During the last several months there have been a lot of rumours that the Panasonic Company would be discontinuing the legendary piece of Technics DJ equipment – the SL1200 series of turntables. This has come as a big shock to many fans of the famous Technics turntable. A lot of the fans reacted with anger, and some with grief. We must remember however, that these are only rumours and have not been backed up with facts. In fact, the Panasonic company their selves have allegedly made a statement explaining that this particular series of turntables will definitely not be discontinued, at least for now. Whether this series of turntables gets discontinued or not, it will always have a place in the hearts of all DJs. Having said this however, in this new digital age it will have to face up to a very tough competition.

The technics SL1200 was first brought to the attention of many DJs in October 1972; however a lot of people do not know that the device was originally released as a consumer record player. Since then the device has quickly spread into the world of DJs. The MK2 upgrade has quickly become one of the best and most favourite turntables for all DJs and their tricks’, including scratching. This turntable has been around for over 30 years, this is partly due to its durability and solid build. This, combined with its fantastic position, has changed the way DJs all over the world choose their decks. There is even one of the SL1200 turntables in the science Museum in London which features a piece of technology that helps shape the history of the modern world.

There is a great variety of different types of DJ roles available, there are DJs that specialise in mobile work; these DJs take a rig with them everywhere which consists of the PA system and a light show, these DJs often attend events such as weddings, birthday parties and other special events. Another type of DJ is the club DJ, these are the types of DJs that will get hired by a certain venue to perform on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter which role you decide to choose, being a DJ is extremely fun job and have lots of opportunities and will give you a lot of experience that you may never have had before. It will also give you a great social life, which is always a bonus. The most fundamental factor of being a DJ that you need to think about before anything else is exactly how you will be creating the music that you play.

There are three main different approaches to being a DJ, these are to use vinyl turntables, CD players or even digital software. Each of these different approaches come with their very own advantages and disadvantages. However, a lot of it simply comes down to your personal taste. If we go back to the form of roles that I mentioned in the first paragraph of this article, a mobile DJ will probably choose to play his music using digital MP3 files which he will more likely combined with software on a laptop or desktop PC. He may also choose to use a collection of CDs, or even put his music on a flash drive. What you decide to do will depend upon your personal preferences.