Hi

I've been offered the chance to set myself up as a mobile DJ for someones party - they buy the equipment and I do the DJing.

But... whats the easiest and cheapest way to do this? I want to work with MP3s rather than vinyl, what software is good and easy to understand for a complete beginner?

Thanks

Ableton Live should definitely be ur new best friend, if you're not that confident in mixing the traditional way with vinyl n cds then Ableton basically does the hard part for you then u can worry more about how n when to mix the tracks together using the fx n filters n that. Only hard part is getting the hang of how to do the warp markers so everything is set up n ready before u start. Setting up the crossfader and headphone mix bus is a piece of piss too. Only thing you really need is an audio interface with more than 2 stereo outputs and, if you don't wanna be clicking the mouse n that every 2 seconds, then a midi controller that you can set up to do everything in more 'hands on' way.
Its not too difficult though, once you get the hang of it then you're well away, ...welcome to dj'ing.. 21st century style, lol.

Think I may have gone a bit too far, if you're setting up something more like a Mobile Disco for private parties n that, and are gonna be playing more than just club music then there's a program called 'Rockit Pro DJ' which has an auto-mix crossfade function on it. That way all you have to do is just drag what songs you want into a playlist n let the program do the rest. It may sound like cheating but if you're playing a wide range of genres all at different speeds then trying to mix stuff in a professional way is gonna be ridiculously hard...

Gearwise, depending on the size of the occasion n venue, you'll need; Speakers, an amplifier, mixer, cd deck (not necessarily essential, but if ur laptop goes tits up then uve got the option of playing cds), maybe some projector lights (if you're going down more of a mobile disco route).

Use Traktor.

if ure not doing something big just use virtual dj, it has beatlock abilities and what not to keep the beats at the same tempo, should be handy and doesn't take months to learn !

word, its much simplier and cheaper than ableton but can do really a lot (when it comes to djing)

Thanks for this, tried Rockit and virtual DJ. VDJ seems to be the best so far, tried mixing YMCA with SMBU and THAT didn't work though!

Yeh I take that bit back about Rockit, had only heard about it before, finally got round to tryin it out the other night n I really couldn't get along with it at alll, hated it! lol. Using some dodgy German program called BPM studio at the moment, seems to be a bit better, at least the auto-crossfade works!
Definitely wanna get away from this shitty commercial 'party friendly' music n disco sorta stuff n get into doing some proper DJ'in doin some 'real' music like Breaks, DNB n Dubstep!