. Since before you had your stroke, it means a lot to me that you’re still DJing. Could you possibly do a stream on twitch or something where you mix to show us what you’re capable of with that program?

[@BigTroyT]

If there was only one way to do it, there's only be a single product on the market. And wouldn't that just suck for a lot of people? I'm a big believer in each person figuring out what works best for them. Brian, we started DJing about the same time and for about the same length of time (though it's a side job for me), yet you've still taught me some things I didn't know. I've been watching your videos for a decade and, even if I didn't agree with every choice, I've always respected your knowledge and experience and it never hurts to have a different perspective. And you wouldn't catch me using Apple computer gear either, so there's that too.

[@chadnliz2k11]

I did a video party last night. When i do karaoke filler music is all video. People enjoy that extra visual. Im lucking to own 50,000 videos. Disabled here too, columns and no vertical lighting is my adaptation. Cheers

[@djbobbyd3985]

Amazing Laptop... I have to give you a lot of credit. Genius idea coming up with that way of mixing. Best of Luck 💪

[@DirtyInc.]

I remember the Daft Punk samples videos you made on it. I think they were the first videos of yours that I watched.

[@ronprice7449]

I been djing on a PC for since I been djing with serato 18yrs.. I have had no issue with djing on PC I luv it. I'm never ashamed

[@aaronthedj12]

making it work.... this is what good DJs do. make it work. 👍 👍 .... nice laptop too.

[@Djjamie.sfx2]

Whatever works for you. I've been watching you for many years you are an inspiration to many.

[@IanDeVos]

Your reasons to dislike Mac are totally valid. Those are the reasons I dislike it as well. I have an M1 Pro MacBook Pro for my dayjob but still prefer my own 10 year old desktop and 6 year old laptop PC's better. I've installed a 2TB SSD in my laptop for 135 euros. Try to configure a Mac with that amount of storage... 😂

[@TheTomG100]

I agree with you, and for many of the same reasons I don't use a Mac either. And I have and appreciate Virtual DJ (it's an awesome program) but I almost always DJ with my old DJ Power software from the 90's because it's what I'm used to but I'm forced to keep an old win 7 computer to do so, I'll have to move to the 21st century 1 day I guess ......Happy Thanksgiving!

[@briansredd]

You may be able to use it on a newer machine. What I do is install it, then in preferences, I tell the computer to treat the program as if it's XP with service pack 2.

[@djmattkv6745]

this is great, i wish virtual dj would have this built in, lets say if you wanna go to tbe bathroom, just switch it over to "timeline mode" or something, slap together a quick mix of your next 3 songs and make a dash for the bathroom...

[@DJEKTM]

Customer satisfaction is the only thing that mater. Keep them gigs rolling.

[@johnbarton732]

Just use whatever feels comfortable with you as long as the customer enjoys the eve object achieved .. I don’t use a controller I use virtual dj and a mixer I’d love to learn to mix but controllers ain’t cheap and I also spend very little time behind my booth

[@mexikanman]

That’s cool that you purchased and used a Mac recently. Usually people that crap on them won’t even try them.

[@briansredd]

I've bought a few Mac products for my kid & have owned (and broken) an iPod & iPad or two as well. It's just not my jam

[@djnvision]

I knew you used it I just have seen so many of your videos on Virtual DJ that I thought you switched! I use v7 alot for mixshows as well as DJ Studio AI now (similar product) since the timeline for precise mixing is great. Had a florida dj show me when i was visiting OTS DJ where he had all the mix points set custom and was BLOWN AWAY at how good the mixing was when he needed to turn on autopilot and step away. Client doesn't know whats running on the laptop!

[@NoizTheDj]

Well you are normal

[@briansredd]

Well, I live in the world of the normal, but some things I just need to do a little different than others

[@JCrok]

This is a good tip!

[@_P_M_]

Adaptive hacks to get the job done. I think it's cool that you can still use that old software on a new PC. Pretty sure that wouldn't be possible on a Mac. How do you do transitions with one hand? Just a simple crossfade or do you have way of performing more elaborate transitions with EQ, Filter, Echo, etc?

[@briansredd]

Rarely do I filter, echo, or use FX live. I also don't save tweaks, loops, cue points, etc. I pretty much DJ like it's still 1989 & do what I want to do on the fly. Otherwise, my fear is that I'll just do the same mixes over & over again with the same in/out points & number of bars. If I'm mixing 2 decks, sometimes I'll have A playing while getting B ready to go in my headphones. When it's time to throw B in, I can go open crossfader & hit play on B in beat, then knock the crossfader all the way over to B after the transition is over. You figure it out in time.

[@electronicbox6990]

Respect bro! I also find your reasons to hate mac's super valid!

[@UpMusicTelevision]

Out of curiosity, do you export your mixmeister mix then play it as a file in VDJ or do you have both programs going at the same time and switch?

[@briansredd]

I use one or the other. Never used both at the same time. I also DJ like it's 1989, so I save nothing & do everything on the fly

[@dj_jpsa]

This is not a dirty secret. I use this softwre for 10 years and use it to mix, to remix, to build radio spots. If you need some help, just let me know, because i work with this and know very much. if you want the manual, i can send it to you. Have nice vibes and mixes.

[@kristopherking4249]

I've been fine with Mixmister for fifteen years. I actually like it!

[@littlejeffmo]

Brian, you've been doing this for a long time, so what you do is OBVIOUSLY working. You don't need to explain why to anyone.

[@stuartpaul9211]

think DJs are obsess with carrying massive amounts of gear to cheap gigs.

[@briansilas7507]

What skin is that? Looking for a good skin for video mixing.

[@briansredd]

It's just the default screen looking at the Video mixer tab.

[@djdashdfw]

Macs are for losers

[@briansredd]

Nah, Mac makes sense for most standard DJ applications. I'm just not that dude

[@jim7584]

Such a ridiculous comment. People like what they like for their own reasons whether it be PC or Macs.

[@djdashdfw]

@@jim7584 being sarcastic dude! I own both windows and mac

[@MrDJMikieMike]

I appreciate all you do for the DJ Community and being an inspiration @briansredd Happy Thanksgiving to you and your Family.