Hey Travis! Welcome to Interact.
I certainly do use MC for DJing. Primarily at weddings and parties, but I've done some work at a local bar as well. It really is a great tool for these purposes...
Unfortunately, there is no "one thread to rule them all" when it comes to this. Some things I'd look into though are (in no particular order):
- multiple zones -- especially synchronizing zones and using separate sound cards
- detached display -- not sure if you use projectors or TVs for a full "multimedia show" but MC + DJing + G-Force + Projector == impressive.
- any posts by the user Mastiff on multiple zones
My general setup goes like this:
1. I have a Laptop (a MacBook Pro running Windows XP via Bootcamp -- though that doesn't really matter) with a M-Audio Transit external USB audio device. My media lives on a 500 GB external drive, until they finally get some bigger laptop drives available.
2. I set MC up with two zones. I name one "external" and one "internal" and set them to the appropriate output devices (one for each). I make sure both are set to appropriate DSP and crossfade settings. I happen to like to set both to System Volume, but some people prefer using the Internal volume control. To me, too many volume controls can get confusing.
3. I generally run both of these outputs out into my little Mackie 1202 mixer (a great, portable mixer BTW). Then I generally set the headphone/control room output from the mixer to monitor the muted channels. That way, while music is playing using one of the zones (say "external" for example), I can simply mute the inputs in the mixer for the other zone ("internal") and build my playlist using my headphones.
4. Build a short initial playlist ahead of time. Start playing that on the External Zone. Then switch to the muted (but audible through my headphones) Internal Zone and start building my next playlist fragment.
5. When the current playlist for the "external" zone gets near it's end, I stop any playback on the Internal Zone's playlist (make sure to do this before you un-mute), fade-out the playing "external zone" (via the mixer), un-mute the "internal zone" on my mixer, start playback on that list, and fade it up.
6. Then, I mute "external" on the mixer and start building another fragment in that zone on MC. Switch back and forth as needed, rinse, and repeat. This makes it very nice to "work ahead" but still be able to move my playlists with the "feel" of the crowd (and honor any special requests in a reasonable period of time).
Another way to do the same thing, if you don't have a mixer available (or if your mixer doesn't let you monitor muted input channels over the phones) is:
EDIT: This method is nice because it is a bit simpler and it doesn't require a mixer. If you don't need a microphone (or if the house system handles that on its own), this is probably the way to go!
1. Plug your headphones directly into the onboard audio on the laptop. Set up a "Headphone Zone" and a "Soundsystem Zone".
2. Build your initial list ahead of time and start it playing on the "Soundsystem Zone"
3. Switch MC to the Headphone Zone and use it to build the "next hunk" of the playlist as you want. (I generally build the list in a "temp" playlist I have that I empty out each time.)
4. Once you get a reasonably sized hunk built, simply select all the files and right-click --> Send to --> Play (Soundsystem Zone) --> Add. This will send the files to the Playing Now list on the currently playing "external zone", adding them in order and set to play after the current songs end. You can also choose "Add (As Next To Play)" if you want to interrupt your previously running list for a second and then go back to it (I use this for requests a lot).
5. Then I just delete all those files from my temp playlist, switch back to the Headphone Zone, and start building the next fragment. This way you can easily build fragments a little at a time, and listen to whatever you want over the phones without the audience hearing what you're up to!
Again. Welcome. The forum is very friendly (it constantly surprises me how many genuinely nice people there are on it). Ask any questions you want, and enjoy!
