As with any human being, practice makes perfect and DJs sometimes find themselves missing out on the learning part of what makes a great party. Nailing the timing just right has to be the most essential DJ skill that any determined performer should always master, but what about the essential DJ gear that allows constant practice no matter the place?

Small MIDI controllers coupled with future.dj on your phone or mini turntables with compact faders and a mini speaker… options may vary but these are the main setups for a mobile practice session.

Using MIDI controllers has never been more convenient and there are quite a few small controllers available on the market that are natively supported by future.dj for iPad/iPhone. Among others, there’s the Numark DJ2GO, the Faderfox DJ3, the AKAI LPD8 and the freshly released Hercules DJ Control Compact. All controllers are connected and recognized through the USB adapter.

Regardless of what DJ app you use, the biggest usable size for a controller to take on a hike would relate to something like the Hercules Universal DJ (will be supported in next update) or the Pioneer We-GO.

The essential DJ gear for mobile scratching should be a setup that will have you cutting & scratching on the mountain side with real vinyl. Lately, the turntable market has been flooded with mini-turntable such as the Numark PT-01 that work awesome with 45s or 7″ records. Of course, you can also find 7″ timecode vinyl and mini-turntables like the Vestax Handy Trax that also have individual faders and controls in case you can’t carry too much.

If you had an extra pocket, you could take the tiny Raiden faders that come ready with output and input jacks, as well as an Aux jack to plug your phone and quickly get the sound going. No more messy splitters!

These little turntables are perfect for crate digging in busy record shops, but taking them on your hiking trip, you’re going to need a main output. The best deal for your buck would be the small portable speakers that come with bluetooth as well as high and low level input jacks. A great contender is the british Minirig speaker, mainly because all of the people that own this mini subwoofer of a speaker are very pleased with the level of sound that it’s managing to pull off considering its size.

The last essential DJ gear to consider are the tunes. Doing a video and worried about copyright? Make a loop with future.dj and scratch, cut and shape your sound with whatever wherever.