Being a DJ, DJ equipment, and making hip hop beats?

Okay, for a long time I've wanted to make beats, be a DJ/producer (as a hobby, maybe later on as something serious) and whatnot because my friends and I would like to make hip hop songs (for fun) and I have several questions about being a DJ, making Hip Hop beats, and the equipment needed.





Please forgive my ignorance on this subject : D





1) Okay my first question kind of sounds a little bit...stupid, but, How do Hip Hop DJ's/Producers make music with their equipment? Is their equipment like a keyboard where they just press a key or button? Or is it all through sampling older songs?





2) How would I record my music?





3) What kind of equipmnt should a beginner buy? I'm looking for simple equipment to start with please. Im trying to keep it minimal.





4) How much would this equipment cost? Remember Im trying to keep it minimal and Im on a budget.


a. Whats the vinyl for? and how much are they?


b. Can CD's be used in place of vinyl on turntables?





5) Where could I buy this equipment? A music store? Electronic store such as Best Buy?





5) Can I make beats without relying on my laptop for programs? Im asking because whenever I look on the internet on how to be a DJ they always mention computer programs. If this is so, then how did the first DJ's make music without computers?


(However I wouldnt mind using my laptop for this, Im just curious)





Im sorry my questions a worded kind of funny, but since I don't know much on the subject I didnt know what kind of terminology to use.





Thanks in advance guys! : DBeing a DJ, DJ equipment, and making hip hop beats?
Ah, this is about to be a lengthy response, but I think I can answer all of your questions if you're down to read them.





I'll go ahead and mention that being a ';DJ'; isn't exactly being somebody who ';makes beats';.. Even though it seems like few people noticed that. I'm not saying it's a big deal or anything like that haha, just mentioning it to you. Might be helpful to remember when you look for advice from people.





1-There are a ton of methods that people use. Too many to begin to try to list them off, actually. A lot of people do sample from other songs.. You can actually use samples with keyboards too. And of course, the classic drum machine is preferred by many. I know a few people who prefer to use an electronic drum set to make their beats, too. Sorry I'm not giving a ton of details just yet, but it really is such a wide subject.





2-How you record would really depend on the methods you choose that I started to mention above. Chances are very high that you'll come to find yourself doing the recording on a computer. But it's worth mentioning.. Not all methods for making beats REQUIRE ';recording';





3- I'm assuming you mean hardware. There are a lot of options such as mpcs, keyboards, drum machines, ect... But when you're just getting into it, I'd suggest saving making purchases for a time when you're more aware on what it is you're doing and what you want out of your equipment and which products would suit you best. Just starting out though.. I'd say just browse some DAW (digital audio workstation) programs for your computer and check some out. There are some free ones, and there are some that cost money but offer decent demos you can download.. And of course, you could simply download a cracked version for free.. But that's illegal so I don't suggest doing that.





4- Well, how much the stuff costs depends on what you buy. The DAWs I mentioned above can range from $50-ish to well over $500! There are also some good ones that are completely free! It really depends on the operating system your computer runs on though. If you're on a Mac, you already have something called Garageband. Not amazing =\, but it gives you an idea of what it's like. The hardware though can range in price from $50-ish to well over $1000. You can usually get a decent midi controller (a keyboard or set of drum pads you hook up to your computer) for about $200... Give or take a little bit depending on what features you're looking for.





a)Vinyl is for sampling. If you're going with the more modern and.. well.. increasingly popular methods I've mentioned above (using a computer), you will probably not wind up buying any vinyl records for the sake of making beats. And these things vary in price. You can find them used in a music store for a few bucks.. Depends on the actual record itself and how rare it is and such most times.





b)CDs CAN be used in place as vinyl records on turntables (as well as other things such as MP3s). A good CD turntable will run you.. Uh.. Roughly $400-500 depending where you look. The features of these can be replicated (almost all of them, anyway) on a DAW though.. So unless you really prefer to use them for the hands-on factor, you probably wont want to get a cd turntable





5-Yeah, most music stores have stuff like this. You'll find MUCH more on the internet than you will in actual shops. If you have a Best Buy around you with a music section, they'll have a lot of stuff that would interest you. You can go in and actually play with the products too and get a feel of them =D (which is very important in my opinion). If your local BB DOESN'T have a music section, it will still have a handful of products you can go and check out though. But yeah, the internet will be your best friend when it comes to stuff like this.





6-You can make your music without relying on a computer, yeah.. But in all honesty, you'll find yourself spending a LOT more cash =\. Software is oftentimes more flexable than the hardware, and MUCH cheaper (sometimes free even),





It's really important to remember.. Just because you go the route of using your computer doesn't mean you're giving up the hands-on feel aspect of music production. MIDI Controllers, as I mentioned earlier, are instruments that can be plugged into your computer to control sounds. For example, I do not own a synthesizer.. But I own a midi keyboard controller. I hook it up to my PC and run a software synthesizer to it and I'm hitting keys and it's giving me the sounds =D Just like the real deal, but at a fraction of the price. You can get midi controllers that look like keyboards, drum sets, turntables, and just about anything else you could imagine.








Yeaaa, that was a bit long =\, sorry about that. Hopefully I helped though. If you're really interested in the subject, you might want to check out the link in my reference section. I'm fairly new to making music/beats myself (been doing it just over a year now) and have recently found this forum and haveBeing a DJ, DJ equipment, and making hip hop beats?
If you follow the link and torrent instructions you can get yourself a free full copy of FL studio XXL 8 Producers edition, and create all the beats you could ever want for free. http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4649193/FL_Studio_XXL_8___With_Crack
tweakheadz.com
You seem to have a lot of questions but that's ok I have some really helpful answers. To sum up everything that you asked I will say this... You can buy a turntable that doesn't have to be expensive if you want to scratch or you can buy a digital mixer to mix Cd's how ever you want to do that is up to you.





As far as making beats the only thing that you will need is a laptop and some speakers along with a microphone. Yes you could make beats without the laptop but that route would be more expensive because then you would have to buy more equipment like track mixers, eq's, re-verb machines etc.





But by using a beat making program and a laptop all of that is included in the program as well as thousands of sounds to use to make tracks with.





Some software you can buy right online and you can download it right after you buy it so you can start making beats right away especially if the software is easy to operate. It doesn't have to be really expensive to get studio quality beats because it is all done on computer which means it will be CD quality, but you should make sure that you can easily convert it to CD or mp3 format when you are finished making the track.





There is a really cool blog that talks more about what you are asking as well as a video that explains as well a shows you how to make a beat from scratch.





I recommend that you check it out as it will further answer a lot more of your questions.The kink is down below for you to learn more about what you ask...





Click thru the site read a lot and you will learn a lot.





Good Luck!!